On September 26 and 27, 2025, three Upper West Side Starbucks stores closed with almost no warning: 2252 Broadway at West 81st Street, 2045 Broadway between West 70th and 71st, and 159 Columbus Avenue between West 67th and 68th. West Side Rag reported the closings within days. Thirteen months later, one of those corners sells pizza by the slice and another opens on Friday, November 6, as an Italian café that sells Roman-style pizza alongside its espresso. No local outlet has reported a new tenant for the third.
Daily coffee has shifted to side streets and mid-block storefronts, where smaller operators have spent 2026 opening, closing and relocating shops within a few blocks of each other. The empty corners went to food. The neighborhood's coffee map was redrawn somewhere else.
The Letter Behind the Three Closings
The closings followed a September 25, 2025 letter from Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol describing a review of the company's North American stores. West Side Rag quoted the key passage: "We identified coffeehouses where we're unable to create the physical environment our customers and partners expect, or where we don't see a path to financial performance, and these locations will be closed." Citywide, Time Out counted 34 New York City closures, and all three Upper West Side addresses were on its list.
The notices taped to the Upper West Side windows read, in part, as West Side Rag transcribed them:
"We know this may be hard to hear because this isn't just any store, It's your coffeehouse, a place woven into your daily rhythm, where memories were made, and where meaningful connections with our partners grew over the years."
Each of the three corners has gone a different way since then.
67th and Columbus Went to Pizza
The first to reopen was 159 Columbus Avenue, near Lincoln Center, as the Upper West Side's Lucia Pizza on Monday, October 5. It is the brand's fifth location in the city, after SoHo, Gramercy, Sheepshead Bay and the Upper East Side.
The shop is built for standing. Co-owner Dylan Schwartz told West Side Rag that the space has no room for tables, so three standing bars hold about a dozen customers. He still wants it to be "a place that people think of to come and have a slice and a little respite from their day." Slices are made from slow-fermented dough and finished with basil, Pecorino Romano and Sicilian olive oil. The storefront has a burgundy awning and a hand-painted sign in red and yellow on cream. Schwartz told the Rag the same artist painted the signage for every Lucia shop, a deliberate "throwback to another era."
For anyone who used to stop here for a cup on the way to Lincoln Center, the corner now serves a different part of the day. The Upper West Side shop delivers whole pies but not individual slices. Slices can only be added to a pie order.
81st and Broadway Opens November 6
The best-known of the three corners is 2252 Broadway. I Love the Upper West Side described it as the Starbucks that Kathleen Kelly and Joe Fox frequent in "You've Got Mail," released in 1998. Its next tenant splits the difference between coffee and food. Eataly Caffè, the coffee-bar concept from the Italian marketplace brand, opens there on Friday, November 6, at 3 p.m., I Love the Upper West Side reported.
The menu is built around coffee from Eataly's own 100% arabica beans. Alongside it are sweet and savory pastries, Roman-style pizza alla pala and grab-and-go meals. It will be the concept's fourth New York City location, after the Upper East Side, Hudson Yards and Midtown. The East Side shop at 1122 Lexington Avenue opened last December.
What Eataly has announced for opening weekend:
- Friday, November 6, 3 p.m.: Doors open, with gifts for the first 100 guests in line.
- Saturday and Sunday, from 11 a.m.: Free mini hot chocolates and fall flower bouquets while supplies last.
- Limited-run fall menu: A maple cappuccino, specialty hot chocolates and caramelized apple bomboloni.
"We are thrilled to bring our Eataly Caffè concept to an iconic corner of Broadway and West 81st Street," Craig Kennedy, president of Eataly North America, said in a statement that West Side Rag published.
70th and Broadway Is Still Waiting
The third address, 2045 Broadway between West 70th and 71st, has no reported successor. I Love the Upper West Side photographed it as "now closed" when the stores shut in September 2025. Since then, neither that site nor West Side Rag has reported a lease, signage or a new tenant there.
The streets around it have filled in, though. Croissant et Cafe, a micro-bakery with a full coffee bar, opened on July 2 at 154 West 70th Street, a short walk west of the old Starbucks. Café Alon, a kosher coffee shop and artisanal bakery from operator Ofer Puder, is expected in November at 200 West End Avenue between West 69th and 70th, according to West Side Rag. Two blocks north, Picky Barista already runs a shop at 245 West 72nd Street. Around 70th Street, the Broadway corner is still dark, and the side streets have picked up the coffee business.
The Year's Coffee Moves, Block by Block
The same shift shows up across the neighborhood. In 2026, small and mid-size coffee operators have been shuffling their locations, often between storefronts only a few blocks apart.
| Shop | Address | What happened | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blank Street Coffee | 418 Columbus Ave. at W. 80th | Opened | April 20, 2026 |
| Fillup Coffee | 2486 Broadway, W. 92nd–93rd | Closed | April 25, 2026 |
| Croissant et Cafe | 154 W. 70th St. | Opened | July 2, 2026 |
| Chip City | 370 Columbus Ave. | Closed | October 2, 2026 |
| Blank Street Coffee | 2345 Broadway at W. 86th | Closed | October 10, 2026 |
| Picky Barista | 2321 Broadway at W. 84th | Signage up, no date | Reported October 20, 2026 |
| Dunkin | 33 West End Ave. at W. 61st | Signage up, no date | Reported October 21, 2026 |
Blank Street is the clearest example. It opened on Columbus at 80th in April, then closed its Broadway shop at 86th in October, six blocks north and one avenue west. Picky Barista is moving the other way along Broadway. Its fourth Upper West Side shop is coming to 2321 Broadway at 84th, joining 2680 Broadway, 667 Columbus Avenue and 245 West 72nd Street, I Love the Upper West Side reported. That puts it two blocks from the closed Blank Street at 86th and three from Eataly Caffè at 81st.
National chains are still opening here too. West Side Rag counts the Dunkin coming to 33 West End Avenue, in a space that was previously Greenland Pet Shop, as the chain's tenth Upper West Side location. Down by the river at West 66th Street, Blu Café at 120 Riverside Boulevard is temporarily closed for renovations, and no reopening date has been announced.
What Opens Next, and What Is Still Just Signage
As of this week, the near-term calendar looks like this:
- Eataly Caffè, 2252 Broadway at West 81st: Opens Friday, November 6, at 3 p.m., with the giveaway weekend after it. This is the only firm date on the list.
- Café Alon, 200 West End Avenue: Expected in November. No day has been announced.
- Picky Barista, 2321 Broadway at West 84th: Signage is up and the space is being prepared. The shop has not given an opening date.
- Dunkin, 33 West End Avenue at West 61st: Signage is up. The chain had not answered West Side Rag's question about timing.
- Blu Café, 120 Riverside Boulevard: Closed for renovation, with no reopening date.
- 2045 Broadway: No tenant reported.
Once Eataly Caffè opens on November 6, two of the three former Starbucks corners will be open again under new tenants, Lucia Pizza at 159 Columbus and Eataly Caffè at 2252 Broadway.
Storefront changes on a building's own block are part of how buildings and blocks get judged, whether you are staying put or thinking about a move. For a discreet conversation about how the recent changes along Broadway and Columbus fit into the picture for your building, Hilary James offers a confidential consultation.
