The Coffee Party movement has grown to over 100,000 members. In three days, National Coffee House Day will officially kick off the movement to reform our political culture in all 50 states.
New York is playing its part in over a dozen chapters. I organized the Albany chapter to make sure it wasn't left out.
But this movement is bigger than any one blogger or city. All the New York Coffee Parties are linked to below the fold. And since this movement is bigger than just one state, then if you've just heard of the Coffee Party or are not sure what we're about, the video below makes it simply clear:
Cross-Posted on The Albany Project.
The Coffee Party is currently in start-up phase as a truly bottom-up grassroots, non-partisan, non-affilliated movement. It's an organization that seeks to be more than the sum of its parts by the time the Kickoff Coffee Houses are done with and the March 27 (or earlier!)follow-up meetings are planned in even more locations.
So while there isn't a statewide New York Coffee Party yet, part of the goal is to go super-local as well as super-national. Part of what we'll talk about at all the Coffee Parties linked to below will be how we get more conversations started in smaller towns and neighborhoods as well as how to link them up into multi-town-county-and-state levels of organization.
This is how we will later be able to take the common ground we discover on Saturday in our own favorite coffee houses directly to Congress to talk some common sense into our representatives in preparation for a Coffee With Congress from March 27 to April 11.
But here's where you, fellow New Yorker, can join us on the ground floor this very weekend on Saturday, March 13th, and in the days to come:
NEW YORK STATE COFFEE PARTY NATIONAL KICKOFF
All Coffee Parties to take place Saturday, March 13th, 2010 unless otherwise specified.
NEW YORK CITY METROPOLITAN AREA
Coffee Party near Times Square at Le Monde Gourmet Deli, 38 West 48th St., Manhattan at 12 Noon. Questions? CoffeePartyNYC@11372.info or 617-421-0100.
Coffee Party in Union Square at 7:30 PM Tuesday, March 16 at Food Depot, 138 5th Ave at 19th St., upstairs in seating area.
Coffee Party in SoHo at the Bleeker Bar next to NoHo Star at 333 Lafayette Street at 12 Noon.
Coffee Party in Forest Hills, Queens at Manor Oktoberfest, 7311 Yellowstone Blvd., Forest Hills, NY, at 12 Noon.
Coffee Party in Mineola at Mo'joe, 95 Mineola Boulevard at 12 Noon.
Coffee Party in Westeshter County at 191 North Highland Avenue, Ossining, at 2:00 PM.
THE HUDSON VALLEY & CAPITAL REGION
Coffee Party in Albany County at Uncommon Grounds, 1235 Western Avenue, Albany at 2:00 PM.
Coffee Party in Downtown Albany at the Starbucks, 10 North Pearl Street at 12 Noon.
Coffee Party in Red Hook at Taste Budd's on 40 West Market Street at 9:00 AM.
Fair Trade Coffee in Poughkeepsie at Woman's Work, 2600 South Road at 12 Noon.
Coffee Party in the Hudson Valley at the Crafted Kup, 44 Raymond Avenue, Poughkeepsie at 10:00 AM.
CENTRAL AND WESTERN NEW YORK AREA
Coffee Party in Rochester at the Bagel Bin Cafe, 2600 Elmwood Avenue at 12 Noon.
Coffee Party in Amherst on Friday, March 12 at 6:00 PM at Tim Hortons, 3394 Sheridan Drive.
Coffee Party in Jamestown at 2:00 PM at Labyrinth Press Company, 12 East 4th Street.
Coffee Party of Northen Chautauqua County at Central Station Restaurant at 332 Central Avenue, Dunkirk at 10 AM.
The events above are just a handful of the over 250 Coffee Parties that will be taking place across the country. So if you're of the Jersey or Connecticut part of the Tri-State Area, or if you're a Green Mountain Boy, you can just head to Coffee Party USA to find out where these are going on closets to you. There you can join the thousands of ordinary Americans taking the first step to stop being fed up with politics and take charge of our government.
All this from one Facebook comment in January. This is democracy in action.
See you there!