Name: New Yorkers brave freezing weather to dine outside amid Storm Gail
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New Yorkers brave freezing weather to dine outside amid Storm Gail

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 Thursday, Dec 17th 2020| 94 Diners in New York City braved plunging temperatures and racing winds to eat and drink outdoors as a powerful nor'easter rolled across the East Coast Wednesday night - bringing with it several inches of snow. Mayor Bill de Blasio had urged inhabitants of the Big Apple to hunker down and brace themselves for what could be the 'worst snow storm in several years', with 12 inches predicted to fall.But clearly the warning wasn't heeded by all, with bundled up diners seen chowing down on entrees and sipping cocktails on sidewalks across the city as Winter Storm Gail roared on. In the East Village, a number hooded, coat-wearing patrons were seen dining outside of the The Smith restaurant in the midst of the storm, with their tables dusted in a smattering of snow.The brave diners gathered in close to one of a number of patio heaters lined up along sidewalk, as temperatures in the city plunged as low as 30F. Scroll down for video  On Tuesday, de Blasio temporarily shut down outdoor dining on roadways due to the then-incoming wild weather conditions, but stated that restaurants could still serve customers if they were sitting on sidewalks.Restaurants and bars across NYC appeared to take full advantage of the loophole, taking to social media to show off their surprisingly busy outdoor dining areas. The West Village's Extra Virgin restaurant uploaded a shot clip to their Instagram page, showing their heated front deck filled with guests seeking shelter from the snowfall. Similar scenes were captured at the nearby Peruvian restaurant Baby Brasa, where dwellers were filmed sipping on Old Fashioneds as they danced in the snow out front.In Harlem, one masked-up diner was seen enjoying a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs with a glass of red wine outside of the Italian bistro, 314.Her table a perfect slate of white, the woman is seen smiling as she raises up a fork-full of pasta with her gloved hands, in an image posted to the eatery's Instagram.With indoor dining banned by Andrew Cuomo earlier this week, employees at Trattoria L’incontro in Astoria, Queens, took Wednesday night's storm as an opportunity to mock the New York Governor's order.Staffers were seen around a table on the sidewalk in short-sleeve shirts and chef's whites, sarcastically toasting with red wine as snow flurries fell.  'This is what outdoor dining looks like in MY CITY,' the restaurant's owner, Rocco Sacramone, wrote in the caption. 'I love NY but what a mess we are in. This was my staff today. We normally have 30 to 40. We are down to 5. This is real this is the reality of every restaurant in NYC.'Sacramone and Trattoria L’incontro have been taking the COVID-19 pandemic seriously, and have donated meals to frontline workers for the past several months. However, Sacramone says he will be forced to fire employees because of the new indoor dining ban. 'While Cuomo and the rest of the Government are on pay, they could care less about what the NYC restaurants and workers who will no longer have jobs to support themselves and their families RIGHT before Christmas,' he wrote on social media last week. 'Cuomo is banning indoor dining, but looks the other way when about 200 people are crammed inside in airplane cabins 25,000 times a day. Ridiculous and humiliating to have someone like him decide on our State.'  Meanwhile, Mayor De Blasio's outdoor dining ban went into effect 2pm on Wednesday. He ordered restaurant owners to move all collapsible tents and portable heaters inside order to prevent damage and allow snow plows to move down roadways. In the afternoon, workers at some restaurants were seen trying to dismantle outdoor dining set ups that they had only just completed - often at a great cost. For those not willing to dine outdoors in frigid temperatures, deliverymen on bikes were seen pedaling in the hazardous conditions to bring hungry New Yorkers their dinner throughout the evening. De Blasio said during a press briefing on Tuesday afternoon that street dining could resume on Thursday night just hours after the storm.'Street dining will be closed from 2pm onward tomorrow. We're telling restaurant owners that it's important where they can to get any of their equipment out of the roadway, particularly heaters,' de Blasio said. 'Sidewalk dining will still be allowed, it may be difficult obviously tomorrow evening, so everyone will decide whether it works for them or not.'We're hoping that by Thursday night, outdoor dining of all kinds will be online again depending on the exact conditions of the snow. Hopefully everything is back up and running for outdoor dining and sidewalk dining by Thursday evening.'The Mayor was immediately mocked on Twitter, with users sharing a flurry of memes surround the confusion over his orders.  Indoor dining ended in New York City on Monday even though it accounts for less than 1.34 percent of all new COVID-19 cases. Share what you thinkThe comments below have not been moderated.The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.Post comment to your Facebook TimelineBy posting your comment you agree to our .Submit CommentClearDo you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline?Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. NoYesDo you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline?Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usualWe will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. 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 Thursday, Dec 17th 2020| 94 Diners in New York City braved plunging temperatures and racing winds to eat and drink outdoors as a powerful nor'easter rolled across the East Coast Wednesday night - bringing with it several inches of snow. Mayor Bill de Blasio had urged inhabitants of the Big Apple to hunker down and brace themselves for what could be the 'worst snow storm in several years', with 12 inches predicted to fall.But clearly the warning wasn't heeded by all, with bundled up diners seen chowing down on entrees and sipping cocktails on sidewalks across the city as Winter Storm Gail...

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New Yorkers brave freezing weather to dine outside amid Storm Gail

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