“In fact, the Vox Pop business model thrives on controversy.

This string of blog-comments demonstrates that people have indeed developed very strong feelings about this company. So I would say Vox Pop company has succeeded in rousing lots of energetic thoughts about what the neighborhood should be like. Thanks to all for your energetic opinions. ”

Wow, what a way to spin negative commentary! People are not pleased and express themselves with valid negative criticism of the company and you basically thank people for their energy. What a stretch.

Was it the company’s objective to get a rouse out of people? Was it the company’s intention to stir up annoyance at the business? This is the job of a successful artist, writer, perfortmance artist, not the job of a successful cofee shop.

And although Vox Pop did give a forum to and feature artists, writers, etc that could have done such a thing, the job of the coffee shop itself was to pay its bills so that they could stay open. plain and simple.

I don’t think that there is any success in a coffee/food establishment closing due to poor financial management and having the customers upset that it is closed.

This is not controversy. This is a store closed for not paying it’s taxes. What in the world is controversial about that?

Any business would be closed in the exact same manner as Vox Pop if they were in the same situation. Therefore, this seizure has absolutely nothing to do with any ‘controversy’ that is Vox Pop’s business model. This closing has nothing to do with politics. It is a simple tax related issue. The same one that would be applied to the dry cleaner down the block. To imply that Vox Pop should take some sort of credit for this as a badge of political or controversial honor is ridiculous and immature.

And if, by your logic, the business model is to thrive on controversy, and that the supposed controversy is mismanagmetn and non payment of taxes, I think the business model failed on two counts…. one being controversial and two, keeping the business open.

Try being less ‘controversial’, pay your debt, reopen and start serving food and drink again. Leave the controversy to the artists and writers and musicians that appear at the space and pay their taxes.

Terwiliger,

Also however, let me say that I agree with you that paying taxes isn’t a matter of controversy. Everyone has to pay their taxes. Non-payment of taxes is a bad way to free up cash for business expansion or survival. Vox Pop didn’t pay taxes on time and this has certainly caused serious problems.

I wasn’t talking about tax-payment when I said that Vox Pop is controversial. I was talking about the political stance that other commenters were complaining about. It is true that Vox Pop has a political orientation. I would say that the business tries to stand for social justice. I don’t know as we’ve been good at doing this, but when we’ve failed, I can assure you that at least internally we’ve been arguing about our failings and trying to understand how to walk our talk. That’s partly what led to the change in management this year. We’re trying to be better at being who we say we are: a community-centric business that stands for social justice.

Feel free to criticize Vox Pop. And yes, we will be continuing to pay down the old taxes.

there’s lots to say about this… especially from the financial point of view.. and lots has been said already, however, Andy, how could you and Sanders just resign from the company and bear no responsibility for running the company into such terrible financial situation? How could a sane person take over the business knowing the trouble the company was in?

Anna,

Thanks for your question.

Both Sander and I do accept responsibility for the way our business decisions turned out. We still own (reduced) stakes in the company. If I were asked to do something that I can do, I would. However I think that the current management is wise to try new approaches. The main thing the current people are doing is to keep the business focused on its existing location, and not try to expand.

Vox Pop is mad at Sander about the “new-found” electric bill. The company didn’t learn of this debt back in the Spring, or else it would have been factored into the fundraising effort. (I am not the one to discuss how this matter occurred specifically, since I’m now an outsider and these days only hear second hand accounts.)

Dealing with the electric bill crisis threw the whole tenuous NY State tax-repayment schedule off. So I am told now.

To say there was a management vacuum in the past is an understatement.

If you had been in my position in 2008 you would have been just as baffled as I. At the time, I was getting A’s in financial management courses up at Southern New Hampshire University, where I have just collected my master’s degree in Community Economic Development. I do understand business management. I have run businesses for 20 years. But I could not penetrate the mass of perplexing and contradictory bills and notices that was Vox Pop in 2008 (after I had helped engineer our expansion into Manhattan).

I finally gave up and recruited Debi Ryan to take over for my failed “Vox Pop CFO” period. She then spent months struggling to understand what had happened inside Vox Pop’s finances. She compiled a complete analysis. She made deals with all the creditors (or, all the creditors she KNEW OF.)

Sander is simply not a business operations or financial management guy IMHO. He’s a visionary and a marketer and a branding person. I think he has some terrific strengths and talents. (He can also be quite exasperating.)

I wish I could have been really involved in running Vox Pop’s financials in 2005, 06, 07 and 08. But I was not able to carry that out. I don’t live in Brooklyn. So, there was no day-to-day hard-core finance person inside the company all those years. I enjoy working with Sander, actually. I would have been the right person to have a hands-on engagement with the finances of the company. …I think. (What do I know?)

Debi Ryan has a wide range of talents and skills, and she knows when to call on assistance. There’s been a lot of progress at straightening out the finances. There’s still a lot of repair to do on Vox Pop’s affairs, unfortunately. The amount raised last Spring was an absolute bare minimum that Debi identified as essential to get the doors back open — remember that almost half the money raised went straight to the Health Dept to pay fines! It’s fabulous that the company has been profitable on operations for the past number of months — but all that profit is of course draining immediately into paying old debt. This is my understanding. Once again, as an outsider, now. (I own 2% of the company.)

“I feel Vox is really important to the neighborhood,…. I for one feel that the loss of Vox would leave a hole in the social fabric of our neighborhood, and would make it like any other rapidly gentrifying area. Without soul.”

I don’t think that anyone on this thread is arguing with you on this point. So I don’t know why this is being brought up within the context of the place being seized for non payment of taxes. The feeling here on this thread seems to be that Vox Pop needs to pay the tax bill and re-open. It seems that the main supporters of Vox Pop on this thread during this seizure are relying on a curious stance of defending the importance and wonderfulness of the establishment, when no one is challenging them on this fact. No one here is saying that the store wouldn’t leave a void if forced to remain closed. People are simply stating their annoyance at the establishment allowing itself to be seized and people resisting being asked for help (again) on this matter.

It really comes across like the defenders of Vox Pop (owners and ex-owners, etc) know that they cannot honestly defend their non payment of taxes so they rely on defending the merits of the business itself which no one is disputing. I find this odd.

Yes we know that Vox Pop is good for the neighborhood. But it’s only good for the neighborhood if it is not in danger of closing all the time, and it is not good for the community if it asks for money from the community and then closes.

Maybe this place needs to be run as a not-for-profit operation. It seems that the most important aspect of this space for all concerned (owners, ex owners, customers, etc) is the community center atmosphere rather than the actual stuff it sells.

Possibly the place could re-open as a community arts center, recieve not-for-profit benefits? Surely the taxes on not for profit ventures are different. It could sell the same fare as a means of additional support to put back into the space.

I also would like to know how some of the people who invested in the previous ‘saving’ of Vox Pop feel now that their money is gone and so is the place they helped ‘save’.

Let’s see: Soft Skull Press run into the ground, Vox Pop run into the ground. I thought Sander was supposed to move on to running an energy trading scheme–what, no one is hiring? LMFAO. Maybe Al Gore can hire him. He seems to emulate the Enron way of doing business. If there is one less place to peddle 9/11 conspiracy theories, then this is an excellent development.

“I feel Vox is really important to the neighborhood,…. I for one feel that the loss of Vox would leave a hole in the social fabric of our neighborhood, and would make it like any other rapidly gentrifying area. Without soul.”

I agree with Bruzen…this community had soul in 1902!

What is the social fabric of our neighborhood? This neighborhood has many social fabrics. I’ve celebrated this neighborhood for 14 years and have never met one person at Vox Pop or bought a cup of coffee there but I am part of the social fabric.

I welcome Vox Pop to the hood. They are part of the social fabric but, they are not the only social fabric. If Vox Pop can not sustain itself than so be it.

I am a bookkeeper for about 10 small businesses. If you can’t pay your taxes you will close…and there are many taxes: state, city, federal, payroll and sales. You had better hire me if you want to stay open.

The mean spirited-ness of the critics astounds me.

I adore the cafe, but I find it deeply annoying that Vox Pop, haing a reputation of being for the people etc., would not pay their taxes. Taxes, after all, are what pays for social services, roads, healthcare etc. And yes, wars, too. But still.

A dirty restaurant is a dirty restaurant, and VPop was a dirty restaurants. Not the worst but considering how ‘important’ they viewed themselves, pretty bad.

You can report any dirty restaurants to the healt department at these links:

http://tr.im/dirtyrest

http://tr.im/restrats

Architerrorist,
Perhaps you misunderstood my post. I didn’t say that those who are new to the neighborhood are soullness. My comment was about the statement that Vox Pop is the soul of our community.

My point is that not one place or group of people is the soul of a community – each of us play an important role in that. Whether it was the upper middle class of the 1800s who built the Victorian mansions, or the doctors of the 70s who converted them to offices, the people who raised their families here in the 80s and 90s, or the new people who are moving in now. Each of us play an important role in social fabric of a community and we’re a better neighborhood when we embrace everyone – folks who have been here their whole lives and folks who have found a new home here.

Vox Pop has played a role in the gentrification of our neighborhood, and so what if it has? The only criticism that I have is when people pretend that it hasn’t played a role in the changes in our neighborhood.

Bruzen, are you joking?

“Vox Pop is the neighborhood’s soul.”

@Jaguar_Gorgonne: It’s easy to say things on a blog that you would likely never say to a person’s face– since you’re obviously not using your real name. In any case, by making this a personal attack, you are making yourself look bad, not Andy.

I am glad I was able to visit Vox Pop two weeks ago. It will serve as a model for me in opening a coffee joint/community arts center elsewhere.

But it seems that it is not run well and it should be shuttered if it can’t get it’s act together.

Sander was one weird guy. Notice how he fled the scene before the sh*t really hit the fan. Smart guy.

Isn’t Sander still in the area, maybe not Brooklyn but nearby?????

Let’s see the plan come to some “undiscovered” nabe set up shop; act like rockstar; lose $$$; francise. How could this fail. This was exactly the same b.s. that caused today’s tepid economic maliase.
Jim Mamary just closed 3 places using this model.

SYCAMORE & THE FARM have no competition; but as Jim Mamary learned in FLATBUSH catering to a specific demographic and RUDELY IGNORING the people there before you even with NO COMPETITION EXCEPT YOURSELF can fail.

There is a lovely COFFEE SHOP on LINCOLN RD.in PROSPECT LEFFERTS GARDENS 1/2 a block from PROSPECT PARK. It is a short walk from CORTELYOU RD.
K DOG & DUNE BUGGY is @ 43 LINCOLN RD between OCEAN/FLATBUSH AVES.
IT IS THE ONLY PLACE BETWEEN HERE & PARK SLOPE.
I am also working on getting 24hr. WIFI @ the CHURCH AVE DUNKIN’ DONUTS see you there.
LEAVE YOUR ATTITUDES @ HOME!!!