How Bread Stuy Didn't Die
Over the weekend the Times had a piece on how community members rallied to save Bread Stuy after it was shut down by the feds. The article looked at how people in neighborhood see the 6-year-old coffee shop as "part of the fabric of the community," and threw three fundraisers to help its owners pay the $10,000 they owed in tax penalties. The outpouring has given Bread Stuy's owners both a psychological and financial boost: "Having run through their savings and being unable to leverage their home, they thought they would simply have to move back to Oakland, Calif., where they lived before coming to New York in 2000. But the generosity of the neighborhood—one woman gave Mr. Porter $25 on the street 'for milk and Pampers,' he said, reducing him to tears—has given the couple new resolve. 'Every day, I am making coffee with a purpose,' he said. 'Like, 'I am going to make the best cup of coffee in America.' We’re going to make this happen.'"
Saving a Place to Bump Into People [NY Times]
Bread Stuy Seized By Feds [Brownstoner]
Photo by anonymous rose.
54 Comments
By Boerumresident on February 16, 2010 10:09 AM
By Butterfly on February 16, 2010 10:13 AM
no clue, but people must really lurve their muffins and coffee to be able to raise 10,000 dollars to save it.
*rob*
By benson on February 16, 2010 10:34 AM
"Jonathan Landau, who lives near the shop and held one of the fund-raisers, said he moved to Bedford-Stuyvesant two years ago from the Upper West Side because he was looking for the sense of community he found here, with the “Sesame Street”-like brownstone stoop culture and ethos of neighbors helping neighbors. "
Please shoot me.
By bxgrl on February 16, 2010 10:39 AM
You've probably never even set foot in Bed-Stuy- your loss.
By Butterfly on February 16, 2010 10:40 AM
lol, when youre done benson pass that gun to me.
*rob*
By traditionalmod on February 16, 2010 10:46 AM
K-Dog & Dunebuggy cafe in PLG could have been cited as an example of a community-building coffeeshop in this article too. Everybody knows the owners and employees, we always see somebody we know in there, the cafe serves as a meeting place for local groups and a place to provide the neighborhood with news, notices, petitions, etc. It serves such an important role; I am pleased but not at all surprised Bed-Stuy residents rallied to save their Bread Stuy.
By Butterfly on February 16, 2010 10:51 AM
not to be a debbie downer, but arent their bigger and more important issues in the bed stuy community that need addressing in terms of supportive rallying and private donations? i know it's important to have neighborhood business anchors like this and im definitely happy for the owners, but it just seems so strange to me, but then again lots of things seem strange to me.
*rob*
By bxgrl on February 16, 2010 10:58 AM
rob- the community sees Bread-Stuy as an important part of the community because it is a gathering place, a family place. It was one of the businesses that showcased local people doing positive things in Bed-Stuy and wasn't another bullet-proof takeout store, as Chris Rock would have phrased it. It's this kind of community response that makes NYC living worthwhile. Would that other neighborhoods did the same - maybe some people wouldn't be so bitter about how real communities function.
By traditionalmod on February 16, 2010 10:59 AM
Well some people like to conduct the bulk of their social interactions live in person face-to-face, not just anonymously on blogs.
By traditionalmod on February 16, 2010 11:00 AM
I was addressing Rob in my last post btw. Good points, bxgrl.
By Butterfly on February 16, 2010 11:02 AM
ok fair, enough, that's what i figured.
*rob*
By benson on February 16, 2010 11:02 AM
Rob;
Man, you are so right on target with this one.
Don't you know that these newcomers are into COMMUNITY, yes, COMMUNITY, and what better way to SHOW that they are into COMMUNITY than this??? Visiting a home-bound elederly, sick neighbor just on your own? Man, that's not going to get you into the NYT. Watching a neighbor's kid while they attend to an urgent matter? Not going to cut it. Fundraising for a precious cafe with the cute name to demonstrate COMMUNITY - now that's the ticket!
Simply nauseating.
You think the NYT would run a similiar story if the owner were Nick Thetapoulos who runs a diner in Bayside, Queens and names it simply "Nick's Diner"? Not on your life. Why, they don't have COMMUNITY in such areas. No Upper West Siders moving to there who can tell the NYT how much they love the COMMUNITY there.
By be_rude on February 16, 2010 11:04 AM
Seems these owners are nice folks, and I generally agree with the sentiment that an independent coffee shop is a good "third place" and vital part of the fabric of the community.
But, as rob said, aren't their more pressing -- and important -- local issues folks could spend their charitable dollars on? I guess it is not my place to tell other people how to spend their money, though, so if they want to do it helping their local coffee shop more power to them, I suppose. But did they at least get shares in the business (as the Times says happened with Vox Pop) or some potential upside, or was this purely a gift to a for-profit enterprise??
By bxgrl on February 16, 2010 11:08 AM
unbelievable. They don't get more envious than that folks.
Newcomers? Right- so sorry they wanted to do something for the community they love. I had no idea there was a seniority requirement to live or work in Brooklyn. Yet they brought more to Brooklyn than, I daresay, some of those folk who sit wallowing in their own jealousy.
By TownhouseLady on February 16, 2010 11:12 AM
Get a freakin grip.
People did something nice and it nauseates you? So typical.
There's always going to be something more important, a bigger cause, a more urgent matter. Does that mean we don't do anything to help anyone else until the most pressing matters according to Benson's list of 'better causes' are dealt with?
By all means, give us number one on the list and we'll cease any and all giving and assistance to anything else until it's cured, corrected and rectified.
By more4less on February 16, 2010 11:16 AM
any details on what caused them to be behind on the taxes? I would imagine a six year run (& apparently quite popular establishment) would mean it's a profitable biz. and if profitable biz, surprised owner couldn't come up with the 10k or 20k to pay off the lien. if not profitable, then it would make me really question my desire to open a biz in bed stuy or crown heights - ie even a popular biz like this in a good location cant make money, how will you be able to pull it off
By Butterfly on February 16, 2010 11:20 AM
maybe this place probably was decent to their employees. lots and lots of food establishments in nyc treat their employees like doggy doo-doo and pay them way less than minimum wage because they know they can get away with it.
*rob*
By bxgrl on February 16, 2010 11:24 AM
THL- too true. And the reason Bread-Stuy got so much community support is because it was perceived not just as an amenity, but also an important functioning part of the community. Communities used to work like this - small local businesses were part of the community, run by friends and filling a crucial role. Maybe because they are more working class communities (I see a lot of the same feeling in CHN), and those communities are used to doing more for themselves.
By wasder on February 16, 2010 11:31 AM
benson--you are right that some of those littler community things don't get noticed and are undervalued, but to take it out on Bread Stuy is wrong headed. Regardless of whatever other issues Bed Stuy has as a neighborhood, I can vouch for the fact that this place is crucial to the street life and general livability of that part of stuy heights. Its a gathering spot, meeting house, restaurant, and neighborhood hub all in one and regardless of what you think about the fawning press coverage its a damn good thing those people did and I hope that Bread Stuy can keep on keeping on.
By Bob Marvin on February 16, 2010 11:33 AM
"Please shoot me"
"Simply nauseating"
Benson--you seem to be going out of your way to validate my thinly veiled description of you as dyspeptic.
I know I've sometimes been unfair in attempting to ridicule you, but I can't understand how anyone can be so mean spirited in many of his posts, while showing a wicked (in a good way) sense of humor in others.
BTW, as traditionalmod observed, K-Dog & Dunebuggy, our local PLG cafe fills a role similar to Bread Stuy and it doesn't even have the word community in it's title. Does that make it less "nauseating"?
"Blowhard Bob"
By Montrose Morris on February 16, 2010 11:33 AM
Benson, I really don't know what your problem is. Why have such rants against a coffee shop? If Nick's Diner in Bayside held a rally for whatever reason, and it was a beloved COMMUNITY spot, it would have had success, and press attention. What is wrong with that? There have been plenty of places that have had their communities rally around them when there is trouble, danger of closing, whatever. It's what people in a community do when businesses and institutions that they support are in trouble, or need help. We don't all just live in our homes, walk to work in a vaccuum, and never interact with the people and businesses around us. We patronize them, talk to the owners and workers, and form bonds of friendship, comraderie, or at the very least, politeness and recognition of their presense, and our participation in them staying open, and the mutual benefits to both parties. Spots like this, as you well know, are reasons people move to, or stay in neighborhoods.
Bed Stuy used to have plenty of neighborhood spots like this, but most were long gone in the last 20 years. The fact that someone opened a successful business, and has the support of neighbors and friends is a good thing, and should be applauded, not derided. The fact that those neighbors chose to help keep them open is a wonderful statement about both owner and patrons.
By TownhouseLady on February 16, 2010 11:37 AM
Honestly Bxgrl and I'm not trying to be facetious but I have no ties to this community, I gain nothing by it's being open there yet, I see a story like this and I think, "Oh that's nice, people helping people". Why? It's refreshing to see people reaching out to help others.
Maybe I'm just wacky that way. Or, maybe I should be less tolerant of peoples urge to assist those not deemed deserving. Perhaps I am the insufferable one for not seeing that this is NOT a 'feel good' story but a story showing how stupid and misguided people can be.
Shoot me now for being so damned blind.
By bxgrl on February 16, 2010 11:43 AM
I would THL but I am busy cutting my wrists at the thought the community actually banded together to help someone. What is the world coming to? :)
By TownhouseLady on February 16, 2010 11:54 AM
I'm not the right person to ask Bxgrl.
Remember, I try to assist the community too. I take stray cats and pay for them to be neutered out of my own pocket to help control the feral population in the community. I even give them free food, water and a relatively warm spot to sleep at night should they need it. Reading this I'm now positive that my money should be going to something more beneficial but I'm just to stupid to know what.
Also, I'd appreciate it if you'd go ahead and assume that because I do the above that's the only thing I do.
Please, make sure you close your mind to the thought that I might give to other charities, I might help the elderly or other neighbors in need, that I attend community board meetings, block assoc. meetings or do anything else to volunteer my time aid my community.
By bxgrl on February 16, 2010 11:59 AM
Gee- I'll try, THL but the bar for this kind of thinking is set so low I don't think I can. That award must go to the esteemed b-word.
By herb e hancock on February 16, 2010 12:14 PM
I agree that this place is great and this is exactly the kind of fabric needed to build the community.
But to say it was "shut down by the feds" implies that they are victims of some larger oppression, when in reality they just weren't paying their tax bills!
By slopefarm on February 16, 2010 12:20 PM
Ok, when we do the 2010 PLUSA awards, we need a new category -- biggest misanthrope.
By cmu on February 16, 2010 12:38 PM
Absolutely appalling to read this. Don't those misguided do-gooders know that Park Slope is the ONLY place to invest money in local businesses? What a frakking bunch of losers to spend it all there instead of our failing Yogo Monster.
By benson on February 16, 2010 12:43 PM
Folks;
WOW!
First, let me say that I am moved by Bob's post.
(e-handshake to Bob)
Bob, you're reading too much into my statements. While I agree that I became quite upset over the Green Church issue (and to this day, I think rightfully so), I've not done so with subsequent discussions. I like to be a little dramatic in my statements of objection :-)
I don't like the self-referential and self-congratulatory tone to this story. If folks want to help out these folks, hey, that's fine by me (as a good conservative, I believe folks should be free to do what they want with their money).
What I object is the uncritical trumpeting of this fundraiser as evidence of just how community-minded these folks are, and of course the NYT is happy to do so, as it has become part of their daily operation to flatter their readership (which is why they made a point fo quoting a guy from the UWS).
Call it what you will, but at the end of the day Bread-Stuy is a private business. The fact that they fell so behind on their taxes ought to raise at least some questions. Do we get any such skepticism in the NYT or Brownstoner? Nope, just fawning coverage, which again, flatters their readership.
IMHO, one of the problems NYC suffers from right now is an orthodoxy in thinking about many areas of life. I kind of find this funny, because I believe what made NYC so great in the old days was a tough-mindedness that seems to have vanished.
That's it for me today folks. I'm home having my HW heating system fixed. It will cost me $800. Anybody want to contribute, as I provide a community service to this site? ;-)
Have a good day all.
By bxgrl on February 16, 2010 12:50 PM
We would contribute if you did provide a community service ;)
By bxgrl on February 16, 2010 12:59 PM
Beyond that, benson- this is simply your interpretation. It's tough to be in business- especially if you're a small business. From your posts I bet you didn't even read the article or you would know why this guy wound up where he is. I have a hard time understanding why you think he should have just walked away-it makes no sense whatsoever. Bread Stuy is the kind of business communities like this need- and the community clearly recognized it, and pitched in to help. Seems like a very old-fashioned , positive sense of values which you now deride. But why should hard times mean giving up? I have far more admiration for people who know when to ask for help ( it's a lot harder than you credit) and for those willing to give it. That's what makes NYC great- people coming together to help each other.
By Montrose Morris on February 16, 2010 1:00 PM
Sorry, benson, but I have to disagree with the use of the word "fawning". I didn't see anyone here or in the Times fawning. Saying Bread Stuy is a cool place, and writing about a community supporting a business is not fawning.
I also don't find it relevant or necessary for a reporter, or for us here to investigate the why's and wherefore's of their financial state. Do we look at the finances of every business we talk about, or does the Times write about the finances of every small business they choose to write a community piece on? I don't think so. A lot of people and small businesses have both tax and financial problems. It makes them human, not potential criminals. Bread Stuy was a victim, like thousands of others, of a slow economy. If they weren't selling a lot of goods, then they may not have had sufficient funds to pay taxes. Taxes come whether you are doing well or not. How many prominant people and huge businesses have had tax problems? If they are bailed out by us as taxpayers, or their wealthy friends, how is that different, or more honest, than being the recipient of a fund raiser? No one made those people contribute, they chose to, and that is a good thing, one of those stories that makes us think there is still good in this city, good in plain, everyday folks like us.
Even the tough guys of the old neighborhoods depended on the patronage of their neighbors, as does any business. NYC is hardly uniform in it's thinking, and about as unorthodox as it gets. Unless there is some insidious orthodoxy in supporting one's neighbors, which is all this is.
By wasder on February 16, 2010 1:08 PM
At one of the Brownstoner drinks Benson told me that he always throws tomatos at the TV at the end of "Its a Wonderful Life" because it pisses him off so much that George's bank got bailed out by the townspeople.
By bxgrl on February 16, 2010 1:13 PM
ROFL, wasder!
By Butterfly on February 16, 2010 1:20 PM
omg it's a wonderful life was like THE dumbest and most boring movie EVER!!! we were FORCED to watch that crap in grade school, and we weren't allowed to opt out and go to the library or something!!! TORTURE!
*rob*
By Bob Marvin on February 16, 2010 1:22 PM
How could I not accept your e-handshake Benson? I'll even go so far to say that my general antipathy towards the clergy might have influenced my position on the Green Church issue--although I STILL think I was right :-).
I got quite upset about your posts regarding MacDonough St., especially when you suggested that your Condo's DOB problems (serious though they are) were worse than those of that elderly lady, who was forced out of her home through no fault of her own. On first reading (and, indeed on subsequent re-reading) that DID seem mean-spirited, but perhaps that wasn't your intent.
As much as I liked the NYT article about Bread Stuy, I see your point and I'll go so far as to agree that the Newspaper of Record's local coverage leaves much to be desired. Even though it's improved in recent years, the News and the Post (right-wing rag that it is) are often better on local issues.
I doubt that we'll find much else on which to agree and I remain an un-reconstructed left-liberal who reserves the right to needle you when I think it's appropriate. No doubt you'll do the same with me.
No contributions towards your plumbing problems though. Yesterday I spent $160.05 to have a ball cock replaced on my ground floor toilet (aka terlet). At age 65 I find it mildly annoying to be just a little too inflexible to lie under the tank and fix it myself. Sympathy? Contributions? I think I perform as much of a public service here as Benson. If you contribute Benson I promise to give it to some lefty cause you'll hate :-)
By Butterfly on February 16, 2010 1:39 PM
quote:
I spent $160.05 to have a ball cock replaced
LOL
*rob*
By MoreThanThis on February 16, 2010 1:42 PM
Can one ever get enough of the vial spewage of Brownstoner?....NO! NO!
By daveinbedstuy on February 16, 2010 1:58 PM
I spent $2,200 a few years to have my cock loft insulated. I didn't see any outpouring from the community.
By Bob Marvin on February 16, 2010 1:58 PM
Maybe that's why "ball cocks" are now often referred to as "supply valves" :-)
By BSD on February 16, 2010 2:19 PM
Lance Armstrong became famous for the same thing, you raise your bar and try harder.
By Arkady on February 16, 2010 2:20 PM
I also don't understand the assumption that people who contributed to BreadStuy necessarily don't help neighbors in other ways.
I'm 66 & replaced 2 of my ball cocks last week! I told myself that if the huge guy who did the original plumbing could fit in that space, so could I.
By BSD on February 16, 2010 2:28 PM
"I'm 66 & replaced 2 of my ball cocks last week! I told myself that if the huge guy who did the original plumbing could fit in that space, so could I."
Double Entendre of the Day
By Arkady on February 16, 2010 2:29 PM
BSD - Unfortunately, only one has meaning to me...
By bfarwell on February 16, 2010 3:17 PM
omg, dying over here. i think my laughing might have just woken the kid...
By Legion on February 16, 2010 3:42 PM
.....ummmmm, I found an extra ball cock in my
brownstone's cock loft and I'm willing to donate
it in the spirit of community and for the sake of
putting a stop to all this cock and bull poppycock!
By Bob Marvin on February 16, 2010 4:33 PM
I seem to have inadvertently hijacked this thread by referring to the toilet part I had replaced yesterday. To continue in this middle school-level vein, ball cocks and cock lofts aren't the only old house parts that appeal to adolescent-type prurient interest. When I first bought my house there were beautiful Fuller cocks (a type of faucet) on my two dressing room sinks. I actually found a source for NOS Fuller balls (the rubber balls that got pulled up and down to shut the water flow). Unfortunately the Fuller balls, although NOS (new old stock) were generations old and deteriorated after a couple of weeks use. They would have been easy to replace except that there wasn't enough clearance to unscrew the faucets in place, meaning that I had to remove them from the water line and sink to install new balls. Lying on my back with a basin wrench got old real fast (even though I was more nimble 35 years ago. Fortunately I found new repro brass faucets that looked almost exactly like Fuller cocks, but are actually regular compression faucets, with washers.
I just looked at the website of Bathroom Machineries and they still have these "Fuller ball style faucets":
http://deabath.com/4inchlav/Widespread/basinfct/basinfct.html
When you factor in inflation they cost less than they did in the '70s.
By bxgrl on February 16, 2010 4:45 PM
bob- you are perhaps the most insidiously evil man I have ever had the honor to meet. YOu are positively wicked- and i mean this in a good way. :-)
By Bob Marvin on February 16, 2010 5:01 PM
Why thank you bxgrl--I aim to please :-)
BTW Benson--the "hijacking" of this thread really was inadvertent and I'm very glad to accept your "e-handshake", and offer one back, despite the frivolity that followed.
By Bob Marvin on February 16, 2010 5:08 PM
Oh, and the "Bathroom Machineries" Fuller cock look-alike faucets almost exactly matched my old ones except for a slight difference in the handles (the repros say "hot" and "cold"; the originals don't. Also, I had to enlarge the holes in my marble sink tops to accommodate the repros.
By benson on February 16, 2010 5:40 PM
Bob;
Thanks for the post. Looking forward to further debates.
After getting my HW heater fixed, I took my widowed mother-in-law to the DMV to straighten out a mess wrt her car registration.
That was my charitable act of the day.
By Butterfly on February 16, 2010 7:13 PM
so what im getting from this conversation is that back in the old days faucets were called cocks? i cant WAIT till i have to call the plumber at work again just to be able to tell him my cock is broken and he needs to come in to fix it.
if my reading comprehension is totally off and cocks isnt not old school terminology for faucets, please tell me as not to embarrass myself and my place of employment.
*rob*
By Bob Marvin on February 17, 2010 8:53 AM
Your reading comprehension is fine Rob. I THINK the term "cock" actually only refers to a single faucet (i.e. hot or cold, rather than a mixer that has both. I also think the turn "cock" refers to the on/off valve, rather than the projecting tube the water comes out of, which kind of spoils the double entendre.
BTW, the valve turned to shut off an old gas light is a "gas cock." :-)
I hope your plumber has a sense of humor.
By bklyndude on February 17, 2010 2:53 PM
Went back there this morning. Very stale muffin. Went to T-Cup Cafe on Throop Ave down the street where I saw several folks who used to go to Beg-Stuy. Good coffee and pastry. I will be going back. Do people know that there are two other coffee shops within a two block range of the Beg-Stuy cafe? There's also Food for Thought Cafe on the corner of McDonough and Marcus Garvey (Sumner Ave). Why no mention of these? People talk a good community game but it's a bunch of bull! Also, the folks at the new and popular Saraghina Italian spot down the street on Lewis Ave. are getting ready to open a coffee bar at the same location. Can't wait.
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Does anyone out there have a good handle on how much in actual taxes are owed if the penalties are $10K? Are IRS penalties automatically 20% of the overdue tax, or is there some type of sliding scale?