Exterior of LIC Corner Café. Photo: Queens Post.
Oct. 30, 2024 By Shane O’Brien
LIC Corner Café, a popular coffee shop in the heart of Court Square for the past nine years, will close its doors for the final time tomorrow, Oct. 31.
Annie Tsantes, who opened the café with Terri Gloyd in November 2015, said running the business was no longer viable due to rising costs and increased bureaucracy in New York City.
Located at 21-03 45th Rd., LIC Corner Café served a variety of sandwiches, pastries, salads and homemade pies, while it also hosted monthly art shows that platformed local artists free of charge.
Tsantes, who, along with Gloyd, has lived in the neighborhood for around 40 years, said she would take a lot of “good memories” from her time running LIC Corner Café.
Annie Tsantes and Terri Gloyd. Photo: LIC Corner Café.
“You get to know your neighbors a little bit,” Tsantes said. “When they come in, you have conversations, you learn people’s histories, you make friends, you make a lot of acquaintances. It sort of turns into a small village when you begin to know their names and who their children are. It’s no longer just faces in the crowd. That’s what we’re going to miss.”
Tsantes cited a combination of factors that contributed to the decision to close down on Thursday, including rising costs of operating a small business and inefficiency at relevant city agencies.
“It’s like nothing is made simple for people,” she said. “I don’t think they (the city) make it easy for small businesses at all. Even when you call for information, you call and you get ‘Press 1 for this, Press 2 for that’. You never get a human being anymore.”
She said the café installed two tables during the COVID-19 pandemic to allow for limited outdoor dining, but representatives from the city later informed her she needed an outdoor dining permit.
“We had two little round tables and the city came and said that I needed to get an outdoor dining permit,” she said, adding that LIC Corner Café had no outdoor structure. “I had two small tables, maybe 18 inches wide. It’s not like I was taking up the space in the city.”
Tsantes added that the café struggled to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and that the business has been financially overwhelmed recently.
She said small businesses are being priced out of the area due to rising rents, adding that it is difficult for all new businesses, except large chains, to open in the area.
“Rentals in this community are so sky high that it’s hard for any small business to begin anything,” she said. “You have Dunkin’ Donuts, you have Starbucks, you have all the big companies. They’re the ones who come in and can afford the rentals.”
Tsantes and Gloyd, who are both in their 70s, do not plan on retiring after closing their doors for the last time on Thursday. Tsantes said she is looking for work in the local community, stating that she is looking forward to the simplicity of receiving a paycheck every week and not having to worry about the cost and headaches of doing business in New York City.
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