On the Avenue… Avenue AHistorically, New York’s East Village/Lower East Side has always been an area noted for unusual cultural happenings, earth-shaking social movements, and cutting-edge artistic endeavors. From Emma Goldman and Dorothy Day to the Rosenbergs… from Jasper Johns and Gracie Mansion to Allen Ginsberg and Luc Santé… from the gaslit balls at Webster Hall to the punks of CBGB’s and the drag queens of the Pyramid, this roughly two square mile section of Lower Manhattan has a rich and colorful past which, despite the recent influx of the “upwardly mobile,†inspires local residents today.Inspired by those firebrands, misfits and cultural ground breakers, a group of friends have gathered together to open Rapture Café & Books at 200 Avenue A between 12th and 13th Streets, on the site of the former Korova Milk Bar on that venerable avenue’s northernmost stretch. A combination of a café and bookstore with a limited bar, Rapture Café & Books will also feature a postage stamp-sized stage for performance art and readings, free wi-fi, broadband computer rentals and, eventually, a back oasis of a garden for those who wish to meditate over a latté.The brainchild of writer Joe Birdsong, who worked at and consulted for OutWrite Books, the only gay bookstore in Atlanta, and whose business experience includes tenure with companies as diverse as David Barton Gym, ICM, Bumble and Bumble and the Qwe’re Music Fest, Rapture Café & Books will also employ, as general manager, Brian Butterick AKA Hattie Hathaway (Pyramid, Jackie 60, Blacklips and Broadway’s The Threepenny Opera.)The Avenue A store’s interior was designed by Matthew Mohr, an expert antique restorer and furniture finisher and whose set designs have also been featured at the Guggenheim, New York. Mr. Mohr's ability to translate Mr. Birdsong's vision into modular space that serves the neighborhood and beyond is unmatched. It is a warm, clean, people-friendly space, with a Native American/Southwestern feeling, and is as versatile as it is inviting.The café will offer a wide array of Fair Trade-certified products, including Peace Coffee and Zhena’s Gypsy Teas, and an array of vegan, as well as non-vegan delightsContact: Hattie Hathaway or Joe Birdsong at 212-228-1177
Email:
[email protected] Café & Books
200 Avenue A (between 12 & 13 Streets)
212-228-1177
www.rapturecafe.com
