Vox Pop Closed, Again

So, what happened? Here's the story from Debi Ryan, who manages Vox Pop, the Cortelyou Road cafe, performance space and bookstore.

We were in the process of trying to address the issue of back taxes that was inherited by the new management when NYS Department of Taxation and Finance chose to seize the assets. We are currently negotiating with them to have the space reopened and I am confident we will be successful.

What is so frustrating is that Vox Pop is on its way to becoming the space we truly want it to be. We have consistent programming that includes music, spoken word, art events, independent film screenings, comedy and book readings. We have a children's story hour on Wednesday morning and Sing-a-longs on Monday afternoon and regular children's dinner concerts.

And, we do all of this for free, providing the community with the space to meet and study and work and organize and play.

We have also partnered with many of the not-for-profit organizations to support their fundraising efforts and have offered our space, our coffee, our music connections to assist in those efforts. We do food drives and gift drives to benefit the local shelters.

Now, we are once again faced with a problem that was not of our making, but one we assumed out of a sense of what is right as a responsible community space.

Since we have reopened we have been actively paying down much of that inherited debt. We chose to use our limited resources to pay the people who needed it most first -- like back pay for our employees who are all members of this community, monies owed to local vendors to help keep them in business, monies owed for back rent, old utilities bills -- while paying our current bills and meeting our obligations.

Since reopening, we have also been faced with one unexpected calamity after another; including a water main break that damaged the physical structure of the space as well as destroying equipment stored there, had to rewire the entire electrical system, address several major plumbing issues, and replaced much of the restaurant equipment. As anyone who has purchased an old house will tell you, no matter how much you think you’ve looked in every corner, from foundation to the roof, there are always problems you didn’t know about until you actually move in. Eventually, you get it all sorted and it becomes the beautiful home you want. But until then, it’s always a bit of a leap of faith.

Basically, we not only inherited debt, we spent a great deal of money just to get the place up to code. These were all things that I certainly did not anticipate when we chose to reopen Vox Pop as a community owned space. As I said then, I don't know what I don't know, but this space is too important to lose it now.

What makes Vox Pop so special? We are not just a coffee shop, we have become a true community space that supports itself with the sale of coffee.

You can help Vox Pop by becoming a member. For $40 you will recieve the newly published book, "Voices of Vox Pop", which tells the story of Vox Pop through a collection of stories, poems and art by the Vox Pop community, and a membership card that entitles you to free coffee refills for 6 months.

We appreciate all of the support that the community has shown us and continues to show us and welcome any fundraising ideas to help us over this hurdle.

I can be reached at debi@voxpopcafe.com