Some have called the new coffee and sandwich shop that popped up on Grand Street earlier this fall charming – “the atmosphere is cozy and cute with some warm wood and touches of pink” reports one patron online- although more seasoned Brooklynites might roll their eyes at another cookie cutter coffee shop.
As it turns out, there might something shadier than the bland creep of gentrification lurking underneath the blankly trendy facade- namely the accusations against owner Guy Sands that went viral a few weeks ago, causing the shop to close its doors for the foreseeable future.
Sands, named for its owner, closed late last month after what Eater NY called a ‘firestorm’ of online controversy, kicked off when Twitter user Colin Hagendorf, author of the NYC pizza shop chronicle Slice Harvester, outed Sands as a member of the far right group the Proud Boys, writing:
