Queens Coffee Shops Struggle to Keep Brewing

Pouring the whipped milk on top of the iced espresso, Nylette, a barista at Coffee Cloud in Astoria, Queens, pushes the drink forward for pick up. She looks at the front door, but 20 minutes pass, and no one comes in. The cafe is lit up as on this early evening, but the street stays empty. “Business has been slow,” said Nylette, who requests to be identified by her first name only. “We opened four weeks ago. Opening was booming, but things have been slow. No one knows we’re here.”

The pandemic has displaced thousands of workers in New York City from their daily routines, causing local coffee shops to suffer. From 6 a.m. commuters to night owls, customers have stopped venturing out for coffee, sheltering at home instead. A recent article in the magazine Food and Wine, suggests that coffee shops may be vulnerable for the first time in many years as a result of coronavirus. Still, local coffee shops in Queens and other boroughs continue to brave the pandemic doing their best to serve customers.

A ten-minute ride away from Coffee Cloud, Capucine is nearing its first anniversary in mid-November. Amnay Labou, co-owner, and his friends opened the shop last year, attracted to the growing crowd in Sunnyside. “We opened in November and got hit by pandemic in March,” said Labou. “We feel it because we are the business where people have to come out.”

Taking advantage of the warm weather, tables and umbrellas are spread outside of Capucine, inviting pedestrians to come by and visit. “The pandemic has made us well known to the residents of Sunnyside. When it’s a beautiful day, people come out of their apartments and come to our shop,” Labou explained. “The problem is when it’s cold or raining, people don’t want to leave their apartment.”

So how do Labou and his team expect to combat this upcoming winter? “We need the neighborhood support and people need to come or we are screwed, unfortunately,” he explained. “We have to stay positive. There is no other option. We have to face it like every other small business in New York.”

For now, residents continue to frequent Capucine during the pandemic. “I get my weekly coffee from Capucine,” said Ashleigh, a customer who stopped by the shop. “I love small coffee chains. I think smaller coffee shops are really important to have in neighborhoods, and I can’t imagine Sunnyside without Capucine.”