Mayor Newhard: Dining en Plein Air!

This past weekend we had our dress rehearsal for street closures and outdoor dining. The air was filled with glad sounds of folks relieved to be out with friends and neighbors in a safe environment and enjoying delicious meals served up by our local restaurants. The mood was magical as our streets became open-air piazzas. Strolling couples, umbrellas, potted plants, and strings of lights helped create expanded dining areas that offered social distancing comfort. I want to thank all the restaurants who were involved and the effort they made to make this possible.

  Behind the momentary magic was a lot of hard work. Thank you to the Village Board of Trustees for recognizing this unique opportunity and overseeing setup and special thanks to Village Clerk, Raina Abramson, and Deputy Clerk, Maryann Benedict for the intense administrative and application process with the NYSDOT, the State Liquor Authority, and working with the participating restaurants.

  Like a stage set and the next act, you hope the scene change can happen seamlessly, especially with setting up barricades, signage, detours for road closure, that temporary handicap parking spots are clearly marked and the overall safety plan and safe distancing policy are enforced. That was the hard work accomplished by our Public Works Dept. Supervisor, Mike Moser, and his team. Set up and social distancing parameters were equally enforced by our Code Enforcement Officer, Boris Rudzinski with the help of our Parking Enforcement Officer, Milissa Hyde. Thank you to the Warwick Chamber of Commerce for their continual help to make this possible.

  I hope that everyone will take a moment to enjoy our pedestrian downtown which includes portions of Main St., Railroad Ave., and Spring St. In many villages and cities throughout Europe, this type of street closure is a common practice.  It’s a fun experience and will help our local eateries recoup from what’s been a difficult season. 

  The next Village Board meeting will take place on Mon., July 6 at 7:30 p.m. and will be held through Zoom videoconference and may be viewed live by the public on the Village’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/VillageofWarwick.