MUD Quietly Closes First Park Coffee Kiosk

Photo: Eddie Panta

MUD Park, the seven-year-old kiosk cafe inside First Park, is silent. The coffee offshoot closed recently without any explanation.

Neighbors tell us the coffee counter closed in early September due to lack of business. The gates on either end of the park pass-through are now padlocked. However, a return is apparently still considered.

When reached for comment about a possible reopening, a MUD spokesperson told us that they’re “working on it.”

Meanwhile, locals are wondering why the gates are locked, and whether access to First Park’s public picnic tables hinges on a functioning private business.

Photo: Eddie Panta

Since First Park straddles the 2nd Avenue F train entrance, it has always been a popular gathering space. Construction and office workers often break for lunch here, while locals and commuters see it as a convenient meetup spot post-workday.

And while MUD Park appears to have closed for its own reasons, the coffee shop and juice bar directly across the street (Juicy Lucy’s) could easily suffer a loss of business, as the pedestrian cross-through provides a free and safe place to stop and sit for a drink.

For what it’s worth, Community Board 3 was not aware of the locked gates.

MUD is an East Village icon. Founded in 2001 by husband and wife Greg Northrop and Nina Barott, the duo began slinging java from an orange, converted Con Edison truck. Success among the local populace eventually led to a brick-and-mortar cafe on East Ninth Street (aka Mudspot); the MUD Park kiosk followed in December 2013.