Guest Columnist: Step Up and Support Local Stores!

By Jeremy Thomas
News about the Recession is in no short supply. Every day the news is filled with articles on the fallout of this major economic disaster. But one recent article stood out for me. Popover Cafe’s founder and owner, Carol Baer fell victim to Bernie Madoff’s devastating fraud and her business has suffered greatly from the effects of the Recession. But the article, by Susan Dominus in her Big City column in the New York Times, is not sad or depressing. Rather Dominus’ article focuses on the gratitude Ms. Baer feels for the support she has been given by her patrons.

Jeremy Thomas

Too many times now we have seen restaurants and other businesses fold on Broadway due to higher rents and greedy developers. I am still mourning the loss of Prestos, Time, Carne, Aix, and Docks (the last of which closed in part because of this most recent Recession) as chains and banks replace them all (except for Carne which was replaced with an excellent restaurant: Toast). But Amsterdam Avenue is holding on.

But why should Amsterdam businesses stay strong? Why not let Amsterdam follow the example of Broadway and change into the Time Warner Center? The reason is in the classic moral tale that is too many times ignored, the story that ended bitterly in “You’ve Got Mail”.

For the Upper West Side, that story was told most recently with the closure of Murder Ink. This book store specialized in the classic genre of murder mysteries, and did so with a sense of individuality. My dad, a regular, loved the personalized treatment provided with each sale. But sadly this slice of local history fell to the monsters of Barnes & Noble and Amazon. When we let the corporations take over, we lose what makes us unique. If the Upper West Side is ultimately ruled by high-class providers like Whole Foods and Starbucks we become nothing more than the other side of the glass in the Upper West Side exhibit frequented by double-decker buses.

We cannot let our neighborhood and its individuality — its Gray’s Papaya, Levain Bakery, Popover Café, Edgar’s Café, Zabar’s, Lenny’s Bagels, Barney Greengrass, Smoke, Sal & Carmine’s Pizza, and the many many more places we have all loved growing up and living with — die.

Which brings me to the point of this post: We, as the Upper West Side, MUST NOT LET OUR NEIGHBORHOOD FALL! On August 19th, Popover Cafe and others will be hosting a Neighborhood Gratitude Event to thank us for our patronage.

The list of involved businesses include:

* The Popover Cafe
* Good Enough to Eat
* Darryl’s Boutique
* The Robert Stuart Salon
* Super Runners Shop
* Avventura

Upon visiting any of these establishments on Wednesday you will be welcomed to various gratitude events including free giveaways and raffles.

The message to take away here is the importance of local establishments and the responsibility of us, as a community, to protect them by patronizing them. We cannot let the Upper West Side become a branded super mall. In the spirit of You’ve Got Mail, we must save the Shop Around the Corner.

So please join me in supporting our businesses and come out on August 19th.

Lastly if you are aware of other participating establishments or perhaps a website devoted to this event please let us at Coffee Straws know by commenting to this post.

Here is to a locally run Upper West Side.

Jeremy Thomas, 23, is a native Upper West Sider and the founder with Sarah Coppersmith of coffeestraws.com, a blog about eating out and culinary culture. A version of this post originally ran on that blog. Jeremy is a teacher at an Upper West Side middle school.