It wouldn’t be a stretch to say opening a business during the coronavirus pandemic is a risky venture. This is especially true for restaurants, cafés and bars — many of which have closed over the past year. more

She was a Manhattan health care worker who recently returned from Iran. He was a New Rochelle lawyer who worked in Manhattan. Everyday people leading everyday lives. But what they carried inside them was no everyday virus. And there was just no way they could know how it would change not just their home, but the world. more

Last Saturday, with every last option exhausted, Sarina Prabasi stood in front of their proud Riverdale Avenue coffee shop to share the bad news: The doors were closing for good. more

The temperature was a chilly 32 degrees outside of Buunni Coffee, but there was nowhere else Sarina Prabasi wanted to be at that moment. When the doors finally opened in 2018 at 3702 Riverdale Ave., after months of delay, this location marked the official expansion of an idea to bring hot Ethiopian coffee to the city, which Prabasi started with husband Elias Gurmu in Washington Heights. more

In a period of just over two weeks, New York City businesses have had to think fast as Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio moved to enforce social distancing in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 in the city. more

In 1974, with no end in sight to the Cold War, the Soviet government erected a 19-story structure in North Riverdale which best reflected what Americans considered to be the “backward” mentality of the Russians: They built the massive structure from the top down. A fence was built. Cameras were installed. more

The café is an important fixture in the urban culture. It’s a place where the monstrous echoes of elevated trains and the bustle of frustrated commuters fade away in favor of conversation, contemplation, and a certain sense of calm. more