The Much Larger ‘Kopitiam’ Takes Shape on East Broadway
The acclaimed Malaysian cafe Kopitiam is making strides toward its revival within the next couple weeks. Contractors are currently busy building out the new location at 151 East Broadway.
One thing is for sure – this storefront offers more space and an expanded menu. The ground-floor is four times larger than the original Canal Street location, and offers 35 seats plus an enclosed hallway entrance and takeaway window of sorts at the top of the stairs. Kopitiam 2.0 is a Malaysian eatery that will serve an all-day breakfast and lunch menus alongside booze options (pending SLA approval).
Initial target re-launch was May, but it’s been pushed back to sometime later this month. And they’re now holding interviews for new employees.
Kopitiam is not new to the neighborhood. It began life on the Lower East Side in 2015 at 51 Canal Street. However, their two-year lease expired at the end of 2017, and the landlord reportedly jacked the rent. A purported 25% increase that Kopitiam could not absorb. (Prior real estate listings noted the monthly dole at around $3,000.) So, chef-owner Kyo Pang instead decided on relocating to this larger locale. To continue on and aid in the “expansion,” the business kickstarted a crowdfunding campaign via Indiegogo, yet found a new business partner when it failed.
Canal St, September 2017
Recent Stories
Cops Tase Shooting Suspect who Pointed Loaded Gun at Officer on Columbia Street
Police tased a man suspected in an uptown shooting early Saturday morning on Columbia Street after he pointed a loaded firearm at an officer. 7th Precinct Police Officers Joseph Stokes and Daniel Amaral were reportedly driving along Columbia Street near Rivington Street at around 6am when they spotted a 2013 white Dodge Challenger that matched […]
‘Sunshine Cinema’ Gets its Demolition Death Shroud
Hope you got your final photos for posterity, as the facade of the Sunshine Cinema is forever lost. Demolition death shroud – consisting of scaffolding and netting – is now firmly in place, effectively obstructing progress of the takedown within. Owner-developers East End Capital and K Property Group, who together purchased the Lower East Side […]
Longtime Nightlife Promoter Eyes Vacated ‘Stanton Social’ Space for New Bar
Stanton Social is not five months in the grave, and we already have a preview of the next chapter. The collective ownership of the liquor license – twenty-four individuals, in fact – are divesting with a corporate change. Two new principles are instead taking the reins at 99 Stanton Street, effectively creating a new business. […]
With LES Gentrification at Critical Mass, the Time is Now to Pass Universal Rent Control [OP-ED]
Bob Angles, a resident living in one of the affordable units of Essex Crossing, penned the following editorial. Secondary displacement, better known as gentrification, has been creeping up and down our streets for the past decade. Yet, with the arrival of thousands of new, unregulated apartments between the Extell tower (i.e. One Manhattan Square) and […]
‘The First Time I Saw The Ramones’ at the 72 Gallery on Orchard Street
Photographer Tom Hearn spent the night of July 22, 1976 at the Acadia Ballroom in New Haven, Connecticut. Attending at the behest of friend Legs McNeil, co-founder of Punk Magazine, that was the first time he saw the Ramones play live. And he captured it on film for posterity. Now, those images are on display […]
