Forgo The Cup O' Joe: Bed-Stuy Coffee Shop Workers Call For Boycott

BED-STUY, NY — Workers at a celebrated Bed-Stuy coffee shop are asking their neighbors to forgo their cup of joe to pressure management into meeting demands.

Workers say multiple employees at Playground Coffee Shop on Bedford Avenue were fired after confronting their managers about poor transparency and inconsistent pay practices.

In a GoFundMe that raised over $9,000 by Thursday, Playground workers said they've been receiving unexpected late payments and poor communication on pay policies.

Growing increasingly desperate, the workers are calling for a full boycott.

"This wide call for solidarity, fundraising, and boycott comes as a last resort tactic," organizers said on the GoFundMe, first reported by BK Reader. "We are urgently raising funds for housing, groceries, personal care necessities, and other supplies to sustain former Playground Coffee Shop employees during their search for new wage labor & employment opportunities."

Three Playground baristas, including GoFundMe organizer Ishwara Grant-Harrison, told BK Reader they recently realized they were shortchanged hundreds of dollars over months of late and incorrect payments.

When they brought it up with Playground founder Zenat Begum, they were fired, Grant-Garrison said.

Playground's first barista, Tann Koga, told BK Reader they were fired after pressing Zenat about mismanagement of employee taxes.

Playground is known for its community outreach — the space is home to a community fridge, "take one leave one" library, space for educational programming and bookstore promoting authors from underrepresented identity groups.

The store stepped up during moments like Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 and the pandemic, supporting neighbors with fresh food and supplies, the New York Times reported.

But workers say the external image doesn't match internal practices.

"For a business that prides itself on their exceptional inclusion to 'community' and 'mutual aid' we call shame," organizers wrote on the GoFundMe.

Playground Coffee Shop founder was expected to make a statement Friday.