TTC_04_7_21_Vol.17-No.24

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April 7, 2021
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Bruce Vogel at work at the P.I. Roasters Coffee House
Plum Island
Roasters Fights
to Stay Open
Coffee, from page 1
“It feels personal. They don’t like
Bruce Vogel. Of course, I could be
paranoid.”
He believes the planned eviction
may be retaliation again him because
of his role as At-Large City
Councilor. “I shared an opinion
with them about their Waterfront
West project to help them
understand what the community
was saying.” Being recused on the
project from any Council action,
he expressed his opinion directly
to NED.
NED asked the city to approve
Waterfront West, a large mixeduse
development on the waterfront
land it owns. The plans for
the multi-story buildings were
eventually withdrawn when the
project ran into significant opposition.
Vogel said he and NED, which
owns the boatyard adjacent, tied
up over several business issues.
Calling the Roasters a “stepchild,”
he said the issues between NED
and the Roasters involved unattended
closing of the boat yard for
hours, cement-bucketed parking
signs being blown down and denting
cars of Roasters’ customers,
stored boats blocking parking for
the coffee house and trash collection.
“Never once was my request for
a meeting to find a solution answered,”
he said.
Vogel said he was blindsided
with the 45-day notice to vacate
“during the middle of a morning
rush.” At the time, he thought that
Stewart Lytle / The Town Common
community support would change
NED’s mind.
A Change.org petition drive to
save the Roasters generated almost
16,000 signatures in support of
keeping the Roasters where it is.
There are only 18,000 residents
in Newburyport. Vogel said, “the
support has come from throughout
the surrounding North Shore,
the Merrimac Valley, the entire
state, the entire country and from
around the world – literally.”
“NED does not care,” he said.
Vogel hoped Al Fleury, owner
of the New Hampshire restaurant
group, might care and work with
him to keep the Roasters open as
part of the new restaurant. But on
Saturday, Vogel said Fleury had
made it clear he had no interest
in incorporating the coffee house
into his new Mexican restaurant.
In what he admitted was probably
a “Hail Mary” pass, Vogel
envisioned having the Roasters
serving coffee in the mornings,
“then transform to a warm and
welcoming ancillary setting in the
evening. The latte bar can remain
open or not, beer; wine and cordials
can be served, and perhaps
a specialty coffee cocktail can be
introduced as part of (the Luchos)
brand - much the same way as
Irish coffee brands The Buena Vista
restaurant in San Francisco.”
In that way, the 3,000 loyal card
holders for the coffee shop and the
rest of the 175,000 people that
come through the doors each year
could readily become Luchos customers,
he said.
That Hail Mary pass was batted
down.