Geanna
Merola

Dining Sheds - NYC

The Covid-19 outbreak of 2020 caused the shutdown of restaurants in Manhattan. Restorative measures allowed the construction of sidewalk sheds in which patrons could dine safely. I began making these photographs on my eventual return to the city. Dining sheds allowed restaurants to re-open and provided an outlet for those weary of isolation and working from home. They also created challenges for drivers, reduced available parking, and produced noise for the residents of the neighborhoods. Despite these disadvantages, many of the dining sheds present interesting and colorful additions to the city streets. Each is unique, often whimsically designed with floral arrangements, atmospheric lighting, and transparent dividing materials. My photographs direct attention to the engaging details of these makeshift enclosures. The emergence of these structures represents a specific and difficult time in the history of city life during a pandemic. The dining sheds have been a creative solution with largely positive results. We do not know now if they will remain a fixture of the city streets or if the presence of these sheds will be an interesting historical reference to the pandemic years of our time.