NYC's Mercantile Mayhem: Ode to Crisco Disco et al, Pigeon Protest in Bushwick, Coney Island Book Fair and Taste Radio
A newsletter about the survival of independent businesses in New York City with a focus on immigrant-owned, storefront retail and CPG enterprises.
The US is in total upheaval, it’s difficult to comprehend. Friends living abroad ask me why people in the US opposed to Trump’s actions—aligning with Putin, disappearing people on the street, to name a few—are not rioting in the streets. I don’t have an answer! Are we stunned? Unable to grasp that authoritarianism is possible in the US? I could go on, but I’m going to focus on what this newsletter is about, the survival of independent businesses in New York City.
NEW BOOK ALERT: ‘QUEER HAPPENED HERE’
Queer Happened Here: 100 Years of NYC’s Landmark LGBTQ+ Places is a new book by Marc Zinaman, packed with photos, fliers, signs, posters, membership cards he researched and found, a homage to the historic LGBTQ+ history of the city. It covers some of the “third spaces” in today’s parlance (formerly known as cafes, bars, clubs, parks maybe piers) where LGBTQ+ communities socialized, performed, entertained, hooked up, mingled, grieved and organized over the past century.
I attended a marvelous Rizzoli Bookstore Q&A with Zinaman and the legendary drag queen Linda Simpson, part of the East Village scene since the 1980s, chronicled beautifully in The Drag Explosion.
The inspiration for the book came from Zinaman, part of a younger generation, found it curious that he’d never heard of Crisco Disco (a notorious club with a DJ booth made to look like a giant can of Crisco) for example, growing up as a native New Yorker. He began researching other LGBTQ+ spots, making maps, he posted on Instagram and eventually his obsession became Queer Happened Here.
I’m thrilled that two of my photos are in the book, I took them at The Lure (which stands for Leather, Rubber, Uniforms, Etc) on 13th Street, you can see one photo here on my Instagram (only 3 people liked it, I guess not everyone is a fan of leather straps, a dog collar and a chain mail banana hammock) along with video snips of the Rizzoli Q&A.
Since this is a business newsletter, I have to mention that oddly enough, the mafia owned and operated many gay bars in the city because money was to be made—and laundered. Club 82 on 4th Street in the East Village opened in the early 1950s and was owned by the Genovese family, featuring female impersonators for a mainly straight audience. The Mineshaft was also mafia owned, as was famous The Stonewall Inn.
PROTEST OUTSIDE BROADWAY PIGEONS AND PET SUPPLIES
There was a protest outside Broadway Pigeons and Pet Supplies last Saturday, April 12, organized by Tina Piña aka Mother Pigeon who you might know by the felt pigeons she makes and sells around town. The protestors allege that store owner Michael Scott nets street pigeons himself, or brokers in feral street pigeons, in order to sell to Pennsylvania shooting ranges. In Pennsylvania it’s legal to use live pigeons for shooting practice while it’s illegal in New York.
Since 2008, there have been reports of people illegally netting New York City street pigeons. (Full disclosure: I am pigeon adjacent, I pal around with New York Pigeon.) Netting is difficult to catch on video, but there are some fragments of videos out there on social media. It typically happens early in the morning: the netter throws bird seed on the ground, when pigeons come, a net is thrown over the pigeons, they’re scooped up and shoved into the back of a truck squished in the netting.
When Mercantile Mayhem called looking for a comment from Michael Scott, a woman answered the phone and said that he couldn’t talk. I asked if she had anything to say about the protest, “It’s all fake, they’re all crazy,” she said, “that’s all I’m going to tell you,” and hung up.
The NYPD has been alerted to the netting, but pigeons are still being netted according to Piña, so she decided to protest. It was peaceful, but the employees and/or friends of Broadway Pigeons and Pet Supplies were quite surly, especially a man who got into a photographer’s face standing next to me, posturing to punch, which I captured here. The photographer stood his ground, but I jumped, which is why the video cuts away for a second. Nicole Rosenthal wrote an article about the protest for The New York Post.
THE FIRST EVER CONEY ISLAND BOOK FAIR
On May 10, 2025, you can take a spin on the Wonder Wheel, eat a Nathan’s hot dog, and then attend the first Coney Island Book Fair. Presented by The Lady Aye aka Ilise S. Carter, not just a multi-hyphenate, more like a hyphenate squared, we are talking journalist, author, writer, sword swallower, fire-eater and straitjacket escape artist.
Doors open at noon, it’s free for attendees to peruse the book and art vendors, like Curious Publications, Donald David illustrations and upcycled jewelry made with found glass fragments or rat bones, among others.
The first of four panel discussions starts at 1pm and costs $20. These discussions are packed with renown authors, writers, journalists, novelists, performers, historians, editors and filmmakers, galore. The first panel focuses on New York City as muse, the second is about haunting or eerie subjects, the third is the intersection of burlesque, gender identity and self-expression and the final panel at 4pm is about the sideshow, the grotesque, as the main character.
Some of the illustrious moderators and panelists include: Laurie Gwen Shapiro, Colin Dickey, Alix Strauss, Ilise S. Carter, Jo Weldon, Elyssa Max Goodman and Dawn Raffel, to name a few, see the full lineup here.
At 7pm there will be a variety show that may or may not include sword swallowing, with these performers, which costs $25; the whole shebang— panels and show, costs $40. More information here and here.
The vendors are setting up shop in the Shooting Gallery Arts Annex at 1214 Surf Ave, the panel discussions are next door at 1208 Surf Ave.
TASTE RADIO IN NYC
Ray Latif recorded his latest Taste Radio podcast several nights ago amid total CPG mayhem at the incredible ReThink Food in Soho. Taste Radio is part of the BevNET media emporium that publishes on all types of platforms focusing on drinkable consumer products, as well as edible CPGs in Nosh.
The big BevNET Live summer event, sort of like an Oscars/TED event of the beverage world, takes place in New York City June 11 and 12. I went last year and it was “functional” and “adaptogen” galore—does anyone drink regular beverages anymore?
CHINA TARIFFS CONTINUE TO TANK SPIRITS AND DOLLARS
Arun Venugopal of WNYC/Gothamist wrote this article about the tariffs’ negative impact on Chinatown. The homewares sector, from mom and pops to chains, will also be dealt a blow, covered in this New York Times story by Rhonda Kaysen, Housewares Retails Brace for Tariffs [gift article] that includes the beloved New York City institution Pearl River Mart.
One of my favorite economists to follow on social media is the University of Michigan’s Justin Wolfers who makes appearances on CNN among other networks. He lays it out in straightforward Aussie style with a few “mates” thrown in for good measure. He’s on Twitter/X (I know, the evil site), Threads and Bluesky.
IMMIGRANT HERITAGE WEEK AWARDS
On April 22nd at 7pm Accompany Capital, one of this newsletter’s amazing sponsors, will have its 13th annual Immigrant Heritage Week Awards ceremony. It’s free, on Zoom, but you have to pre-register. It’s an annual event that celebrates New York City’s small business owners, many immigrant owned, who enrich New York City’s streets.
John Wang, the founder of Queens Night Market is this year’s keynote speaker. “The World at Your Fingertips: Growing New York Businesses” is the theme of the awards ceremony, the Queens Night Market has been a launching pad, an incubator so to speak, for many food businesses in New York City.
Related, I am delighted to post this sneak peek photo of Pooja Bavishi, founder of Malai, part of new project I’m working on with Accompany Capital, launching on April 23. It’s called "The World at Your Fingertips: Neighborhood Businesses of New York City" and I’ll give a short summary of the project during the Immigrant Week Heritage Awards ceremony. Sign up for Accompany Capital’s Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook for all your NYC small business needs.
COME ON MY JANE’S WALK: MAY 5, 11AM, BE THERE OR BE A HEXAGON
It’s that time of year again, time for Jane’s Walk! From May 2 to 4, 2025, volunteer New Yorkers (like meeeeee) are leading free walks all around the city. My walk is centered on, you guessed it, independent businesses. On Saturday May 3 at 11:00, I will be leading a walk called “Rebel Indy Storefront Businesses Amid Chain Stores in Soho/Little Italy”. We’ll visit independent storefront retail shops, both old school like Piemonte Ravioli and newer shops like GEM Home.
How do these businesses stay afloat when rents for a 350 – 500 square foot space can cost $6,500 to $11,000 per month? (And no, not every independent shop is owned by a trust fund kid or has a benevolent wealthy relative paying the bills.) We’ll talk with some of the owners about the survival of independent businesses in New York City. And if small business is not your jammy, there are scores of other walks over the three days centered on NYC’s history, art, architecture, nature, social movements, politics, etc, take a look here.
Thank you to Mercantile Mayhem’s sponsor Accompany Capital. Based in New York City, Accompany Capital, a CDFI, helps immigrants and refugees with loans and financial services. Please read about it here.
Thank you to Small Business Majority, Mercantile Mayhem’s sponsor. SBM supports and empowers small businesses across the US with a focus on public policy. Please read about SBM here.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SPONSOR MERCANTILE MAYHEM?
Yes, I am still looking for one additional sponsor, three in total, the individuals, businesses, organizations or foundations that believe independent businesses in New York City need to survive. Do you want a city full of just Chipotles, Starbucks and bank ATMs? Do you value the character that independent businesses bring to New York City?
If you would like to know sponsorship rates and newsletter stats (open rates and such) please email me: ninarobertsnyc@gmail.com and I’ll send you the details. Please forward this newsletter to others.
OPPORTUNITIES
WomensNet offers a number of grants to women-owned businesses on a rolling basis, peruse grant information here.
Small businesses in New York City could win a micro grant up to $5,000 through CitizensNYC. A new grant cycle opens on May 5, 2025, deadline is July 25, 2025.
NYC Boss Up NYCHA, pitch competition applications are open for entrepreneurs who are NYCHA or Section 8 residents in “good standing”. Winners will receive a grant of $20,000. Deadline is April 30, 2025; applications submitted by April 1, 2025 will be offered feedback and applicants can resubmit their application. Apply here.
NYC Boss Up Veterans, planning ahead… pitch competition applications for entrepreneurs who are veterans of the US military will be open July 1, 2025. Children, siblings, spouses or parents of a Gold Star Family, or military spouses, are also eligible. Winners will receive a grant of $20,000. Applications close September 15, 2025, click here for more information.
ooh, thanks for the info about the coney island book fair!!!
I love that photo, and that you mentioned the mob ownership of the gay bars. They also owned all the topless bars back in the day. It wasn't just that money was there to be made, and laundered, but also, those were two industries they didn't have to worry about either staff or customers complaining or filing complaints. Back in the day, both were things men did on the DL, and didn't want to be outed for. Same for the women that worked in the topless bars and massage parlors. The mob relied on shame and marginalization for a problem free business model. Well, not problem free, but certainly union free!