Writing New York

On the corner of 47th Street, and Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City, stands a cafe known as Communitea. This low-key, contemporary space, filled with tranquil ambiance has become a home to many locals, and nearby small business owners. However, Communitea is slowly becoming appealing to people all over the city. Communitea is a cafe that clearly distinguishes itself from any other place in the LIC area, with ambient music playing in the background, and the delicious and rather refreshing smell of Chai Lattes. Though Communitea is a small unpretentious cafe in a newly gentrified neighborhood, it has not only been successful in drawing locals, but even appealing to big time sitcoms like CW’s Gossip Girl. Employees at the cafe claim that the show has even helped quite a bit in promoting the cafe. “People come in and they are like, this is the same spot, oh that’s so cool,” says Michael Richter, an employee at Communitea. “And I believe in the episode someone was drinking tea, and that’s an important thing, because though we serve other things, we were initially a Tea House,” he says. The sitcom is filming their next episode at the cafe this Thursday, March 27th, 2008.