Help Principles Deal w the Anon H8ers & Citations

this whole gig is just one painful and expensive hurdle after another, i s2g.

it’s now the last day of august, 2023. i spent nine days of this month hospitalised with sepsis and a kidney infection and upon my return to work i learned of two visits from the nyc department of buildings, amounting to three major citations with fines potentially reaching into the tens of thousands of dollars. today i was visited a third time, but what was different was that i was in the shop and able to speak to the inspector face-to-face.

i learned a very important fact that has everything falling into place: all of these DoB visits have stemmed from multiple anonymous complaints filed to 311, which means that there is at least one person out there who is specifically out to get us. these are no easy violations to amend, they’re very in-the-weeds complaints, demonstrating that whoever is calling these in knows the ins and outs of the city bureaucracy and is weaponising it against us. also noteworthy is the fact that these complaints all come from the last three weeks; three weeks ago is when department of transportation started removing the parking spots from this block and began building the new protected bike lane that we had at least a small part in instigating.

i’m gonna be real, this has me scared and shook. i can imagine off the top of my head at least two business interests on this block who have the knowledge and power to levy these complaints against me and they are monied and deeply-embedded in gowanus. what gives me solace, however, is knowing that i’m not in this alone and that i have so many people on my side. and that is what brings me back here to this platform.

whether we win or lose the next couple of months are going to get very expensive.

fall is traditionally the best season for nyc cafes, but even so i don’t think the shop will naturally pull in enough money to cover these impending costs:

•paying the city fines

•hiring an electrician

•hiring a plumber

•hiring an expeditor

•hiring an architect

•paying the myriad licensing fees to the city

•paying for the cost of labour and materials

since most of the money raised here will go to covering the cost of hiring professionals, might i also ask that if anyone knows anyone or is anyone who can do this work pro-bono to please send them my way, for that would be one less load on my back.

bless you all for making it this far and may this journey be a successful one for us.

below this point is the original GFM fundraiser from last year when we were working to finish the initial buildout of the space. it was indeed successful so hopefully the above will work out as well. i’m leaving the original campaign words here for historical posterity.

Hi, I'm Johnny Knoxville and welcome to jackas--wait wait, wrong show. take two,

Hi, I'm katie bishop and welcome to the Principles GoFundMe that so many of you have harangued me into making. ;P

I've been tirelessly bootstrapping the hell out of this project. I've made it quite far already, but the whole space sits at about 85% done, and I'm now running on financial fumes; my initial savings are depleted, my credit card is maxed tf out, and there are still a few more things to button up. My initial plan was to super slow-roll the rest of the buildout, using whatever monthly profits I may have, but that would take at least a few months. So many people have encouraged me to come to this platform cuz they've got funds burning a hole in their pockets that they wanna put to good use, so here we are.

I dunno if it's the inner American in me or the inner Marine, but I've been hellbent on doing as much of this singlehandedly as I possibly can. That degree of Rugged Individualism™ has no doubt gotten me far, but to get me even further, I shall permit myself to graciously accept the help and generosity of those who surround me.

Some Backstory

Many of you know the story thus far, but to get everyone on the same page, I dreamed the idea for Principles in the summer of 2020 and moved into our space in Gowanus in May 2022. Nearly my entire life has been spent in and around service work. I was an only child raised by a single mom working at various times as a bartender and waitress. My first job was working with her at a diner during my freshman year of high school. Since then, I've spent more time than not working in foodservice, with brief stints in the military and the academy. In 2015 I moved to NYC for grad school and in 2017, burnt out and stuck with a master's degree that I couldn't return for a refund, I switched careers into the life of a barista. I've been here ever since.

After getting unceremoniously laid off with the rest of working-class NYC in early 2020, I decided to return to life's drawing board and reimagine my future. I loved working as a barista and I quite disliked knowing that my labour was going towards building someone else's brand, and it was with that passion that Principles was born. I took advantage of all the veteran business resources afforded me and started the herculean process of getting here. Throughout 2021 I saved all the money I could, began making and selling merch, applied for all the institutional funding I could find, borrowed money from some much more financially stable friends, and by the end of the year I thought I had enough in my coffers to start looking for a permanent space for Principles. As it turned out, finding a space that was within my budget, an appropriate size, not too near another cafe, and with a landlord who was comfortable taking a risk on a first-time business was quite the task. Still, I kept at it and got into this quirky little hovel in May 2022. Everyone told me that building out would take six months at least, but I knew I couldn't afford for it to take so long. Instead, I burned the candle at both ends and got to a space of being operational in about six weeks.

Now, having been mostly functional for the better part of the last month, I'm able to pretend like we're A Real Cafe, but this space needs a bit more work done on the inside, which is why I have brought you all here today. The sooner we can get the space to tip top shape, the sooner Principles can host myriad events and shindigs and come into herself as the wonderful gathering space we all know she can be.

Now the hard part

Here's the fun and daunting section, laying out what needs to be done. It's scary to think about cuz there's so much left to do and without enough help it could take ages to get done. From that perspective it's frightening as hell. On the other hand, we have five fingers and the optimistic vision to see the future and fantasise what everything in this space will be like when it's done.

What need?

The space currently has one functional bathroom and another one that is halfway done. We need to procure a toilet and sink and then it's ready. Second bathroom completion estimate: $1000.

Next is to erect a staircase to the roof. There's a finished roof above us that has such gorgeous views! When I first viewed the space there was a spiral staircase up to it, but when officially I got the keys the staircase had disappeared. lolol. Staircase to roof completion estimate: $2500.

After that is building a modest stage in the back for all of the sweet, sweet shows that we're gonna host. I think it will also be really fun to let the stage double as extra seating for all the day-to-day hours of the shop. Stage buildout estimate: $2000.

Winter is eventually coming and anyone who has been in the space has noticed the gaping maw of a front entrance. closing the whole steel gate during the winter months will be quite ominous and dreary. I want to add a second roll-up gate made of glass so that we can open the steel gate but close the glass gate and have the benefit of warmth and a great view when it's cold. New front rolling glass gate estimate: $5000.

The last major renovation to accomplish will be to fabricate one small and one large private office suite in the back. Aesthetically, the boxy nature of the space lends well to creating a few side rooms. Practically, I've heard from so many people who would love to have a private space within a cafe to rent out for solo or group meetings. Private office room buildout estimate: $2000.

Conclusion

Having said all that, I'll set an initial fundraising goal of $12,500. Anything raised above that will go towards furniture (this space needs so very much of it) and lighting (during the day, the natural lighting is idyllic, but at night there are only fluorescent lights; they're atrocious and not the vibe I'm going for).

Y'all, thank you so much for being with me and supporting this project up to this point. I could not have done it without so much friendly encouragement and faith. I want this space to be by and for all of us. I love all of the stories I get to tell of every corner of the cafe and hope that this effort will lead to many, many more tales.