David Byrne Breaks in NYC's First Pop-Up Cafe
Gothamist, August 12, 2010 [Link]
By John Del Signore

David Byrne, backpack casually slung over one shoulder, yuks it up with NYC DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, NYC Department of Consumer Affairs Commissioner Jonathan Mintz, and Downtown Alliance Senior Vice President for Planning and Economic Development Nicole LaRusso

Today cycling troubadour David Byrne joined NYC DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and some other bureaucrats to cut the ribbon on the city's first "Pop-up Cafe." Located down on Pearl Street between Broad and some other street that doesn't have a name on Google Maps, the 84-foot-long, 6-foot-wide wooden platform is landscaped with planters, wire railing and furnished with 14 caf� tables and 50 chairs. Before everyone hyperventilates, please note that it was paid for and installed by two of the restaurants on the block (Fika Espresso and Bombay's restaurant), but it's open to all regardless of whether they make a purchase. 

The eateries will maintain it and remove it later this year at their own expense, but given how the DOT operates under Sadik-Khan, this could just be the beginning of the Pop-Up invastion citywide! According to the DOT's press release, "The program's effectiveness will be evaluated to help determine if similar temporary spaces should be created elsewhere in the city." Similar Pop-up Caf�s have proven popular in many European cities and in San Francisco, and this Streetsfilm video shows how similar ours is to the city of brotherly love's. Goodbye parking, hello kibitzing! Somewhere, Steve Cuozzo is bursting a capillary.