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Budin, Cafe on Greenpoint Avenue, Closes Over ‘Dispute With Landlord’: Operator

Budin, located at 114 Greenpoint Ave. (Google Maps)

June 13, 2018 By Nathaly Pesantez

A cafe on Greenpoint Avenue has closed over what the operators say are issues with the landlord.

Budin, a Nordic cafe located at 114 Greenpoint Ave., closed yesterday according to a message posted on its Instagram page.

“Due to an ongoing dispute with the landlord, we are forced to shut down for awhile,” the message reads. “We are trying to resolve the issue and find a positive solution as quickly as possible,” the owners added.

The cafe opened in 2014, and is known for serving coffees that made headlines for their high prices. A latte, for example, went for $10, and the price of their $7 espresso apparently set a “new record” for the most expensive espresso in New York.

Budin’s owner, Crystal Pei, was not immediately available to respond to questions on the issues with the landlord and the future of the cafe.

Pei, however, said the business was not closed permanently, but did not specify if they are hoping to operate out of the Greenpoint Avenue location or move to another site.

The landlord, The BP Group, was also not available to answer questions over the cafe’s closing when reached via telephone. But the unnamed person who answered the phone said the issue is far from a dispute.

“It’s called rent. There’s been no dispute,” the person said.

Update 6/14: A prior version of this article listed Elliot Rayman and
Rut Hermannsdóttir as co-owners. The two were actually managers, and left Budin in 2015.

email the author: news@queenspost.com

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