New State-owned cafe in Ditmas Park

Every low-budget, office-less blog needs its unofficial home-in-a-café. For the past, oh, seven months, Ditmas Park’s Vox Pop has been the place where we get together, caffeinate and let the money-saving ideas flow. And we like being surrounded by dog-eared copies of revolutionary manifestos. But apparently, the café’s anti-big brother ethos extends to taxes too (what good anarchist pays taxes?), because Vox Pop has been shuttered by the G-men.

The Ditmas Park Blog reports that the five-year old Cortelyou Road café was closed early this week by the NYS Dept. of Taxation and Finance for accrued back taxes. Vox Pop’s manager told the blog that the taxes are part of the café’s “legacy debt,” incurred under its founder and former CEO who left the café early this year.

Vox Pop’s management and shareholders are working to rally public support, but Comments on the blog have tended toward the less sympathetic.

Terwiliger writes: “As much as I like and want to support Vox Pop, I don’t really understand what the call to arms is for. If they didn’t pay their taxes why are they asking people to “demonstrate how important this space is to the community.””

From Travis: “I’m sorry but I can’t feel sorry for you if you were closed for not paying taxes… It’s a shame, I loved the place but seriously…”

Whatever the details, we hope they get it together, because we’d miss the joint. But a more  immediate question: Where to meet tomorrow? We’re looking for wi-fi and room for 8 to 10 people. Any ideas?