Starbucks Reclaimed
During the COVID-19 shutdown, some of the Starbucks outlets in the East Village remain open and some have closed for the duration. The one on East Third Street and First Avenue has closed. It has been reclaimed by the homeless of the East Village, who have gradually constructed a large encampment around it -- a fate, however temporary, that seems somehow fitting for a chain location so hated by locals when it opened. When this location first opened in 2012, it replaced The Bean, the locally owned coffee shop beloved by many. East Villagers, angry that another corporate chain had replaced another local small business, protested by throwing eggs at the Starbucks and plastering it with posters that read, "Get the fuck out," among other messages involving shit . via EV Grieve Years before, this location had been the Little Rickie shop. Little Rickie was sued by Starbucks in 1999 for selling stickers that changed the words on the Starbucks Coffee logo to say FUCK OF