On Oct. 21, Yscaira Jimenez, owner of La Pregunta Arts Café, went to court to answer the eviction notice served by her landlord. Ultimately, the case was adjourned because she didn’t have a lawyer; she says she couldn’t afford one.
After the adjournment, she hired an attorney, and they’re now scheduled to appear in court in December. Until then, she’s back at work, looking for new ways to keep the café open.
“We’re going to have fliers, we’re going to have posters, we’re going to have a lot of promotions,” said Jimenez. She’s starting a Thursday night “bachata” in the café.
Bachata, a type of Dominican folk music, is popular in Hamilton Heights because of the large Dominican population. Jimenez also hired a promoter to spread the word.
But Thursday isn’t the only night she’s focusing on. “We are going to start doing salsa classes on Wednesdays,” Jimenez said. La Pregunta will offer the evening salsa classes free to the community. She’s currently searching for a masseuse to help launch Friday’s “mojito and a massage” special, which she’ll gear towards the teachers working across the street at City College.
Though her ideas may be lofty, her goals, she says, are still simple: “make enough money to at least pay my back rent, and then … make enough money to settle everything else.”
Before her previous court date, a loan-compliance officer from the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, the nonprofit bank that made the to loan to open the café, stopped by to photograph her kitchen’s inventory. Next month, Jimenez will find out if she can keep the equipment a little bit longer.
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