Bryant Park's Swank New Porch Opens Today

To promote its new service out of LaGuardia, Southwest Airlines is sponsoring a new area in Bryant Park for the summer, dubbed the Southwest Porch, which opened today at noon. Given the tough economic times, getting a new civic amenity supported by a corporate sponsor feels like a luxury, and in fact, this one most certainly is a luxury.

On the merits of design alone, the place is a win. It feels like a patio bar in a resort, with hanging chairs, swings, rocking chairs, and lounge chairs, all decked out with bright yellow cushions. Add the succulents, hanging plants, and your favorite guy or gal, and you've got romance. Or, just a high-rent feeling place to relax, without the high rent. This is the kind of place you'd typically need to spring for, in the form of bottle service or a flight to Miami, or both. But instead, the lounge, with its corporate sponsorship prominently in place, is free to all New Yorkers.

While that's nice, we're actually more happy to hear about the business development that the Southwest sponsorship of the Porch in Bryant Park is tied to: that new service at LaGuardia is, according to Southwest, creating 40 new jobs. Also, Southwest Airlines is one of the first companies to sign on to the NYC Service Middle School Mentorship initiative. Southwest employees will mentor students at MS 8--New Prep Middle School in Jamaica, Queens. We can toast to that.

And toasting is what the Porch welcomes. With a maitre d' at the entrance, a guard checking ID, and a gaggle of servers in bright yellow shirts, the venue encourages people to partake in food and drink. The menu is by 'wichcraft, and features sandwiches for $9 "inspired by" the cities that Southwest flies to out of New York City: There's a soft shell crab sandwich for Baltimore, a Bratwurst for Chicago, and a meatball parm for New York. Also for $9: a platter of cured meats, and a platter of manchego and membrillo. Marinated olives are $6 (this is what we ordered, and it was plenty satisfying). For dessert, we snagged some free watermelon, but the menu also offers cookies for $6. The liquor menu won't be available until Wednesday, our waitress told us, so for now it's wine, beer, and Southwest water in a soda pop can. And free honey roasted peanuts -- just like they serve on the airplanes.

The lounge is open for food and drinks Monday-Thursday, 5 to 9 pm, and Friday, noon to 4 pm.