Cappuccino Thoughts 58: Espresso Thoughts on Culture, Creativity, and the New York Scene

Is Staten Island the next Greenpoint? Will this generation kill the tuxedo? Will we all visit Tbilisi? Answers within.

Cafe Abraco, East Village, NYC

Bringing back Espresso Thoughts, my takes on what’s going on in the world around me, as a monthly installment. As ever, leave a comment or shoot me an email to tell me if I nailed it, or if I missed the mark.

• Staten Island will see a surge in development in the next 20 years and become the next Greenpoint. A bold prediction I know! I recently took a weekend jaunt to the isle because a real New Yorker has been to every borough and this was the last on my list! What a thrill. It just doesn’t make sense that this area hasn’t been developed more. Many of the buildings my friend and I saw were literally falling down and areas that should have wonderful views of downtown Brooklyn, Manhattan, and New Jersey have been fenced off. I’m sure an economist or urban planner could tell me why this is the case, and I’m equally sure the answer is not a fun one. But I think with views like that and the most sparsely populated, yet largest, borough, there should be beautiful neighborhoods filled with cafes, art galleries, and interesting restaurants. Plus, the ferry back and forth is free! And you feel like the king of the world (or at least the borough) as it pulls into port and the Manhattan skyline suddenly fills up your viewpoint.

  

  A million dollar view! And not a single other person around.

• Cafe Abraco (coffee pictured above) is the Le Dive of the winter. A sceney spot where creative types go to “casually” see and be seen. Last time I was there, I ran into the figure model from a drawing class I’d been to and I accidentally helped him get a job. So maybe the see and be seen thing does work sometimes.

• The pinnacle of an influencer is also their death. I’ve seen this play out a few times from afar. I think that once influencers gain enough popularity, brands inevitably come knocking. At first, their fans will be happy for them, saying they’ve worked so hard, they deserve it, it’s wonderful to see their growth. But as soon as they get too big, and break out into the world beyond screens, people turn against them. Look at Hyram. Look at Addison Rae. I fear for Meredith Hayden and Eli Rallo and even Sofia Richie. I think people want to feel like they have a personal connection with influencers, even if it’s parasocial. But as influencers venture into products, which is the natural next step for many, they break away from the original aesthetic that drew people in. Some have managed to avoid this trap, like Emma Chamberlain. She is the exception who seems to have done well with her coffee, probably because it still looks and sounds like her.

• People crave monoculture. There’s so much talk in the brand and entertainment worlds about personalization and niche sub-groups, but I actually think what people really want is a common conversation to be part of. The Super Bowl, Succession, the Titanic submersible (remember that?)…people just want to belong and feel in on something.

• Glossier is so back. There’s so much discussion about its demise thanks to the book Glossy, but it’s always sold out at Sephora, there are still lines around the block at most stores, and it’s resonating with Gen Z, and people are still copying its sleek branding (looking at you, Jones Road).

• Cultural institutions have a renewed relevance for younger people. With every generation, it seems like people fear that cultural institutions like the ballet, opera, and theater will die out. Yet, I think this younger generation in particular will save them. Dire economic discussions aside, people are still spending on experiences. Every show, performance, and exhibit I’ve been to recently has been sold out, even smaller shows and productions outside of the cultural conversation. And many in those crowds have been under 30. I think part of this is depressingly because it makes for good content, but my optimistic side says it’s because people want to feel something and be truly immersed for more than a 45 second video.

• Entertainment services have started to realize the attraction (and money-making potential) of fashion. There is a glut of fashion-related shows coming out shortly—The New Look about Dior,La Maison, and Super Models (all on Apple TV+), Balenciaga (Disney+), even Feud: The Swans (FX), to an extent.

• People are desperate for black tie. I wouldn’t close up all the tuxedo factories just yet. Although fashion has become massively casualized, the youngs love an excuse to dress up. I’m seeing more party themes that involve a level of fancy dress and sold out events requiring black tie.

• Everyone still wants to quit their jobs—they may soon be able to. Respectfully, everyone I have spoken to in the last six months has expressed a desire to leave their current roles. For much of last year, it felt like the job market was frozen, but in Q1 of this year, it feels like there’s finally movement again. Perhaps as annual budgets reset, goal planning has taken effect, and return to office policies are solidified, people will start to make their moves. I predict the next six months will bring a wave of job changes not seen since 2020.

• Those horrid rubber boots are in? I saw at least five people stomping around Soho this weekend in these boots or knockoffs. Some online sleuthing tells me art miscreant group MSCHF is behind it. I hope this is not one of those satires where people miss the point and adopt them earnestly. These are nuts and I can’t imagine the blisters.

• It doesn’t matter who the designer of the Gap is, it’s lost its place as any kind of cultural arbiter. Fashion vultures love to pontificate about buzzy designer appointments at mass brands (Brendan Babenzian at J. Crew, Jo Malone as the perfume designer at Zara) but I just don’t think the average consumer cares. The bigger issues at the Gap seem to be about discounting (they’ve trained their customer to wait for a 40% off sale), quality, and an over-reliance on brick and mortar retail.

• The republic of Georgia the next big travel destination. You heard it here first. The country is over-represented in culture and creativity (Demna Gvaslia for one), has amazing food and wine (the longest wine-making tradition in the world), doesn’t require a visa for many tourists, including Americans, and is relatively cheap. I think as Russia remains closed to many international travelers for the foreseeable future, people will shift their attention to this tiny but beautiful republic. 

• TikTok is the only social media. Blue Sky, Substack Notes (sorry!), Instagram Threads (link) are all just noise in the background of this super app that is subsuming Instagram, Facebook, and even streaming services like Netflix.

Updates on the bag project

Final week of the bag flash sale! The Sapphire is down to $150 with code CAPFIFTY. Find the last of the inventory here.

More bags coming next month! I have had a shipment stuck in Turkey for a couple months, but I’ll be getting about 15 new bags in shortly.

Look of the week

The real show during New York Fashion Week is on the streets, not the runway. If the color of winter was red, I think the color of spring is the exact cobalt shade of her coat. I love how she mixes vintage-looking elements like the ‘60-style glasses, loose trousers, and cardigan, but makes it ultra modern in coordinating shades of blue. The pop of chartreuse is inspired. Note that she is sticking to the fashion “rule” of three colors, which keeps it classy rather than kitschy.

What’s on the bedside table

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue is a new book by the Irish author. It takes place in 2010s Cork, Ireland, where there are no jobs to be had for recent university graduate Rachel. She moves in with James, her best friend (who is gay) and so begins an entanglement between the two of them and a professor and his wife. There is a major twist about 60 pages in that I won’t spoil, but, suffice it to say, I really enjoyed this book. Even though I’m not particularly aimless (I’m aimful?), I find myself drawn to narratives about aimless women in their 20s in big cities. I also loved the central relationship between Rachel and James and enjoyed the exploration of a platonic love so all-consuming that it threatens other relationships in its orbit. I would recommend for anyone looking for an engaging piece of fiction.

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This week I will be visiting some classic New York haunts: Hotel Chelsea, Lucien, and Broadway.