Starbucks Gets Ready To Open On St. Marks Place

EAST VILLAGE, NY — A long-dreaded Starbucks is getting ready to open in the heart of the East Village in the coming weeks, to this dismay of neighborhood veterans who say the chain's intrusion on St. Marks Place is yet another sign that the East Village is dead.

The new Starbucks, where workers are putting the finishing touches on the interior, is set to open at 125 St. Marks Place. A Starbucks rep did not respond to inquiries from Patch about what the new store's exact opening date would be. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Community members, and particularly local business owners, say that they're frustrated with the increasing influx of chain stores into the neighborhood that historically been bastion of counterculture. As Manhattan real estate prices have soared throughout the last two decades, independently owned shops and businesses have found themselves unable to shell out for storefront rent prices, while massive retailers have no problem footing the pricey bills.

Earlier this summer, a group of East Village business owners organized a small protest outside the future Starbucks, not, they said, to protest this specific Starbucks, but rather to urge city leaders to implement more protections for local businesses, so they don't keep getting pushed out by high rents.

One idea in particular that's gained traction is a proposed "special business district" that's currently before Community Board 3, which includes the East Village.

The activists gathered on Thursday said they weren't trying to halt the opening of this specific Starbucks, but rather demanded regulations in the neighborhood that would stop the future encroachment of large businesses.

Charles Branstool, of the Exit 9 Gift Emporium, said at the TK rally that the special business district should be implemented.

"We're not able to stop this from happening, it's happening already," Branstool said of the Starbucks. "The good news is that there's a ... special district zoning that could, if initiated, help protect the character and the charm of the East Village."

As it's currently written, the proposed zoning regulations would prohibit more than one chain store per block and restrict sizes for restaurants, banks and shops.

"It does come down to the fact that this is one of the most special, unique neighborhoods around," James Armata, general manager at the locally owned coffee shop Mud, said. "It keeps on getting less and less so with constant chains moving in. It could be Starbucks, it could be anything."

Read Patch's previous coverage of this issue here:

• NYC Is Over: Starbucks To Move Into East Village's Bastion Of Counterculture
• Activists Mull Ways To Help NYC's Mom & Pop Stores Fight Back Against Chains
• Mom And Pop Store Owners Flood East Village Meeting Seeking Allies In Fight Against Chains

Images via Ciara McCarthy / Patch.