The First Coffee House in NYC
The First Coffee House in NYC.
I love coffee. My body consists of more coffee than it does water. (My consumption concerns my doctor, but WebMD says I’m fine, so it’s fine.) I don’t mind tea and enjoy a cup here and there, but coffee is my jam. I love making it in the morning, and I love buying it while out. (My wallet doesn’t enjoy it, but that’s another story.)
A controversial option, I don’t like Starbucks. I find it overpriced and burnt-tasting. Given a choice between deli coffee and Starbucks, I’d choose deli coffee. There is more life and soul to it. Here’s a fun fact: Starbucks was named after the first mate “Starbuck” of the ship Pequod from the novel “Moby Dick.” Sadly, Starbuck wasn’t a mermaid, just a guy who drowns on the hunt for a white whale. If he had been a mermaid, he wouldn’t have died…regardless, I still don’t like their coffee.
When I’m out buying coffee, I’m usually doing the second thing I love, wandering. I wander the streets and google what the area used to be in the past. You can imagine my delight when my two passions collided, and I found myself at Zuccotti Park in the Financial District, which was once the spot of the first coffee house in NYC.
The King’s Arms, or The Coffee House, is considered the first coffee house in NYC. It was presumably built by John Hutchins somewhere between the late 1680s to 1690s. It stood on a lot of land on Broadway, between Trinity Church Yard and what is now Cedar Street. This area is the location of present-day Zuccotti Park. It seems that The King’s Arm was one of the few, or perhaps only, coffee houses in NYC at the time. At least, it was the only one worth mentioning because very few historical documents record any others.
Courtesy: Cluesheet New York’s Pioneer Coffee House, The King’s Arms, Opened in 1696
The Dutch surrendered New Amsterdam in 1674 to the British. British culture and traditions quickly took over, one of them being coffee houses. Coffee Houses differed from taverns, which travelers often used as way-points because locals gathered at the coffee house for civic meetings and even held court at the King’s Arms.
As the decades passed, other coffee houses sprung up in lower NYC. Many of them became important meeting places. The Sons of Liberty used places like The Merchant’s Coffee House before and during the American Revolution. Since history is confusing and constructed on fragments, it’s hard to have an entire timeline of coffee houses. Historical records state that the King’s Arm moved locations and names several times. As time wore on, coffee houses continued to grow in popularity, probably because they sold alcohol. Before long, coffee houses were all over NYC.
Although The King’s Arm and any of the subsequent re-incarnations of that place do not still exist today, imagine my excitement on discovering I was standing at a place of history. It was a feeling that was immediately replaced by disappointment, knowing I would never be able to step foot into it and share a cup of joe with powdered wig-wearing revolutionaries.
Instead, the honor of one of the oldest still operating coffee houses supposedly goes to Café Reggio. In 1927, Italian immigrant Domenico Parisi opened Café Reggio in Greenwich Village on McDougal Street. This place is unique because their website claims they were the first to serve cappuccino in the United States! The ornate 1902 espresso maker was the first of its kind and operated on coal. It is no longer used, but you can see it on display. Stepping into the cafe is like stepping into history. The café purports that artwork on the walls dates back to the Renaissance. One of the benches even has the famous Medici Family crest on it.
Front of Café Reggio in Greenwich Village Courtesy: Cafe Reggio
This place is a dream come true for a girl like me, coffee to my heart’s content and a long linage of history. If I were still single, I’d probably spend my Saturdays swiping left on Hinge and pretending to write a novel. But who am I kidding; that’s how I still spend my Saturdays, sending random cat reels to my boyfriend instead and not even pretending to write a novel.
Regardless though, of how you get your happy juice, we have the King’s Arm Tavern to thank for our city’s love affair with the old Cup of Joe.
Sources:
The Economic Time – Starbucks and Moby Dick
History of Coffee in Old New York
Coffee for Less – A Brief History: The NYC Coffee House
