Giant concrete slab outside NYC Palestinian eatery baffles
A controversial Palestinian restaurant chain that came under fire for anti-Israel statements on one of its menus is getting jeered again — for installing a “massive” and “obnoxious” concrete slab on the sidewalk outside its a soon-to-open Brooklyn shop.
The giant, 10-foot long by 8-foot wide slab outside Ayat on Knickerbocker Avenue in Bushwick has prompted at least seven 311 complaints since Monday — the day after it was installed.
The chain plans to use the two-foot-tall slab for outdoor seating — but locals ripped it as a dangerous impediment and want the city to remove it.
“This thing’s ridiculous,” said passerby Cynthia Jeziorkowski, 27. “I hope the city makes them remove whatever that is.”
“Who thought this was okay? The word ‘blatant’ comes to mind. ‘Obnoxious’ is another,” she added.
Ayat made headlines last year, after the owners titled the seafood section of their Ditmas Park shop’s menu “From the River to the Sea” in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel.
The phrase is considered an anti-Semitic call for the destruction of the Jewish state by the Anti-Defamation League.
In Bushwick, neighbors have also cried foul over the concrete encumbrance’s lack of an ADA ramp, with some calling the slab too “huge” and complaining that wheelchair-bound pedestrians would have trouble navigating that patch of sidewalk.
There needs to be at least five feet of walkable space on all city sidewalks situated in low-traffic areas, according to the NYC Department of Small Business Services.
A minimum of eight feet is needed for high-trafficked sidewalks, such as Knickerbocker Avenue, but there is just under five feet of walkable space on the sidewalk now, The Post measured.
The Department of Transportation said Ayat was issued a notice of violation for sidewalk encroachment as well as a summons for not requesting prior approval for the dining setup.
Restaurateur Abdul Elenani did not respond to requests for comment.
“They’re taking up the whole damn corner,” said one local. “What a way to welcome yourself to the neighborhood.”
