Caffeinated Outrage

by Richard Bainbridge

Once again, Williamsburg has gotten all worked-up over false rumors about Starbuck’s opening in the neighborhood. Here we examine the making of an urban legend and ask the question: What’s so bad about Starbuck’s, anyway?

If you happened to be walking down Bedford Avenue one recent Sunday, you might have stumbled upon an unusual outdoor religious revival. There was a gospel choir, singing songs about consumerism, and a preacher shouting through a megaphone about the "evils" of Starbuck’s, as people held signs with the Starbuck’s logo, crossed out by a big red line, chanting "Stop Starbuck’s!"

What you were witnessing was a political performance by Bill Talen, aka "Reverend Billy," and his Church of Stop Shopping. Reverend Billy has become a fixture of anti-consumerist, leftist political activity in Manhattan over the past few years, focusing mainly on the Disney Store in Times Square and Starbuck’s increasing presence in the East Village. He has vowed to make the East Village a franchise-free zone of all independently-owned small businesses, and to stop Starbuck’s "by any means necessary," to quote Malcolm X.

This was the first time Rev. Billy’s brought his message to Brooklyn, however. And he specifically chose Williamsburg, which he sees as sort of the last patch of Amazon Rain Forest, surrounded by salivating loggers. Indeed, Williamsburg must look rather tempting to a company like Starbuck’s, which actively targets café-friendly areas, then more or less carpet bombs the competition out of existence.

Many people greeted Rev. Billy with open arms and warm enthusiasm, others with outrage and/or apathy. But the police were definitely not amused, nor was the owner of the pastry shop that is going to open in the space at North 5th street and Bedford – which, most definitely, is not and never was going to be a Starbuck’s.

So how did the rumor get started? And if Rev. Billy knew it was just a false rumor (which he did), why did the protest still go on as planned?

Let’s go back a few years to the first major "gentrification" boom in Williamsburg. A rumor began spreading that a certain store under construction was going to be (gasp!) a Starbuck’s. Then some prankster actually put a Starbuck’s sign in the window, just to add drama. I remember the outrage, because I was part of it. Actually, I never really believed the rumor, because I thought people would blow up Starbuck’s before they would let it serve its first latte - -and that the company was smart enough to know that.

Fast forward a few years, and the neighborhood I remember has changed radically. This time when I heard the rumor, I actually believed it could be true. When the New York Times published a small story about the rumor, it began to spread like wildfire. People were convinced it was happening, and reassuringly, there was serious outrage – though it was more fatalistic this time around (like "Dude, it was just a matter of time...").

I talked to the owner of the L Café about it and he seemed unperturbed. "Honestly, I think if they had tried to open Starbuck’s here a few years ago, there would have been riots," he said. "Now, I don’t think anything would happen. The neighborhood has changed too much already." He even had some positive things to say, figuring that Starbuck’s would just bring more people here, thus create more business for everyone – which is essentially the perspective shared by the owners of Verb café (one of whom runs this Web site, I should point out).

Debates raged on the Billburg,com bulletin boards, including one girl who posed a very good question: "What’s so bad about Starbuck’s, anyway?"

First, let me say I’m nowhere near impartial on this matter. Essentially I believe that a lot of what makes this neighborhood so appealing is the fact

that it is all independently –owned businesses. That you aren’t assaulted by big billboards everywhere you look, and you can rent your videos from people who don’t wear uniforms and fake-smile like drones, or censor "controversial" films like Blockbuster does. I believe that what makes Williamsburg so special is that it is one of the nearly extinct examples of a real community in New York, let alone in America. Cleveland and SoHo can have another Starbuck’s. But personally, I’d really rather not have to cringe as I pass by their pseudo-Bohemian décor and hear their PC-friendly soundtrack of Sting and Bob Marley (with all the pro-drug and political songs taken out).

Furthermore, I tend to think chain stores have just gotten a bit out of hand in this country. I mean, do we really need a 7-11, Mc Donald’s and Starbuck’s on every block? Does no one see the value of diversity anymore? Are they not troubled by the massive homogenization gone rampant in America?

"The protest was a tribute to the folk story created by the citizens of Williamsburg," says Rev. Billy when asked why he carried out the action, knowing full-well there was no Starbuck’s coming to Bedford Avenue. "God help people who can’t create a rumor like that. They have a mall over their heads and cannot dream."

Of course, the owner of the soon-to-be-opened pastry shop at N. 5th and Bedford (called Fabiane’s) has a very different perspective. A 20-year resident of Williamsburg, she claims that even her own family was recently forced to leave Williamsburg due to high rents. She also says Rev. Billy is lashing out against the very thing he claims to defend – independently-owned businesses. But Rev. Billy says it’s not just about chain stores. "The $7,500 a month rent being charged for that space is not acceptable," Rev. Billy says. "It upsets the entire street because the margin of profit, as any of the other business owners in the area who pay a third of that rent will tell you, is very delicate."

Even the owner of the L café agreed that there’s no way he could afford to stay in business if he had to pay that kind of rent. "You’d have to sell a lot of coffee," he said. (Or in this case, pastries.)

But what can one do about high rents? I remember being yelled at by a guy who found out I was paying $1500 for two floors of a building on the south side four years ago. "You’re ruining the neighborhood!" he yelled in my face. Then again, I also remember when people in this area would either tear down signs for properties demanding excessive rents, or write things like "Piss off, capitalist pig" on the flyer. ..and I was one of them.

My own informal survey shows that over the past four years, not a single new bar, café, shop, restaurant or apartment building (aside from housing for the Hasidim) has opened that is for the "poor" or "native" people of Williamsburg. And I think that is a serious threat to the heart and soul of this community. But I’m grateful at least that we still have a heart and soul to defend.

The police wanted to arrest Rev. Billy during his demonstration on Bedford Avenue. When I asked if they did not value free speech and the right to protest, they said, "This is not a protest. This is a sideshow." Which basically tells you two things: Cops have no sense of humor; and they have no sense of history. If they did, they might recall a group of people who dressed up like Indians and dumped a bunch of tea owned by a rich corporation into the sea. It was called "The Boston Tea Party" and it sparked the American Revolution.

In my opinion, the day Starbuck’s opens in Wiliamsburg will be a sad one. And not fighting against unwanted gentrification or chain stores is like not caring about the world because it’s gonna explode someday, anyway. I support development in this neighborhood wholeheartedly, and I wish the owner of Fabiane’s pastry shop all the best (though I’m not a big purchaser of $7 tarts).

Recently, though, I have seen some hopeful signs: the apartment across from me was just renovated and rented out to a working class Mexican family. Then there’s the new store in the mini-mall. When I peeked in suspiciously, and saw it was a small record shop run by Rasta Farians, I said with a smile "Dear Lord, there’s still hope."

Richard Baimbridge is a freelance writer who lives on the south side of Williamsburg.