Results tagged “coffeeshop”

The iconic Empire Diner in Chelsea is being taken over by the team that operates the obnoxiously fashionable but beautifully staffed Coffee Shop in Union Square. The owner of the property will not be renewing the lease with Renata Gonzalez, who's operated the classic diner for over three decades. Instead, the Gotham City Restaurant Group will replace Gonzalez with a 15-year lease rumored to be in the $25,000 per month range. Gonzalez says she's trying to get the new owner to keep some of the current employees, some of whom have been there for as long as her, but that seems unlikely. The name's changing too, but that hasn't been revealed yet.

Have laptop, will head to neighborhood cafe, right? Well, that might be more difficult at some—the Wall Street Journal looks at the growing trend of some NYC coffee shops telling laptop users they're not wanted: "In some places, customers just get cold looks, but in a growing number of small coffee shops, firm restrictions on laptop use have been imposed and electric outlets have been locked. The laptop backlash may predate the recession, but the recession clearly has accelerated it."

It seems that a passionate petition drive and an eleventh hour overture from the landlord weren't enough to save Joe Jr., the classic greasy spoon that's been a Greenwich Village institution for more than three decades. The coffee shop was packed with diners this weekend; among them was blogger Vanishing New York, who overheard one customer declare, "The landlord is a greedy prick." The petition on the counter read, "Joe's is our kitchen, our meeting place, our hangout, our comfort food. Our neighborhood will lose a treasure should it shut down this weekend." 65-year-old owner Teddy Hondros's lease had expired at the end of June, and it appears that a dispute with the landlord over who should pay the cost of repairs from a basement electrical fire were a major factor in the closure. Lost City was probably the last blogger to dine there yesterday, and reports a line stretching outside the restaurant: "I don't know about you, but I've never seen a line outside a greasy spoon before... That such a quintessentially American business should on July 4th is bitterly ironic." He says the doors were locked for the final time at 3 p.m., and our calls to Joe Jr.'s today are going unanswered.

After more than 35 years in business, quintessential greasy spoon Joe Jr. Restaurant on West 12th Street and Sixth Avenue will close this weekend. Devoted regulars and casual admirers were both dismayed at the news yesterday, and over 1,000 customers signed a petition begging the landlord to renew the lease, which expired June 30th. But 65-year-old owner Teddy Hondros seems resigned to his fate, and says an 11th hour overture from the landlord is too little too late; he's arranged to have the gas turned off and close after one more Saturday night.

Early Monday morning someone stole a 200 pound replica of the Statue of Liberty that was bolted outside progressive cafe and bookstore Vox Pop in Ditmas Park, and now the Daily News has picked up the story. It's a nice bit of press for the troubled establishment, which has weathered severe financial storms in recent months—come to think of it, being robbed might not be such a bad publicity stunt for restaurants. Cabrito got lots of exposure when someone stole their goat, and Papacitos recently parlayed a burglary into an announcement about a major expansion. There's nothing indicating Vox Pop orchestrated the heist for free advertising, but owner Debi Ryan sure is at a loss to explain how someone managed to abscond with the 8-foot-tall fiberglass statue, which wouldn't fit in a car. Naturally, she suspects some shadowy right-wing conspiracy: "I have to wonder whether this theft was politically motivated. I mean, we aren't your everyday coffee shop." A "Find Liberty" rally is planned for tomorrow at Vox Pop, where a wide variety of beer, food, and other merchandise will be available for purchase—in solidarity!

The incessant stampede of beloved neighborhood institutions closing has a way of making your eyes glaze over and wonder it even merits mentioning anymore. But today’s tally of three (so far!) price-outs demands observation. Jeremiah's Vanishing New York – fast becoming the most depressing read in town – has the bad news of two of them. The first is Hopscotch, the 2.0 version of Avenue A’s Alt Coffee, renowned for its ‘No ODs Allowed’ signage in the filthy bathroom. Owner Nick Bodor had hoped to fancy it up for the yupsters, but it seems the local real estate market won’t rest until it’s a real estate office.

There's trouble brewin' at everyones favorite chain coffee shop. WCBS is reporting that there has been a shooting at a midtown Starbucks. The BNN confirms with a location: 120 W 56th Street, and reports a possible robbery as well. The NYPD are currently still looking for the suspect.

LECTURE SERIES: The Nation forges on with their series of Tuesday evening lectures tonight. Nation columnist and Columbia Law professor Patricia J. Williams will be on hand to discuss her montly "Diary of a Mad Law Professor" column. Expect to examine the law in whole new light.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an industrial accident on 10th Ave. near 30th St. in Manhattan, a man down an elevator shaft at 50 West 15th St. in Manhattan, and a homicide at Neck Parkway and 42nd Ave. in Queens.
• Not only have investigators found hard drives scrubbed clean of potentially damaging e-mail messages related to Troopergate, the Spitzer administration is refusing to even identify the names of the Internet Service Providers that were used to transmit them.
• There's a new site online for "non-pretentious people who live in Flatbush," or perhaps those who are just interested in the Brooklyn neighborhood.

It’s a common gripe that pretty much everything that gives New York its flavor is being steadily eviscerated and replaced with corporate chains and exclusive amenities for the affluent, but this week has been a doozy. In the past two days, for starters, we’ve seen closures announced for the following joints:

• The classic, blue collar Donuts Coffee Shop on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope.
  Continue reading "With Pathmark in the Path of Condos, LES Locals Rally"

Sometime before 8 this morning, Patrick Moberg and Camille Hayton introduced themselves to Good Morning America viewers, Diane Sawyer and hopeless romantics everywhere. The Subway Cyrano met up with his mystery lady last night for dinner, where they said they "clicked." Hayton suggests the subway moment was serendipitous because she wouldn't have been on it (going to a friend's place) if her house hadn't just burned down. Moberg is compared to a Hollywood leading man,...

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an officer assaulted on Church Ave. and 53rd St. in Brooklyn, a car into a coffee shop in the area of Skillman and 50th in Queens, and two people shot on Park Ave. and 17th St. in Manhattan. An insurance broker pleaded guilty to idiotic target practice that launched arrows from his compound bow on the Upper East Side. Bono and Bloomberg's mutual admiration society. Brooklyn state Assemblyman Dov...

Protest over national vs. regional chains, the never-ending debate over the place of cars and bicycles in our metropolises, professional sports scandals, remembering a solemn day, and being issued a search warrant - it all happened across our sites this week!

Coffee Shop was closed for a few days when the Department of Health tallied up 102 points of violations - 28 or more requires a closure - at the restaurant, finding "Cooked or prepared food is cross-contaminated" and issues with plumbing among the concerns. The Union Square eatery posted a snippy sign explaining the closing, and owner Charles Milite went to the NY Times and said Coffee Shop was "caught in the cross hairs of this unfortunate Taco Bell Situation," since Coffee Shop had operated for 17 years without incident. And he promised the restaurant would reopen yesterday.

Untitled, by Brunocerous. Tag yours with "gothamist" on Flickr if you want us to use them.

Right now on South 4th Street in Williamsburg (between Bedford and Driggs) - there's some filming going on, for what looks like a bigger production. Anyone know what it could be?

This will probably be a familiar sight: An explanation from your neighborhood restaurant that details why it's closed. And most likely it will include a complaint about the Health Department's sudden change in restaurant inspection behavior in this post-rats at a KFC-Taco Bell world. This sign was spotted outside The Coffee Shop by Joe Schumacher, proving that model-esque hostesses and servers are no match for making sure there are rubber gloves in the first aid kit.

The Rare Urban Snowtiger, by Neene.

Leaving our local Key Food this morning, for the first time we heard the spare change guy's rendition of "Bad to the Bone" and then we turned to one of our weekend rituals: Reading the The Brooklyn Paper.

Yesterday afternoon, an apartment building at 115th Street and Lenox Avenue caught fire and tenants and onlookers cheered as five children and their mothers were led to safety. A neighboring building's super, Sharif Abdul Aziz, made three different trips down the fire escape to save mothers and their babies. Aziz simply said, "Everything I do, I do for God." Firefighters also rescued one set of twins from the fifth floor by handing the kids through a window (one is pictured with a firefighter in the bucket).

There's been a lot of talk on the Splasher overnight. One of the best comments comes from Visual Resistance, one of the hardcore experts of the NYC streetart scene:

Seagull in Flight, by Shveckle.

Some details have emerged about what might have caused Wednesday's brutal fight amongst teenagers in Union Square that left one teen dead and two others injured. Yesterday Police Commissioner Kelly said it was a "planned confrontation": Some Washington Irving High School female students were "insulted," so they enlisted their boyfriends at Science Skills High School to defend their honor.

Haverford graduate, Parks Department project manager, and Greenpoint resident David Langlieb is under fire for writing an essay about his neighborhood in his alumni magazine. According to the Daily News, the essay, ripe with complaints about the old-school Polish residents and self-deprecation about not being an Ivy League graduate, has incensed the Polish American Congress and Councilman David Yassky, who said, "my eyes pretty much popped out of my head when I read this."

When Snack Dragon, Josephine Jansen's taco shack on Avenue B between 2nd & 3rd doled out its final taco this past Memorial Day, late-night devotees and locals alike mourned the loss of the cheap eats joint with tasty, always fresh tacos. Officials claimed the shack was built without a permit and Jansen, the taco-loving East Village veteran, had no choice but to leave.

THEATER: The Impact Festival and fall at the Culture Project get started in a big way with the world premiere of The Treatment, which starts previews tonight. Add together playwright Eve Ensler (of Vagina Monologues fame), stars Dylan McDermott and Portia, director Leigh Silverman, and a sharply topical play about a traumatized soldier who saw and took part in too much for his psyche to handle when he was a military interrogator, and you've got all the makings of a must-see. - Mallory Jensen

We understand the hesitation of finding a potential roommate on Craigslist and roommate services. You really never know what you are going to get, and sifting through all the people offering free rent in exchange for you walking around naked can really get exhausting. The best thing that we can advise, is start getting the word out there. Mention to everyone you know that you are seeking a roommate. You never know who will know someone who knows someone looking for a place, or has an empty room. At least you have some sort of remote connection to the person, and a place to verify their character. The New York Times has an article about services for finding roommates in NY, if you choose to go that route. They also offer some tips for wading out potential disasters, such as meeting at a coffee shop or other public location before deciding whether they should be brought into the actual apartment, and requesting references.

-- Red Hook residents protest murderous Fairway traffic, but still enjoy the fresh produce.