26 JUNE 11, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Espresso 77 in Jackson Heights created a vibrant artwork after boarding up their storefront. Photo by Angélica Acevedo
Espresso 77 owner creates vibrant
artwork after boarding up storefront
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
AACEVEDO@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
If you pass by Espresso 77, a cafe
and wine bar that doubles as a gallery
for local artists, you can’t
help but stop and admire their colorful
display, proclaiming “Jackson
Heights Strong.”
The vibrant artwork was created by
Afzal Hossain, the owner of the popular
cafe located at 35-57 77th St., aft er
they were forced to board up their
original glass window display with
plywood. On the night of Tuesday,
May 26, Hossain said two individuals
tried to break into the cafe by smashing
the windows with a brick.
Julie Nymann, Hossain’s wife,
said they got calls from neighbors
who saw the attempt and called the
police. Hossain spoke with police that
night, but hasn’t received word that
any arrests have been made, as the
two individuals fl ed before anyone
arrived.
The incident occurred days before
the Black Lives Matter demonstrations
for George Floyd began in New
York City.
Hossain didn’t think it’d be necessary
to board up the cafe before the
incident, as they felt it brought beauty
to their neighborhood.
Still, Hossain believes “everything
happens for a reason.”
“It does make me angry, but I said,
‘I cannot be angry, I need to calm
down,'” Hossain said. “So I immediately
thought about doing something
beautiful.”
Nymann said they were able to fi nd
an emergency glass repair to fi x it the
next day, but decided to board it up
for the time being since the cafe has
remained closed for several weeks
due to the COVID-19 health crisis.
They’re still not sure when they’ll
re-open, as they want to keep their
staff and customers safe.
But when Hossain and Nymann
posted about their shattered window
on social media the next day, David
Heatley, a cartoonist who lives in the
neighborhood, immediately volunteered
to help create the artwork and
suggested they make it a community
project.
“I think of their cafe as central to
the neighborhood,” Heatley said. “I
drew a lot of my fi rst books sitting
there. I had a gallery show there. I
feel very connected to them, and feel
they’re important part of the Jackson
Heights community.”
And so they began painting the next
day. A small group of kids, teens and
adults from the neighborhood joined
Hossain and Heatley to help paint the
vibrant display.
Hossain said the artwork “came organically”
in a “fl ow of angriness and
happiness,” as they drew outlines of
trees, fi sh and more abstract fi gures
with a red, green, blue and yellow
color palette.
“This kind of came about for unfortunate
reasons, but it was a way to
continue being a space for creativity,”
Nymann said.
Espresso 77 has hosted live music,
art shows, poetry and a space community
members can use as their
“living room,” as Hossain puts it, for
12 years now.
“We’re a community business, not a
big business,” Hossain, who emigrated
from Bangladesh more than two
decades ago, said. “People are already
coming and taking photographs. It
sends a good message.”
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