41 Years Later, Coffee Shop Pioneer Leaf & Bean Closes

Photo credit: NATALIE MUSUMECI/NEW YORK DAILY NEWSWhen Leaf & Bean says that it was into fresh coffee beans and loose tea leaves before it was cool, it’s true. The OH (that’s “Original Hipster”) opened its doors on Seventh Ave 41 years ago, long before anyone even knew there was more than one kind of coffee. But competition from both corporate and indie coffee shops has been too much, forcing partners Vikki Cook and Karen Hue to shut down the old school joint.

Founder Allan Mehlberg ran Leaf & Bean until he retired in 2003, handing the reins over to Cook and Hue. The two had worked with Mehlberg at the shop and at another of his cafes. “Karen and I love Leaf & Bean and that’s why we struggled these past few years to keep it open,” Cook told the New York Daily News.

However, the business just wasn’t there. “Our customer base is aging and we’re not getting the new transient youth that’s moving in.”

Screw you, transient youth. Show some respect for the classics! Leaf & Bean had 50 types of beans to choose from, any given day. How many does Starbucks give you? Are you gonna get Kenya slow drip coffee at Dunkin Donuts? This is why we can’t have nice things. Go support a mom-and-pop store instead of downloading another app or paying $10 for an average beer with a quirky name.

Or as Cook much more eloquently put it: ““If you love your neighborhood participate in its preservation.”