![]() I did not realize, until I read the news reports, that Ishrat had decided to open Caffè Vivaldi in order to provide a more comfortable place to go for people who had congregated at the store. Once, a group of schoolchildren walked by and all shouted for Caesar. He would greet customers and also spend part of each day perched in a tree outside the store. I would go mostly to see the store’s cat, Caesar, who was a very street-savvy feline and something of a neighborhood celebrity. When I first moved to the Village in the ‘80s I lived on Barrow Street and spent time there. WPIX was outside interviewing musicians who had come to play there one last time.īefore opening Caffè Vivaldi in 1983, Ishrat was the proprietor of a magazine store on 7th Avenue South between Barrow and Bleecker Streets. I stopped by the café on its final evening. The closing was also featured on a number of TV news reports. The closing was big news-articles appeared in The Villager and Gothamist, and Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York and Eater had posts about it. When Ishrat Ansari posted the news on Caffè Vivaldi’s website that the café/restaurant/performance and community space would be closing on June 23rd, after 35 years, we received many emails from distraught readers alerting us to the fact. Nearly thought of going to Moma today but realised in time that it’s closed on Tuesdays.Īlbert Camus Andy Warhol architecture Art Art Vandalism Audio & Video Beatles Beatniks Bob Dylan Bournemouth Coffee Bars Counterculture Dadaism David Bowie Film Florence Gram Parsons Gypsy Jazz Italy Jack Kerouac jazz John Cage John Lennon Leicester Leonard Cohen Literature Liverpool London Love Malta Marcel Duchamp Mods and Hippies Music New York Open Mic Oslo paris Peter Whitehead Photography Pink Floyd Poetry Politics and Philosophy Psychedelic Psychology Religion Review Reynard Collective Rick Grech Rome Rothko Roy Lichtenstein San Fransisco Sicily Slavery Spain Subculture T.S.By Caroline Benveniste HOPEFULLY IT IS NOT THE LAST ACT FOR THIS CULTURAL INSTITUTION: After 35 years in business, Caffé Vivaldi’s closing is big news. Not sure where I’m going tonight but I’ve got a late late gig at the Red Lion with a great player called Niall. It wasn’t, it was his! Am meeting up with him to talk about the old days. Absolutely brilliant, I thought it was a classic I’d never heard before. Don’t they realise it’s all crap! Just do it and forget about commercial success! Met a really interesting old school guy there who has written his own New York song in the style of a show tune. They all try and direct you to their web sites and brag about their position in the Reverbnation charts and such like. There were some really great performances but I can’t help feeling there is an air of desperation in what they are doing. Went to Caffe Vivaldi Open Mic last night which is on Jones Street. Go and do something useful, what’s wrong with you!? Go and occupy something! Mind you, the only reason they talk to me is because they think I’m a big time film producer, which I’m not but it gives me an aura of glamour I that I probably wouldn’t have if they knew I was a retired teacher. The hotel cafe is full of yuppies who seem to need to tell me how much they hate their jobs. Just as pretentious as where I’m staying but it’s easier to be anonymous. Really nice coffee as the name would suggest. It’s called Grounded and just up the road. What a palaver!įound a new cafe to have breakfast. ![]() ![]() ![]() Still took me about half an hour to find it. After a few seconds when I think he was thinking of throwing me out he told me where the counter was. I told him I was looking for a bottle of Dior Pure Poison (no, really). ![]() A rather heavy looking security guard asked me in a suspicious way if I needed any help. Managed to get totally lost looking for the perfume counter. Managed to get all the presents and discovered Macy’s Department Store. First time I’d done that since I came here. My planned trip to Ellis Island didn’t come about because of the terrible weather. ![]()
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