A hip New York coffee shop has left customers boiling with rage after imposing an eye-watering charge on those who get out their laptops.
Bedford Studio in the Manhattan’s West Village is demanding $10 a day – or $300 a year – for anyone wishing to catch up on some work while sipping on its Cortado’s or Marrakesh Mints.
But the glass-fronted café has been accused of ripping off its customers in a pale imitation of a posh members-only club.
TikToker @sidnyenikole blew the whistle on the charging policy in a post that has attracted 22,000 likes and hundreds of outraged comments from New Yorkers scalded by the city’s soaring price of living.
‘ NYC as a whole is a scam,’ one wrote. ‘I don’t know how people still love it.’
‘I did not know the local coffee shop was turning into Soho House but I guess this is just your PSA that this is happening now’ said TikToker @sidnyenikole
The coffee shop advertises itself as the ‘ideal work set up’, but it will charge you $10 a day
The Tiktoker, who has previously posted about housing costs and her six-figure student debt, spilled the beans after finding notices up in the coffee shop outlining the rules.
‘If you thought living in New York City was expensive, now we must pay to take our laptops out at coffee shops, that’s not free anymore that’s not a free right in our community,’ she told her followers.
‘Now I totally get like buying something at the café to sit there and do your work or whatever, so on top of the drink that was $9 you have to pay one of these prices to be able to use your laptop.
‘I did not know the local coffee shop was turning into Soho House but I guess this is just your PSA that this is happening now.’
The café boasted of its ‘free wifi and charging stations’ in its first Instagram posts last year, but customers told the TikToker it is already facing a backlash over its new surcharge.
‘I walked in here to whip out my laptop to answer an email,’ wrote one. ‘The barista asked me ‘are you out a memberrrrr?’ And I said ‘a member of a coffee shop?’
‘I’m actually baffled at the whole notion of not wanting people sitting in your establishment,’ wrote another. ‘I’d be boycotting you.’
‘This is so Black Mirror,’ wrote a third. ‘It’s freaking me out.’
The coffee shop advertises itself as ‘the destination to meet people, enjoy coffee, be productive, and be apart (sic) of a community’
‘Bedford Studio welcomes everyone to come inside to purchase coffee and relax but requires a membership to work from the Studio,’ it declares
But it was offering free WiFi in a bid to attract customers in its first Instagram posts last year
On its website, the coffee shop advertises itself as ‘the destination to meet people, enjoy coffee, be productive, and be apart (sic) of a community’.
‘Bedford Studio welcomes everyone to come inside to purchase coffee and relax but requires a membership to work from the Studio as it fosters a productive environment and access to connect with new people and participate in member events dedicated to promoting well-being and career growth,’ it declares.
And some had sympathy with a small business trying to survive in a neighborhood where one firm of property developers are asking $57.5 million for a condo inside a converted parking garage.
Soaring rents and upfront costs have contributed to fewer than five percent of New York apartments being affordable to the average worker, according to a report by Streeteasy.com in May.
Median asking rents climbed 8.6 percent to $3,475 in the city last year, while one in four households spent more than half of their combined income on rent according to the city’s Housing and Vacancy Survey.
‘Rent in NYC is insane for small businesses, too,’ wrote one despondent respondent.
‘If you want to use WiFi for free in public spaces, then support your local libraries.’
‘It’s because people take up space for hours and only buy a couple things,’ wrote one former coffee shop manager. ‘Unfortunately in this economy all the coffee shops can’t afford rent.’
The TikToker’s post attracted 22,000 likes and had some followers frothing in rage
‘Or you can just not use the WiFi while getting your overpriced coffee.’ pointed out a third.
‘These are all choices that you are making to spend money.’
The post left some stunned at the prices being charged in New York’s overheated economy.
‘Whatttttt, if anyone wants to move to Texas lol send me a dm,’ wrote one.
‘In other parts of the world ppl stay all day in coffee shops and cafes but in the US everything is about profit,’ observed another.
Dailymail.com has reached out to Bedford Studio for comment.
