{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/c53dz0478w/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Giselle Grncarski Oral History"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eGiselle Grncarski is an Astoria resident who along with her husband own OK Café located near the corner of 33rd Street and Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria. Grncarski explains how she and her husband opened the café in 2014, how the café's small size has been key to its success, and how the café has enabled her to connect with the local community. Grncarski discusses the closing of the café for more than one month due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the re-opening of the café at reduced hours approximately one week before this interview, and her expectation of a long and slow recovery for her business.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eGrncarski speaks about her time spent at home with her daughters and her use of social media during the pandemic. Grncarski also speaks about changes in the Astoria population and in the types of businesses in Astoria that she has witnessed over time.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source Metadata URI"]},"value":{"en":["http://digitalarchives.queenslibrary.org/search/browse/42452"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2020-05-16 (created)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Type"]},"value":{"en":["Audio"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Giselle Grncarski (Interviewee)","Sarah Pousty (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source"]},"value":{"en":["Interview conducted as part of the Queens Memory COVID-19 Project."]}},{"label":{"en":["Coverage"]},"value":{"en":["2000s-2020 (temporal)","Astoria, Queens, NY; Minneapolis, MN (spatial)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eGiselle Grncarski is an Astoria resident who along with her husband own OK Caf\u0026eacute; located near the corner of 33rd Street and Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria. Grncarski explains how she and her husband opened the caf\u0026eacute; in 2014, how the caf\u0026eacute;'s small size has been key to its success, and how the caf\u0026eacute; has enabled her to connect with the local community. Grncarski discusses the closing of the caf\u0026eacute; for more than one month due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the re-opening of the caf\u0026eacute; at reduced hours approximately one week before this interview, and her expectation of a long and slow recovery for her business.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eGrncarski speaks about her time spent at home with her daughters and her use of social media during the pandemic. Grncarski also speaks about changes in the Astoria population and in the types of businesses in Astoria that she has witnessed over time.\u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/public/images/audio-default.png","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - SarahPousty_Giselle_Grncarski_mixed.mp3"]},"duration":2358.0992,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/public/images/audio-default.png","type":"Image","format":"image/png"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-queenslibrary.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/221/990/original/SarahPousty_Giselle_Grncarski_mixed.mp3?1703780603","type":"Audio","format":"audio/mpeg","duration":2358.0992,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Full Transcript [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: Okay so-- hello, I'm Sarah Pousty and I'm here with Giselle. We are recording for the Queens Memory COVID-19 Project. Giselle, can you please share your name and spell your first and last name?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1.0,17.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: Giselle Grncarski. G-I-S-E-L-L-E. Grncarski, is harder. G-R-N-C-A-R-S-K-I.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=17.0,38.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: Thank you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=38.0,38.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: Yes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=38.0,39.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: And do you agree to the terms and conditions outlined in the Queens Memory informed consent and copyright permission form that I shared with you by email?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=39.0,47.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: I do.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=47.0,49.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: Okay. All right so I'm really excited to be talking with you and we're going to be talking about your experience being a business owner at this time. So just, I guess the place to start is what prompted you to start your business, for you to start Ok Cafe here in Astoria?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=49.0,73.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: Well, I mean, I have to say I've been since my college days when I first discovered cafes, I've been a big cafe-ophile. I really like cafes. I go cafe-- before we had a cafe, that was before we had children, my husband and I, our outings would always be, find a new cafe. We read about a new one in the city. Let's go and check it out. I'm the kind of person who if I have a coffee in my hand that I've got at a cafe, but I saw, I find one has opened a new one three blocks away, I still have the coffee in my hand, I'll get rid of that coffee just [laughter] to try the new coffee. You know, it's just the experience. It's I, I'll toss that coffee to try the new one and hopefully I won't be disappointed [laughter]. I had friends after my college years and I was living in Minneapolis, which is where I'm from, I had a couple of different friends who opened cafe is also, it was sort of pre-third wave coffee.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=73.0,130.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: It was, there was maybe one or two Starbucks in Minneapolis and a lot of independent cafes were just kind of coming onto the scene, which were the new thing. There hadn't been espresso houses that much before, except for just a few on campus. So in some of the neighborhoods where, younger people and artists and that kind of thing were living it was kind of a easy first step business for somebody who wanted to do a business, especially back then rents were low. People would build their cafes together with the support of their friends, literally, hammering the nails together as a community project. And I participated in a couple of projects like that. Like, putting nails under the bar to a, attach shelves and, all of these kinds of things.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=130.0,177.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: And so I had some really positive experiences of witnessing some startups firsthand and it was kind of one of those things that I always wanted to do, but never thought that I would do. There was always something else that I wanted to do first, but when I met my husband and he's I would say more business motivated, I'm a little bit more artsy. And it just didn't think I would open a business. And he influenced me to think maybe something we really could do together. And we've been married a little over 20 years and way back when, when we first started living in Astoria 20 years ago, we actually tried to open a cafe and it didn't work out. We were going to open one on Broadway in Astoria. We found a really great space that used to be a hardware store.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=177.0,228.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: Mistake number one, it was way too big and the rent was going to be too high and the building was going to be too high. We had, no, we didn't have enough. We didn't have any business background actually of owning a business, which means we couldn't get a small business loan unless we went through a franchise. So we started doing this whole sort of courtship with a franchise company and all of these different things. There was the Midwest franchise, the Coffee Beanery, and they were trying to get a foothold in New York City, but they had all these rules. Like it has to be a certain amount of width, the space, and New York City spaces we're explaining to them they don't make them that wide. This is not like a pull off the highway sort of a thing. And you've got giant footage. These are going to be small narrow railroad car sized spaces, even if it was a big space, but it was still narrow by their parameters.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=228.0,280.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: And we just hit roadblock after roadblock. And then, we found out that the building they wanted us to buy some specialized coffee, literal bar bar that was, like, where you set the coffee down for people that was, it was going to be like, buying a high end sports car, the price of this thing. And I'm like, but I can build this from wood. So [unclear] wood will scratch. Well, I'll refinish the wood, so it was this on and on process. And finally we were like, we're going to be in so much debt and it's going to fail because we have too much debt starting out. So we pulled the plug on it after maybe a year of going back and forth with them. And we just put the idea on the shelf. And back in 2014, after having children, after doing so many other things, Predrag again, he's always business minded and, always hoping, for a business opportunity.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=280.0,328.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: He said, \"look, there's this little hair salon that closed. It's a great location. It's really tiny. I think we could just do this with our savings. We wouldn't need to take a loan. We could just, figure it out ourselves. We'll do it a different way than we tried last time, come and look at the space.\" And it was a terrible looking space if I should--","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=328.0,346.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: Go ahead--","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=346.0,347.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: Okay. So he brought me to this space that was, just walking distance from our home. It's an amazing location, but it had been this hair salon with these awful purple walls. And these flimsy mirrors taped up all over the space and a wash sink in the middle of the space. It was a disaster. In fact my mother was visiting from out of town shortly after we had taken the lease and I showed her the space.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=347.0,374.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: And I remember her just shaking her head. Like, you've gotta be outta your mind, this isn't, what kind of, this could never be a cafe. This is, it really looked bad is all I can say. But I guess that's where the artistic flair comes in. I took that as a challenge and we just, pulled everything down that had been there and started from scratch and did our best to maximize that we would have, even though it's small, we can have, some seating space, little seating in the window, four seats with a bench across from them. And a little bit of outdoor seating and vintage wallpaper and, chandelier that I made with an artist friend. And it all kind of came together and it looks like a real cafe now.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=374.0,423.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: So I feel pretty proud about it. We made our own logo all of this stuff, so it's really something personal this business. It's, I guess, all those years of thinking and dreaming about it, even though I didn't think it was going to be a dream come true. I thought it would just be a fun, something to think about, but it's nice that finally, in 2014 is when we opened and it's, been, we've been building and building since then. We're I don't know, I guess we'll see where it goes from here.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=423.0,464.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: Wow. It feels, I can't believe it was all the way in 2014 that you opened your doors. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=464.0,473.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: Yeah it feels like yesterday. It also feels like a long time. It feels like forever. I mean, we have some people who come to the neighborhood and of course children like yours, who don't remember Astoria before Ok Cafe, we're like a fixture of the neighborhood for them but, I've been in Astoria for, I didn't grow up here but, over 20 years. So, for me, it's just a blink of an eye of the time that I've been here.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=473.0,502.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: Yeah, and what's your favorite part of owning a local business? What's your favorite part of owning Ok Cafe?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=502.0,508.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: Community connection, 100%. Connection, both with the customers, also other business owners around I've gotten to know. There're-- we have some really, great neighborhood businesses like Brass Owl for example, who is very, pro community. And there's the Astoria Bookshop and they organize their find Waldo and all of these wonderful things that are sort of, community business actions are really fun too. And I've enjoyed being able to participate in those, not just as a customer, but as a business owner to be able to give something back to, to help foster that sense of community. So, it's nice, that I've been on both sides of it in Astoria has been really fun for me.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=508.0,554.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: Also, my relationships with my, with the baristas has been really meaningful as well. It's funny, I never thought that I'd be a person who actually loves HR, but I really liked that. I wear a lot of hats as they say, and the HR, the hiring side of the business and getting to know and helping, when people have personal challenges, whatever it is, being that person that they can go to. And they're, we have a relatively young staff and they're all, so vital and energetic and, teaching me what's cool in music today and, keeping me up to speed and, telling me, what shows I should see and like all of this stuff, it's just really, really fun that personal aspect with my employees as well.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=554.0,602.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: And I enjoy doing job interviews. I've found, I love interviewing people, you know, that I'm going to hire whether I hire them or not. It's a super fun part of the business is meeting people and seeing how they're going to click with us. I never would have expected that, that actually, like doing job interviews [laughs]--","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=602.0,621.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: So a lot of community within being built, and community, connecting to community.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=621.0,627.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: Yeah, within and without. Absolutely.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=627.0,628.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: Without, yeah, I hear you. And it definitely, as a patron, you, it feels that way. It feels like we're all sort of part of the community of Ok Cafe.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=628.0,641.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: I also observe a lot of my customers connect with each other too. I don't know about you personally, I'm sure you've made friends through the cafe or that your son has, connected with other kids or other moms who have a child that age and just, strike up conversations.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=641.0,661.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: It's very much that kind of space because it is small. A person almost can't have a private conversation [laughter]. You know, [unclear] somebody who's maybe on a first date, we have people who come in, like they maybe met on an online dating platform. And there's just like awkwardly trying to get to know each other while everyone is listening, because somehow they can't go unnoticed. On the other hand, it's really fun because like I'll be observing, that one person is talking with something about, something to the barista and someone who's sitting at a table will, throw in their 2 cents worth just because they can hear it and they decide to join the conversation. So we have a lot of that. It's very, very interactive because of the smallness of it. There's no escaping being involved.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=661.0,705.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: No. And your years running Ok Cafe, how have you seen just the community grow and here on Ditmars in Astoria?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=705.0,716.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: Yeah, it's changed a lot. I feel like when I first moved to Astoria, it was a lot of families who've been like generationally, if that's a word, for generations in Astoria. I feel like now it's more of a, I wouldn't say transient or transitional, something like this, kind of like we have customers who become like super loyal customers, but they're only with us for a year or maybe two years, because maybe after they start a family, they decide that their apartment is just small and they're gonna move out of the city. Or, they came here, to, try doing theater for a summer and it's not what they thought.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=716.0,758.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: And they're going to go back to where they came from or their rent went up. And they're going to-- this happens to employees, to one of our favorite guys, he loved working with us and we loved having him, but his rent went up and he went to a different part of the city where he could get a good deal with roommates. So we've, there's a lot of person turnover. So, and that's also a challenge as a business owner. It's not, I think in other sorts of communities, you can gradually build your business in a way that you just, as more people come and you retain them as customers and they keep coming back. And then if someone new comes to the area or someone stumbles upon you, then you add a person, add a person, add a person. But for us, we feel like we're losing people as we add them. And it's not because of something we're doing wrong. It's just something that's part of the nature of the community. People move around a lot. They don't, except for the longtime residents who've already been here. We have a high percentage, I would say, a growing percentage of people who are coming and going people.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=758.0,825.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: So that's a, that's been one of our biggest challenges is, how to get maybe people to connect to us faster while they're here and come more frequently while they're in Astoria. But we can't really depend on somebody. There's so many people we become so attached to even, because they've been around all the time and then one day they're like, we're going, we'll miss you.[laughs]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=825.0,847.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: It sort of makes me think of what we were just talking about, about sort of Ok Cafe being a microcosm of like the larger community in a way too. And what you're saying is sort of making me think about that same theme. Have you seen the businesses and other parts of the community go through changes also?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=847.0,880.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: I think the type of business has changed. The rent has gone way up on retail spaces, which means like the kind of a business which can rent that space has changed. Of course, also during that period there's been that big tension between online stores and brick-and-mortar stores. When I first moved in, we had I would say many more low end thrifty kind of stores that, you could get like little community household wares at a really fair price. There were also like dress stores for middle-aged ladies, where you could literally get like a house dress. Like you might imagine, a Greek grandma wearing, just, a little house dress, a little scarf, a little handbag, and they would come in all sizes. And, there was also a store that was for teens and this and that, but now it seems like everything is, getting a little bit more rarefied and a little bit more like slivers of different niche markets that are higher end goods.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=880.0,950.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: There used to be a store where you could buy saris and you could buy fabric for saris. And, there are, we still have a sewing goods store, but there was more of that kind of thing and neighborhood hardwares and little by little it seems like food and beverage type businesses are the ones that are stepping in and taking over. I don't know if that's a model for success, but I kind of think that those are the only businesses that maybe stand a chance because there's just not a lot of-- people are just buying the other stuff online now. I think there is a need for a lot of that stuff, but the stores that were buying, selling the low end side of the merchandise, can't pay the rent on those pennies per transaction kind of products that they're selling.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=950.0,999.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: And yeah, and so restaurants and food and beverage kind of places have come in and filled the void, but also they're really struggling. I'm sure that you also have noticed how many have opened and then they close within a year. When we opened, there were two other cafes who opened within two months of us-- three, and then another one a year later that also closed. I only think the only reason that we have survived where they have closed is because we're super small. And we sort of learned that from our first almost open, where we saw it was going to be a disadvantage. And we also noticed, like in the city, the kind of small independent coffee shops in Manhattan are, they're not on the main street, they're on the side street. They're not the big corner, they're inside the corner.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=999.0,1048.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: They're still near all of those places and near the foot traffic, but they're not going to pay the prime real estate. Like it's the difference between being on Ditmars and being on 33rd Street, and being out on the corner and in on the corner. All the ones that tried to open out on Ditmars and tried to open on 31st Street right under the train, the overhead is astronomical. It's astronomical, and I would never do that after trying to open on Broadway. When I just put the numbers together, I just saw that there was no way you can dig out of that hole even to start to make a profit. So I think that's the only thing that saved us is our smallness.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1048.0,1089.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: It's like a, such a strength.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1089.0,1092.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: [crosstalk] underdog advantage, right?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1092.0,1096.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: But it's also what creates all this intimacy that we've been talking about that happens in your space too [laughs].","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1096.0,1103.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: Right. I mean, we have our limitations also, definitely because of our size. I would love to do more with food. I also feel the food is very important in Astoria. People love to have coffee, but they would also like to eat more in our place. And for a while we tried to do a mini brunch, but, it was kind of clumsy to do it in that space. And so we didn't stay with it. It was kind of, it was just kind of hard and it interfered with people who just wanted to come and go for their quick coffee. So we scaled back from that after a while. It was a fun experiment though. But yeah, so the, the size, it has advantages and disadvantages, definitely.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1103.0,1142.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: And thinking about like this current moment that we're in, how have you and Ok Cafe had to adapt to the presence of COVID-19 in our community?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1142.0,1155.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: Well, we didn't close. We didn't stop doing business maybe as early as some of the other restaurants or some of the other cafes in our neighborhood did. Just being, the fact that we are considered an essential business because we, serving food and beverages, we were allowed to stay open. However, our number started to drop so drastically because people simply really, not enough people wanted to come in that we could make any money, but what I-- the agreement I made with the baristas is I said, listen, guys, I want you to be able to be paid. I think that we can make enough that your paycheck is covered.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1155.0,1199.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/44","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: You know, that you can continue to earn money, but we're not going to be, we're not gonna be able to pay the rent. I mean, I have to work something out with the landlord, but we know at least I could cover them. But I also told them because I was getting a lot of feedback from them that they were also getting very scared, just like everyone else in the community that they might not want to continue to serve coffee. And so I left the ball in their court. So at the end of March, we, shuttered our doors, until mid April. So we were closed for a month and a half completely. It was interesting. Some customers who are coming in during that period where we were, when we were open and other people weren't, and they were actually coming in and sharing their anger with our baristas, like, what are you doing here?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1199.0,1246.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/45","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: Why are you here? You know, this is unsafe. They would take some bag of beans to go. And, but they were almost like shaming the baristas as well. And so, it was just kind of getting ugly. So we just decided, and they actually decided, I left it the ball in their court. And they said, we don't want to do this for a while. And so closing was the right decision based on that. I don't think that what we were doing was in any way unsafe, because, we had masks, we kept people outside the door, one person at a time, which is what they're allowing still now, so, but it was more the negativity because of the fear was just way too much for them to bear. They just, they just couldn't do it. They just couldn't do it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1246.0,1291.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/46","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: So now as we're reopening all of our staff except for one person has decided to return and that person might be returning later, but they just don't feel ready quite yet. So we've got five out of six of our staff are on a regular schedule. It's a reduced hours schedule because we aren't busy enough to have the hours that we had before. So we opened later and we close earlier. And just like before we, just let one person into the space at a time to pick up their coffee and we only use like, one of the early changes that we made was only giving to go cups. You know, obviously there's no one to having a mug of our, special, Ok Cafe mug. You can't sit with the mug anymore. Even if you take it down to the bench, everything is just, take it and go. We have a less, we have less things on the menu than we did before with, in terms of the food, because we're working on a smaller staff and we don't want to burden them with having too many layers of complication. I think we're just our modus operandi is just keep it simple and keep going.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1291.0,1360.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/47","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: And how have your patrons, how--","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1360.0,1363.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/48","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: You glitched for a minute, could you start you're--","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1363.0,1368.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/49","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: Sure how, you were saying that in March, when you remained open, you had customers coming in and the feeling was tension. Like there was like a tension, even the customers that were choosing to come in--","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1368.0,1383.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/50","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: Yeah--","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1383.0,1385.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/51","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: I know you just reopened was it last weekend?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1385.0,1390.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/52","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: Yes. Yeah. We've been open one week.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1390.0,1393.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/53","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: Yeah so what is the feeling of the customers coming in? You know, now?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1393.0,1398.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/54","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: They're really happy [laughs]. I mean, they feel differently about it now. I mean, some people are concerned. There was one woman who sent me a instant message through Instagram and she wanted to know if she could buy, bulk bag, like five pound bag of coffee. And, I offered her, sure if you want to buy that much at once I'll give you a discount, whatever, to encourage her to come in for her five pounds of coffee.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1398.0,1427.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/55","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: And then she was saying, okay, but it'll be my husband coming in instead of me, because, again, she's got children at home and she doesn't want to go out, you know? And so they're-- I can see there's still extreme caution that they're deciding who's going to go out, and when, and buying a lot of coffee all at once. So people are having, people are different moments with this, about how ready they feel, how unready, how they're judging what's safe and what's not safe. So some people are still treating it like almost everyone did at the beginning, where I'm going to get a lot of things and then go back home so I don't have to go out again. And other people are feeling like I need a daily walk to my cafe in the neighborhood. I need to get outside.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1427.0,1470.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/56","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: Even if it's just for three minutes while I'm waiting for my coffee, to talk to that person behind the counter that I know from before, just exchange, a joke together or, share experience of some kind. But people are not sharing their negativity as much as they were before. But definitely people are at different levels of emotional readiness to be out. So some people are doing kind of hit and run combination. They get, they resupply and they go, resupply. And that other people are doing this as their way of having a low impact daily interaction. You don't, maybe don't want to go into a grocery store every day with so many people for a little person interaction, but it seems pretty low risk one person in a space alone with one other person, that they feel okay with that now, they feel good about it. So--","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1470.0,1527.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/57","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: And during the time that Ok Cafe was not open, how did you uplift Ok Cafe during that time?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1527.0,1540.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/58","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: Well, I tried to stay, in regular phone contact with our crew to see how they are doing, of course. And I did some postings on our Instagram to kind of encourage people to send us pictures of what they're doing at home with the coffee that they have. A lot of people did load up on our coffee before we closed. We had basically a closeout sale. We sold everything at the price that we buy it for just because we had had a big order and we weren't going to be able to stay open long enough to sell it. So people enjoyed that, the sudden bounty of a much lower price coffee than they normally get.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1540.0,1580.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/59","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: And they took it all home and they were having fun being their own home baristas. And those results are on our Instagram page. You can see, just everyone's different take on it. People are brewing in their own ways. Some people are French pressing. Some people are doing, the Greek Turkish, style of coffee. Some people are, doing it, pour overs-- everything. So you get to see people's home creativity in their home mugs, and also how they decide to set their picture is kind of telling as well, you can see something about their personality, whether, they set it up like a still life, or they want to show something happening outside their window by putting the coffee in the window with a little background. Everyone's, it's actually been a lot of fun. And it's something I am going to consider to keep doing is people's coffee at home because it's been super fun to connect with our customers in that way, to see their own creativity shine.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1580.0,1636.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/60","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: Yeah. I've really enjoyed that series. Also, and something--","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1636.0,1643.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/61","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: You're glitching again--","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1643.0,1644.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/62","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: --I wanted to share with you. It's just--","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1644.0,1647.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/63","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: Let me know if you can hear me. Giselle can you hear me? Can you hear me okay?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1647.0,1657.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/64","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: Now I'm hearing you again. You just came back on--","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1657.0,1659.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/65","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: Are we back? Okay. Yeah. I wanted to, something that I've appreciated about your social media presence at this time, is that a lot of the posts that you shared were from people that I would see at Ok Cafe, in the community who maybe, I don't know their name or we never formally met, but I recognize them from the time that we share in your space. So it was like really, really nice to connect with the images like you were sharing. And also just to see the faces of people that I normally would see visiting your cafe. So--","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1659.0,1698.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/66","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: Yeah, people were really, really game for that. It was nice, that they would just, send me things and or just posted it on their own and tag us, and then I could repost it. And yeah, it was a fun way to have a different sort of a more intimate connection than we normally do. 'Cause our normal postings are just what's going on in this space. And maybe, sometimes it's something that, item that we're promoting that, or sometimes it's just a fun happening in the cafe, but this was much more intimate and personal because it's kind of behind everyone's closed doors. And also, I felt it was-- for me, it was a little bit therapeutic and I felt like it might be for others as well, just to see we're all kind of doing the same thing, making coffee, making tea at home, it's very universal. It's something we do even when we're not in a difficult time like we are now. It's a very comforting ritual. Going out for coffee is a comforting ritual, but making it at home and having it in your favorite mug-- and I think that the feedback I got is that people were also comforted by that just to see something so simple and universal, and with no politics or nothing else attached to it. It just is what it is. It's just something we all do.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1698.0,1775.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/67","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: Do you have an image of the next few months at Ok Cafe?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1775.0,1786.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/68","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: It's going to be a challenge. I think that what's going to happen is really going to be influenced by a lot of outside forces. So I have a hard time really projecting. If it was a normal business opening, for the first time I would just say, okay, we're, didn't, it's just, we have to ride this out while people discover us, while people find that we're here, let the word spread. But it's a different story now. People know we're here. And, and we did, keep our connections with the people who are here. Some people have moved away during this, by the way, too. And that's something I also know through my Instagram, like I was saying earlier in the conversation, we're a bit of a transient population in Astoria.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1786.0,1831.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/69","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: And some people who were kind of thinking about leaving made the decision now to go. So there are customers that I would have as daily customers who were opening the doors and they aren't in Astoria now, they've left. So some of those people won't reconnect and I feel like it's going to be a while till people, fill those spots. Even their-- probably those apartments that they're in are sitting empty too, like, no one's even moving into new apartments, they're leaving, but people aren't, going to be filling in for awhile. So it, the landscape has changed since we've been closed. So I think it's going to be a long, slow recovery. I do think, they talk about new normal, I like to say return to normal instead. That's what I'd like to build towards. I'd like to build towards let's return to normal.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1831.0,1878.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/70","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: But it will take time because of course safety is paramount and we don't know how fast that can happen. It will happen. I'm an optimist. I think we will return to normal. I think we will be a hundred percent past this at some moment in the future. I just don't know how long it's going to take, because nobody knows, even the professionals at that kind of thing, they don't know. The most educated guesses are still guesses because we're in new territory. I just hope that we can hold out. Our strength, is our smallness and, maybe that will help us that we can downscale some of the things that we can do. Maybe we can control, some of the costs that we don't go under completely. We're just gonna try to float till then. I really don't know. I hope that we make it and it's for sure, not a hundred percent. It's just, it depends on how things go. It's the big picture, that's gonna affect our small picture, but we're going to give it our best run. We're going to give it our best try because I'm stubborn. [laughter] I don't give up easily. I'm extremely stubborn and motivated. It takes stubbornness [unclear] like this, I think.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1878.0,1964.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/71","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: So Giselle, we-- you've shared a lot, you've shared a lot about Ok Cafe. And I'm wondering just from your own perspective, what the sights and sounds and smells of this moment in history, what comes to mind for you in your experience?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1964.0,1985.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/72","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: Well, I feel like most of my sights and sounds, I would say are interior of the home. In one way, this has been awful for a lot of people. So I, when I say this, I don't want to seem, I don't know, but I feel I, how do I say this? I feel I find so many positive things in this. On a personal level, I have kids who are two daughters who are teenagers, and I'm normally such a busy and such a hard working person that, sometimes I have guilt that I don't spend enough time connecting with them directly.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=1985.0,2021.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/73","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: And, they really miss their, one on one time with their mom and they've-- boy, they've had a lot of one on one time with their mom, maybe even too much for them. We do have a lot of competition for space at home. The kids are trying to do school online. One will want one room. They share a bedroom normally, but, they'll, one will either take over, the living room or my bedroom while the other one's in their bedroom. And then maybe I need to walk past to get into the kitchen to start cooking the next meal, because I'm always cooking the next meal or cleaning up after the last meal, it's been very intense. So it's the smells of home cooking. It's the kids bickering over space, but I feel like there's a really hidden underlining of a blessing for a lot of families who weren't impacted by anyone being really sick.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=2021.0,2073.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/74","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: The people who stayed healthy through this, we've had a lot of time to reconnect with our loved ones. I've also reconnected with people, over the telephone and, FaceTime and things like that. People I haven't spoken to in years and, friends, I've just fallen out of touch. People reach out to me, I reach out to them. Everyone's, we think about people, but we don't act on it because we're just so darn busy all the time. I've been feeling really frayed. And I remember thinking shortly before this, sometimes in addition to the cafe, I work on some events, work in the evenings, like supplemental work and I'll get home really, really late. And I still have to get up at six in the morning to when the kids were, going to school to make breakfast, get them off to the day.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=2073.0,2124.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/75","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: My husband wakes up early, he's already gone for the day. It falls on me. And I remember thinking to myself, Oh, how many more years till they're both done with high school, this is exhausting. Will I ever sleep in the morning? Will I ever, will I ever get time to really be rested and to feel recovered? And boy, I got my wish with that. [laughs] They get up in the morning and they just put themselves online with school. I'd make them lunch at 11. Okay. You know, it's not a holiday for sure. But what I'm trying to say is maybe there's some emotional silver lining for families and people that they've had some nice personal time together too. And at least that's a coping mechanism, to try to see what's good in all of the bad, because this is awful what's happened. It's awful. And, we don't know what the long term ramifications are going to be financially for our business, for our family. It's going to be a big mess to clean up. But I'm trying to stay in the moment and I'm trying to enjoy that I'm having this, time for personal connection with everyone and, not to get too aggravated that we're all on top of each other all the time. [laughter]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=2124.0,2197.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/76","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: Thank you so much. Is there anything that you want to, you want to add?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=2197.0,2201.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/77","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: Yeah. The only, the last thing, just the, something that's been coming to mind a lot is I was never a social media person before I opened the business. But now, as you know, I'm doing a lot of posting on Instagram and Facebook and that sort of thing for the business. And when I have those platforms open, of course, they're popping things up in front of me that, images of things that you can click on and explore. And I have to say something that I found really moving and beautiful is, seeing all the artistic outpouring of people, whether it's, Italian singing opera on their terrace, or there was a lovely thing from one of the Russian ballet companies where the dancers all recorded themselves at home doing excerpts of various ballets.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=2201.0,2254.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/78","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: One was doing almost like a Cinderella sort of a shtick with, her broom and mop at home. And then someone was in their front driveway doing, leaps around, some planter in the middle of the thing as if they're on the grand stage and they put it in this amazing assemblage. I just, that it's, you really see people's need to be at their most human sometimes. And it's sort of a situation as well, even, I got out some drawing supplies. I've been taking ballet class online as my daily fitness. And I mean, that's something that I used to do when I was younger. And the Dutch national ballet has their teacher who does the master classes there has this amazing series. And, so we've, I've been able to, just enjoy people's, artistic outpour and humanity in a different way than, maybe it was there all along and I didn't explore it, but I think that different kinds of things are, they're being expressed a new way because of all of this. So that's something that's another, I'm always looking for the silver lining. That's something else that I've really enjoyed seeing is just people expressing themselves through this in order to get through it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=2254.0,2336.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/79","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: Thank you so much Giselle for your time.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=2336.0,2337.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/80","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: Thank you Sarah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=2337.0,2339.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/81","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: And for everything that you've shared. [laughs]","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=2339.0,2341.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/82","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: Thank you.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=2341.0,2342.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/83","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: I look forward to seeing you in person.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=2342.0,2343.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/84","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: Thank you. I hope this all recorded the way it was supposed to, [laughter] and I definitely look forward to seeing you in person and hopefully it'll be soon.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=2343.0,2352.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/85","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: Okay. All the best, talk to you soon.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=2352.0,2354.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/86","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Giselle Grncarski: Bye-bye.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=2354.0,2355.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990/transcript/62734/annotation/87","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Sarah Pousty: Bye.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/943/collection_resources/117274/file/221990#t=2355.0,2358.0992"}]}]}]}