Kingston anarchist café closes to public

From Hudson Valley One 

Blackbird Infoshop (587 Abeel St., Kingston) recently announced it was closing to the public “indefinitely” after roughly three years in business. In a statement on social media, proprietor Andrew McCarthy clarified that while the storefront was shutting down, the project will continue to host “study groups, group discussions and various autonomous, regular meetings.” This includes an anarchist parenting program called “Kids & Co-Conspirators” where children can listen to music, play with Legos and enjoy a vegan/gluten-free meal as adults exchange revolutionary ideas. Attendees are required to wear K/N95 masks. “The purpose of the storefront has always been an attempt to generate enough revenue and interest from the public (and local) market of consumers, in order to protect and grow an explicitly anti-capitalist, anti-colonial, anti-imperialist, and anti-racist ‘third space’,” the statement went on to say. The closing comes after an attempt to build a paid membership program one year ago, after McCarthy determined that “Relying on the market alone to mediate our material relationships is undesirable.” On a Nov. 25 Instagram post with no comments, the statement continued “For those of you expressing concern about me personally, thank you, but please don’t worry. I will continue to be housed and fed and dreaming of the future. I am sad but hopeful, and my militancy remains.” “Anarchism is a torch and a commitment,” it reads, “yet we have to make the path ourselves.”"

Self-described “anti-capitalist community space and cafe” Blackbird Infoshop (587 Abeel St., Kingston) recently announced it was closing to the public “indefinitely” after roughly three years in business.

In a statement on social media, proprietor Andrew McCarthy clarified that while the storefront was shutting down, the project will continue to host “study groups, group discussions and various autonomous, regular meetings.” This includes an anarchist parenting program called “Kids & Co-Conspirators” where children can listen to music, play with Legos and enjoy a vegan/gluten-free meal as adults exchange revolutionary ideas. Attendees are required to wear K/N95 masks.

“The purpose of the storefront has always been an attempt to generate enough revenue and interest from the public (and local) market of consumers, in order to protect and grow an explicitly anti-capitalist, anti-colonial, anti-imperialist, and anti-racist ‘third space’,” the statement went on to say.

The closing comes after an attempt to build a paid membership program one year ago, after McCarthy determined that “Relying on the market alone to mediate our material relationships is undesirable.”

On a Nov. 25 Instagram post with no comments, the statement continued “For those of you expressing concern about me personally, thank you, but please don’t worry. I will continue to be housed and fed and dreaming of the future. I am sad but hopeful, and my militancy remains.”

“Anarchism is a torch and a commitment,” it reads, “yet we have to make the path ourselves.”

Comments

dial-up barista (not verified) Thu, 12/04/2025 - 16:40

anarchist cafes never recovered after people learned how to download coffee and anarchism from the internet

Get real :) (not verified) Thu, 12/04/2025 - 17:31

anews should really take "non-sectarian" out if its description, as the collective regularly takes potshots at projects and groups in the tags of stories (especially stories that it goes out of its way to gather from other sources/are not submitted by said group or project). Normally I feel like little jabs can be in good fun, but it's pretty clear that it can't really be taken as a joke when the projects the collective actually supports never get the same snide treatment. There's nothing wrong with being sectarian, just embrace it!

anonymous (not verified) Thu, 12/04/2025 - 20:59

In reply to by Get real :) (not verified)

maybe you, 17:31, could make snarky tags for the stories that don't have them, and then all can be equally snarked upon. 

or maybe there could be a conversation about how non-sectarian doesn't  mean acting-like-one-has-no-opinion-or-preference... 

signed,
our rollers have been taken, you cannot have our tags

anonymous (not verified) Fri, 12/05/2025 - 07:44

In reply to by Get real :) (not verified)

...where celebrity will always get you a level of ire and especially satire, unless you be wise and consistent enough for getting the deserved respect for what made you famous. Ask any Hollywood star or Elon as the most glaring examples. You're been around here for some twenty or thirty years? Not too late to learn that principle. Next time start an anarchist project that's not only actually-anarchist but contributes to "the movement"... by being more than a foolish cash spectacle of it made to appeal to middle-class liberals.

anonymous (not verified) Fri, 12/05/2025 - 14:59

In reply to by Get real :) (not verified)

how do you know which projects thecollective supports and doesn't? how do you know thecollective has never supported this project? answer: you don't.

it's okay to have a sense of humour. if you want a good laugh follow the anarchist businesses tag you're complaining about and read the other article tagged with it.

anonymous (not verified) Sat, 12/06/2025 - 11:25

In reply to by Get real :) (not verified)

It seems like the snarky tags have appeared in the last month or two (maybe a shift in who is posting/approving articles for thecollective?). I do feel like it is strange to remove comments for one line of snark nothingness, at the same time thecollective starts increasing one-word snark tags. I honestly do like the new comments policy, because it encourages us readers to comment something more meaningful/thoughtful if we are going to comment, and it makes it easier and more interesting to read everyone's comments as a result. So given that, if one of thecollective members doesn't like an article or wants to critique it or make fun of it, then do it thoughtfully and more intentionally in the comments like the rest of us, and then it should foster a more real discussion than just slapping a tag on it (especially when you slap it onto an article that anon posted).

CalvinSmith Mon, 12/08/2025 - 15:00

In reply to by anonymous (not verified)

Did accustom more people into social anxiety and fear. Veganism was also revealed just as a form of consumerism, i think by Peter Gelderlooz at the turn of the century...

Trying to evrtything possible to reduce your expose to diseases is not a very healthy orientation, nor are fixed dietary programs prescribed by radical lefists...

anonymous (not verified) Mon, 12/08/2025 - 14:18

Of course tired left-signaling language like: "an explicitly anti-capitalist, anti-colonial, anti-imperialist, and anti-racist ‘third space’," is followed by: "Attendees are required to wear K/N95 masks"
bye bye
I'd rather eat a scone and drink some java without your political posturing.

anonymous (not verified) Tue, 12/09/2025 - 04:16

In reply to by anonymous (not verified)

What exactly is the connection between : "an explicitly anti-capitalist, anti-colonial, anti-imperialist, and anti-racist ‘third space’," and the insistence on masking?

The grad school left seems most dedicated to masking where I am. Medical reasons abound on why to do so, for self & others. Still, there's something off putting about it. People who ID as 'abolitionist' who basically cannot be trusted to have integrity in conflict, etc

anonymous (not verified) Tue, 12/09/2025 - 07:33

In reply to by anonymous (not verified)

A checklist of "anti-"s is such a shallow way for college kids to make themselves political cred... it's like the card game with marginalized ID pols in your deck. Obviously says nothing about who they are or their intents.

anonymous (not verified) Tue, 12/09/2025 - 08:49

In reply to by anonymous (not verified)

the connection is very flat, basic, moralistic politics. no nuance or complex or situational thinking.

and you nailed it with "grad school left seems most dedicated to masking" and let us not forget identity politic activists, they breath performance and signaling.

as far as the "medical reasons", there are just as many "medical reasons" NOT to mask, so anarchists should stay out of people's faces, which includes moralistic signaling. and come the fuck on, those who continue to make masking the new norm are out of touch and weak little dweebs.

CalvinSmith Tue, 12/09/2025 - 08:55

In reply to by anonymous (not verified)

of it has to do with how they describe "the bad people" and the enemies as having less empathy, and a lot less empathy still for "The People of Color". While i'm personally not against people masking (when i see people with COVID masks on, I say nothing), mixing alll those "anti" perspectives to me just shows an insistence on a particular type of evangelist praxis. It's arguably true that out current era was heavily effected by colonialism and some remnants remain, that american/european imperialism still exists, and people will be "racist" probably for as long as the human race exists, but they're trying to impose these very activist/ideological perspectives on casual social interactions. Those statements, like the one you quoted, are a true marks of a very self-righteous person...who thinks that people not in agreement with their way of doing things are advocating colonialism, imperialism, and racism.

I personally have a hard time empathizing with someone who still goes around wearing COVID masks, i just can't afford to take my health that seriously, life is way to short for such extreme anxiety.

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