Saturday, January 7, 2012
Friday, October 29, 2010
Green Street Cafe updated:10.29.10
In 2005, Rachel Maddow and Susan Mikula co-hosted (as guest chefs) the first of many actions to raise money for our legal expenses and to bring community attention to the fight we were in with Smith College over our lease and the existing zoning restrictions. Rachel continued to come to the defense of our neighborhood in an address at Smith this spring:
"...you will not seek to reach your goals by stepping on the neck of your community." (Rachel Maddow Smith College Commencement 2010)
Green Street Cafe was in its tenth year of a 20- year lease when Ford Hall hit us. We were a successful business with a good rate of growth and no debt. Ford Hall opened a year ago. Once again, business is very good with a healthy rate of growth BUT the debt we accumulated during the construction years of Ford Hall is enormous and there is not enough time (2 years) remaining on our newest lease (3 in 3 years with a 50% increase in rent) to restore our financial health. Smith misspent hundreds of thousands of dollars to destroy the protections that small independent businesses rely on for their success and survival. Smith College’s actions have been outrageous and righteously condemned by their own community and the community at large. The administration seems manic in their determination to destroy us.
Again we ask the Smith community to remember their Presidents pledge to keep us "whole". Our situation needs to be realistically evaluated and responsibility taken for a solution. The time for corrective action is now, please.
John Sielski and Jim Dozmati
Green Street Cafe Northampton
"...you will not seek to reach your goals by stepping on the neck of your community." (Rachel Maddow Smith College Commencement 2010)
Green Street Cafe was in its tenth year of a 20- year lease when Ford Hall hit us. We were a successful business with a good rate of growth and no debt. Ford Hall opened a year ago. Once again, business is very good with a healthy rate of growth BUT the debt we accumulated during the construction years of Ford Hall is enormous and there is not enough time (2 years) remaining on our newest lease (3 in 3 years with a 50% increase in rent) to restore our financial health. Smith misspent hundreds of thousands of dollars to destroy the protections that small independent businesses rely on for their success and survival. Smith College’s actions have been outrageous and righteously condemned by their own community and the community at large. The administration seems manic in their determination to destroy us.
Again we ask the Smith community to remember their Presidents pledge to keep us "whole". Our situation needs to be realistically evaluated and responsibility taken for a solution. The time for corrective action is now, please.
John Sielski and Jim Dozmati
Green Street Cafe Northampton
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Community Involved in Sustainable Agriculture Local Hero Profile
Check out the fabulous piece on the CISA website about the Green Street Cafe. http://buylocalfood.org Please come and visit soon!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Daily Hampshire Gazette - Green Street Cafe will remain open until end of lease
Published on GazetteNET (http://www.gazettenet.com/2010/02/10/green-light-green-street-cafe-can-keep-cooking)
Green light on Green Street: Cafe can keep on cooking
By Kristin Palpini
Created on Wednesday, February 10, 2010
NORTHAMPTON - A new sign greets customers as they enter the Green Street Cafe: "The rumor of our closing is greatly exaggerated."
Mark Twain's words - written to counter widespread speculation about his death, and slightly rephrased - hold special meaning for the cafe's owners, who have been fighting eviction since July. On Tuesday, just days after a Boston Globe article called it quits for the Valley restaurant, owners John Sielski and James Dozmati signed a settlement with landlord Smith College to keep the cafe open through 2012.
The cafe had been facing eviction due to missed rent payments - just one twist in a five-year struggle between the college and the cafe over 64-68 Green St. "We're thrilled to have the restaurant back - it's a relief," Sielski said Tuesday during a lunch rush in which he was congratulated by various patrons. "Now we can focus on the food," he said.
In a statement, Kristen A. Cole, director of media relations at Smith College, said if monthly rent payments are kept current, the cafe can stay until the end of December 2012, which marks the end of the lease period. As a condition of the settlement, details of the accord must be kept private.
"We are pleased to have reached an agreement," she said. Back rent, which the college previously estimated to be about $18,000, is addressed in the settlement, said Sielski, who declined to provide further details. In addition to eviction proceedings being settled, a District Court case filed by Green Street Cafe against Smith College over an alleged lease breach was also dropped this week.
"I'm just happy to be out of court. It was weighing on us," said Sielski. "But it's not over, we still have our finances to think about," he added, noting debt the restaurant has accumulated, some of it in delinquent taxes.
Sielski said he and Dozmati have been paying off back taxes to the state for years, and the business owners have reached an arrangement to pay delinquent federal taxes. Last year, back taxes accumulated by the cafe amounted to about $150,000. "The restaurant has never generated a high profit, we just make a living," Sielski said, "but this is what we love." Food has had to share the attentions of Sielski and Dozmati along with legal wrangling for the last 5½ years.
For the first 13 years of the 18-year-old restaurant's lease, the cafe was an unofficial extension of the Smith College campus, catering events and hosting meetings and private engagements. Art, poetry and live music have long been a staple.
All that changed in 2004, when Smith College started moving forward with plans to develop an academic engineering building next door to the eatery. Smith College offered to pay $65,000 for moving expenses, but owners, who estimated the move would cost more than four times that amount, decided to stay. From then until Tuesday, the college and the restaurant have disagreed over issues that include parking and the terms of the lease agreement.
The cafe maintained its home on Green Street through construction of Ford Hall, which had a grand opening ceremony this fall, but closed in 2007 for seven months due to fire code violations. The closure cost the restaurant its liquor license, which was regained when the cafe reopened in September of that year.
The cafe owners stopped paying rent in April 2009, claiming that the college's construction was obstructing cafe parking, thereby breaching the lease. The owners filed a lawsuit in April over the perceived breach and in July the college began eviction proceedings, citing the missing rent.
With a community petition signed by 3,500 people in hand, Sielski sought and won some support from city councilors in November. In a 5-2 vote councilors approved a resolution that instructed Mayor Clare Higgins and Teri Anderson, the director of the Office of Community and Economic Development, to "take any and all reasonable actions to assist ... in a good faith effort to retain a long-standing local business."
Lawyers for the cafe and the college were slated to meet in court Tuesday to begin a jury trial regarding the eviction, but were able to avoid more court time when Sielski and Dozmati agreed to the settlement. "We had two options: one was to stay and one was to go," Sielski said. "We did think about going."
After some hesitation, Sielski said he and his partner, Dozmati, resolved to keep Green Street Cafe open at its current location through 2012. This was contrary to an article in Saturday's Boston Globe, which reported that although Smith and Green Street were negotiating, the cafe was to close sometime after Valentine's Day.
"It was surprising," Sielski said of the article, "but it also reinforced the decision we made to stay and how we felt about it closing." Sielski said he and Dozmati are excited to have three years on the lease to rejuvenate their cafe. They can put into action some plans that were on the back burner due to an uncertain future.
Among plans are the expansion of the cafe's beer garden and Fast Good, a breakfast and lunch outlet for the cafe that is separate from the dining area. Sielski also plans to expand the cafe's produce garden and start preserving more of the vegetables for the winter menu. The owners will also likely commission a new mural for the restaurant.
Sielski said he is excited about being able to accept event reservations again for large meals that include wedding rehearsal dinners and banquets. It's a revenue stream the cafe has missed when an eviction hung over the eatery. "It's the most profitable part of the business," Sielski said. "I think it will take up until next fall for that all to come back for the most part."
Sielski and Dozmati are also planning a "thank you" dinner for the cafe's supporters. A date for the dinner will be announced within the next several weeks, Sielski said. "There are still challenges ahead, but we're here to stay," said Sielski, echoing the addendum to his new Twain-inspired sign.
Below Twain's words hung in the cafe's entrance, Sielski and Dozmati penned a P.S. that reads: "We are going to cook our way out of this."
Kristin Palpini can be reached at kpalpini@gazettenet.com
Daily Hampshire Gazette © 2008 All rights reserved
Source URL: http://www.gazettenet.com/2010/02/10/green-light-green-street-cafe-can-keep-cooking
Green light on Green Street: Cafe can keep on cooking
By Kristin Palpini
Created on Wednesday, February 10, 2010
NORTHAMPTON - A new sign greets customers as they enter the Green Street Cafe: "The rumor of our closing is greatly exaggerated."
Mark Twain's words - written to counter widespread speculation about his death, and slightly rephrased - hold special meaning for the cafe's owners, who have been fighting eviction since July. On Tuesday, just days after a Boston Globe article called it quits for the Valley restaurant, owners John Sielski and James Dozmati signed a settlement with landlord Smith College to keep the cafe open through 2012.
The cafe had been facing eviction due to missed rent payments - just one twist in a five-year struggle between the college and the cafe over 64-68 Green St. "We're thrilled to have the restaurant back - it's a relief," Sielski said Tuesday during a lunch rush in which he was congratulated by various patrons. "Now we can focus on the food," he said.
In a statement, Kristen A. Cole, director of media relations at Smith College, said if monthly rent payments are kept current, the cafe can stay until the end of December 2012, which marks the end of the lease period. As a condition of the settlement, details of the accord must be kept private.
"We are pleased to have reached an agreement," she said. Back rent, which the college previously estimated to be about $18,000, is addressed in the settlement, said Sielski, who declined to provide further details. In addition to eviction proceedings being settled, a District Court case filed by Green Street Cafe against Smith College over an alleged lease breach was also dropped this week.
"I'm just happy to be out of court. It was weighing on us," said Sielski. "But it's not over, we still have our finances to think about," he added, noting debt the restaurant has accumulated, some of it in delinquent taxes.
Sielski said he and Dozmati have been paying off back taxes to the state for years, and the business owners have reached an arrangement to pay delinquent federal taxes. Last year, back taxes accumulated by the cafe amounted to about $150,000. "The restaurant has never generated a high profit, we just make a living," Sielski said, "but this is what we love." Food has had to share the attentions of Sielski and Dozmati along with legal wrangling for the last 5½ years.
For the first 13 years of the 18-year-old restaurant's lease, the cafe was an unofficial extension of the Smith College campus, catering events and hosting meetings and private engagements. Art, poetry and live music have long been a staple.
All that changed in 2004, when Smith College started moving forward with plans to develop an academic engineering building next door to the eatery. Smith College offered to pay $65,000 for moving expenses, but owners, who estimated the move would cost more than four times that amount, decided to stay. From then until Tuesday, the college and the restaurant have disagreed over issues that include parking and the terms of the lease agreement.
The cafe maintained its home on Green Street through construction of Ford Hall, which had a grand opening ceremony this fall, but closed in 2007 for seven months due to fire code violations. The closure cost the restaurant its liquor license, which was regained when the cafe reopened in September of that year.
The cafe owners stopped paying rent in April 2009, claiming that the college's construction was obstructing cafe parking, thereby breaching the lease. The owners filed a lawsuit in April over the perceived breach and in July the college began eviction proceedings, citing the missing rent.
With a community petition signed by 3,500 people in hand, Sielski sought and won some support from city councilors in November. In a 5-2 vote councilors approved a resolution that instructed Mayor Clare Higgins and Teri Anderson, the director of the Office of Community and Economic Development, to "take any and all reasonable actions to assist ... in a good faith effort to retain a long-standing local business."
Lawyers for the cafe and the college were slated to meet in court Tuesday to begin a jury trial regarding the eviction, but were able to avoid more court time when Sielski and Dozmati agreed to the settlement. "We had two options: one was to stay and one was to go," Sielski said. "We did think about going."
After some hesitation, Sielski said he and his partner, Dozmati, resolved to keep Green Street Cafe open at its current location through 2012. This was contrary to an article in Saturday's Boston Globe, which reported that although Smith and Green Street were negotiating, the cafe was to close sometime after Valentine's Day.
"It was surprising," Sielski said of the article, "but it also reinforced the decision we made to stay and how we felt about it closing." Sielski said he and Dozmati are excited to have three years on the lease to rejuvenate their cafe. They can put into action some plans that were on the back burner due to an uncertain future.
Among plans are the expansion of the cafe's beer garden and Fast Good, a breakfast and lunch outlet for the cafe that is separate from the dining area. Sielski also plans to expand the cafe's produce garden and start preserving more of the vegetables for the winter menu. The owners will also likely commission a new mural for the restaurant.
Sielski said he is excited about being able to accept event reservations again for large meals that include wedding rehearsal dinners and banquets. It's a revenue stream the cafe has missed when an eviction hung over the eatery. "It's the most profitable part of the business," Sielski said. "I think it will take up until next fall for that all to come back for the most part."
Sielski and Dozmati are also planning a "thank you" dinner for the cafe's supporters. A date for the dinner will be announced within the next several weeks, Sielski said. "There are still challenges ahead, but we're here to stay," said Sielski, echoing the addendum to his new Twain-inspired sign.
Below Twain's words hung in the cafe's entrance, Sielski and Dozmati penned a P.S. that reads: "We are going to cook our way out of this."
Kristin Palpini can be reached at kpalpini@gazettenet.com
Daily Hampshire Gazette © 2008 All rights reserved
Source URL: http://www.gazettenet.com/2010/02/10/green-light-green-street-cafe-can-keep-cooking
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Daily Hampshire Gazette - Response to Editorial By Green Street Cafe
Published on GazetteNET (http://www.gazettenet.com)
Cafe owners cite promise to be 'kept whole'
By Daily Hampshire Gazette
Created 12/01/2009 - 10:00
To the editor:
We strongly disagree with the Nov. 25 editorial "Cafe's fight isn't city's." The city of Northampton and the mayor should most certainly be involved in a solution to help keep the Green Street Cafe alive.
We think it is apparent that Smith College President Carol Christ has enlisted the help of Mayor Clare Higgins in forcing us into financial ruin through tactics to remove us from the neighborhood to make way for the new Ford Hall.
Their activities over the past few years have led to a deterioration of our business to the point that a court battle over our lease is not one that we want or are able to afford. They have violated the terms of our lease and current zoning laws, removed our parking and are winning the battle to choke our business to death.
However, over 3,000 citizens signed our petition asking for the city's intervention with Smith and the City Council also has voted to help seek a solution. Before the construction of Ford Hall began, we were told we would be "kept whole."
Instead, Smith has succeeded in ruining our business, which has served the Northampton community for more than 20 yeas.
We are appealing to the city once again and to Smith College to make good on their promise.
John Sielski
Jim Dozmati
Green Street Cafe owners
Northampton
Daily Hampshire Gazette © 2008 All rights reserved
Source URL: http://www.gazettenet.com/2009/12/01/cafe-owners-cite-promise-be-kept-whole
Cafe owners cite promise to be 'kept whole'
By Daily Hampshire Gazette
Created 12/01/2009 - 10:00
To the editor:
We strongly disagree with the Nov. 25 editorial "Cafe's fight isn't city's." The city of Northampton and the mayor should most certainly be involved in a solution to help keep the Green Street Cafe alive.
We think it is apparent that Smith College President Carol Christ has enlisted the help of Mayor Clare Higgins in forcing us into financial ruin through tactics to remove us from the neighborhood to make way for the new Ford Hall.
Their activities over the past few years have led to a deterioration of our business to the point that a court battle over our lease is not one that we want or are able to afford. They have violated the terms of our lease and current zoning laws, removed our parking and are winning the battle to choke our business to death.
However, over 3,000 citizens signed our petition asking for the city's intervention with Smith and the City Council also has voted to help seek a solution. Before the construction of Ford Hall began, we were told we would be "kept whole."
Instead, Smith has succeeded in ruining our business, which has served the Northampton community for more than 20 yeas.
We are appealing to the city once again and to Smith College to make good on their promise.
John Sielski
Jim Dozmati
Green Street Cafe owners
Northampton
Daily Hampshire Gazette © 2008 All rights reserved
Source URL: http://www.gazettenet.com/2009/12/01/cafe-owners-cite-promise-be-kept-whole
Daily Hampshire Gazette - Letter to the Editor by Michael Bardsley
Published on GazetteNET (http://www.gazettenet.com)
Mayor has clear role in play in Green Street Cafe survival
By Daily Hampshire Gazette
Created 12/01/2009 - 10:00
To the editor:
The Gazette editorial of Nov. 25 made an argument that would have been compelling in most instances involving local government and conflicts between private entities.
However, one significant fact was overlooked by the Gazette editorial staff. On Aug. 17, 2005, Mayor Higgins and Smith College President Christ signed a legally binding development agreement that addressed several issues regarding the area bordered by Green Street, Belmont Avenue and West Street. Item three of this agreement directly relates to the current situation involving the Green Street Cafe. It reads as follows:
3: Commercial Tenants - The COLLEGE will negotiate payment of relocation or transition assistance, on a case-by-case basis, with commercial tenants in the Area affected by termination or non-renewal of leases. If a commercial tenant requests participation by the CITY in the negotiations, the COLLEGE will include the CITY in the negotiations.
The owners of the Green Street Cafe have asked the city, via a petition as well as the City Council's public comment session, to become involved in its current negotiations with Smith College. The new business item passed at the last council meeting simply asks the mayor and the economic development director to act in the spirit as well as the letter of that legal agreement. The council's action could help the city avoid another costly lawsuit.
The argument that the mayor, "should not be asked to set aside pressing city business and wade into a commercial dispute ..." may be solid reasoning as to why such an agreement should not have been crafted in the first place. However, since the mayor took the initiative to enter into this contract (which was never approved by the City Council) with Smith, the city, I believe, has the responsibility to fulfill its obligations.
Michael Bardsley
At-Large city councilor
Northampton
Daily Hampshire Gazette © 2008 All rights reserved
Source URL: http://www.gazettenet.com/2009/12/01/mayor-has-clear-role-play-green-street-cafe-survival
Mayor has clear role in play in Green Street Cafe survival
By Daily Hampshire Gazette
Created 12/01/2009 - 10:00
To the editor:
The Gazette editorial of Nov. 25 made an argument that would have been compelling in most instances involving local government and conflicts between private entities.
However, one significant fact was overlooked by the Gazette editorial staff. On Aug. 17, 2005, Mayor Higgins and Smith College President Christ signed a legally binding development agreement that addressed several issues regarding the area bordered by Green Street, Belmont Avenue and West Street. Item three of this agreement directly relates to the current situation involving the Green Street Cafe. It reads as follows:
3: Commercial Tenants - The COLLEGE will negotiate payment of relocation or transition assistance, on a case-by-case basis, with commercial tenants in the Area affected by termination or non-renewal of leases. If a commercial tenant requests participation by the CITY in the negotiations, the COLLEGE will include the CITY in the negotiations.
The owners of the Green Street Cafe have asked the city, via a petition as well as the City Council's public comment session, to become involved in its current negotiations with Smith College. The new business item passed at the last council meeting simply asks the mayor and the economic development director to act in the spirit as well as the letter of that legal agreement. The council's action could help the city avoid another costly lawsuit.
The argument that the mayor, "should not be asked to set aside pressing city business and wade into a commercial dispute ..." may be solid reasoning as to why such an agreement should not have been crafted in the first place. However, since the mayor took the initiative to enter into this contract (which was never approved by the City Council) with Smith, the city, I believe, has the responsibility to fulfill its obligations.
Michael Bardsley
At-Large city councilor
Northampton
Daily Hampshire Gazette © 2008 All rights reserved
Source URL: http://www.gazettenet.com/2009/12/01/mayor-has-clear-role-play-green-street-cafe-survival
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
More than 3,000 sign petition in support of cafe
Springfield Repulican, Oct. 24, 2009
By NANCY H. GONTER
ngonter@repub.com
NORTHAMPTON - The owners of the Green Street Cafe, which is engaged in a legal battle with its landlord, Smith College, have collected more than 3,000 signatures in support of their restaurant.
Owner John A. Sielski said he and his co-owner and spouse, James Dozmati, started the petition drive because they wanted to know if there was support in the community and to let people know their business is still open.
Green Street Cafe has been open since 1990, except for eight months in 2007. The owners lease the location at 62-68 Green St. from Smith College. The owners intend to present the petition to Mayor Mary Clare Higgins, or her opponent, Michael A. Bardsley, should he win on Nov. 3, to enlist the city's support in their battle with the college. The business has sued Smith College in Superior Court, claiming that Smith breached the lease agreement by closing a 16-space parking lot leased by the cafe on Arnold Street. Smith filed suit in July in Northampton District Court seeking to evict the cafe because it has withheld rent.
Green Street Cafe has not paid its rent since April except for $650 in August, but Sielski said the money is being placed in escrow. The five-year lease, signed in August 2007, calls for the cafe to pay between $2,409 and $2,928 a month for the 2,436-square-foot restaurant space, plus $650 for the parking lot. Smith argues the commercial lease does not allow rent to be withheld, according to court documents.
Kristin A. Cole, Smith College spokeswoman, declined to comment because of the ongoing legal issues.
Sielski said he and Dozmati knew that their customers were supportive, but wanted to gauge public support.
"The main reason was Jim and I felt we needed some support. We were feeling quite alone out here except for our customers, who we know love us," Sielski said.
Sielski and Dozmati hired two young men to work on the petition campaign in downtown Northampton. They will continue to work up until the Nov. 3 election. They were amazed at their success.
"They said it was easy. All they had to do is say 'Green Street Cafe' and people wanted to sign," Sielski said.
Sielski said he is scheduled to meet with Smith College students on Sunday and said more information about the cafe's efforts can be found at www.greenstreetcafe.blog spot.com
Much of the drama started in 2003 when Smith College began working on plans for a $73-million science center nearby. Sielski and Dozmati believed the construction process would hurt their business.
While the case in Superior Court has no dates scheduled, the district court case is scheduled for a status review on Nov. 5.
By NANCY H. GONTER
ngonter@repub.com
NORTHAMPTON - The owners of the Green Street Cafe, which is engaged in a legal battle with its landlord, Smith College, have collected more than 3,000 signatures in support of their restaurant.
Owner John A. Sielski said he and his co-owner and spouse, James Dozmati, started the petition drive because they wanted to know if there was support in the community and to let people know their business is still open.
Green Street Cafe has been open since 1990, except for eight months in 2007. The owners lease the location at 62-68 Green St. from Smith College. The owners intend to present the petition to Mayor Mary Clare Higgins, or her opponent, Michael A. Bardsley, should he win on Nov. 3, to enlist the city's support in their battle with the college. The business has sued Smith College in Superior Court, claiming that Smith breached the lease agreement by closing a 16-space parking lot leased by the cafe on Arnold Street. Smith filed suit in July in Northampton District Court seeking to evict the cafe because it has withheld rent.
Green Street Cafe has not paid its rent since April except for $650 in August, but Sielski said the money is being placed in escrow. The five-year lease, signed in August 2007, calls for the cafe to pay between $2,409 and $2,928 a month for the 2,436-square-foot restaurant space, plus $650 for the parking lot. Smith argues the commercial lease does not allow rent to be withheld, according to court documents.
Kristin A. Cole, Smith College spokeswoman, declined to comment because of the ongoing legal issues.
Sielski said he and Dozmati knew that their customers were supportive, but wanted to gauge public support.
"The main reason was Jim and I felt we needed some support. We were feeling quite alone out here except for our customers, who we know love us," Sielski said.
Sielski and Dozmati hired two young men to work on the petition campaign in downtown Northampton. They will continue to work up until the Nov. 3 election. They were amazed at their success.
"They said it was easy. All they had to do is say 'Green Street Cafe' and people wanted to sign," Sielski said.
Sielski said he is scheduled to meet with Smith College students on Sunday and said more information about the cafe's efforts can be found at www.greenstreetcafe.blog spot.com
Much of the drama started in 2003 when Smith College began working on plans for a $73-million science center nearby. Sielski and Dozmati believed the construction process would hurt their business.
While the case in Superior Court has no dates scheduled, the district court case is scheduled for a status review on Nov. 5.
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