The Pushcart Coffee banners have arrived on Third Avenue at East 12th Street in NYU's Third North dorm retail properties … taking over the space last held by Just Sweet ...
This is Pushcart's third NYC location, which will go by Stuyvesant Alley. As the Pushcart website explains:
This shop sits next to a now-forgotten street called Stuyvesant Alley. The Alley was the scene of all the good, bad and ugly of old New York. It was a notorious hang out for ne'er-do-wells like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid who lived down the street, it was the scene of a beautiful painting by Armin Landeck and it was a convenient place to store a peddler's pushcart off nearby bustling Third Ave. The Alley disappeared in the mid-20th century and today is replaced by a dormitory of New York University.
As for an opening date, a Pushcart Facebook posts states "very, very soon."
They'll be joining another new neighbor next door ... the 21-year-old Excel Art and Framing Store is moving here, after losing its lease at 38 Third Ave. between East Ninth Street and East 10th Street...
Back to coffee — there's plenty of it right around here with the Wayside on East 12th Street just west of Third Avenue ... City of Saints Coffee Roasters on East 10th Street between Fourth Avenue and Third Avenue ... Third Rail Coffee on East 10th Street near Second Avenue ... Think Coffee on Fourth Avenue between East 12th Street and East 13th Street… Everyman Espresso on East 13th Street west of Third Avenue…
I walked by here yesterday and made a crack about how this place would never last and how they barely made an effort with their signage, then my coffee-drinking friend told me this is a very popular chain, and she thought people would seek it out. So maybe I was wrong!
ReplyDeleteOne of the few businesses that can survive in this area now - it will be a study hall for all the NYU students to hang out with their laptops. They may or may not be working, but they will take all the tables all the time. Let's hope that Pushcart are smart enough to require a purchase for table hogs or limit internet access to 30 mins per drink.
ReplyDeleteOne of the nice things about City of Saints (apart from decent coffee and mostly friendly service) is that the do not have wifi, so people buying coffee can actually get a seat at the counter. Contrast this to think coffee, the bean, or everyman where this is impossible at any time of the day.
Goddamn - I've turned into a grumpy old man without realizing it. When did that happen?
here's to an ever shrinking piece of the "coffee" pie!
ReplyDeletethere was a pear tree on the 12th street side of the alley.
ReplyDeleteand i remember there being trucks but don't now remember why.
I remember the 2nd avenue location was new when Sandy hit. I was making the walk from 23rd st down to my place a few times from work or my GF's, in the dark and saw a cluster of people crowding around the front of Pushcart looking at the ground. I thought someone was hurt. Turns out they had a gas generator running, plugged into a bunch of power strips so the folks in the neighborhood could charge their phones. Pretty nice and it quickly endeared them to the neighborhood. I enjoy their shops and the coffee is good. Welcome to the 'hood.
ReplyDeleteanother crappy coffee chain. just what we need.
ReplyDeleteLets hope they keep this new location cleaner then the one on 2nd Ave, its gotten pretty grody over the years, much like another cafe 71 Irving Place. The more popular they beome the less they feel like cleaning up. Also they have fast wifi and students camp out there all day, I told them they should limit the wifi but they ignored the advice and now you can never get a seat there while everyone stalks their exes on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteUncle Pete - yeah, the owner is a good local guy whose heart is in the right place as regards genuine community.
ReplyDeleteI hope he hears the critiques others have made...then again it's a coffee shop, not Nirvana.
I really don't have any problems with these coffee shops opening IF the public/anyone can patronize them. Or if these coffee shops can be like the New York coffee shops/cafés then, which were like Parisisan cafés -- a meeting place, the neighborhood hub, the conversation matrix, the rendez-vous spot, the networking source, a place to relax or to refuel - the social and political pulse of the city, and where one can way sit undisturbed for a couple of hours, delightfully watching the world go by. But as someone has said, it'll just be another study hall for the college, mostly NYU kids. Or worse, it is just another laptopistan. And it'll just be another place for those with Self-Illusion of Selectivity (#SIoS) where the baristas/coffeeolgists in their fedora hats or trilbies and would shoo you away and make you feel bad if you ain't cool enough to be there and not spending enough dough. Let hem eat cake (and drink coffee)!
ReplyDeleteI like City of Saints a lot. Their coffee is good, the interior gels with the neighborhood, and the staff is always friendly. And they're not a laptop farm...which could easily be remedied by not offering wall sockets.
ReplyDelete"another crappy coffee chain. just what we need" I get my coffee from the local bodega. It's 10% less good but 70% cheaper. Just my 2 cents, as always.
ReplyDeleteGreat! Corporate coffee wars! You con go after you've had your corporate borito...
ReplyDeleteSuckers!!!
I make my coffee at home and occasionally do deli coffee, I never felt more like a minority in my life.
ReplyDelete4:35, I only drink tea. Think how I feel! If you are a minority, I am a pariah.
ReplyDeleteThree coffee shops is hardly a chain.
ReplyDeleteCoffee, iced coffee, coffee egg cream from Ray's and a spot in Tompkins, my new office now that Di Roberti's is closed... see ya.
ReplyDeleteBuy a four-cup Mr.Coffee coffeemaker, coffee filters, and (whatever coffee you like), make your own coffee, buy an Alladin thermos, and save tons of money.
ReplyDeleteQuoth uncle Pete...
ReplyDeleteI remember the 2nd avenue location was new when Sandy hit. I was making the walk from 23rd st down to my place a few times from work or my GF's, in the dark and saw a cluster of people crowding around the front of Pushcart looking at the ground. I thought someone was hurt. Turns out they had a gas generator running, plugged into a bunch of power strips so the folks in the neighborhood could charge their phones. Pretty nice and it quickly endeared them to the neighborhood. I enjoy their shops and the coffee is good. Welcome to the 'hood.
The 2nd avenue location was a beacon of hope after Sandy; I was walking down 2nd avenue, past all these dark storefronts, and was drawn in by the flickering lamplight. Pushcart has always held a warm place in my heart since then.
As far as takeout coffee goes, I generally only get Porto Rico's refill (75¢ at their Essex and Bleecker Street locations, $1 at St. Mark's) in my own thermal hoof; I tip them liberally because after getting coffee at other places for three times the price, I think it's the best deal in town. I also brew my own cold-brew in a Toddy maker I got a couple of years ago; consequently I can't see paying the outrageous prices for "artisanal" cold-brew some local places are charging.
Danielle here- Social Media & Engagement Coordinator here at Pushcart Coffee!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the kind words and support. We are excited for our new shop and appreciate feedback and suggestions- whether good or bad- because we always strive to learn new ways to be better for our customers.
We hope you'll all visit our new location and let us know your feedback via Yelp or you can personally e-mail danielle@pushcartcoffee.com.
Thank you again for all the feedback.
Best,
Danielle
City of Saints is 1000x better
ReplyDelete