Forum Post: Milk Street Cafe at 40 Wall St, May close due to OWS! has already laid off 21 workers
Posted 12 years ago on Nov. 2, 2011, 11:01 a.m. EST by tesn1
(212)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
Marc Epstein, owner of the Milk Street Cafe at 40 Wall St., said he was forced to lay off the members of his staff last Friday after suffering a 30 percent dip in sales in the six weeks since the protests started. He also stated that he could lose his entire business in less than a month. To make matters worse, Milk Street just opened in June 2011.
So destroying one of the 99%'s businessess is acceptable by the occupiers. This is wrong
Hello, that's what you call free enterpise
Are you suggesting that they be coddled and treated special
Maybe they can change their menu and pricing so the 99% can afford to eat there.
The problem is OWS are not legally allowed to camp in the park. It's free enterprise, but he was unlucky has the city did not respect its own by laws and throw the hippies out.
I guess your point is that the "riff raff" is upsetting the 1% and they having lunch elsewhere?
ZIRP, predatory lending practices and the largest credit bubble in history caused over 2 million construction workers to lose their jobs since 2008.
I feel sorry for the owner of the cafe, but get your diversionary horseshit out of here.
This is not diversionary. There is no focus so all things should be an issue
And if the topics I stated didn't happen they may not be protesting and causing collateral damage to a small business owner. Go for the root, not the limbs. You are being diversionary, here's some fun nuggets others have posted on this topic: http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000029155
You can blame the 1% for this..If they didn't extract all the wealth from the populace then OWS would not be out there protesting.
sales can go down always the first six weeks. the novelty wears off.
From the interview with the owner, $12-$13/person for lunch. I could afford that but instead I choose to make my own food these days for about $2-$3/meal. This is a large restaurant with an extensive menu that also does corporate catering. In other words the owners of this restaurant have lots of money already, they aren't your typical small business owner or one store cafe owner trying to get by. As well restaurants have some of the highest failure rates among all businesses.
You are being diversionary by ranting against the damage to one business while ignoring the damage done to millions of Americans that got the protesters in the street. If the country wasn't looted by the moneyed interests in power the protesters wouldn't be there to slow down his business. In fact his business may not be there at all since he caters to wall street players who have quite deeper pockets than the average citizen.
You're pretty good at divert and conquer, even I fell for it by responding to you. Again I ask you to go for the root, not the limbs next time you step up to the plate.
In this case someone can't see the forest for the trees Samuel. Impacting small businesses causing more people to lose jobs is not a good thing, and there is nothing wrong with bringing it to people's attention. Corporate greed has resulted in the downfall of many small businesses who cannot compete with them. You cannot just look at the big picture and ignore what is going on right where you are. We have to support small businesses. I for one shop at more than one store, to help keep competition alive and make sure there are choices. Otherwise that big chain store which is less than 5 minutes from me will run the others out of business.
I never stated losing jobs was a good thing. I said I feel sorry for the owner of the cafe in my first post. The point is there is much larger collateral damage going on that is being ignored by drawing attention to one business owner affected by the protests. Whose main clients are the people that are causing collateral financial damage to the general public.
Again these are diversionary tactics. I feel sorry for all who have been severely affected since 2008, but there are millions in our country who are feeling it still. We don't need more human interest stories. We need to put a stop to the collusion of government and moneyed interests in our country.
Good post.
Thanks, demonspawn, for the link re Milk St Cafe. I then mapped it and saw that it does not face Zucotti Park, as Panini does. I checked lots of restaurants on those nearby streets and they were all chugging along as if there were no protest atall. Les Halles, for instance, was booming. So. Never mind gift certificates to Milk Cafe. The protestors are not the problem there. I'd still like an Occupier contact who can pick up some more gift certificates for Panini. A name? Who can cross the street and pick them up?
I bought a stack of gift certificates at the Panini shop at one corner of Zucotti, then took them to the occupier running the cleanup team so he could distribute them to those who needed to be paying customers--and therefore use the bathrooms! Other friends want to do this too and I'd be happy to call Milk Cafe with a credit card. But I'm back in Seattle and don't have contact with an Occupier who could go to the Milk St Cafe and pick up vouchers. Can somebody in Zucotti pick up some vouchers? Let me know please. Let's DO something that helps Occupiers AND Milk Cafe.
Very good Idea!
support Main street? Destroy Milk Street! Is that our plan?? Everyone should go to Milk Street and buy what they can afford, even if its just coffee.
Agreed.
Agreed
This is NOT because of the occupiers. This is because patrons are CHOOSING to not come to the location BECAUSE OF the OCCUPATION. That is the RISK and CHILL of CAPITALISM. HE CHOSE to put the business in that LOCATION. As business in it's current form is survival of the fittest, a good business owner would strategize on HOW to turn this PROBLEM into an OPPORTUNITY. How to CAPITALIZE on the fact that the protest is there. THAT IS BUSINESS.
In fact, why do you think you suddenly want to support that place. IT IS HIS STRATEGY.
well, we will only turn the majority of america against us. They like our message but they are going to reject our methods. Once that happens, the message will be lost.
Well the good news is that the barricades near that place have been removed.
This is NOT because of the occupiers. This is because patrons are CHOOSING to not come to the location BECAUSE OF the OCCUPATION. That is the RISK and CHILL of CAPITALISM. HE CHOSE to put the business in that LOCATION.
As business in it's current form is survival of the fittest, a good business owner would strategize on HOW to turn this PROBLEM into an OPPORTUNITY. How to CAPITALIZE on the fact that the protest is there. THAT IS BUSINESS.
He's probably just a bad businessman....
no the customers cant get to his cafe because of barricades
sales can go down always the first six weeks
the novelty wears off
Not that much.
You can blame Wall Street and their minions in Washington for this..If they didn't extract all the wealth from the populace then OWS would not be out there protesting.
I blame the protesters for illegally taking over the park. They have a right to protest, but they have abused that right.
Abusing your right to free speech is like abusing your right to breath...By the way you are abusing your right to breath..Please stop it.
No, abusing your right to free speech means you impede upon the rights of others. In NYC, you have a right to assemble and protest, but there is a time limit since you are not allowed to take hold of a park during night time. In any case, not many people are listening at 3am. What OWS are doing is simple abuse and they should be held responsible for it. They have had over a month to say what they wanted, and they still haven't said much at all. They keep repeating themselves like parrots. They could have exercised their right to free speech in 20 minutes, say all they needed, then let other citizens the joy of expressing their own rights.
Look as far as I'm concerned, we have a real problem with the banks being in control of our country and the EU has the same problem..This is a matter of whether you think this country should have a true representative form of government or a Plutocracy.
I certainly agree the country has a problem, but I don't agree with the methods OWS are using. That's an entirely possible position to hold. Disagreeing with OWS doesn't mean you necessarily agree with the current system.
O.K.
That is just a stupid comment.
How's that asshole?
To blame the so-called 1% for the results of what the 99% does? That's the stupid comment
No if 1% of the populace is in charge of extracting wealth from the rest of society..then what do you expect? A "thank you" card from the peasants?
Milk Street "Cafe" is not some small cafe struggling to survive. It's a large corporate catering company that serves the bankers and traders on Wall Street. Here's a video of this place and it's owner from June 2011.
http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000029155
Even if Epstein's WS branch fails, he still has his Boston branch to run. Don't be fooled by this nonsense.
A new cafe/restaurant going out of business? Never heard of that before.
If it is true, and not just PR shell game, then go buy some coffee there.
I do as often as posible
Could you fill me in on the details?
A cafe has laid off 21 workers?
Are we both talking about a small shop selling coffee, which is what I understood by the word "cafe"?
I think if there's a grain of truth in this then OWS should try to make up his business, but I am slightly skeptical as to the details.
That's because it's not a small "cafe" as the OP would like us to believe. It's a large corporate catering business that serves the bankers and traders of Wall Street.
Ah, that explains it.
Personally, I still don't want them to go out of business. Actually, I don't want Wall Street to go out of business, though I can see why that is an attractive idea.
it is a combination of a lunch shop and cafe. It is new opened in June. Barricades and Protesters block the doors so noone can enter and most now stay away from the park area so the customer base is gone
The protestors are not blocking the doors.
The police have Wall Street barricaded and are blocking pedestrian traffic. They are checking work IDs and only allowing people who work or live there to cross.
The protestors are in a park a few blocks away from Wall.
Epstein acknowledged that it is the barricades that directly hurt his business.
Again, no protestors are in front of this man's business.
But if OWS wasn't there there would be no barricades.
Because the police and homeland security choose to flex their police state muscles.
The Community Board has also complained of the extent of police barricading around the park.
I don't think it's so much "flexing" muscles as it is trying to keep some semblance of normality. You folks have every right to protest but not to interfere in anyone else's day to day life or work or business. The old saying is true,I may not agree with you but I'll fight for your freedom to say it.
So the cops are interfering in everyone's day to day life by barricading Wall Street to keep the protesters from possibly interfering in everyone's day to day life. Please tell me if I'm missing something, because that just sounds ridiculous. I'll bet you money that if the cops didn't have Wall Street blocked off then every small business there would be doing better than they've ever done.
It is somewhat of a catch-22 isn't it? As to whether their business would go up or not we'll never know. In the end OWS is starting to kill jobs that the 99% work at to make their point. Look at yesterday in Oakland,the protesters shut down the port and who did they hurt the worst? Not the corporations they seek to hurt but the normal everyday workers who they claim to represent. Doesn't make much sense to me.
The cops are there because the protesters are illegally occupying the park. This is normal. You're not supposed to camp in a park at night. The protesters are abusing their right to freedom of speech.
Then why was Wall Street barricaded by the NYPD? That has nothing to do with protesters camping out in a park two blocks away. If people wanted to protest from 9 to 5 ON WALL STREET they could not do it. Don't try to blame protesters for the fascist police state.
The park is blocks away from Wall St.
The police have chosen to completely block Wall St and to restrict access to only the people who can show a work ID.
They are checking ID before they let people pass. Their choice to engage in overkill and restrict access to this man's business.
Here it is on video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOMg7U8UxQI
He should simply sue the city.
I just saw this - they've removed the barricades since his complaint.
http://www.dnainfo.com/20111102/downtown/city-removes-barricades-that-blocked-struggling-wall-street-cafe
Well, as I've said elsewhere on this thread, I think OWS should make up their customer base. On the other hand, I still don't see how a cafe, even if it also sells sandwiches, can lay off 21 workers and still be in business. I don't see how a cafe can even have 21 workers in the first place. A coffee factory, perhaps. A mega-cofferama, maybe ... oh, wait, that's something I've just made up.
Maybe "cafe" means something different in New York, but if it does I'm having trouble visualizing it. Maybe I'm just a small-town boy.
I don't think it's a chain. He has a store in Boston & recently opened the one in NY
I didn't say it was a chain. I have no idea why you just posted that.
That's the whole point.He isn't going to be in business much longer.
That ... is not an answer ... to anything ... that I actually said.
How can anything be "the whole point" when it is not in fact a point?
You said "On the other hand, I still don't see how a cafe, even if it also sells sandwiches, can lay off 21 workers and still be in business." My comment was entirely to the point.
No it isn't. You haven't explained the point that I want explaining.
What I am having trouble understanding is how a business can be described as a "cafe", lay off 21 workers, and still be in business. That was my question.
You reply by telling me that the way things are going they may shortly not be in business.
That's not an answer to my question.
This is not particularly a political point. Maybe I am, as I say, a small-town boy, I'm just trying to get my head round how a cafe can sack 21 people and still keep going with what's left. Maybe in New York the word "cafe" indicates something so much bigger. Maybe in New York they have cafes that make our shopping malls look small.
I'm just a bit confused about the concept of a cafe that sacks 21 people. Feel free to mock me for being a hick.
I wasn't mocking you. Your statement actually made my point. He has had to let 21 workers go from a cafe. Obviously if he laid that many off his business is going down for the last count.
OWS should support the hurt business that are becoming collateral damage
how? they got no jobs and they're all failures themselves
For the resturants and cafes' they are becoming a failure because the OWS movement has created an evironment where people do not want to visit these places
That's what I said.
They cater. OWS: Buy a lot of the food with your $500,000
OWS must be looking for warm, conveniently located places to hold talks and meetings on particular topics - surely there must be a way that you can guarantee him a baseline amount of business with such events?
They could but they have not. Support the 99% in theory but they have not in practice
Have the 21 workers sign in and post their story, and if it can be confirmed, demand that wrong be righted.
Go into the Milk street Cafe like I did and see for yourself ! I used to eat lunch there on occasion and now its a ghost cafe with no customers. It opened in June and may close by December.
Hypocritical of the movement.
Unfortunately, I am not in NYC. Is it possible to send this info to one of the moderators/organizers to put on the next GA? I don't think it's hypocritical, I think it's an oversight for most (even though for some, it's probably ignorance/bad faith, as in, all business owners are guilty of something--which in this case is so irrational that there's no need to waste time discussing the fallacy of the argument)
I think supporting the local small business is very important.
It's not a "local small business", stop with the bullshit. Milk Street Cafe is a large business from Boston. It's New York branch is a large corporate catering business. Stop trying to bullshit people, a simple search on Google will show anyone the real truth.
They have 2 locations and they are a corporation?
It is a franchise, and the owners invest substantially to own one.
You have no clue
I don't give a fuck if it's a franchise, it's still a corporate catering service and not the small local cafe you try to make it out to be. Oh, by the way, the barricades have come down and business is going back to normal. So I'd say it was more about the excessive barricades on Wall St than it was about the protests that are almost 2 blocks away. Dishonesty will always be discovered.
http://www.dnainfo.com/20111102/downtown/city-removes-barricades-that-blocked-struggling-wall-street-cafe
So are assholes like you.
I'm an asshole, but I'm an honest asshole. I don't post bullshit blaming OWS for the actions of the NYPD.
Indeed. See Wikipedia on why 'local' matters.
The phrase, "All politics is local" is a common phrase in U.S. politics. The former U.S. Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill coined this phrase which encapsulates the principle that a politician's success is directly tied to his ability to understand and influence the issues of his constituents. Politicians must appeal to the simple, mundane and everyday concerns of those who elect them into office. Those personal issues, rather than big and intangible ideas, are often what voters care most about, according to this principle. Politicians often use this against one another, as well, to hit each other where it hurts most—back at home—rather than on the floor of Congress. The concept is contrary to the notion that most people, somehow, in local elections are casting votes to "send a message" to the highest levels; instead, the principle predicts that most people will not vote for local politicians simply as a means to act on feelings about higher polticians, such as concerns about a current U.S. President. The prediction is that most people who vote, or debate issues, are focused on resolving their local issues.
Seriously,wikipedia should never be used as a source.
No you got it. When the local businesses start to close you will see a very big problem
Agreed. I just sent an email to the OWS newspaper; if you have suggestions on how to get this at the next GA, let us know? There's no reason for this guy to lose his business with all the people who could go pay his biz a visit/can afford a cup of coffee.
p.s. is his coffee decent at least? his prices affordable? the place clean?
Having the meeting at the local businesses or buy products from
His business catered to the Wall Street Mafia--he SHOULD go out of business...
You have made a very hateful ignorant comment.
What was hateful and ignorant about it?
If you can't read what you posted and understand that it was hateful and ignorant there's nothing I can say to you.
Hmmm...let's see: The business owner made his money off the organized criminal parasites who work in his neighborhood, and for that reason, I think it's okay for him to go out of business...sounds good to me!
Spoken like a true hater.
Well, that's what happens when a government refuses to protect its own people from criminals, or engages in criminal activity itself: Hate fills the void. It's happened over and over again throughout history. I don't know why you're surprised it's happening here....
Yeah! and those damn workers should be out of a paycheck too! Man those people make me so angry! They should make their living working at an awesome job like me and you have. stupid sheeple.
The laid-off people should stop complaining and get a job....
LOL, No, the OWS should be responsible for its actions and live by what it is preaching.
Sure. Put this in the GA, and have people visit his place so he can get his 30 percent back as well as his staff? Have the pizza places making a bundle these days (thanks to OWS donors) send customers his way? For each pizza, a coffee coupon paid for out of the pizza dough?
Are the police going to let OWS people in to Wall St?
They have it barricaded and are checking ID's that's why he has lost business.
The Movement seems almost hypocritical at this point.
Almost?!? At this point?!?
True it is!
I had to leave park for a family obligation. can someone post milk Streets address. I'll send them $5.
40 Wall Street
it is easy to find online
OCCUPY WALL STREET Pinback Buttons! - only 99 cents
A portion of proceeds will go toward the local movement in the form of food and water. If you have a few extra bucks, drop off a box of apples or anything you can to the folks outside in your community!
Free Shipping Offer! http://buttonbasket.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=25
I suggest you dip into that OWS bank account that has a few hundred grand in it.
OWS should use some of it's donation money to pay him back. Or, he should sue the city for letting the hooligans camp in the park after it's supposed to be shut down.
Nice to see that the fascist moderators took off my comment!!!! Wow, the OWS-ers are what they hate now: control freaks!!!
BTW: I said that OWS-ers generally hate Jews. It's true, just read the posts on this site. The Anti Defamation League will be getting an email from me now, you screwball moderators.....
You guys don't delete Jew haters, just those who point them out!!!
Oh, stop lying, you're not convincing anyone.
Nice try, Dalton. It's true. So many posts are being deleted by the fascists running this board. Thank goodness people like them aren't running Homeland Security....wait......DHS just took over all radio stations in America this week. OWS moderators will love that....until a republican runs the show....
the forum is supposed to be open to the truth, but you will find they are masking many unwanted but true facts. I have had this posting removed already.
Wow you're right. I saw the earlier post and I just checked to confirm that it's gone now. The news about the Milk Street Cafe is not "spam", and posting it here is not "trolling". When they deleted that post, it was censorship. Plain and simple. There are almost no words for how disappointing that is.
They want us to believe in only what they want. Not in the truth or the reality of the actions. It will be the ultimate failure of the movement
I had my whole account deleted because someone didn't like what I said. Way to stand up for peoples freedom OWS.
I had numerous posts removed. I find the censorship disturbing