Why Does Everyone Insist on Dining and Drinking Alfresco?

It's one of the many things that makes New York so insufferable in the summer—besides the heat, the crowds, the construction, the smells, and the humidity. Being forced to eat or drink outside—with wind, blinding sun, bugs, pedestrians brushing too close, and the way restaurants that have added outside tables often corral their diners in like cows—is simply uncivilized. More »