In honor of the recent opening of a new Starbucks in my neighborhood and the not so recent closing of two others I feel it is about time I list the Upper West Side Starbucks’ and describe their importance to me. Perhaps there is reason to have more than one in the end, or perhaps not.
First before we can start we have to define the neighborhood. In technical terms I live in Morningside Heights which actually begins at 86th street on the West Side. But for the purposes of this study we will be looking at an area of space that stretches from 66th street and the West Side to 106th street. The reason for these two limits is simple, that encompasses an area of New York in which I am very familiar with the Starbucks’.
With this mile radius block one would find 13 Starbucks’ (please comment if I have missed one).
Here they are:
1. Broadway btwn 87th & 88th
2394 Broadway
New York, NY 10024
United States
-A new Starbucks which I have not had the pleasure of entering and utilizing just yet. It is tucked away within an apartment building and appears to have balcony seating on a second level.
2. 86th & Columbus
540 Columbus Avenue
New York, NY 10024
United States
-This Starbucks is symbolic of my own childhood. I went to school not far from here and would many a day get coffee here before and after school. My friends and I had a unique relationship with this Starbucks in particular because we had this bizarre and just flat out weird style of studying where we would wake up extra early the day of a test and meet up at this location at opening (ie. 6 in the morning). This was done with some regularity throughout the year and thus the morning manager was convinced we were part of some alternative lifestyle group that would finish our nightly extravaganzas at a Starbucks. Back in the day this place had sofas and leather chairs as well as a plethora of plugs for computer use, now it has been consumed by the wooden tables and chairs and airportesque style of many a Starbucks of late.
3. Broadway @ 81st
2252 Broadway
New York, NY 10024
United States
-This is a very popular and almost always busy Starbucks. It has the appearance of being a large cubical and in recent years has greatly reduced the more interesting seating in favor of more chairs and tables. Some of you may remember this Starbucks appearing in You’ve Got Mail, but again the seating arrangement featured in that movie is no longer available at this Starbucks. It is decent as far as Starbucks’ go; service is pretty quick and there is a lot of seating, though don’t expect to always be able to get a seat. Personally I find this one to be too loud (considering the set up of a giant cube) and less conducive for work or leisure reading. In short this is a meeting Starbucks, many come here to talk.
4. 93rd and Broadway
2498 Broadway
New York, NY 10025
United States
-Completely opposite of the Starbucks on 81st street, this Starbucks can be very quiet, even in the front where the registers are. I have found in the past that when looking for a Starbucks to get a lot of work done in a quieter environment this is my pick. Again though as is the case with pretty much all the Starbucks’, the seating has gotten much less comfortable. One thing that does set this one apart form a typical Starbucks experience that I have had is that its service tends to be slower and the lines can form here pretty easily.
5. 81st & Columbus
444 Columbus Avenue
New York, NY 10024
United States
-Once in my life have a ventured in to this Starbucks to actually stay and talk there. Mostly I see this Starbucks as a place to pick up drinks after eating at any of the Natural History Museum restaurants (The B. R. Guest restaurants that refuse to work with Open Table, I’ll talk about this in a post to come). It’s a smaller Starbucks with less storefront windows. Beyond that its location is important to note as it is, as mentioned, right near the American Museum of Natural History as well as the 81st street entrance into Central Park, which is very popular during the summer months because of Shakespeare in the Park.
6. 95th & Broadway
2521 Braodway
New York, NY 10025
United States
-This one I have always believed to be completely and utterly unnecessary, though it does get a line in the morning. I see it as unnecessary because when standing in front of it you can see one Starbucks two blocks south at 93rd and Broadway and another Starbucks three blocks north at 98th and Broadway. Nevertheless I have found reason to utilize this Starbucks, as have many other morning travels. I guess one reason that it gets use is its location right near the Subway entrance, though you can see the two other stores, both are a few more blocks from the express stop at 96th street. Second to that is its location on the west side of the street. With its addition to the neighborhood I do not have to cross to the east side of the street to obtain a coffee and then back to the west side to go home. This is an extremely lazy technicality but it deserves mention for that regardless.
7. 75th & Broadway
2140 Broadway
New York, NY 10023
United States
-I am less familiar with this Starbucks but that does not mean I haven’t visited it a few times here and then. It has had the purpose for me at least of being a rest stop on the way from Lincoln Center back to Morningside Heights. In this respect its bathroom is very nice as are the lines for ordering, but on occasion those lines have been long and the service slow.
8. 76th & Columbus
338 Columbus Avenue
New York, NY 10023
United States
- I can’t really comment on this one as I have been here maybe once. I just don’t use Columbus when traveling uptown or downtown, mostly because Broadway has that convenient curve to it that helps get me directly to Lincoln Center, Columbus Circle, Time Square, and Union Square.
9. 98th & Broadway
2600 Broadway
New York, NY 10025
United States
-Due to its location it has been my Starbucks of choice. My friends and I would meet here in the mornings when going to school (on days that we weren’t getting up at 5:30 to go to the one on Columbus to study). It is at this Starbucks that I always find myself reading the paper, eating breakfast (from Lenny’s Bagels across the street of course), and blogging. The service is always dependable and most of the time I can find a seat, but it isn’t easy. Though it’s a newer addition to the Starbucks trend I do greatly appreciate its location and have utilized it on a fairly regular basis, their lattes are always well prepared.
10. 73rd & Columbus
267-275 Columbus Ave
New York, NY 10023
United States
-A Starbucks I can’t say I have entered in more than once if that. Again its location on Columbus puts it out of the way for my needs but I’m sure it is just like any old Starbucks.
11. 70th & Broadway
2045 Broadway
New York, NY 10023
United States
-With this one I am going on record and saying that I believe Starbucks has made a typo with the address of this Starbucks. It is located just south of the intersection of Broadway and Amsterdam and I believe it is on the Amsterdam side of that intersection. Regardless if it is the Starbucks on the Amsterdam side and I am not missing another Starbucks in that area it is a fairly large one that is mostly dominated by a younger crowd who are either one their way or coming from the Sony movie theater on 68th street. Because of the crowd it draws I have utilized it less and less of late, it is not good for anything productive. But in the good old days when I was impatient waiting for a movie to start I would venture in here for a drink. That is if I didn’t head over to the one on Columbus and 67th street.
12. 103rd & Broadway
2690 Broadway
New York, NY 10025
United States
-I believe this one is the newest member to the Starbucks crew and is doing a fine job of getting established. We will see how it fares in that area, it is the second to move into the Broadway in the low 100s block, the first one closed and became a bank. It is good to have a coffee shop up by many choice restaurants as well as the Silver Moon Bakery which in it of itself is a destination to visit. We will see if it lasts.
13. Columbus @ 67th
152 – 154 Columbus Avenue
New York, NY 100235921
United States
-This Starbucks wraps up my high school years with it being closer to the 68th street movie theater and frankly a little better than the Starbucks on 70th and Amsterdam. I find that it was better because it had more comfortable seating (back in the day not now) and had the room to do the stuff that we liked to do, such as play a rousing game of Monopoly or hold an eight person plus discussion of the hidden meaning within the third Matrix movie; The Matrix Revolutions.
So those are the Starbucks in my life and the different purposes they have had. The real point of discussion here is the number of Starbucks within just a mile radius defined by 86th and Broadway. What are the uses you have for Starbucks? Or are you one of the many who are annoyed by the abundance and uniformity of the Starbucks system that you have boycotted them all together? Whatever your opinions are share your thoughts:
What does Starbucks mean to you and how do you define its role in your community? Is it the destroyer of the small coffee shop? Or the savor who finally created an evening location for young people that doesn’t include alcohol.
Discuss:
huysmans
washdcgirl
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