Vox Pop Teeters On The Edge
“Finally, a local hang out for the likes of me” is the caption accompanying this photograph on Flickr, encapsulating the excitement a lot of people in the Ditmas area felt when Sander Hicks and Holley Anderson opened Vox Pop at 1022 Cortelyou Road in 2004. The cafe’s arc has mirrored the real estate market at…
“Finally, a local hang out for the likes of me” is the caption accompanying this photograph on Flickr, encapsulating the excitement a lot of people in the Ditmas area felt when Sander Hicks and Holley Anderson opened Vox Pop at 1022 Cortelyou Road in 2004. The cafe’s arc has mirrored the real estate market at large, thriving for several years until falling on hard times recently. The popular neighborhood gathering spot is three months behind on its rent, the phone is disconnected and it lost its food and beverage license recently because of $29,000 in unpaid fines to the health department. We’re in trouble,” says Debi Ryan, the person brought in to try to straighten out Vox’s problems.
A Cortelyou Cafe Struggles to Stay Afloat [NY Times]
Photo by CocteauBoy
That place needs an accountant and a bar of soap.
filmmer and others:
I’ve lived in the neighborhood for nearly seven years now and remember the pre-Vox Pop days. I’ve done my fair share to support it – I usually took my students’ homework and projects there to grade. When I advised a specialized research program where I needed to meet the students over the summer, we held the meetings at Vox Pop and the staff was always accommodating. Politically, I’m fairly middle-of-the-road and find Vox Pop’s politics odious, but whatever, it’s a neighborhood institution and I supported it.
That said, in recent years the service became unmanageably slow and incompetent (10 minutes for a coffee with three people in line, and then the guy just skipped me!). The music became louder and it was harder to concentrate on work or reading, and so I moved over to Connecticut Muffin.
Furthermore, while Sander Hicks always seemed to be a nice enough guy, he struck me as a bit of a charlatan. I’m glad he helped the guy on the street, but that does not excuse his serious mismanagement and incompetence here. And no, jebby, we’re not talking about a “flawed businessman with a human heart,” but someone who failed to obey basic health department regulations and pay his workers on time. So much for having a human heart for your customers and workers! When you’re a highly visible institution with a progressive agenda like Vox Pop, you set higher standards for yourself – others expect you to follow them too.
By the way, the last Hicks-managed venture, Soft Skull Press, met a similar fate:
http://www.nypress.com/article-8217-the-resurrection-of-soft-skull-press.html
51 shareholders and no one knew how to use a broom or wash their hands.
Dirty hippies.
51 shareholders is about 50 too many
A simple search on the board of health website reveals why that dump is closing. Its a pigsty.
VOX POP COFFEE
1022 CORTELYOU ROAD, BROOKLYN 11218
718-940-2084
Violation points: 60
Inspection Date: 01/28/2009
Establishment Closed by DOHMH. Violations were cited in the following area(s) and those requiring immediate action were addressed.
Now 16 points gets you a warning, 25 points can get you shut down.
And in case the 60 points for being a disgusting mess try the 108 points that it got for its prior inspection
1022 CORTELYOU ROAD, BROOKLYN 11218
Inspection Date: 06/29/2007
Violation points: 108
http://167.153.150.32/RI/web/detail.do?method=history&restaurantId=41073425
Fsrq and Wine lover, I’ll take more flawed businessmen who have a human heart, and less MBAs who have company towncar dispatchers pointing out their car to go home in order not to spend an extra 15 seconds on the street with the great un-washed. There was nothing heavy-handed about all the literature and art at VOX POP. All were welcome and those who worked there were gentle. I continue to be amazed and the ugly anger that can be focused on such small corners of our town. I can think of a few deserving bigger targets.
FSRQ – it is relevant because it humanizes someone we are talking about. Many of us have worked in organizations which have lofty goals or take on too much. Why is it necessary just to trash people? Many of us in “marginal” neighborhoods benefit from the misguided and over-reaching entrepeneurial activities of others. People attempt something and spectacularly or quietly crash and burn. Actually isn’t that one way of describing life itself?
So boo to your bitchiness.
It’s always been a special pleasure to stop by Vox Pop for some coffee or a SixPoint. It was obvious from the first that the place wasn’t designed as a money-making Starbucks machine, and for me that was part of the charm. It’s unfortunate when businesses aren’t run in a manner that allows them to pay the bills, but it’s cynical and petty to slander someone for trying to do something positive. Here’s wishing Sander and everyone involved the best.
haven’t been there since i went in to find the head of Air America spouting off about his importance just days after he had been exposed for ripping off the Bronx boys and girls club to fund the station. perfect liberal hypocrisy with a side of iced coffee.
nauseating…