The Art of Business

Brewster Hook & Ladder

By Josh Ripps

Jodi Friedman drove through Newburgh seven months ago and noticed a “For Rent” sign posted on the front of Newburgh’s old firehouse—a space that has since transformed into her cafe. Instantly, Friedman experienced flashbacks from a place she once visited where she grew up, in Miami’s South Beach, called The Deuce Bar. The Deuce Bar, Friedman remembered, was a bar where anyone from transvestites to “millionaires pulling up in limos” to college students gathered to hang out. “And that’s the way I saw I could make this place,” she said of the future home of her cafe, Brewster Hook & Ladder. “I want everyone to feel welcome.”

Friedman immediately went home and approached her husband, James. “I said ‘honey, I want this place!”’ As it turned out, so did he. “So we wrote this really neat letter to Ann Mesh, who owns the building, of what we wanted to do. Of how we wanted to fix it up,” she said. “And she chose us over the other people.”

They were chosen, perhaps, because Friedman’s vision was also aimed at enhancing the community. For instance, the works of local artists are hung on the walls and the cafe offers an open mike night, karaoke night, a book-of-the-month-club and poetry readings.
Friedman was adamant about making the arts part of her cafe because that’s what she went to school for when she was living in Georgia. Only her first endeavor in the field didn’t generate enough money for her to survive—working as a costume designer on a succession of independent films. “I’ve always had a knack for fashion,” said Friedman, “but I didn’t make any money doing what I was doing.” Taking that into consideration, she, along with her husband, James, and daughter, Gabrielle, left Georgia in pursuit of new careers. “I wanted to be close to the city,” Friedman recalled upon departure. Not too long after, this family of three found themselves in Newburgh, owning Brewster Hook & Ladder, a new gathering place for the community that opened early last month.

Brewster Hook & ladder serves coffee, espresso, mocha lattes and cider in addition to its variety of homemade American specialties like Macaroni and Cheese. For more information, call Jodi at 562-4685, or www.brewsterplace.juno.