This
location’s a bit special in my heart since I have a little “history” with
it…Basically I’ve loved Stuyvesant street forever. It’s an anomaly for
one, a little remnant of a street that basically just runs from 9th
to 10th. But it also just has a cozy feeling to it.
When we were deep in our initial location search for what would turn out to
become Third Rail Coffee I haunted the area.
I was especially taken with the storefronts
facing St. Marks church and it’s little “piazza”.
I was also very fond of the cobbler at the intersection of 10th and
Stuy and was fortunate enough to strike up some friendly banter with the man
himself, Angelo.
Angelo Fontana was a true craftsmen and I admired him very
much. He was great to talk to as he had been in the neighborhood
forever and was a font of history. I believe he was at this particular location for over 25
years and we talked a lot about the retail landscape and the Landlords that were
redefining it nowadays, and not for the better. At the time, Angelo was in his
youthful 70’s but we talked about his impending retirement
in a few years time. I remember thinking that whenever that might happen, I
hoped to be able to acquire that spot – if the bank didn’t gobble it up first of
course… Unfortunately, not long after we struck up our conversations, Angelo’s
landlord decided to hike his rent to an unsustainable level for him and he was
forced into an “early” retirement. The whole thing was upsetting so we never put a bid in because it just didn’t feel right. We
watched as someone else took Angelo’s spot and set about transforming it …
As fate would have it, a few years later, the space became available again and we were ready to expand. The
timing was right and we pounced, we got it, and now we’re really excited! We
should be open sometime before June and hope to see you there of course. And
Angelo, should you happen to see this – please come by, you’ll get coffee for
life from us ; )
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