Coffee Lovers Frothing Mad That UWS Starbucks Could Close: Report

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A group of Upper West Siders have started an online petition to save a Columbus Avenue Starbucks location that's scheduled to close at the end of January, according to the petition and reports.

Loyal customers of the Columbus Avenue and West 76th Street Starbucks plan to send a petition to Starbucks executives — including former CEO Howard Schultz who oversaw the chain's rapid expansion outside of Seattle — imploring the company to spare the doomed store. As of this writing, more than 150 people have signed the petition. Neighborhood publication the West Side Rag first spotted and reported on the petition.

"We challenge you to look beyond the spreadsheet and see the remarkable potential and value this place holds," the petition reads.

Keep up with neighborhood events and news by subscribing to the Upper West Side Patch to receive free daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.

The creator of the petition, listed as Michael Schertz, writes that the Columbus and West 76th Street Starbucks "has added enormous value to our community over the years and which, far more than any other Starbucks store we've ever experienced, [and] has actually embodied the human and social ideals the brand presumes to espouse."

The location is set to close on Jan. 31, the West Side Rag reported.

The current saga playing out on the Upper West Side is a bit of a role reversal for Starbucks, which is often seen as an agent of gentrification. The 2017 opening of a Starbucks on St. Mark's Place in the East Village drew protests and calls on the city to protect the neighborhood's small, locally-owned businesses.

In the event that the petition cannot save the Columbus Avenue and West 76th Street Starbucks, its customers won't have to travel far to find a replacement cup of coffee. There are two other Starbucks located just blocks away on Columbus Avenue and West 73rd and West 81st Streets.

Photo by/Stephen Chernin/Getty Images News/Getty Images