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December 9, 2008

Streetlevel: Lonelyville Makes Windsor Terrace Lonelier

lonelyville-1208.jpg
Huh. Yesterday, we were reporting about cafés doing good business in Bed Stuy, so what's going on over here? Lonelyville, a very popular coffee shop in Windsor Terrace, has shuttered its doors. Not only that, but the building, rumored to be owned by the ladies who ran Lonelyville, is for sale, handled by Massey Knakal (this downloadable Powerpoint presentation shows the three-story building on the market for $1.25 million). About the café, the consensus around the neighborhood seems to be this: big fat bummer. GMAP




Posted by lisa at 2:02 PM | Comments (30)
Categories: Streetlevel, Windsor Terrace

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Comments

I hate this.

If this were Manhattan, you'd have a dry cleaners, a Starbucks or a bank put in its place in two shakes of a lamb's tail.

Posted by: Nokilissa at December 9, 2008 2:16 PM

Sorry to see it go, it was a cute little shop. I wonder if they closed because of lack of business or something more personal.

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at December 9, 2008 2:24 PM

Ugh, this makes me sick. This place was really fun and quaint, plus the coffee was light years ahead of Terrace Bagels and Connecticut Muffin.

Why did this happen? Business looked good to me - every time I was in there nearly every table was full.

Posted by: Drinky Crow at December 9, 2008 2:29 PM

maybe if people who infest coffee shops like roaches wouldd actually BUY coffee and not just sit there all day long staring at their overly priced macbooks pretending to be serious writers, places like this would stay in business.

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at December 9, 2008 2:29 PM

I heard from a regular customer it was a personal matter.

Posted by: slopefarm at December 9, 2008 2:36 PM

ok here is the word on the street:

the owners sold in order to "simplify their lives", whatever that means. They apparently had day jobs on top of running this business and didnt realize how tough that would be to manage.

the building has been sold, and the new owners will make the space into some sort of burger joint with beer + wine, so that looks promising.

I wasnt a huge fan of this place, although it was nice to have around. cute little shop, didn't seem well run IMO and i always got the sense that the owners didnt put "their all" into it, unlike nearby crossroads who seem so involved in the neighborhood..oh well

Posted by: blackstoner at December 9, 2008 2:37 PM

Good point Rob! I recently went in the Tea Lounge and realized that the place was packed, but was as quiet as a library. When I looked around, not one person was talking to another even though pressed together on couches. All were on their computers. It was profound and sad - the new suburbia.

Posted by: Jebby at December 9, 2008 2:41 PM

wtf does "the new suburbia" mean.

Posted by: Santa at December 9, 2008 2:48 PM

Whatever and whenever I wind up opening some sort of a food business, there will be no WiFi. I went into a coffee shop in Ft Greene awhile back and some guy had to get up and stretch his back, apparently he had been sitting there so long fragging away.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at December 9, 2008 2:53 PM

A place where you don't interact with those around you. Where you have 250 channels but don't talk to your neighbor, or where you surf the web and don't acknowledge the person sitting next to you.

Posted by: Jebby at December 9, 2008 2:55 PM

the diner next door has a sign in the window saying it will be opening as an italian coffee place or something of that ilk...I saw it on my way by the other day.

Posted by: new2hood at December 9, 2008 2:56 PM

I have never understood how "coffee shops" make money. In fact there are lots of businesses whose business plan includes encouraging people to loiter for long periods of time. Say what you want about Starbucks and Barnes & Noble, both contribute far more to the public good than their income presents. As far as I am concerned, they deserve a public subsidy for the bathrooms which are open to the public.

Posted by: slick at December 9, 2008 3:14 PM

could you imagine if they had WiFi at Central Perk on Friends!?! Ross and Rachel would NEVER have gotten together! i cannot believe i just said that.

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at December 9, 2008 3:18 PM

i got the biggest 'tude thrown in my face at ozzies once because when i get iced coffee i dont want a cup of ice with 1/2 an ounce of coffee. i want mostly coffee and a little bit of ice. i was shocked when i asked for lite ice and this twerpish man-child scowled at me and said "uh the ice melts."

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at December 9, 2008 3:22 PM

Dave, I think I remember you said you were an investor in a new business on Stuyvesant (?). Maybe it was the organic grocery? I'm curious to know what you're up to. It's exciting when people can help create businesses where they live.

Posted by: mopar at December 9, 2008 4:10 PM

*Rob* please shut up.

Posted by: Looky Lou at December 9, 2008 4:17 PM

I heard from an irregular customer it was an impersonal matter.

Posted by: raphael9 at December 9, 2008 4:32 PM

I for one hope Rob doesn't shut up cause he makes me laugh. You go Rob. Don't know what Looky Lou's beef is but whatever...

Posted by: wasder at December 9, 2008 4:33 PM

>

It's a good thing it's not manhattan then, because 1) dry cleaners make lousy coffee, 2) who needs another starbux, 3) the last thing we need is another bank to bail out, and 4) if you shake a lamb's tail enough the lamb gets nasty

Posted by: raphael9 at December 9, 2008 4:35 PM

rob is right about the ice. he stays.

Posted by: raphael9 at December 9, 2008 4:36 PM

looky lou might be the 'twerpish man-child' and his feelings are now hurt.

Posted by: goldie at December 9, 2008 4:44 PM

Says a lot about "looky lou" that his one and only post on brownstoner was to tell rob to shut up.

I like your posts Rob. Wacky, but good.

Posted by: 11217 at December 9, 2008 4:50 PM

okay well i am fer SURE going to be like , "lookey here lookey lou, i demand less ice!" the next time i get iced coffee from there...

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at December 9, 2008 5:17 PM

Rob, you have lots of friends here!

Posted by: Biff Champion at December 9, 2008 5:29 PM

We need a bar!

Posted by: erica at December 9, 2008 8:47 PM

Yes, these people who sit in these coffee shops writing their memoirs are really killing both the atmosphere and the profits the owners can count on. There is a place on Smith St. where despite the tattoos and piercings on the clientele, it feels as if one has mistakenly walked into the reading room at the NY Public Library. What this neighborhood needs is a fine bar; one that does not have a television blaring the latest game.

Posted by: Basso at December 9, 2008 9:05 PM

Rob, let me add my highest praise, twice:
1. for pointing out the idiocy of the "iced coffee" cup full of nothing but ice because the losers won't make and pre-chill some brewed coffee (so you get tepid coffee-flavored melted icewater), and
2) for coining the phrase "twerpish man-child." "Hipster" has seen its day; welcome, TMC.

Posted by: Brenda from Flatbush at December 10, 2008 9:30 AM

TMC is perfect. and thank you brenda from flatbush. seriously i giggle whenever i see your screenname hahahahah

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at December 10, 2008 10:15 AM

How about Childish Man-Twerp or CMT?

Posted by: wasder at December 10, 2008 10:17 AM

A cup 3/4 full of ice melting into your iced coffee makes it *weak* and diluted, which is not what anyone wants!! Rob, you keep posting and coining replacements for "hipster".

Posted by: mscrochety at December 10, 2008 11:30 AM

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