Long Island City’s Coffee Project NY is New York’s only
Specialty Coffee Association premier training camp
Flushing Cemetery celebrates opening of its fi rst mausoleum
Courtesy of Flushing Cemetery
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | FEB. 27-MARCH 5, 2020 23
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
New York City baristas and
coffee enthusiasts now have
their own community center in
Queens.
Coffee Project NY, “a passion
project of coffee, milk and
heart,” has set up camp in Long
Island City, becoming the first
and only Specialty Coffee Association
(SCA) premier training
campus in New York. The SCA
is a nonprofit, membershipbased
organization that represents
thousands of coffee professionals
from all over the world.
The new training spot, with
its spacious and sleek, yet inviting
design, is located in The
Blanchard Building (21-10 51st
Ave.). Owners Chi Sum Ngai
and Kaleena Teoh invite the
community to learn more about
the “complex form of art,” as
Sum puts it, by taking classes
that highlight coffee in all its
forms.
“We’re trying to create a
community hub for people who
are interested in either learning
about coffee … or have our professional
friends come and dial
their coffee,” Teoh said. “It’s a
nice little platform for people
to just come, discuss and learn
about coffee, and for us to share
what we know about coffee. It’s
really fun.”
Partners Sum and Teoh
were both born and raised in
Malaysia and met while in college
in Minnesota. Although
they obtained degrees in psychology
and IT, they decided to
leave that behind and embark
on their own “coffee dreams.”
“We always wanted to do
something together,” Sum said.
“We chose coffee because we
really liked the culture and the
people. So having a coffee shop
and meeting other people who
come and drink coffee every
day, it’s a lot more relaxing than
working at a desk.”
Sum comes from a family of
coffee workers, which made her
a coffee lover from a young age.
She was first a homebrewer, but
after attending coffee expos, she
realized that she could pursue
her passion for coffee professionally
— so she enrolled in barista
school in Portland, Oregon. Sum
is also an SCA instructor and Q
Grader, meaning she’s trained
in the rigorous practice of scoring
and identifying individual
coffees.
Teoh, who lived in Queens
for almost nine years before
moving to Brooklyn with Sum,
was also always a coffee drinker,
but got trained on the job and is
a certified SCA instructor. She
recently discovered her own
passion in coffee: roasting.
“It’s so data-driven in that
every single thing that you do
is affecting the nature of the
beans itself, and it gives me a lot
of story from the supply chain,”
Teoh said.
They began Coffee Project
NY in 2015, when they opened
their first location in the East
Village, where they gained recognition
for their unique variations
of deconstructed lattes
and pour-overs. They then
introduced another location
in Downtown Brooklyn, what
they called a “playground for
baristas.”
Then, the opportunity to
open up a location in Long Island
City presented itself.
It might seem odd to have a
training campus in what feels
like an industrial neighborhood,
but Sum and Teoh think
it’s actually reminiscent of Portland
and the West Coast’s coffee
training school, making it the
best place to have their camp.
That, and it’s only a 15-minute
train ride to Manhattan.
“This third location is up
and running mainly because we
want to focus on roasting and
career development, therefore
the training lab,” Teoh said.
They traveled often to Long
Island City and were familiar
with the coffee scene there, as
they used to roast their beans
at the Regalia Roasting Collective.
Other than giving them the
chance to have their own roasting
facility, the new space also
gave them a place to create their
own coffee education center.
Teoh said that when getting
SCA certified, the nearest place
to enroll in classes for the certification
was in Florida. “We
figured that is ridiculous, this
is New York and I have to fly
to Florida to get trained?” Teo
said.
Now, people who are looking
to become SCA certified or undergo
those classes can travel to
LIC.
For those who want to begin
their journey in SCA certification,
there are several classes,
including “SCA Coffee Skills:
Introduction to Coffee” on Feb.
29 and March 19, and “Q Cupping
Essentials (Pathway to
Earning Q Certification” from
Feb. 20 to 22.
If you’re looking for an
educational class to enjoy with
some friends, there’s also “Cupping
For Beginners” on Feb. 29
for $85, during which they teach
participants the industry’s standard
way of evaluating the aroma
and taste of coffee.
There’s also an upcoming
“History of New York City
Coffee” taught by NYC Under-
Grounds founder K.A. Keener,
for $30.
For more information and
to keep up with Coffee Project
NY’s programming, visit coffeeprojectny.
com.
Kaleena Teoh and Chi Sum Ngai are the owners of Coffee Project
NY. Photo courtesy of Coffee Project NY
BY MADDISON FARRIS
Flushing Cemetery recently
announced the opening
of its first mausoleum.
The cemetery, located in
the heart of Flushing, has
been serving the community
since 1853 and is working
hard to continue its service
in light of limited resources.
In efforts to expand its
services and celebrate the
gift of life, the cemetery
partnered with Mullen Construction
Company as well
as Elisa Robinson and Kieran
D’Arcy of Garden World
and Keil Bros to create and
design the landscaping of a
beautiful mausoleum that
will look and feel right at
home in the serene surroundings
of the cemetery.
“As a vital part of our
community, our new mausoleum
better equips the
cemetery to serve the burial
needs of our new and existing
families,” Flushing Cemetery
General Manager John
Helly said.
The new mausoleum will
diversify memorialization
options by adding more than
3,000 marble and glass-front
cremation niches and over
150 casket crypt spaces.
“With cremation rates
expected to be over 50 percent
by 2022 in New York,
we are hoping to meet the
needs of our community,”
Helly added. “And with a finite
amount of ground burial
space remaining, we are
looking forward to seeing
how our families respond to
mausoleum entombments.”
Flushing Cemetery also
partnered with Behar Mapping,
a high-tech mapping
company, to create a 3-D
model of the mausoleum. Behar’s
Crypt3D platform — a
web-based “smart” map — allows
for staff to dynamically
track inventory, sales and occupancy
via a fully rendered,
interactive 3-D computer
model of the mausoleum.
“The Memorial Chapel
Mausoleum will be a serene
place to memorialize and
celebrate life for years to
come,” Helly said.
/QNS.COM
