Devotees of La Pregunta Arts Cafe, a cultural hangout on Amsterdam and 136th Street, are pondering the venue’s future existence.
The cafe received an eviction notice on Aug. 14 requiring it to pay $50,000 within 40 days, according to owner Yscaira Jimenez, CC ’03. Since then, La Pregunta has paid $8,500 with proceeds from an emergency fundraiser and is “doing a series of events to try to make another payment,” Jimenez said. She added that the cafe has applied for a number of grants, and hopes to pay 25 percent of the $50,000 total as soon as possible and negotiate a payment plan for the remainder.
Jimenez said the cafe’s financial problems stem largely from the denial of a second loan by the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, which had given La Pregunta an initial loan to cover startup costs in 2008.
“They gave us money to build out the place, but they didn’t give us working capital,” she said. “They had preapproved us, and then they had us waiting for a year. Three months ago they told us they weren’t going to give it to us unless we invested money ourselves. We’ve been surviving for a year and a half with no working capital.”
Hope Knight, chief operating officer for UMEZ, said the organization wanted to be sure La Pregunta could repay the initial loan before approving additional funds.
“Unfortunately the business never attracted sales at a high enough level to repay the first loan, and so to go back and ask for additional capital—we just knew that that was going to be a nonstarter for the loan committee,” Knight said. “We did stretch to make the initial loan, and as a lender you have to make decisions based on ability to repay.”
The cafe’s landlord, West Harlem Group Assistance, did not return a call for comment.
In August, cafe curator Jessica Vosburgh helped organize an emergency fundraiser featuring art, music, and performances. Over $7,000 was raised through a raffle of items donated by local businesses, as well as from a $10 entrance fee.
Continuing efforts are being coordinated by the Uptown Collective, a recently-formed organization that aims to “keep those uptown dollars uptown and to highlight the uniqueness, vibrancy, and grandeur of the uptown area,” according to a press release from Vosburgh, who did not return a call for additional comment.
Jimenez launched La Pregunta in March 2008 to fill what she saw as a cultural void in the area.
“There was limited cultural space in uptown Manhattan outside of Columbia,” she said. “There’s Orchesis and all the plays and everything going on on campus, but when I graduated I found myself traveling to Williamsburg, the Village. … I got tired of getting on the train and driving.”
The cafe sponsors open mic nights, art and photography exhibits, film premieres, readings, and many other events. The City College of New York, located right around the corner, holds weekly readings there. It is also a meeting place for groups like the International Socialist Organization.
“They have really good music, and it’s just really laid back,” said Mariel Roberts, a student at Manhattan School of Music, who said she comes to the cafe weekly to hang out or study. “It’s a good place to study during the day, and they have really good drinks at night.”
“Basically every genre of art has been represented here somehow,” Jimenez said. “All the organizations and artists who have a hard time finding a venue to showcase their artwork—they’ve found a home here.”
Comments
We're looking for comments that are interesting and substantial. If your comments are excessively self-promotional or obnoxious you will be banned from commenting. Consult the comment FAQ and legal terms.