A hearty “Hey, Mr. Alday!” followed by a meaty handshake always greet this author upon entering Three Angels By The Park – a coffeehouse sitting diagonally from the entrance of Maria Hernandez Park on Irving Avenue and Starr Street. The building waves a red banner proclaiming “Coffee” from the second floor. The proprietor – Jerry Cronin – is a genial former-history-teacher turned barista/landlord. The entrepreneurial father of three, after whose children the café and several sandwiches are named, occupies himself with the daily ins-and-outs of running his business. This not only includes ordering beans and keeping the vinyl records spinning, but greeting each and every customer by their name.

Jerry and I sat on a large blue couch and a smallish wooden chair, respectively, located in the first 10 feet of the 100-foot-deep shop. One of his children napped on the couch. A Beatles record was playing on the turntable. “This used to be an Italian barber shop,” he tells me, “I bought the building ten years ago. It’s about 100 years old.”

We first met in 2010 shortly after he first opened his doors. In 2011 the shop was temporarily closed for 6 months. Since reopening he has begun hanging artwork on the walls, started serving sandwiches, and hired a new barista. “That very nice young man, behind the counter there,” in his Irish-American-by-way-of-Queens accent as he points to the new hire who is dutifully tamping espresso.