09/20/2024
My name is Peter Simpson and I own the Haymarket Café in Northampton. I would like to respond to some of the things that folks have brought up over the last year or so.
The cafe has always been a place where people could spend time away from home, to meet people, to work, or just to spend some time alone in public. The entire time we have owned the café, it has always been a place that folks who have no place to stay could come and spend time at, without the fear of being kicked out because they were not spending money. In fact in 2015 when we joined the $15 an hour campaign, a campaign fighting for a living wage, we also began the common account, which enabled people who were short on funds to get anything on the menu if they had three dollars. This was also a time that I am eliminated tipping, as it felt important to me that the cafe pay the employees wages and not our customers. I raised the wages in relation to the tips that the employees were previously earning, so that they could count on their weekly earnings without the stress of wondering whether the tips would make up the difference. The Common account was something that initially was a response to how I responded to folks who were panhandling, but for the restaurant, I felt like it was a way to address hungry instability in the community, that would involve the customers of the cafe as well. During the pandemic, I knew that I had to think about the common account differently. I decided that instead of asking folks to pay three dollars for a meal, I wanted to make sure that if anyone who came to the café hungry, regardless if they had any money, would be fed with the same attention that we served any other paying customer. We began serving about 40 people a day through the common account. In addition, through some of the organizations which sprung up to address hunger during the pandemic, we were donating 4 to 500 meals a week, that were delivered to various meeting points throughout the Pioneer Valley. We managed to limp through the pandemic, but as the danger of the virus subsided, we began to hire again, and try to return to being the cafe that we had once been. This period was very challenging and financially it was a very stressful time. As my finances were waning, I decided to try and get an equity loan from the house that I built. I had paid the mortgage payments on the house for the entire 10 years that we owned it. The person I had thought was going to be my life partner would not agree to allow me to access this equity to help with the finances of the Cafe. It was because of this that I began a GoFundMe page. I was moved by how people were responding, and was encouraged that the café could soon stand up on its own feet. It was at this time that I was unable o to pay the employees who worked the previous week. it was four employees whom I reached out to, apologized, and said that as soon as I have funds I would pay them. The moment that I did have funds I paid them what was owed. Never before, and never since then have I not paid anyone for the work that they have done at the cafe. This is important for me to say because I would never feel okay with not paying someone who had worked for me.
After this incident I was closed for some time, trying to get permits as well as covering purveyors whom I still owed money. The permit became impossible to get, not because it wasn’t clean, or anything that was under my control. My landlord was someone who rarely fixed things. The city had condemned the building in the spring of 2023 and for 2 months my new partner and I were homeless, and though he said he would put us up, he never compensated us for our struggles finding housing. When the spring came around, it came to my understanding that my landlord had decided to sell the building. My landlord had put the building up for sale two years prior, but when I made an offer to the amount that they were asking for the sale of the building, they did not respond to my offer and soon took it off the market. At this point when the building was again, put up for sale, I did not have the funds to purchase the building, and the new owner who was going to buy the building, wanted it completely vacated. In mid April, I signed an agreement that I would leave the building by July 1. At that point, the building was condemned for the second time in one year, and the city wanted the fire alarm system completed. I asked when this would be done, and they said it would be finished by the end of the week. This seemed like something I could work with, because I knew that I would be able to open for two months before I had to move. Over the next two months nothing was done to finish the fire alarm system, no matter how many times I reached out to see about its completion. When July 1 came around I had still had not vacated the building. The next day the locks were changed, and I was unable to take any of my things. At first, they were concerned that there was a lien on the property and they wanted to make sure that was not the case. I reached out to Greenfield savings bank as well as Florence savings bank, both whom conveyed that it was fine if I took the property and put it into storage. After sending them this information I assumed I would soon be able to take my equipment. I called everyone. I called the Adams family. I called Patrick Melnik who was their lawyer. No one would call me back. Two weeks ago the café was emptied of all of my possessions. Thirty-three years of my life was put into a truck and taken to a location that I still am unclear of. For the life of me I don’t understand how they can be so heartless, and rip out what once was an institution in this town, as well as the hard work of countless people. If there is anyone who reads this and knows a lawyer who can assist me, I would be grateful to be able to fight these people for what is legitimately mine. I want to be able to reopen the café and return to the community that I have grown up in, and loved for most of my life. The person who asked this question, “what is happening here at the Haymarket Café”, I thank you. This will be my last post as owner of the cafe at 185 Main Street. A new location I hope will soon be found! In conclusion, I want to thank all those who have come to the cafe, to spend time, read a book, meet friends, or just spend some time alone in public, for this has been the point of this project, and if that has succeeded, then so has my efforts all these 33 years.
I want to thank all of those customers who have visited the cafe. I hope one day to be able to open the doors again, in a new, kinder place to greet you in.
Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Peter Simpson
