2nd Upper East Side Subway Stop Gets A Coffee Shop, With More To Come

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Fresh off the success of its inaugural platform-level coffee stand, Winfield Street Coffee is opening a second subway cafe in the neighborhood — with a third soon to follow.

The newest coffee stand will open Monday, barring any last-minute delays, on the platform of the 96th Street station on the Second Avenue Q line, company branding lead Bevy Rutledge told Patch.

The product of months of careful planning, it follows a previous drink stand that Winfield Street opened in March at the 86th Street Q stop — the first platform-level coffee shop that the MTA has ever allowed, as far as the company is aware.

"After the success of 86th Street, we’re just excited to keep expanding on the Q line," Rutledge said.

The new stand will be identical to the previous one, serving hot coffee and specialty drinks made with nitro cold brew — since MTA regulations prevent the use of espresso machines on subway platforms.

"We improvised and were able to create a kiosk where we can serve specialty coffee and quality coffee while adhering to all of the extensive rules," Rutledge said.

The new stand's hours will likely be the same as on 86th Street — from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays, and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Though it was welcomed by excited commuters, the 86th Street stand proved to be "a little hard at first," due largely to inflation and the complications of running a below-ground business, Rutledge said. But things improved once Winfield Street negotiated new contracts with its cold brew distributor, RISE BREWING, helping the company keep its drinks affordable.

If all goes well, the company aims to open a third stand at the 72nd Street Q station in December, Rutledge said — completing a clean sweep of the Second Avenue Subway. (The upcoming opening was first reported by East Side Feed.)

That will be the 10th location for the Connecticut-based company, which originated out of a deli in Westport before expanding as far away as Florida.

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