The Greenpoint Coffee House is officially closing…in two days.
Dear Greenpoint,
After seven short years, the Greenpoint Coffee House will meet its maker this Monday, February 8th, at approximately 5pm.
The hours for our final two days of service:
Sunday – 10 to 5:30, kitchen open from 10:30 to 5
Monday – 8 to 4:30, kitchen open from 8 to 4False rumors of the GPCH’s demise have regularly swept through the quiet alleys of west Greenpoint. One rumor would not die, that our lease was denied renewal by the building’s landlord. While we hoped to remain in business until the end of March, it became unadvisable, if not impossible, given the normal difficulties of operation mixed with the added turbulence of unwinding such an establishment. And suddenly, here we are.
A true community has called the corner of Franklin and Green “home.” For this group, including owners Louise and Brian, the many staff members past and present, and our beloved regulars throughout the years, this is a lamentable moment. An era will end on Monday and memories of the Greenpoint Coffee House will live on, on their own anomalous terms.
Sorry for the immediacy of it all. We hope those who wish to say goodbye will have the chance to enter the space one last time, ready to celebrate whatever the place has meant to them. An official party of some kind will (hopefully) be planned, so stay tuned.
Take Care.
Chris Ruen (staff) on behalf of the GPCH
Update 2/9/10: Chris Ruen has photos from the last day of GPCH.
This is such a bummer. I live on Freeman Street and the Greenpoint coffeehouse is my favourite close-by coffeeshop. Whether I'm looking for a place to get a coffee and a bagel while doing some work on my laptop using their free wifi or just trying to escape my tiny apartment for some alone time, the coffeeshop was my go-to place. I will always have the episode of Bored To Death that was shot in the shop, but I will still miss you!!!
I'm also really sad & shocked. I regularly stop in on the way to work. It's my favorite coffee shop.
Kind of vague about that rumor that "would not die." Is that supposed to be a confirmation, a denial, or just a "no comment?"
Woooow. I'm super sad about it, Greepoint coffehouse is my favorite place in Greenpoint. 🙁
This is such sad news. I will really miss this place.
Why would the landlord not renew? I hope they open in a new location. Loved this place.
This is so sad – it was one of the best places in the neighborhood for a nice, honest dinner out.
I hope whatever the landlord decides to do with the space, it is in the already perfect atmosphere of GPCH. He can be assured to have lots of trouble on his hands should he decide to gut it and make it some trendy modern piece of $hit.
There's a sign in the window that says "Garden Spot Cafe Coming Soon." What a dumb name for a restaurant. It sounds like something you'd find in Central Pennsylvania, not Greenpoint.
I hope they don't gut the beautiful interior of the space, although, after reading this blog post, I'm expecting that to happen.
This is such a shame.
Well Greenpoint is called the garden spot, so the name makes sense. Here's the history on that saying:
The Garden Spot is attributed to Congressman John Rooney, who represented Greenpoint in the 1950s and 1960s. Allegedly, he was being ribbed about his working class district of streets, bluestone sidewalks, and brick warehouses. His reply was, "Why, I come from Green-pernt, Garden Spot of the World!" The claim may seem ironic to the casual visitor, but to those of us who lived there, where every shotgun apartment rowhouse had a garden in the back, the phrase seemed very descriptive.
So everyone is a big fan of dirty dishes,chipped glasses,dirty furniture and overpriced coffee. You didn't even know who worked there because they didn't even wear aprons and most of (not all) made you feel like they had better things to do than serve you. Everything was dirty, they wouldn't have a choice but to gut the whole place. It's not about being trendy it's about being clean. And It's JUST A COFFEE HOUSE! There's one on every corner, Find another one.
The Garden Spot was also a newspaper in Greenpoint. I'm also not getting what the "beautiful interior of the place" is. It was dark and cramped.
To Anonymous, if you were a true Greenpointer, you'd have known it's nickname was the Garden Spot.
I for one am looking forward to the nice place. GPCH was going downhill. That's to be expected when the owners are not present on a daily basis, things slip. Maybe the owners will spruce up the place and show more dedication to the place.
They had the worst, weakest coffee, and in the six years I lived a block away, not once were they prepared for the brunch crowd. It was so much better before they started messing with Brunch.