Darkstar Coffee Opens In The East Village

EAST VILLAGE, NY — A new coffee shop has opened in the East Village, and its owner is trying to preserve the neighborhood's reputation for quirky and unique shops as such businesses are increasingly threatened by rising rents.

Darkstar Coffee opened at 2 Great Jones St. last week, in the space that was previously only home to the stereo equipment store In Living Stereo nestled between the East Village and West Village. Now, the stereo shop and the coffeehouse are sharing the space, blending the store with the smell of espresso and the sound of a record-played soundtrack. Darkstar will play its coffeehouse tunes on a turntable throughout the day, says owner Steve Mishoe. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Mishoe said that after operating In Living Stereo for 16 years, he decided to add coffee to the mix because it seemed like a "more viable" option in New York. Mishoe is familiar with Manhattan's retail transformation as increasingly fewer independent businesses are able to keep up with skyrocketing real estate costs.

"The stores are becoming corporate and boring and not very diverse," he said of neighborhoods like the East Village and Greenwich Village, both of which have seen numerous local businesses close their doors and be replaced by chain stores that can afford the sky-high rents.

The proliferation of chain stores in Manhattan is something Mishoe hopes to combat with Darkstar.

"Our store is definitely not one of those stores that you see everywhere," he said. "There's not too many like it."

In addition to a hand-selected soundtrack that will change daily (each day will feature a different genre of music), Mishoe himself completed all of the woodwork in the shop. Darkstar will also sell coffee cups made locally by ceramicists in Brooklyn, he said. The store will donate a portion of its profits to the Nature Conservancy, one of Mishoe's favorite charities.

Dozens of independent business owners like Mishoe are currently calling for a measure that would help support locally-owned stores and shops in the East Village. Activists are asking the city to implement a "special business district" in the East Village, which would put a limit on how many chain stores could open in a given block, among other restrictions.

"I like the old New York," Mishoe told Patch. "Things were much more interesting back then and I applaud anyone trying to keep huge corporate national chains out of the area."

The store will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily, he said.

Lead image via Shutterstock.