In addition, management said some customers sitting outside were assaulted last week.
"We make coffee as an excuse to connect, to collaborate, to create… but when we are afraid to even go to work, it defeats our values, our DNA," they said.
The shop opened at 319 E. 14th St. in late February 2021 and brought some welcome daytime activity to this north side of the block.
The growing coffee brand has three other EV locations — 131 E. Seventh St. near Avenue A, 101 Second Ave. at Sixth Street and 159 E. 10th St. at Second Avenue.
17 comments:
This 787 was very nice addition to the block...but no surprise at all to learn that that's the reason for the closure. Just this very morning, as I've done over the years, I contacted Carlina Rivera's office (especially email photos if other's decide to contact her) regarding the return of encampments to the intersection of 14th and 1st (currently on the NW corner). A man defecated in the middle of the sidewalk last week on the corner, which is quite unfortunately not the first time I've seen such a thing around the intersection. It's simply not ok.
Pinch
NYC is in a race to the bottom with San Francisco. San Francisco is currently winning, but we're catching up!
Sad to see them go. But honestly, how many coffee shops do we really need in our neighborhood? There are too many and this is perhaps why a business such as this is unsustainable in today's economic climate.
I do on average of 2 311 homeless encampment filing every 2 weeks for both sides of 14th Street between Ave A and 1st Ave. In addition to the encampments and illegal "peddlers" (some of these are lookouts for the dealers), there has been major drug dealing on 14th Street in front of Mike's deli (they are found inside there as well, that's their HQ-I also did 2 911 assault calls that were dealer related) and the Immaculate Conception courtyard entrance, but that "war" was lost some time ago. And don't get me started on Immaculate Conception and their role in the 14th Street CF that is failure across the board for many NYC agencies for some time now.
Isn't this where Madman Espresso also failed to make a go of it?
That's correct, Sarah.
Madman closed (their other locations remain open) and Champion Coffee took over... they decided to close during the pandemic.
I find that most of these stories of revolving-door businesses ultimately aren't a crime problem, they're a rent problem.
But it sounds like there are a lot of bad actors along 14th Street lately... none of which are the council members, who have been extremely attentive and don't have these problems elsewhere in their districts...
Think about it for just one second: no one wants to be so hard up for money that they're forced to sell drugs or junk along 14th Street. It's really easy to blame JUST the people doing the sidewalk crapping and the drug purchasing/use, but this is generally disturbing behavior that points to a lot of illness in the area... which is all shoved into 14th like a gutter. Gramercy pushes that kind of activity out, Stuy Town pushes it out, the wealthier residential blocks in the East Village push it out... where do you think it goes? Of course it ends up on 14th and along First Avenue north/south. And, with the exception of drug dealers, these all seem to be mental-illness problems that are treatable.
So, we're failing at treating the problems of the people directly mixed up with this, we've got a couple of businesses and institutions along the corridor who are contributing to either blight or criminal activity (or both), and 14th is a precinct border... a fact whose consequences I don't need to elaborate to locals.
The reason this situation exists is the "clean up the filth" mentality. If you give people problems and then you push them out of most public spaces, their problems don't go away. I would like to see the city address this in an effective way, which is equivalent to a humane way... I'm not holding my breath
787 is not a one off brand. They have 20+ sites and they are a NYC based concept so this says a lot, sadly. The city needs to step up and stop letting these problems fester. The encampments are an increasing issue for sure.
"five break-ins in the past four weeks" and "some customers sitting outside were assaulted last week"
Nothing to see here.
Funny how some of the commenters immediately want to deflect the problem. Enough coffee shops & rent issues. Perhaps both true but maybe we should take the owners at their word in this case. And maybe we should give them some credit for trying to make a go of it.
The question is why are businesses leaving / failing in that area?
We do want more small businesses in our neighborhood, right?
for many years I’ve determined to avoid 14th st from Ave A to 3rd Ave and it just gets worse and worse
Well said, Brian.
I agree with some that 14th street as the location could be the problem for this particular closure. Let's face it, unless it is McDonald's, Trader Joe's, Target, and the incoming Popeyes, where customers are consistently present and loyal, I just don't see how other businesses can remain, especially for the long term. Location, enormous rent costs and other factors determine one's success, especially against inflation and now, AI. You could have the best product and a warm staff, but if there isn't sufficient foot traffic, what's the point? It's 2023. Not 2013. Things have drastically changed.
14th street is a terrible street to do business unfortunately. Until the mayor or city council decides to wake up, majority of businesses are going to fail if they open on 14th street. Personally, i do whatever i can to avoid walking down 14th street, such a mess of a street. Clean it up.
I only visit 14th street to access Trader Joes, Target, and the L train, all of whom are on the corner of Ave A obviously. Walking on the sidewalk towards First Ave to Third Ave can be a bit sketchy. I am afraid to admit I concur with others on this comment thread. This area is a bit of a disaster. I don't feel particularly safe at certain times, and try to avoid it all together if I can.
When Panda Express opens (and they had their interviews a few weeks ago), how soon will they close when they realize the hellish corner they got themselves into?
Brian speaks for me too. When we don't address fundamental life issue kinds of problems--mental health, economic survival, homelessness--we end up with people doing things in public that diminish quality of life in the neighborhood overall. So we can shove these people/activities somewhere else, or we can apply some of the resources in this the richest nation on the planet to help these folks.
The Lower East Side always had these problems. 14 street between 2nd and 3rd avenue was amongst the most dangerous.
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