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Tiny Cup Is A Big Hit
By The Changeling | July 30, 2007
A new cafe on Nostrand and Clifton has been making quite a splash with the locals. This adorable cafe is called Tiny Cup and it has brought a welcome change in dining options to this section of the neighborhood. I first heard about the opening of this spot on Brownstoner, and soon thereafter New York Magazine got in on the opening buzz.
Ok, Alexa11211 and I were going to do a food review with pictures but the food tasted so good that we forgot to take the photos. When we remembered it was too late, but we took the picture anyway. What you see here is half of my turkey panini and a leaf of salad greens (it all disappeared soon after this photo was taken) and Alexa’s empty plate. I don’t remember what Alexa ordered, but if the speed with which it disappeared from her plate serves as any indication, then it must’ve been tasty. I gave my panini two thumbs up.
Yes, that is the New York Times. Yes, you may touch it.
Tiny Cup has a cool rustic vibe and wi-fi. Plus they realize that the only two newspapers worth reading are The New York Times and The Onion, and they have copies of both for you to read over your afternoon latte.
Ariel was working the counter the day we dropped by, and she was nice enough to chat with us and show us the Tiny Cup candy selection, from rope length red licorice to Bit O Honey bites. I love the way Tiny Cup displays their candies in glass jars along the counter. It reminds me of the store owned by Nellie’s parents on the old “Little House on the Prairie” show.
Ariel tempts us with rock candy!
In addition to the great sweets they even have free dog biscuits for the customers’ canine companions. You definitely have to try the ice cream–it’s rich and creamy and delicious.
As God as my witness, I’ll never be hungry again.
July 30th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
My first visit was three days ago (today was my third), and they were playing P-Funk at a very comfortable volume. P-funk was followed by Van Morrison and I believe some Isley Bros., and I knew this was the place for me. Lisa came over and introduced herself and after the small talk and the amazing food I decided I never wanted to leave. Tiny Cup is much more sophisticated than the hipster-bopper atmospheres of FG’s Tillie’s or CH’s Outpost. More diverse than Choice. I love Common Ground, but Tiny Cup cares more about my gustatory experience. On days when one can get a seat, Bread Stuy is nice, but hardly comparable. And there’s only so often we’re willing to make the trek out to Le Gamin in Prospect Heights.
A good coffeeshop is important to a community because it can give a community a sense of its own identity by providing a casual space for interraction. For previous generations this purpose was served by the local bar. But investors are still afraid of the cocktail of race, class and alcohol in Bed Stuy. The coffeeshop is arguably more family-friendly than a bar, too, I guess. Arguably.
My point is that I will have a better sense of potential for, and be more invested in my neighborhood schools and local politics if there is a low-stakes way to meet other parents–even if this “meeting” consists only of superficial inspections of how my neighbors dress and behave, what accents they might have. My block assoc. is dominated by oldtimers whose grown children have long turned their backs on Bed Stuy. And I’m not particularly interested in venturing into the “pool hall” on Tomkins, which seems to be the only socially vibrant evening business this side of the nabe. The Bed Stuy CSA is a great social hub, but it’s still growing… And when I can wade though the ankle-deep trash of Von King park on the weekend, I find it is a place for parents to send their kids more than a place to spend the day with them.
I am thankful for Tiny Cup for how it allows us to communicate our values in the great cultural economy of Brooklyn. This is a bit hyperbolic, I admit, but I think being selective about support for our local businesses is more empowering than voting.
July 30th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Quincy, I appreciate your thoughtful post and I don’t think you’re dabbling in hyperbole at all. You’ve quite eloquently summed up my feelings regarding high quality businesses and their impact on quality of life in Bed-Stuy.
July 30th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
One more thing–I noticed Tiny Cup’s eclectic music mix too. When I visited a Steely Dan track came on (I forget which one). Steely Dan is my favorite band and hearing them at Tiny Cup made me instantly like the place.
July 30th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
i agree with you completely-quincy. i feel much more at home now that i have a place where i can drop in and relax and read and EAT (cheaply and deliciously) or sit in front and people watch. it makes me love this area of bed stuy more…it reminds me so much of the good old days of fort greene, when it felt fresh.
July 30th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
mmmmm … I had a chicken salad sandwich as I recall. Yummy!
last week I got an iced mint tea to go–heavenly! I agree, Quincy, it’s definitely got a sophisticated vibe, a little bit of a southern feel (at least to me, a total northerner) and the food is really really good. I am so glad that DD/BR is not going to have to be the preferred dining spot by the Bedford/Nostrand G! And I’m looking forward to having a place to hang out in.
July 31st, 2007 at 10:02 am
“being selective about support for our local businesses is more empowering than voting.”
I haven’t agreed more with a blog comment…I don’t know, ever.
In some ways, I really envy you Bed-Stuy people, with your cafés and eateries.
July 31st, 2007 at 11:48 am
“In some ways, I really envy you Bed-Stuy people, with your cafés and eateries.”
I’ve been waiting YEARS to hear that! XD
July 31st, 2007 at 1:12 pm
Nostrand ave like Bed Stuy still needs a few more places like Tiny Cup and the businesses you see on http://www.shopbedstuy.com. Now let us support Lisa by getting Nostrand ave repaved and a few more city thrash cans.
July 31st, 2007 at 1:14 pm
so excited about this! i was out of town when it opened, but i will be going there with a good book soon.
and quincy - i definitely agree with everything you said.
July 31st, 2007 at 2:30 pm
With all due respect, supporting local businesses is not the basis of a community. I think Bed-Stuy has an identity, and it’s an identity that us newcomers may not at all understand or relate to.
Growing and supporting “high-quality” businesses that we feel comfortable shopping and hanging out in creates opportunity for likeminded individuals, but it does not give Bed-Stuy its identity.
July 31st, 2007 at 3:32 pm
i m soo happy to see more and more cute boite like tiny cup openning in bedstuy .it makes me love more the nabe and proud.i wish them a lot of success.i eat there this saturday and i can tell you the food is good.let us support them
July 31st, 2007 at 3:46 pm
I respectfully disagree on that point, Richard. I think this cafe and other high quality businesses in our neighborhood do both–they serve as a places to foster social connections among likeminded folks as well as contribute to the ever-evolving identity of the neighborhood.
July 31st, 2007 at 5:56 pm
all this talk about tiny cup, what about the others. there is no need to put bread stuy and common ground down in order to “big up” tiny cup. let us patronize all of them and wish them all luck. if i live near common ground i am not going to walk all the way to nostrand ave to tiny cup. they are all great. i am begining to feel that many of all you bloggers are friends of the people who own tiny cup and want to put everybody else down. “common ground”, nuff respect, “bread stuy”, nuff respect, “everything scratch” nuff respect, i love all of you, good luck to you, and i am hoping for many more coffee shops, bars, and restaurants. peace
July 31st, 2007 at 7:50 pm
i don’t feel like common grounds, bread stuy and tiny cup are an apples-to-apples comparison. granted, they are all cafe-like eateries, but places like cg & bs are coffee shops that have some gnoshes, tc & choices are more like cafe-like, in that you have a fuller breakfast-lunch-dinner menu. if we were talking about corporate-world analogies, the former would be starbucks, the latter denny’s. i patronize all of them for different reasons…cg when i’m craving a waffle with chocolate sauce, whip cream & berries, bs when i want to chill with my neighbors on a sunday afternoon with some hummus & jakada juice, and tc when i need an omelette with carmelised onions, feta, & moroccan sauce (mmmm…moroccan sauce…).
as far as investors being “afraid of the cocktail of race, class and alcohol” in the community…i have invested my life’s savings in a project that i hope will be the first of several successful similar ventures that will be serving up that cocktail.
opening sometime before the end of this year, my bar, stiZZy, will hopefully be the bread stuy “afterparty”…a place where the same type of community vibe and connection can be felt into the wee hours, with a bit of likka in your belly, a song in your ear, and a sense of connectedness in your heart.
i’m betting everything i have that the community wants & needs stiZZy (and other places like it), and i’ve managed to convince bankers & investors that we do, so the $ is coming (though not nearly as quickly as i’d like). if anyone else would like to invest, holla.
TRUE
stiZZy bar~lounge
bed~stizzy, nyc
718~919~8925
TRUE@stiZZy.biz
http://www.stiZZy.biz
August 1st, 2007 at 8:40 am
Let us all stop dancing around the race issue. Allthe “tiny cup” supporters are new to Bed-Stuy, only settled here because the were priced out of clinton hill, ft. green and the slope.
Do not ever think you can come into our rich community and attempt to disregard the businesses like Bread Stuy who have paved the way for all your “new eclectic culture & vibe. Food 4 Thought on Marcus Garvey has been doing what Tiny Cup is trying to do for the past 8 years (and stil holding it down)
Let’s just be honestt with ourselves for a minute, had Tiny Cup been owned by an African American this discussion would never have existed.
August 1st, 2007 at 8:40 am
of course we should patronise all of the businesses and wish them all the success they diserve
August 1st, 2007 at 9:59 am
Bed-Stuy Baby, I’m not sure I understand why you think this is a race issue. The race card is not one to be played at every opportunity. Save it, for when it really counts. Besides, everyone has the right to like one business over another for whatever reason. But despite what was said, many of the people who are elated to have Tiny Cup here feel the way they do because it is one of the first nice eateries in this area of Bed-Stuy. We all support the fine businesses on Lewis Avenue, but for many of us in the northern and northwestern section of the neighborhood, Lewis Avenue is not convenient for everyday dining and shopping (I totally get your point, artroom). I’m so happy that a lot of the businesses like Brownstone Books and Bread-Stuy and Food 4 Thought, etc. paved the way for more quality businesses to open up in the neighborhood.
August 1st, 2007 at 11:40 am
For Quincy and many others in the community please understand that Tiny Cup is a member of the Bedford Stuyvesant Business Alliance and will be visible on shopbedstuy.com soon; Common Grounds, Bread Stuy, Brooks Valley, bushbaby, Folukie, Le Toukouleur and Solomons Porch all complement each other and work together. You as our customers will find it very easy to get information/menus/access to all the businesses in the Alliance from the individual member locations. Le Touk is around the corner from TC on Beford and Quincy and would be considered sophisticated by all in the north and northwest. We need your business and support, so please explore all the businesses of the Alliance and you will quickly understand what we have in common.
I am the Real Estate guy and I have some great apartments available - pardon the plug, I rarely do it. Thank you
August 1st, 2007 at 12:26 pm
yes changeling, but it does seem that tiny cup is getting lots of free publicity because they are white owned. I mean really, “New York” magazine, is no local paper, we can all use some free publicity. When was the last time new york magazine reviewed any of the businesses you mentioned. They ignored us in the past because we are black and they are still ignoring us because we are black. Give us all our “props”, “bread stuy”, “common ground”, “everything scratch”,
“food for thought”, “salomon porch”, and “tiny cup”. Nuff respect to all businesses in the bed-stuy area. Tiny cup is not doing anything that requires preferential treatment. The race card was pulled by “new york” magazine when they ignored the black owned businesses and highlighted the white owned…
August 1st, 2007 at 1:12 pm
New York Magazine’s online edition linked to my blog story on Le Toukelour, but I can’t verify that any other Bed-Stuy restaurant/cafe was actually written up by the zine. For the record, Le Touk is minority owned. But artroom, your argument is flawed for at least two reasons: 1) Tiny Cup IS NOT THE ONLY WHITE-OWNED BUSINESS IN BED-STUY. NY Mag didn’t do a review of another white-owned business that I know for a fact has been in the neighborhood for nearly a year. What about that? and 2) How do you know that Tiny Cup didn’t reach out to NY Magazine for the review? When you say that NY Mag “ignored” black-owned businesses, it sounds like people were begging NY Mag to visit and review and they refused. Is this what happened? Maybe Tiny Cup called up NYMag and invited them to the grand opening, gave out some free food and as a result got their publicity. I don’t know if this happened, but it’s a possibility.
Another scenario is that maybe the owner happened to know someone who worked for NY Mag or maybe she worked for the magazine before she started Tiny Cup. In either case it could have been the presence of personal connections that led to the coverage. Again, just a hypothesis.
My point is that until you know the backstory, please lay off of your “it’s because we’re black” diatribe.
August 1st, 2007 at 1:39 pm
yes it is just a hypothesis, you don’t know the backstory either, its too bad black businesses don’t have the connections that tiny cup has.
p.s. how come my opinion which include race is a “diatribe” and yours which also include race is an “hypothesis”?
August 1st, 2007 at 1:46 pm
artroom, thanks for being brutally honest on to who played thevrace card first…racism is alive and well
August 1st, 2007 at 2:39 pm
My statements were hypotheses because I offered them as such. I simply suggested that TC could *possibly* be getting the publicity because of something other than the race of its owner.
I’m not going to continue to try to coax grown folk out of their victim mentality. Racism is alive and well, yes, but whether you care to believe or not, sometimes things occur because of other reasons (cronyism, nepotism, or just plain luck or hard work) and NOT because of race.
August 1st, 2007 at 3:21 pm
Personally, I think Bed-Stuy can have more than one cute cafe. Especially when there’s only one within walking distance of my house!
If you walk down any commercial street in Park Slope, for example, it’s chock a block with restaurants, bars, retail stores, etc. Do people believe that Bed-Stuy is not entitled to similar variety?
Or is there a fear that the community can’t support more than one such place? I personally don’t think such fear is justified.
August 1st, 2007 at 4:04 pm
You folks are truly lucky I wish there was a
Tiny Cup on my block Greene Avenue on Patchen Ave.
It is so nice to see something other than another church, liquor store or Kennedy Fried Chicken…
I would totally support if there was a little cafe in my area!!
August 1st, 2007 at 4:27 pm
changeling, are you kidding me? victim mentality? don’t pull out the race card. “The race card is not one to be played at every opportunity. Save it, for when it really counts”…
August 1st, 2007 at 4:44 pm
No, I am serious about that. I unabashedly stand behind that last quote you attribute to me.
August 1st, 2007 at 4:48 pm
Sarah Cafe Twofiftyeight on Malcolm X and Putnam should be opening within days, so look out for them.
August 1st, 2007 at 4:51 pm
It’s going to be opening this Friday? Great! Who are the owners? Do they live in Bed-Stuy as well?
August 1st, 2007 at 6:56 pm
Am I the only one who finds this sort of thing bittersweet? As someone who would really like to find something to eat in my own neighborhood besides the preservative-laden fare of the local bodegas, this is a nice development. Unfortunately, the opening of this sort of place probably means that I’m going to have to move out; as post #15 asserts, I am indeed one of those white bed-stuy residents who arrived because I’ve been priced out of another neighborhood; that neighborhood was Sugar Hill, which you brooklynites might know as Hamilton Heights, and the reason I got priced out was because so many cutesy cafes opened up while I was there, and my landlady felt that the sudden arrival of non-bodega related amenities merited a 60% raise in monthly rent. So…how much does bed-stuy develop until I have to move to ridgewood or maspeth?
August 1st, 2007 at 7:01 pm
I will be there…..i hope this is nor a dumb question but how do every day go about creating a service in the community? boy i wish i had start up money….
August 1st, 2007 at 7:05 pm
sorry please disregard what i said in the above thread…..what i meant to say is, could the state fund a business 100% financing??? especially for every fay folks that do not have the money??
August 1st, 2007 at 10:23 pm
I just wanted to say that I’ve read quite a lot of press coverage about Bread Stuy and other black-owned businesses in Bedford-Stuyvesant - in such publications as the New York Saily News and Crains New York. I think the concept that only a white-owned business could get press coverage is ridiculous.
August 2nd, 2007 at 12:06 am
This is what I was referring to when I mentioned the inflamatory cocktail of race, class and alcohol. But here there’s no alcohol. I mentioned all the cafes that I did because those are the ones I frequent. My intention was only to suggest that tiny cup has distinguished itself in a way that I find appealing. Even if Tremaine insults me to my face, I will not stop patronizing common ground. Should we be blind to apppealing characteristics/ marketing because those are found in a so-called “white” business? Silliness. Race is not a factor here. All these businesses are on the same footing: trying to get MY dollars. I would be thrilled if common ground served something hot enough to make it more than a weekend outing for coffee and ice cream. And I’ve expressed that to Tremaine. Perhaps in the future she will be able to make that happen. In which case, my daughter and I will go broke there rather than walk all the way to tiny cup. I do lament my omission of LeTouk, which has a brilliantly sophisticated menu/vibe going on. They treat my maniacal two y/o like royalty whenever we eat there. That was an unfortunate oversight. Culpa. But there’s another note. Richard, and the likeminded who wish to maintain the identity of Bed Stuy, this is sheer patriarchal condescension. What nabe wants to be stagnant?? Further, your conservatism is the very thing that kept people of my partent’s generation from moving into suburban nabes with “good” schools. Folks wanted to maintain the identity of those neighborhood as well, and my family, frankly, would have disturbed that continuity. BS. I have a right, as we all do, of course, to contribute to and influence the development of whatever area we want to live in. My wife and I moved here because we went on the bed stuy house tour one year and fell in love with the place. We also fell in love with the notion that we could raise our kids in a diverse nabe. We spent one summer walking evey block. And we adjourned each time to Bread Stuy and discussed our notes. And yes, we have activist ambitions for bed stuy. If you’re going to tell me that young men smoking pot in a car outside my house is part of the tradition of bed stuy; if you’re going to say that dropping potato chip bags wherever and however, that people psst-ing at my wife on her way home from work is something that needs to be maintained, then I would say you’re the racist. Victim mentality indeed. Baby, you may not like my being here, but its going to take more than your mean-spirited reactionary comments, or rocks through my windows and burning religious symbols for that matter, to get me to leave…or to reserve the expression of my tastes and values. And by the way, I can’t wait for Stizzy to open.
I am very much enjoying this thread, in case you haven’t noticed.
Peace
August 2nd, 2007 at 12:36 am
Oops. I realize it may seem I went way to the left on the pot-smoking and trash. What I want to suggest is that these issue can be addressed if there’s a greater sense of who ones neighbors are. I don’t think anyone could be inclined toward such types of disrespect if they know there are conscientious people–who respect them, the passersby–living there. We can smoke pot in our backyards, for example. We can hold trash until we get to the corner can. What does this have to do with cafes? I think its all of a piece. Seeing/meeting my neighbors in the cafe gives me encouragement, lets me know I’m not alone. We don’t have to live in a way that stereotypes dictate we must.
August 2nd, 2007 at 8:05 am
Sorry to hijack the thread (a new cafe is always good imo, as is the healthy debate around it, looking forward to trying it…), but would love to contact Leo today about your apartments, and wasn’t sure how to contact directly. Please email us back @ angelabalsamo@hotmail.com or nicvanwie@hotmail.com. Love the site & the community!
August 2nd, 2007 at 8:19 am
Sorry to hijack the thread (a new cafe is always good imo, as is the healthy debate around it), but would love to contact Leo about the available apartments, and couldn’t find any other contact info. Would love to get in touch today @ angelabalsamo@hotmail.com or nicvanwie@hotmail.com. Great community and great site!
August 2nd, 2007 at 10:43 am
2 things:
1. i asked the owner of tiny cup how the ny mag / blog article came about. she said that the write was a customer (who i think she said lived in the neighborhood). mystery solved.
now whether the writer was white, or whether the fact that the owner was white had an effect on why ny mag chose to publish it, who knows? typically, ny mag is very focused on rich white / jewish manhattanites. they consider us in the so-called “outer” boros to be the barbarians at their gate, so perhaps there were nuances of race in the mix to pique their interest, but not, i think, overtly.
as was mentioned, bread stuy, brownstone books, akwaaba mansion, stiZZy, and other black-owned biznesses have gotten a lotta press in time out, the daily news, the ny times, our time press, crains, ny sun, baltimore sun & many others (check http://www.stiZZy.biz/frames_bed_stizzy.html for a few of these articles).
2. a technical issue: i subscribed to this thread, but now i’m getting emails posted to any & every thread. how do i — in the words of george jetson — “stop this crazy thing!?”
thanx.
TRUE
p. s. KIDflix starts tomorrow with kirikou & the wild beasts, with a live african dance performance at 8!
August 2nd, 2007 at 10:51 am
Quincy,
I didn’t say I’m in love with the potato chip bags on the street. That is not an identity. That is trash that needs to get thrown away correctly. Listen, let’s look at a bigger picture here…Brooklyn is changing everywhere. New cultures are moving (for a variety of reasons, but mainly because of money) into neighborhoods that were once distinct enclaves and it’s difficult to say wether that’s a good or a bad thing. Maybe it’s neither, and it’s just what is happening and we all have to get used to it. I for one am not use to it, and yes, I would like to see a level of identity maintained in all of these changing Brooklyn neighborhoods (including Bed-Stuy). My concern is that what has already been established will be overlooked as something stagnant, and it’s much more complex than that. The issues that are being brought up (here and in other neighborhoods) seem to be more about pride than race…familiarities and conveniences.
And, yes we all have the right to live anywhere we want, if we have the money to do so. I chose Bed-Stuy because I wanted to live here and I loved the neighborhood as it is. I’m not saying that there can’t be improvements, new people or businesses shouldn’t move in, but I don’t see anything wrong in supporting the community that has already established itself.
I look forward to checking out both Tiny Cup and StiZZy (when it opens).
August 2nd, 2007 at 11:10 am
True, thank you for mentioning that issue. I’ll try to get it corrected. And thanks for mentioning The Jetsons because it gave me a chuckle. I started picturing George’s new robot co-worker, Uniblab.
August 2nd, 2007 at 11:43 am
Some thing funky was happening with the site/server yesterday–it took me FOREVER to post anything! I hope it’s cleared up today!
August 2nd, 2007 at 2:10 pm
it all started with Quincy, who speaks too fast and doesn’t think first. He did it again and came right back and cleaned it up. I just want you to know that if we decide to stand up for our community, it doesn’t mean we have “victim mentality”. we are not victims, we’ve never been and never will be. We are still here because we fought, the victims have already left. There are lots of strong people here,i just want to set you straight. We fought, we fought crime, crack and so many other community ills. You aint’t doing anything new, you ain’t saying anything new, don’t think you are comning here to set the natives straight, don’t get me started, please…
peace
August 2nd, 2007 at 7:55 pm
I can’t wait to visit Tiny Cup and soak up the WiFi and a few icy drinks. I dropped in to say hello and welcome yesterday. I don’t think I’ll be eating much since they don’t have any vegan edibles on the menu. The owner did say they are still developing their menu, so hopefully my two cents and patronage will hurry the change to healthier/animal-friendly fare.
Since this blog post comment section has turned into another kind of conversation, I’d like to comment on that too…
My partner and I moved to this nabe for the following reasons in this order:
1) the CHEAP rent for living in gorgeous, historic brownstones
2) the large number of conscious, empowerment-minded Black folks living here and making changes and building a healthy community.
3) the local businesses owned by Black people who want to invest in the Black community. (Our first visit to Food 4 Thought Cafe made us feel like had truly found the community we wanted to stay in forever.)
4) the chance for us to become part of this community and become involved in activism to better/ help develop it. I even dream of having my own business and owning a brownstone here someday soon!
It is true that thanks to history and my own personal experiences with racism, I have fantasies of living in a wonderful all Black neighborhood, but I don’t think that’s ever going to happen. White people aren’t new to the neighborhood. Hello, who do you think invested money in all the poisonous places like crack houses, liquor stores, and fried chicken joints? White people they aren’t going anywhere so if I must live in an integrated community I’m happy to have neighbors–White and Black or Asian or whatever–who are opening and/or patronizing businesses that nurture what I look for in a community. I don’t have a problem with White people. I have a problem with the nuances of racism that I’m forced to live with and if some White people are here to change that then I’ll all for those White people being here. (There are lots of White folks in the Bed-Stuy CSA this year and I think that’s a great way to contribute to the community.)
For those White folks who are just here to enjoy cheap rent and gain hipster pioneer street cred for living with the natives and don’t plan to give anything back since their White privilege means they have nothing to lose, then I’d prefer they leave. Since their Whiteness will invariably make nabe rents go up and I’ll be stuck holding the bill in two years or so while they’re living it up in Maspeth or Ridgewood, I’d at least like there to be something to show for this, dammit!
August 2nd, 2007 at 8:28 pm
Absolutely right. I do speak too fast. I’ll try to dial it back. But how about this: We bought here precisely because we wanted to participate in that fight…which continues, by the by. We sensed the presence of like minded people here. Alright, I’ll say it; we sensed the presence of progressive *black* people, and that is the kind of community I want my daughter to grow up in. A luxury I did not have. I aint saying I’m sending her to any of the public schools just yet, but I would like to. And that’s the next fight. That’s no indictment of the past. If anything, our interests and ambitions for bed stuy celebrate the same past you rightly take so much pride in. I think we’re actually in agreement artroom & baby & rich (good points, by the way, rich), but you guys seem to have this reactionary (read victim) tic in which in which you assume that every newcomer arrives with bayonettes and smallpox blankets with the aim to conquer and claim (I’m using your imagery, by the way). Didn’t I say that we went on the house tour? Three years. We did our homework. I didn’t say that we spoke to the people who were generous enough to open their homes, but we did. We were interested in them. It wasn’t just the architecture, fam. I know the entire history of my house and many of the houses on our block. My wife organized a toddler’s reading group in our community garden. We’re active in the block association. You can’t relegate everyone to the “priced-out” group. That’s too provincial. And yeah, I started it not just with the minor intention to big up tc, but because I wanted to provoke this very dialogue. Big up to bedstuyblog for the forum.
August 2nd, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Actually, I was just about to thank everyone participating in this discussion. Whether I agreed with you or not, I appreciate your involvement.
August 2nd, 2007 at 9:34 pm
at The Changeling….
Let me tell you I am from the Bronx and folks from
the Bronx are very skeptical about moving to Brooklyn….But I love it out here and I love living in Bed-Stuy especially the mix of cultures and what i see Bed-Stuy becoming!!! my involvement on this thread is just a start I am going to do more!! You know another thing is I hate the stigma that BedStuy gets from people who do not know the area as a whole and you know what I feel that I sort of one to change that! i see potential yes I wish that alot of these 99cents stores, chinese take out restaurants nail salons…etc etc would just leave…
August 3rd, 2007 at 12:10 am
Apologies in advance. I have an axe to grind. As I was rousted out of bed by my pregnant wife for ice cream from the corner bodega, I began to think as I walked to said bodega. And as I greeted my neighbors who sit out listening to (I don’t know what to call it, but it is beautiful) their music with “!Como estan!”, I realized I’d been hoodwinked. Richard (for lack of a better target), NYC has never ever ever had a neighborhood that maintained its cultural integrity. As I walked, yes, to the *bodega*, I recalled the story my neighbor told us, passed down from the family who owned my house for 70 years: Grandma Bailey approached her Dutch next door neighbor asking him if she could trim the tree that was blocking the sunlight in her yard. He told her, “nigger, don’t you touch my tree.” She didn’t. Then I thought about the revelation, via my research concerning the Sonny Carson debacle, that appears on the stizzy website: the Gates Ave. Assoc. was “a civic group formed specifically to address the problem of blacks moving into Bed-Stizzy, 1925.” So then I got really angry with myself for falling prey to these essentialist, idealist, centrist notions of what Bed Stuy is or should be or ever was. All my family, all are descedants of American slaves, but I don’t claim to be more American than anyone else. My great-grandmother was a domestic who lived at 186 Hancock once upon a time. Her letters complain about the alienation she felt living among West Indians. (Anyone ever read “Brown Girl Brownstones,” by Paule Marshall??) The fastest growing minority group in NYC are Domicans. Get the hint?? You and you and you and you are all newcomers. Why, for heaven’s sake, isn’t there an organized welcome wagon for every new family that buys and establishes roots in Bed Stuy? Bang a drum. Give a 21 gun salute. We should be begging(!) people to move here and commit to this neighborhood. So-called ‘black,’ latino, asian, so-called ‘white,’ whatever. This is New York City. A town of change. A town of flux. My town.
August 3rd, 2007 at 4:58 pm
Go Quincy, go!
There is too much unsaid about this topic, and I understand why, it’s so painful, but it’s imparative to keep talking. Black and white people have to live together.
Even Olivia, who can even figure out how to blame fried chicken on the Capitalized White Man, cannot live as a Capitalized Black Separatist! She must figure out how to deal with white people in order to pick up her vegetables and enjoy her icy beverages! And I, white person, must figure out how to deal with her as I do the same!
And that is impossible if we cannot speak freely to one another. Racism is often the fear or perception of other people being racist, which is often not true, often a misinterpretation, often more like a Three’s Company episode than a page out of Roots.
(except nobody ever gets let in on the joke)
But as long as we are all super-silent and all codelike about matters of race, then we will continue to assume the worst about one another. And half of the people will still keep walking around on eggshells and the other half will keep reading way too much into everything, and everyone will keep being totally irrational.
Quincy, shame on anyone who says you speak too fast. And don’t dial anything back because it’s the only way out of this mess that we *all* find ourselves in, and I promise to speak quickly (and be responsible for every single thing I say) too.
Does anyone honestly think white people like racism? It hurts all of us. Not equally, not in the same ways *at all*. But nobody benefits from it, and the thing I find most troubling is this idea that anyone benefits at all from racism.
Because that’s the tautology that makes people think that it must be racism that shoved Tiny Cup onto the pages of New York Magazine while other black-owned businesses languish without a New York Magazine article…
…even though the Black-owned businesses of Bed Stuy have received quite a bit of press coverage in a wide variety of magazines. Even magazines as lilly-white as Crains.
Peace.
August 3rd, 2007 at 5:09 pm
don’t worry Quincy the school will get better too, We fought for years in order to have traffic lights intalled and speed bumps… we had problems with cars speeding through, hitting kids and causing accidents and the city told us we didn’t need them. Now that you are here Quincy there are traffic lights and speed bumps on every block in bed-stuy, thank you. Quincy can you get them to fix Nostrand avenue, all these pot holes and bumps, please can you do that for us…
August 3rd, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Hey true do you think you can have the owner of Tiny Cup be neighborly and have their *customer* do a few write ups/publicity on black owned businesses in Bed-Stuy. Not one write up / publicity but many of them on different kinds of businesses in Bed-Stuy, and not just restaurants and cafes. It would be great, it would surely prove me wrong. What do you think changeling? it would make me look like i do have the “victim mentality” that you accuse me of having… Peace
August 3rd, 2007 at 7:09 pm
Just because you probably won’t find a copy of Jet Magazine laying around in Tea Cup don’t mean they’re a bunch of racist whiteys who have crossed bridge from Manhattan to take over this sprawling oasis. This is becoming a rainbow coalition neighborhood, the white folk are back. So EVERYONE, of all ethnic persuasions, needs to accept that.
August 3rd, 2007 at 7:44 pm
oh, debbie i like you, there is no shame in your game. you are the in “your face type”. Who the hell reads crains. go to park slope and scream out blacks and whites have to live together. Have you been to park slope lately they love racism there. Debbie, stop it because you are going to get me started. Just prove me wrong and have new york magazine do some write ups / free publicity on businesses in bed-stuy, not one but many. nobody read crains, please…
August 3rd, 2007 at 10:17 pm
This is a case of the “who you knows” if you have the friends at the mag they will do the write up. I think we need more good food over here and I am happy for all the businesses that will pave the way!! I am looking at opening a small cafe over in bed stuy and have white and black investors. the COLOR IS GREEN WE NEED TO WORK TOGETHER. Let us all learn to play the game. Oh, when i open I have a CRAZY ace in my pocket, please dont hate on my write up cause it will be REAL BIG! All people together in love
August 3rd, 2007 at 10:27 pm
Texasstuygrl I wish you the best of luck! Bed-Stuy still has lots of underserved areas where they could use a cafe (or a grocery store, or a bank or a pharmacy or a…). Please keep us updated as you move forward. We’ll all show up to support your business.
And artroom, that’s what I like to hear. The proactive nature of your last post is much more palatable. As you suggest I think we should all work to get the word out on wonderful businesses in our community. Not only should we support them with our dollars, but we should also assist them in getting the high profile publicity they deserve.
August 3rd, 2007 at 10:51 pm
I would just point out that investors read Crains.
August 4th, 2007 at 7:01 am
im very curious about this place. it looks very interesting. Im more inform with solomon’s porch, which i attended some days ago. the cafe is located down the block from me. i might say that solomons a little expensive for someone such as myself, who likes to snack on things. anyway, whats the prices like at this place, does anyone know?
does it offer anything other than sweet stuff? maybe burgers or something of that sort?
August 4th, 2007 at 7:09 am
I seem to remember that they had sandwiches, salads, drinks and sweets. Alexa11221, do you remember whether they had burgers? Although I’ve heard only good things about Solomon’s Porch I never got over there because it’s so far from my home, so I’m not sure how Tiny Cup’s prices compare.
August 4th, 2007 at 9:22 am
Deb, for the record, in my comment, I didn’t “blame” fried chicken on White people–male or otherwise. I pointed out that Whites have long invested in businesses that I view as “poisonous” in Bed-Stuy, including fried chicken spots. I’m disappointed that I made an effort to be completely honest and upfront and my words were twisted.
Also, since you don’t like racism (and neither do I) then I suggest you do something about it…start here.
August 4th, 2007 at 9:44 am
interesting discussion happening here and i think everyone has a valid point. i wish i had more time to comment this morning, but i’m headed to the green market before all the flowers are gone.
my honey & i visited Tiny Cup last week - he had the turkey & roasted pepper pannini & i the portabello & goat cheese. thumbs up on both. the lemonade was VERY lemony (see bitter) but the communal sugar & honey remedied that issue pretty quickly. the owner is a great lady who is FOCUSED on the betterment of the community & providing a alternative to the residents AND kids in the neighborhood - how can we begrudge that?
i’m surprised no one has mentioned Bushbaby on Bedford and Fulton. cute black owned & operated cafe. GRREEEAT brunch, yummy teas, coffees, soups, desserts and sandwiches even if the service is slow at times.
if you’re adamant about supporting black business, support these folks. if you’re more adamant about supporting BED STUY business, do the same! And Tiny Cup! And Abu’s! There’s plenty of green to spread around! let’s ALL get that money folks & pump it back into the Stuy!
hm, i had time to rant afterall… off to the market!
August 4th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
I believe the enthusiasm behind this has more to do with the fact that there is NOTHING in this area of bed stuy than the fact that it is white owned (which I didn’t even know until posting here.) I live on lafayette and bedford and this is the ONLY place in this area that offers this type of food and Wifi- all of the abovementioned places are a good hike from this G train stop and thats why I don’t visit them- because they’re not convenient to me.
August 4th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
i’ve been to tiny cup and i think its great. my original comment was about the double standard. That article in new york magazine was a great
opportunity to “encourage” many more “tiny cups”. They should have included many of the cafes and restaurants that have opened in the neighborhood in the past couple of years. Then in reading this blog i kept hearing about how great tiny cup is and eveyone kept highlighting all the flaws in the other businesses that have paved the way for tiny cup, that was very unfair.
and changeling let see it happen,it will be great. new york magazine will finally give black businesses in bed-stuy some press and you will finally drop by and support salomon’s porch…
Texasstuygrl, why don’t you share the ace you have in your back pocket, “all people together in love”.
Deb, I know you are not saying that racism is just a perception and it doesn’t exist, are you kidding me? More often than not, it is real, it exist. we can all agree that things are getting better in bed-stuy right, why do you think that is? well let me tell you, its because you are here
August 4th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
urqhardtian mathematics, where are you coming from with that comment. nobody accused the people from tiny cup of being racist, where did you get that from. the conversation is more about the review they recieved from new york magazine and how n.y. magazine ignored the businesses that are owned by blacks. “jet magazine” who the hell read jet magazine. changeling do you see the double standard, “white folks are back” changeling are you gonna respond to that comment. this is exactly what i am talking about…
August 4th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
@artroom: No, I don’t need to respond. I think you adequately addressed the comment.
August 4th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
Changeling,congratulations on your most responses ever.
August 5th, 2007 at 6:55 am
Thanks! Who knew it would be so lively a discussion?
August 5th, 2007 at 9:54 am
wrt Tiny Cup, I agree with Carmen–I am excited about it because IT’S NEAR ME!!! there’s a dearth of cafes up here in the North Stuy.
And I’m happy because I am not doomed to Dunkin Donuts or a bodega when I want a cuppa.
And because the food is YUMMY.
I never read NY mag, and wouldn’t even have seen this blog mention had someone not sent me the link. I heard about Tiny Cup through word of mouth!
August 5th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Alexa, please continue to spread the word!
August 5th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
@ Alexa…okay first I want to say I don’t think that there is anything wrong with Dunkin Donuts I actually love the Dunkin Donuts located in my neighborhood, but I wish there were more cute cafes
around my block…hopefully that will change soon!
August 5th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
FYI that would be more central Bed Stuy or west central.
August 5th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
I took the hike to Tiny Cup for breakfast today and my vegetarian palate was quite impressed! I completely understand why it’s getting the press it is, as any local business in Bed-Stuy should. Though they were out of my first two drink choices (Egg cream & Iced coffee), I’m sure I’ll be back to try those orders again soon.
quincy, i understand and partially agree with what you’re saying, but I’m still on the fence on some things.
Changeling, thank you again for giving us all the chance to be heard.
August 5th, 2007 at 6:50 pm
@at leo….I am not sure if you were talking to me but I live in Bed-Stuy cusp Bushwick..
August 5th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
Leo enough already with the personal agenda, your BSBA sounds like a local free for all, gimme a break
August 6th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
The BSBA is absolutely my personal agenda along with the success of our 23 businesses and Bed Stuy. You would have to explain the local free for all comment, and consider it given BS Baby.
August 7th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
deb, where are you, quincy, texasstuygrl bed-stuy baby where yall at? leo,true, olivia, changeling what up, holla at a sister…
August 10th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
just want to point out that from my vantage point, bed-stuy is fairly economically diverse, in the sense that not all of the newcomers are all white and all rich. my building is black-owned, and my neighbors are black homeowners who were able to put years of work into their brownstones. i can’t afford to buy property, and i got priced out of the neighborhood i grew up in. so do you think i should have moved into a cheaper white neighborhood instead of bed-stuy? i’m not really a fan. bed-stuy is a beautiful neighborhood. let’s have pride in that and not get bogged down in oversimplified sterotypes.
August 11th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
i think that we agree. i know that there are many black homeowners in bed-stuy, and they’ve been working hard to keep them up, thus you have a beautiful neighborhood. my problem is with people who are new to the neighborhood, and they believe in the stereotype that bed-stuy is this “bad neighborhood” and they are coming here to rescue us poor souls who don’t know what to do. for example you have all the block associations, the “brownstoners”, “black men against crack”, “the december 12th movement”, the list can go on. all of them are grassroots organizations that helped to save bed-stuy. us black folks can walk up and down bed-stuy and not feel like aliens from another planet. be a black person and visit park slope, brooklyn heights, boerum hills and feel the difference…
peace
p.s. windowbox,where are you gonna find a cheap white neighborhood in new york.
August 24th, 2007 at 8:58 am
I want to drop a note for TT’s Sports bar & Lounge, and Sips liquor store on Tompkins. Booze brings people together. To the predictable whites: while you are happily revolutionizing the neighborhood and world, can you get a Duane Reade to open by the Bedford/Nostrand stop? And maybe get Key Foods and/or C-Town to gentrify their own stores so they become better shopping experiences? Ask the Tiny Cup owner to enlist her “customers” for the fight.
August 24th, 2007 at 9:18 am
Only a C-list gentrifier brings in/improves a C-Town or a Key Food. I’d like to put out a request for any and all (regardless of color) A-list gentrifiers to bring Bed-Stuy a Trader Joe’s. Now.
August 24th, 2007 at 11:53 am
larkparker - there is a Duane Reade in the courtyard behind the Super Food Town.
& Changeling, I am with you - TRADER JOE’S PLEASE!
August 24th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
yeah, TJ’s!! or gourmet garage!! Or Fairway! At least they have decent prices on luxury items, instead of charging extra.