Someday Café will CLOSE by August 15

[ron_newman]

I just came back from Someday, and confirmed the bad news. The café has not renewed its lease with the landlord (Chatham Light Realty), and the café's owner (Gus Rancatore, of Toscanini's ice cream) is disinclined to reopen it elsewhere in Davis Square. Unless someone changes his mind, the café must vacate by August 15, and most likely will close around August 1.

If you don't want this to happen, call Richard at Chatham Light, 617-354-4466 , and e-mail gus@tosci.com .

(for earlier discussion, see the post immediately below this one.)

[EDIT (6/27, 12:10 am): after exchanging e-mail and a phone call with Ian Judge, the manager of the Somerville Theatre, I have edited this post so that it no longer says that "the landlord is making them leave". Ian's statement is here. I'm going to leave the phone number and e-mail address in place; they came from a sign at the Someday's counter last night.]

Comments

[liamstliam.livejournal.com]

I suppose you're right.

I do write to newspapers when I see stuff I don't like.

I just feel a little uncomfortable about publishing someone's number and suggesting people calll. That seems a little reactionary.

I don't think the landlord owes the community anything.

(Don't get me wrong. I *like* the Someday, but I just don't see something like this happening in many places. In Davis, yes. But it just sorta strikes me as strange.)

My opinion only.

[sarah-raz.livejournal.com]

How is that "reactionary"? It seems like a reasonable thing to do. Businesses and businesspeople do have a civic duty to the community in which they do business.

[liamstliam.livejournal.com]

This is an intriguing discussion.

Do business people really have a civic duty to their communities?

I suppose ethically you could argue that they do, but certainly, legally, they don't. A businessman's objective is to make money. (Certainly you could agree he might be able to do that better by working with the community).

[unferth.livejournal.com]

True, but if we're speaking in terms of legal duties and rights, there's not duty for the public to be nice to the businessman either. Especially if it's a business number listed above. I'd be less happy about it if it were a home number.

I wouldn't really expect public sentiment to change what is probably a purely financial decision, but there's no reason not to express it. Part of making a business decision that affects the public (which kicking the Someday out certainly does) involves the public bitching about how you're affecting them.

Basically, it's an argument that cuts both ways - the landlord's right to dispose of his property as he sees fit is not limited by my right to tell him I don't like the decisions he's making about his property. There are ways of doing so that are reasonable to restrict (notes tied to bricks thrown through windows are generally frowned upon, for instance) but basic stuff like a business phone number and email address is a long way from harassment.