5C Cultural Center reopens with coffee service from the Roost

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Updated: The coffee service/cafe ended service in late March/early April.

There's a new familiar tenant on the SE corner of Avenue C and Fifth Street inside the 5C Cultural Center.

East Village resident Vito DiTomaso, who operates the Roost, the 9-year-old cafe and cocktail lounge at 222 Avenue B between 13th Street and 14th Street, has just debuted a coffee service here to help the 501(c)(3) Cultural Center revamp its business.

DiTomaso has brought in new coffee equipment, painted and refreshed the space, and is creating a series of new menus. The plan is to serve coffee during the day, currently from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m., and soon offer beer, wine and cider in the evenings, along with community programming, live music and events that honor the Cultural Center. 

He is currently training staff and hoping to eventually branch out to food — with to-go plates for lunch and lasagnas, Italian dishes, and Spanish food favorites for dinner.

Meanwhile, longtime 5C Cultural Center proprietor Trudy Silver (above right) will continue with music and other live events on select dates, including an afternoon of programming for MLK Day on Monday. (See this link.)

The 5C Café and Cultural Center hosts the 2018 Dissident Arts Festival tomorrow night

The East Village portion of the 2018 Dissident Arts Festival takes place tomorrow evening at 7 at the 5C Café and Cultural Center.

Here's more from the event website:

On Sept. 15 the action moves to the 5C Café and Cultural Center, long-standing home of avant jazz and bold performance, where funds will be raised for the Alliance of Families for Justice and the NYC Jericho Movement. Both organizations advocate for the unjustly incarcerated and call for urgent prison reform.

The evening opens with a solo performance by renowned drummer William Hooker, and includes 5C’s own pianist/composer Trudy Silver, Ras Moshe’s Music Now! and the Flames of Discontent duo of Festival director John Pietaro and Laurie Towers. The closing act is international songwriter Martina Fiserova.

The 5C Café and Cultural Center is on Avenue C at Fifth Street. Find more 5C Café info here.