It may be hard to believe, but it’s the truth: coffee in New York is terrible. We may have the best bagels and pizza in the world available at all hours of the night, but we just don’t do coffee—or if we do, we do it poorly.
The one bonus of New York coffee is that it is cheap. For years, the deli on my corner served 50-cent cups of coffee; my neighbors and I were outraged to learn of the recent price hike–to 55 cents. But you pay for what you get: a 12-ounce cup of semi-hot watered-down Colombian roast with un-refrigerated milk, which, for the first hour after opening, sits atop a pile of ice, but thereafter wades in a bucket full of lukewarm water. Wise New Yorkers always take a whiff from the carton before adding it to their brew.
Deli coffee is notoriously and particularly bad. One night last week, I passed by a homeless man huddled on the stairs in front of the dry cleaners. I stopped and asked him if he would like a cup of coffee.
“Yes, please,” he responded, and then added, rather firmly, “but don’t go to the deli.”
See the Columbia University school newspaper for a usage error in the second paragraph. An Ivy League school, home to one of the best journalism schools in the nation… yeah, you do the math. Why am I entering data at nursing agency? I should be copy editing at Columbia.
6 responses so far ↓
1 natkat // Jan 28, 2005 at 11:57 am
that is so true, i never really thought about that.
and about that hot chocolate date- the hot chocolate festival is on sunday, maybe we could meet up for it!
2 frank_the_fish // Jan 28, 2005 at 12:30 pm
Hehe… nice entry.
I once was in Chinatown, San Francisco, and had just came out of a fancy Chinese banquet at an upscale restaurant. Naturally we had many cartons of leftovers from the feast. We spotted an Asian homeless man who looked like he had no eaten in days. I stopped by and handed him the leftovers and his eyes lit up with glee. As we walked away, he opened the boxes and shouted t us.
“What? No rice?!”
Sigh.
3 One80_dgrees // Jan 28, 2005 at 5:24 pm
That was funny about the homeless guy saying don’t go to the deli to get coffee. haha!
4 trcs // Jan 28, 2005 at 9:22 pm
If I can’t be in new york myself, at least I get to read little tidbits via your blog. Thank you for that
It’s those little random things that I appreciate so much.
5 KiylaaJem // Jan 29, 2005 at 9:22 am
Hahaha… Is the deli coffee really that bad?? I’ve had really bad coffee before in NYC when i went on vacation there once… I guess I’m not the only one to think it is bad…
6 chicagoartgirl23 // Jan 30, 2005 at 11:03 am
Hi Laura! Thanks for your comments on my satirical political essay. I give you a little shout on my most recent post. I really appreciate your insight and etiquette. And no, you didn’t discourage me-you inspired me. Anyhow, here’s my response on your comments on my essay (I apologize if this gets lengthy): 1.) I think maybe my essay’s disclaimer about being ignorant might have thrown some people off, and it should be prefaced. What I should add in a second draft is that my ignorance is relative—compared to my Uncle, a professor with doctorate in Political Science, I am a twit. But compared to many, I am proficient enough. I have compensated my formal historical and political education, sadly ignored by art schools everywhere, by being dedicated to educating myself as best as I can. The important thing is, I will never assume I know everything there is to know, which will ensure I will always seek to learn more. 2.) Your comments on Cuba were great! I think my tone on the Cuba portion of the essay was much more satirical than other portions, so much so that perhaps you thought I was serious that there should be a Sandals Resort there. I am aware of the tricky economics and Cuban history. I was attempting to demonstrate the complexity of Cuba’s current political and economic climate by throwing in my bit about the resorts and Che t-shirts at Wal-Mart, but I think I need to bulk it up, because if it was lost on you, one of my most intelligent readers and posters, then the writing is lacking. Thanks for letting me in on the sex trade there, too—I wasn’t aware of that. Interesting stuff. 3.) Thank you also for your comments on Israel, I know how complicated of an issue that is to bring up. I was really hesitant to even write it, but in the end I decided it was worth a shot. I am well aware of the Jewish acquisition of Israel after WW2, as well as the religious significance of the area. I agree that it is a really touchy subject. Perhaps my opinions are jaded due to being raised by pagans and atheists, but I strongly feel that any government rooted in religion is a dangerous thing. Even with our phony proclamation to a separation between church and state, the U.S. is no exception to being a scary religion-based country, with out thinly veiled Judeo-Christian motives (and a public willing to support that by voting Bush into office based on “moral values”) driving many of our political decisions. Foregoing separation between church and state results in the justification of just about anything, and I think that the endless violence that thrives in Israel might be due to this. Thanks again—you’ve really helped me with organizing my thoughts on this. You’re awesome and your whip-smart opinions are always welcome. And I’m sorry to hear that your deli has nasty coffee.