On a sunny, yet cold day, cafes are the perfect place to be. The stinging breeze is whisked away by the soft heat that encompasses the threshold. With natural lighting, small tables and a comforting atmosphere, Paradiso Cafe, located in the East Village of Manhattan, almost blends in with the facade of Avenue B. A pushed back entrance and step up doorway leads to the character and charm that exudes from owners Alessandra and Jose. Eclectic art, music and decor stock the shelves along with assorted breads and olive oils for sale.

I have a personal connection to Paradiso, as I have grown up eating Alessandra’s pressed panini and drinking her Italian sodas. With reasonable prices and a one-of-a-kind, yet classic menu, Paradiso opening in 2009 has served to benefit the community of the East Village as a whole. Aiding in romantic dates, quick family lunches, prom-proposals and afternoon coffee and dessert, Paradiso has a unique atmosphere that goes along with the character of Alessandra as well as the high quality Italian cuisine.

Alessandra kindly agreed to be interviewed on March 1st, while loyal employee Cecilia waited tables. Jose, currently in Argentina visiting family, was unable to comment. Alessandra’s words were quite beautiful; while speaking of some serious issues concerning small businesses around the world, she also exuded pride within her business and passion.

“I’ve been in the East Village for many years, I love the East Village. I used to have a restaurant years ago, but when our lease expired in 2008, the rent was too high. So I decided to close the other business. It also was a small restaurant in the neighborhood.”

This prior restaurant, located on 1st avenue and 7th street, was in business from 1981 to 2008. Alessandra immigrated to New York City from from Italy to live her new, independent life. Little did she know, her independence would welcome new friends!

“[Jose] used to be a customer at my other place. He was friends with a lot of my friends.”

Jose has immigrated from Argentina, to find his future bride running a coffee shop on first avenue. The couple came from across the world to start a new life, and fell in love the way they couldn’t have in their respective countries.

When asked about how she blends her Italian culture with her 40 years in American business, she explains,

“I maintain a lot of my Italian roots in my food… Here, I really work as a local business. I’ve been in the neighborhood since 1981. [People] know me because I’ve been here so long, and I had another place. [Paradiso] is really a neighborhood place.

A lot of my customers are just through friendship, and people that I know, and word of mouth; it’s just local.

Of course, I maintain in my food, and in my approach, an Italian background. I maintain my relationship with Italy because all of my family is still there. Most of the products we use, if we can get them, are from Italy.”

Olive oil may seem arbitrary to some, but to Italian culture, it is the glue that holds cuisine together. Alessandra immigrated to New York City in 1981, and has brought with her the ingenuity of her food and business. Paradiso has survived the ups and downs of business through adaptation and quality work. To survive, Alessandra stuck to her Italian roots and expanded her menu. With her family-imported olive oil, she now serves salads, sandwiches, soups and pasta to keep her business profitable. Serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Alessandra works about 90 hours a week, with only a handful of employees and her husband to help her. The struggles Alessandra faced, however, do not cause her to regret her choices. She is a proud immigrant, and has adapted to decades of changing demographics in the East Village. The warm atmosphere that Alessandra has successfully provided to Paradiso makes it a successful business, regardless of profit. Serving complimentary bread and olive oil, she treats each customer like a guest in her own home, providing family recipes to all who enter. The olive oil she serves also symbolizes her intelligence and strength. Adaptation to new demands, immigration from a home filled with family, and frustration with rising rent prices and an ever-changing customer base have all attributed to her daily use of Italian ingenuity.

Even in 2008, rent prices were taking out small businesses, like her own. When the rent got too high for Alessandra, as it did and still is for many small businesses, she found new ground on 105 Avenue B. Located directly across from Tompkins Square Park, Alessandra was drawn to the location because of the character of the East Village in 2009. She planned on keeping business as usual, with “Paradiso: La Casa de Tiramisu” printed on the front window.

“[I] wanted to just have a small coffee place with great tiramisu. That was the main reason of opening; come in the morning, open as a coffee place. But, the reality is we had to start expanding our menu, because otherwise we couldn’t survive. [Now we serve] pasta, sandwiches…”

By simply looking at the facade of Paradiso, one can see how economic change has changed the vision for the cafe. In 2009, Paradiso was labeled as “La Casa De Tiramisu.” Paradiso is now subtitled as “Olio & Pane, Pasta & Vino.” Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and of course, tiramisu is served. Alessandra works constantly, about 90 hours a week, with only 4-6 employees helping her. It’s clear that she has a knack for business, as well as cuisine. Adapting to changing times, she found reasonable rent. She invested her own time and money into keeping her small coffee shop afloat, among the big chains that can afford rents that have left storefronts vacant for some time.

So, how does Alessandra make ends meet, keeping her prices fair and her food at such high quality? Many attributes are of course in effect, but the relationship between vendor and customer is more valuable than one might think in a small business.

Alessandra’s experience with the East Village is not just because of her business experience. She lives just three blocks up the road, on 10th street. Most of her adult life has been connected to the East Village and the changing community. It’s heartbreaking to think that hundreds of businesses like her own have been closed down to make way for richer corporations and luxury apartments. Paradiso has about 3 years left on their lease. After 40+ years owning small businesses, Alessandra may have to say goodbye to the neighborhood she has called home.

Alessandra has appreciated the art of the Lower East Side for decades, especially since her husband Jose is an artist. His sculptures add character to Avenue B and Alphabet City as a whole. However, rising rent and an ever-changing demographic have limited her ability to see art regularly near her café.

“I was young when I came here, and one of the reasons I stayed was because I was so inspired by everything that was going on. The music, the art. Today it really looks like another big city… It’s the first time ever in my life that I’m ready to say, ‘okay, New York, that’s it’. It’s not the same. You look at the East Village and one Starbucks is good, one bank is good, but you look at every single corner and it’s a bank, either Domino’s pizza or Starbucks. Before, it used to be Life Cafe, 7A Cafe, my little cafe, CBGBs. Everybody knew each other, and it was inexpensive. There were venues where you could go. People with little money who just started could invest into storefronts. It’s the same with apartments, the apartments here are very expensive. you used to be able to come into NYC for $500 [a month].”

“We still have [art]… and that’s why we’re still open and we’re gonna be open, but i know more and more as time goes on it’s going to change.”

.

The Lower East Side has been a historic region for Manhattan culture and immigration. In 2016, kids are playing in Tompkins Square Park, coffee shops are setting up their outdoor tables, and local business owners are offering dog treats to their four-legged customers. It’s hard to imagine that the area had been any different. However, census data and first-person interviews tell us otherwise.

”Historically, the Lower East Side has had a lot of entrenched drug gangs,” Police Commissioner Howard Safir said at a news conference in 1997. ”A lot of the property crime and the violent crime in the Ninth Precinct is linked to the drug activity.”

According to the 2015 Community Health Profile of the Lower East Side and Chinatown, drug and alcohol use is still a problem in the East Village. However, conditions have improved.

Pastor Kareem Goubran of Graffiti Church has been serving the Lower East Side for over 30 years. He recalls helping those addicted to drugs and the homeless day after day, serving the people of the East Village. In Tompkins Square Park, hypodermic needles crowded the paths and rested below benches where the homeless would sleep. There were nicknames for avenues A through D. “A for Attention, B for Beware, C for Caution, and D for Danger”. Taxi drivers would not go East of Avenue B in fear.

However, things have improved since then. It is clear when entering Tompkins Square Park or walking down Avenue B that poverty and crime are no longer as common in the East Village.

Census data finalizes this information. During the 1980s, poverty ran rampant. From Avenue B to Avenue C on 3-9th streets, over 60% of inhabitants lived below the poverty line. Yet, by 2014, the entire area around Tompkins Square Park had a poverty rate below 30%.

Poverty 1980 vs. 2014:

Income has also risen throughout Alphabet City. With an increased standard of living, crime rates have dropped and children are less likely to go hungry or abandoned. This makes for an attractive neighborhood for business.

Income 1980 vs. 2014:

But safety comes with a price–literally. Rent prices have soared in recent years, as stated by Alessandra of Paradiso cafe. In census tract 26.2, where the cafe is located, median rent has increased from $183 in 1980 to $1,215 in 2014. That’s a 663% increase in just 34 years, with rent adjusted for inflation. Even with this data, it is rare to find an apartment for less than $2,000 a month. This has caused major problems, especially with small businesses in the area. Alessandra fears that she will no longer be able to stay afloat as a business on the Lower East Side. 

Median Rent 1980 vs. 2014:

For those looking to live in the Lower East Side, it is just as difficult to pay the rent. On avenue B and 10th street, median income is $34,612 and expected rent is $1,032 a month. Remember that this is a median rent price, and there are a majority of private apartments that cost well over this price. Almost half of one’s income is depleted on rent. Notice how rent prices have risen at these two locations in recent years.

The area of the Lower East Side, including Tompkins Square Park, the facades of buildings, and the streets, has all been cleaned up since Alessandra and Kareem first arrived. However, many of the buildings have stayed the same architecturally for many years. Paradiso is located in a building built in 1900.

Looking back, it is clear that a lot has improved in the Lower East Side. However, when Kareem looks forward, he can’t help but see the opposite side of the coin. In some people’s opinions, the Lower East Side has transformed from a Ghetto to a Tale of Two Cities. On Avenue B, some residents pay multiple thousands of dollars for rent, while others still struggle with poverty and are struggling to afford rent without government subsidies. Many developers are trying to privatize the public housing on Avenue D, displacing hundreds of residents. Over the past 20 years or so, no new public housing has been created for those that were evicted from their LES apartments and storefronts. The Good Old Lower East Side, a tenant advocacy group located on 6th and B, tried to combat these evictions for 27 years. Then, ironically and unfortunately, they were evicted after their rent more doubled in 2003 (Moynihan 2003). Because rents are so high, those that have enriched the character of the East Village for over 20 years are being forced to move out. Kareem explains, “People who kept the community alive can’t afford to be there.” Although local business owner Jill Fagan expresses her happiness to see new art galleries opening in the LES, less artists live in the area now. Some blame students of NYU and high executives for the lack of individuality, which the Lower East Side once possessed. Alessandra says that most of her customer demographic consists of students and young people. Although this is not bad in the short-term, in the long term it dissolves the rich character of the neighborhood. Kareem states, “People used to stay for 20, sometimes 30 years. Now, the u-hauls are coming in and out constantly.” Students stay for their 2-4 year degrees, instead of making a home in the East Village.

“We are still small, based on friendship, easygoing. Otherwise, I couldn’t [work 90 hours a week]. A very small place, based on enjoying what I’m doing, because I do enjoy it. Even if I say it has changed a lot, I still do enjoy it. I have to stay ‘still’ because as it changes , probably I will not. But the reason I opened here is because I wanted to be in the neighborhood. I love the people who work with me, I love my customers.”

With her kind words engrained in my mind, I proceeded to order a hot earl grey tea, and everything that I knew about Paradiso seemed brighter. Even though the future is uncertain for this cafe, the way that business is conducted here speaks to the love that everyone wants to experience. Paradiso’s charm creates a memorable experience that is unique to the East Village. Alessandra’s love for the art of food hits me every time I walk through the threshold.

Listen to Alessandra’s story and interview here:

References:
Sullivan, John. “Once More, Lower East Side Is the Focus of Drug Arrests.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 06 Aug. 1997. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.
Moynihan, Colin. “Home Front; Tenant Advocacy Group Faces Eviction.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 28 Dec. 2003. Web. 03 May 2016.

All Photos taken by Gabrielle Goubran.