The plywood has been up for two-plus weeks now on the northwest corner of Avenue A and St. Mark's Place, where workers are carving out a Starbucks from the remains of Hop Devil Grill and Nino's.
The door was open the other day...
There looks to be a ways to go before you'll be able to buy coffee drinks or use the restrooms here.
Meanwhile, various community groups and local shop owners from the East Village Independent Merchants Association are planning a protest here on Thursday, July 13 from 5:30-6:30 p.m.
[Image via @evimanyc]
Per the invite...
Another Starbucks is planned for the huge storefront at 125 St Mark's Place at Ave A. We don't need more chains in the East Village! We need retail diversity and independently owned local businesses!
Join community groups and local shop owners from EVIMA and more to stand up for the unique character of the East Village. Support policies that can promote retail diversity, prevent chain stores and preserve small businesses!
Oh Please. Not another stupid rally. What will this serve?
ReplyDeleteIts a done deal. The lease has probably been signed and the renovations are being done. I would much rather have a Starbucks there instead of another, loud, obnoxious bro bar with frat boys and sorority girls and the other duche bags who scream and cause mayhem on the weekends. This neighborhood has become too much with the noise and crowds.
Sorry. But another Starbucks isn't the end of the world. It was going to happen here at some point. So, lets embrace it and move forward.
No one thinks it's the end of the world. Why not protest? The point is to send a message and find solutions to help independents. This is just one of many actions people are taking. Your snarky isn't cute by the way. lol
DeleteStarbucks has a good reputation for treating its employees well. Better a Starbucks than a bar any day. No one has to do business with Starbucks, and it will be a quiet place, unlike a bar where people hang out on the sidewalk at night and smoke cancer sticks.
ReplyDeleteBill
There's an easier way to solve this problem: JUST STOP SUPPORTING THE CHAINS, STOP BUYING STARBUCKS. There are only two reasons to go in there: If you have to pee or if you've run out of sugar. Otherwise, don't bother.
ReplyDeleteGrateful to get my skinny Soy latte so close to the dog run can't wait
ReplyDeleteWe had a coffee place. Becausenof chains like Starbucks, we lost it.
DeleteProtests need to be for vacancy tax and % increase caps on commercial spaces. Free market is getting and starting your business, not being forced out by a bunch of money hungry wankers who want to bend tax law.
ReplyDeleteCan we gt a Starbucks on Avenue D please?
ReplyDeleteI like the EVIMA's commitment and all that. But why not spend more time supporting the existing (NON-BAR) businesses in the neighborhood. Protesting a Starbucks seems so 1990s. I'm glad this is going to be something like a Starbucks as opposed to that restauarant-networking-bar space that that one guy wanted. That would have become a high-end cocktail bar within about two months of the food-co-op space failing spectacularly.
ReplyDeleteI don't see what the big deal is. It's Starbucks. They offer free wifi, comfy tables to lay your things out, inexpensive refills on tea and coffee, usually the service is wonderful, they have air conditioning in the summer, heat in the winter, a restroom if you need to use it, and no one bothers even if you stay for hours.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the first commenter. No more bro bars. Its tearing our community apart. I don't even want to go out on the weekends. At least with Starbucks, we all know what to expect. I am looking forward to their arrival...
And the survey says!
ReplyDeleteMore people want Starbucks than not.
So much better then crusties doing drugs on the corner! Yahh mocha frap!
ReplyDeleteCrusties will be serving you your lattes
DeleteMany MORE PLEASE!!! I have a SBUCKS card pre-loaded that I need to spend down.
ReplyDeleteYou have to pick and choose your fights and this one is a loser. The EV has gone "chain" a long time ago. And as much as I personally hate Starbs, they are a lot better than another fratbar.
ReplyDeleteTo celebrate their new East Village location, Starbucks will be offering the following limited edition drinks:
ReplyDeleteThe Purple Unicorn: It's like a rent stabilized apartment: Almost impossible to find, and it disappears the minute you see it.
The Crustie Caramel Frappucino: It's really cold, full of serious attitude, and you will go home practically broke after you empty your pockets trying to pay for it. The mock-syringe collectible stir stick is extra.
C Squat Espresso: The cup is only half full, but you only have to pay for the electricity used to make it. Must supply your own cup.
The EV Grieve Latte: It's hot and foamy, but somehow it's never quite good enough, and you will complain about it all day even as you demand the unlimited free refills.
Funny
DeleteAs a longtime resident, I am putting my effort into stopping the opening of new bars and trying to get the police to demand better behavior from the existing bars. I won't patronize this Starbucks, but it is a done deal. It is too late to protest now, and I am not worried about a Starbucks keeping me awake at night. It's all the bro bars on Upper Avenue A that keep me up at night.
ReplyDeleteI can't get behind a Starbucks rally, how about a rally for universal health coverage? But the service is "wonderful" at Starbucks?
ReplyDelete(I was in L.A. recently and there was a Starbucks near our dumpy hotel in Hollywood that was blasting annoying music early in the morning so you could not even read a newspaper in peace and quiet...)
Memories of this so-called protest/rally will soon be filed away right next those of the 7-11 of a few years ago. We all remember how people terrorized and vilified the poor sap who opened that joint.
ReplyDeleteVacancy tax vacancy tax vacancy tax
ReplyDeleteTo the previous poster, let's not forget how the landlord and "the poor sap" who opened the 7-11 tortured the residents above by installing loud machinery in the back of the building that kept people awake all hours of the night.
ReplyDeleteAt 6:56 AM, Anonymous said:
ReplyDeleteThere's an easier way to solve this problem: JUST STOP SUPPORTING THE CHAINS, STOP BUYING STARBUCKS. There are only two reasons to go in there: If you have to pee or if you've run out of sugar. Otherwise, don't bother.
If you have to pee and you've run out of sugar, you should see your doctor. Seriously, you might be diabetic.
I'm another person who won't be patronizing this $tarbucks, but I'll also cross the street to avoid it; I think it's a blight on the neighborhood and besides, they have shitty, overpriced coffee.
I ran into Jack, of Jack's Stir-Brewed Coffee opening another location on the West side a few weeks ago, and I suggested he open a new one in my neighborhood. "Where's that?" he asked me. "East Village," I said. He apparently already knew a Starbucks was going to be moving in.
Yikes. Who would have thought an incoming Starbucks would possibly evoke so much resentment, anger and bitterness on this forum of comments?
ReplyDeleteThe purpose for this rally is well intended, but I doubt it will lead anywhere. Look at the rally for the Marriot Hotel on 13th or the 7-11 on Ave A. Nothing came of it. Everyone has the right to be there and speak their minds. I just don't see a purpose in doing it.
I'd much rather have a Starbucks than another stupid Bro Bar indeed. Why in the world did all of the bros end up in the EV, especially Alphabet City? They invade our streets almost every night, especially the weekends. What is the allure? I often feel like I am in Chapel Hill University in NC. Screaming. Vomiting. Running into people on sidewalks. Arrogance. No respect for the neighbors. It's a shit show. Having a Starbucks there will diminish some of that I believe.
Starbucks is happening. This has been a long time coming. It was just a matter of time. So, let's stop with the hating, act like adults, deal with it, and embrace positive change for our hood. Good night!
I would give anything for a Starbucks to replace Doublewide this fall. Anything!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIn another 50 years ave d will get one but the fact that sturbucks made it to ave a is revolutionary.
ReplyDeleteThe comment section of the Grieve, finally making sense.
ReplyDeleteI hate the chains and will never be at peace with it, let alone embrace it.
ReplyDeleteNO MORE FRAT-BRO BARS!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe rally IS pro small business. The dozens of small businesses that may be run OUT of business by this Starbucks. I moved here (to New York City AND the East Village) for retail diversity, not national chains. We have three (four?) Starbucks here already. As for the bro bars? Get used to them. They are the only businesses that are thriving. And if you sit on a street corner for a few hours you will see why: The East Village is CRAWLING with the most bland, boring, white bread bros and Beckys who are here spending there "tween years" (between graduating from college and spawning and moving to the 'burbs) going out and RAGING.
ReplyDeleteUgh. You people are all so horrible. I hope a bro bar opens downstairs from EVERY ONE OF YOU.
Starsucks: thankfully we have many better coffee shops to go to. Just don't go there. Their bitter nasty coffee should be reason enough.
ReplyDeleteBoycott the chains! Overpriced Starf$!ks just drives out small businesses.
ReplyDeleteIt's not Starbucks fault for opening here — this is squarely on the landlord. Let's not forget how Nino's closed. There was an alleged gas leak, and the landlord shut off the gas without warning and still tried to make Nino pay his rent. Sensing he had no chance to outlast their deep pockets, Nino accepted a buyout from Citi Urban Management. How long were the tenants here without gas? 18 months?
ReplyDeleteIf it wasn't a Starbucks, it would be a bar, so I'll begrudingly take it.
ReplyDeletePeople are against Starbucks opening in this place because it's a corporation that only they can afford the rent here or anywhere else in the EV or Manhattan. Gone are the independent mom-n-pop shops offering what the neighborhood actually needs and/or wants, such as a butcher shop, fishmonger, fruit and vegetable syore, bookshop, an affordable restaurant/diner.
ReplyDeleteAs for Starbucks, it is here to stay. Not just here, but everywhere, all over the world. I am amazed when I go to another country and the tourists patronize Starbucks instead of experiencing that country's culture. Same for the locals. They actually celebrate having Starbucks around. It signifies urban and civilization. It's a place for everyone. It's a place for comfort, convenience, and familiarity. A Starbucks in the EV is no different than the one in L.A. or Podunk or Tokyo or Kiev. One knows what to expect when they walk into a Starbucks.
Finally, it's sad that the option we have now is either a corporate chain store or a douchebrobar. If a ______ opens up, reaction will be, but it's better than _____. Such as the case here.
All hail Starbucks! Groupthink and herd mentality is alive and well among the yuppie, millenial, hipster crowd from somewhere else who wants NYC to be like somewhere else.
ReplyDeleteGod fucking FORBID it should be a live music venue with bar and little corner for records, cassettes, and cds by local/area unsigned bands.
Nooooo it has to be the 568th Starbucks in NYC and the 6784th one in the US. All cuz you can't live with what you had back home and LOL at you for paying the highest rent in the country (or second highest to San Francisco) to live somewhere with it.
Starbucks Starsucks. The classic tell a lie enough and it becomes the truth. Everyone drinks from the Starbucks well save one person and HE'S the mad one. Everyone lauds it save one and he's the mad one, the curmudgeon, the misanthrope but au contraire - he just has seen when the East Village was a vibrant, eclectic, diverse, artistic, creative place which it is not now. It is dead.
Enjoy your overpriced overrated coffee.
But are they reinventing cream cheese? Doubt it.
ReplyDeleteWe need to protest these dann landlords who are making these rents so incredibly high.regular small business owners can't afford to stay. Only big corporations can afford to move in. There are so many empty storefront where business have had to close because these landlords suddenly Jack the rent so high.
ReplyDelete9th street espresso will likely close because of this. So thanks for putting a chain who doesn't care and closing a local business. YuppieBros
ReplyDeleteLOL, that's absurd. Ninth Street Espresso thrives I other markets. Do your research.
DeleteSo the commenters have such anti-bar derangement syndrome that they are willing to support anything...chain drugstores, chain coffee places, Wal-Mart, just so long as it's not a *shudder* bar!
ReplyDeleteWhat's the fundamental difference between "big chain" and "mom 'n pop"? The big chain doesn't care about the neighborhood! Rubbish. Both exist by and for making money. Bottom line. Take any small shop, flood it with cash and the next thing you know they've set up another shop a few blocks away. At the end of the day it's business. Big fish eats little fish. Compete and win, or die. Same as it ever was. Some people, for some strange reason, can't get enough of complaining that water is wet and fire burns. There ought to be law against fire burning you because I'm a fool and I want to keep sticking my finger in it. Then the same people complain when they end up on the lunch table.
ReplyDeleteA one hour protest? I see your bet and raise it a 15 minute rally!
ReplyDeletesadly the war is over. i can't believe it took so long. half of thompkins square park is playgrounds. the stroller pushers need their morning joe. the only protest worthwhile, which takes no time, is not going in there. personally i'd prefer a bar, especially if it stayed open until four everyday.
ReplyDeleteApparently the gas problem that plagued this corner for months is miraculously fixed just in time for a Starbucks to open! I do think the protestors should call attention to that and demand answers from ConEd.
ReplyDeletePlease. No more Bros. I ll take Starbucks over them anytime, anywhere. This area has become a large frat house on the weekends. I wish they would terrorize another neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to the free wifi at SB :)
A lot of other cafes don't have it or even offer space to sit down to read or work on your laptop.
It's the EV want quiet go to the suburbs
DeleteI dream of a place where chains are uncool and nobody shops at them. I thought New York City was that place. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteAny of you who moved to the EV in the past 15 years and are complaining about Bro bars are morons. While many of us mourn the last wisps of smoke that are all that remains of the once perfectly imperfect East Village. Those that moved there in the last decade and a half moved into an NYU annexed all ready douche-friendly hellhole. So yeah, go reload your Starbucks cards. You are the problem. YOU killed NY.
ReplyDeleteNot everyone that moved to the EV in the last 15 years is the problem. I moved there in 2015, but I'm just an artist type who comes from a poor background. It's not my fault that I'm only in my mid-late 20's. I work hard for what I have and I'm sick and tired of these old New Yorkers bitching about the youngsters! Not all of us are fucking privileged!
DeleteI care so much about this damn neighborhood. If I was an old fuck like you I would have been here longer. You can't help age.
I believe as a community we need to stick together and support local businesses. Go to Honest Chops and buy your meat, go to the fresh market and buy your veggies on the weekend, buy your coffee from a local artisan or beer from Good Beer. If you spend your hard earned at chains like Starbucks, we will start to live a consumer life that is completely chosen for us, with no diversity in price, quality or personality. Wholefoods is a perfect example of our reality, shopping "organically" but what does this even mean? They own all the farms, they dictate what we buy and now have been acquired by amazon, so it gets even worse. How many small business are lost because of Wholefoods? This protest held by the local community will not stop Starbucks from opening but hopefully rally's strong support for the local business who need your help to keep originality and diversity in East Village and New York. We are looking at a sanitized future if we don't. #supportlocal !!!
ReplyDeleteWhat is going to happen when Target opens up on Ave A/14th St.?
ReplyDelete'Time for a NYC-based Starbucks-like chain:
ReplyDeleteCawffee
Cheap, served in that blue and white Greek cup, minimum 500 degrees Farenheit,
no laptops or lounging around.
"Getcha Cawffee 'N' Do Whatcha Gotta Do!"
Looking forward for a hybrid coffee shop cum douchebrobar to open soon.
ReplyDeleteConsidering all the small businesses were closed due to a mysterious gas leak and tenants in the building have endured 18 months of no cooking gas .I am sure the landlord also got tax abatement the whole time the spaces sat empty .I would hope that anything except a chain would go into those spaces.
ReplyDeleteWhat was here at the corner of st marks and ave a back in the 90’s?
ReplyDelete