The Brew’s Back! Fordham Newsstand Coffee Ban Lifted Following Norwood News Report

A recent photo of vendor Muhammed at work in the quaint coffee shop at 1FP. Photo courtesy Jeffrey Cortez — A recent photo of vendor Muhammed at work in the quaint coffee shop at 1FP.
Photo courtesy Jeffrey Cortez

by David Cruz

NorwoodNews_7_9_Front-page-001 — A copy of the Norwood News reporting on the newsstand’s plight. File Photo

Following news reports, including those by the Norwood News, the owner of a newsstand inside One Fordham Plaza is once again cleared to sell coffee following a campaign by online activists. For the past month, the newsstand was allegedly told by management to stop its coffee sales following the opening of a Starbucks just outside the building’s complex.

The news, first broken by the Norwood News, inspired an online petition requesting that One Fordham Plaza reinstate the newsstand owner’s right to sell coffee. While the ban was in place, and acrimony raged, a sign hung up by the tiny stand reading, “No More Coffee Being Sold Over Here,” prompting office tenants inside the building to go elsewhere for coffee.

Many viewed the decision as an example of corporate influence undermining small business shops. But the decision was not backed by Starbucks, who encouraged competition among coffee vendors in a statement given to the Norwood News.

The complex has seen a burgeoning number of establishments in recent years, including an Applebees and Subway.

admin

Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.