Photo: Bex Walton via Flickr
A shuttered First Avenue smoke shop will be turned into the newest Birch Coffee, marking the brand’s third Upper East Side location and what seems like the neighborhood’s millionth coffee shop.
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Signage can be seen (if you’re close enough) at 1501 First Avenue (between 78th and 79th streets) and Birch’s website states that the store is slated for a January 2025 opening. It will join the chain’s first Upper East Side outpost at 134 ½ East 62nd Street (between Lexington Avenue and Third avenues), and the shop at 171 East 88th Street (also between Lex and Third). Overall, it will be Birch’s fifteenth store in New York City.
Birch founders Paul Schlader and Jeremy Lyman source all of their coffee from extremely select small farms that are known to provide quality beans. Schlader, a resident of the Upper East Side, is also a licensed Q Grader, or a professional grader of green coffee, one of only around 8,000 in the world, according to the Coffee Quality Institute.
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“In a world overrun by smart phones and news feeds, they wanted a business where people came first,” Birch’s website states. “They’ve turned that dream into a New York success story, and they’re ready to share that with anyone who’s as hungry as they are for more than just the status quo.”
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The original smoke shop inhabiting the storefront was possibly a casualty of Operation Padlock to Protect, an initiative started by Mayor Eric Adams aimed at closing down shops known for illegally selling cannabis without a proper license.
Over 1,000 such businesses were closed around the city since the initiative was started in May, including many on the Upper East Side. However, last month a judge in Queens ruled that shutting down a cannabis shop operating without a license was unconstitutional, calling the enforcement initiative into question.
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I know it’s all according to taste, but I’d be interested in the results of a blind sampling by 100 real coffee drinkers (not sugary espresso concoctions) of the various UES expensive coffee houses.
Put in a sandwich or bowl spot! Need better lunch options around here.