King's Arm Cafe North America's "British Headquarters"

It was not until 1696 that New York had its first coffee shop. John Hachen, an English immigrant, opened his own King's arm Cafe on Broadway.

Hachen's cafe is modelled on the London Cafe model he knows. There is a large room upstairs, lined with tables covered with green tablecloths. Through the door, you can get to the balcony and enjoy the beautiful river view and wharf, so that the merchants can see the ship arriving at the port early. The new cafe immediately became an "informal headquarters for New York Britons", providing a home for "municipal and non-local officials, businessmen and port staff".

The opening of the cafe shows that the number of Britons is growing under mayor Benjamin Fletcher, who is trying to eliminate the influence of Dutch Calvinist settlers who are rebellious and make up the majority of the city's population. Fletcher not only promoted the cafe and held various celebrations for the Royal Festival among his subordinates, but also invited a bookseller from Philadelphia to settle in the city to support him in publishing a newspaper. With the emergence of the first cafe and the first newspaper, New York began to look like a regular British colony.

By 1701, the new mayor could boast that New York was "the fastest growing city in North America". In the joyous atmosphere of the King's arm Cafe, people from the "British Party" get together, sometimes talking about business and social rumors, and more often about news and politics. Over the next decade, New York City became more British, and Hachen's cafe occupied a central position in civic politics, hosting civilian committee meetings and colonial council meetings.

Any colonial city that hopes to grow quickly will need a cafe. Philadelphia opened one in 1703, owned by the postmaster, whose cafe was also an exchange for merchants. Cafes in the British colonies of North America attract respectable customers.