New York City's Urban Garden Center planning to open organic cafe

From DNAInfo.com:

East Harlem — Orchids, ferns, graffiti, organic Greek-imported olive oil and vintage parking meters.

It’s a bizarre combination, but these items — among many others — are the central pieces of an East Harlem cafe being opened as a spin-off of the Urban Garden Center.

A massive fire in May at the La Marqueta garden center under the Metro-North railroad viaduct at East 116th Street caused regular city inspections that owner Dimitri Gatanas has called burdensome and unfair.

Also read: Repairs, lease changes underway following garden center fire

His new eatery is designed to make the future more settled and “co-mingle the brands.” He said he wants to look ahead as spaces for urban farming and gardening in the city become scarce.

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Also read: Life under the trucks - Urban Garden Center in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood has created a vibrant space and a tight-knit community in the unlikeliest place.