Solve one problem, create another.
Despite the ongoing ban, New Yorkers temporarily brought indoor dining back to Grand Central’s famed food hall — using the tables that officials installed to test new layouts aimed at discouraging homeless from gathering.
Over the course of a half-hour Wednesday, a Post reporter and photographer observed a half-dozen people using the chair-less high-tops to chow down on fast food and sushi in the largely deserted terminal as MTA police officers stood nearby.
Most of the diners left on their own accord after finishing their meals and only one person was asked by a cop to move on.
One employee there said the table set-up doesn’t bother him and added that most people eat quickly and go on their way.
“We need as many people as we can get down here,” the person added, saying that diners have been keeping six feet apart.
“I mean, everyone’s taking the train,” he continued. “They’re spending less time here than they are on the train.”
The tables were first spotted by the food website, Eater New York.
The company the MTA hired to manage the food hall installed the high-tops in late June to make sure the new configurations are compatible with the train terminal’s historic architecture.
They hoped that swapping traditional tables for the chair-less countertops would discourage homeless New Yorkers from setting up in the food court, which restaurateurs loudly complained about before the coronavirus pandemic.
Employees began removing several of the high-tops after The Post reached out for comment.
“The MTA was not made aware of this independent contractor’s poorly-timed planning exercise and upon learning of the situation it was terminated with the removal of all portable tables,” said spokesman Tim Minton.
He added that the agency would also print new signs reminding commuters that food is for pick-up only.