By Isabella Barbuto
Located almost directly at the bustling intersection of Myrtle and Broadway, right off the J, M & Z trains sits a welcoming, eclectic, chandelier-filled, lesbian co-op bar and cafe amusingly called Boyfriend. Opened by two childhood best friends Hena Mustafa and Mica Fisher, the co-op has been on their minds for years. As they noticed spaces for themselves and their community become scarcer, Mustafa would joke to their friends “Don’t worry, Mica and I are opening a co-op bar.” One evening, a little over three years ago, after making this joke they received resounding support from a group of friends and they wondered if they should make it real.
In March of 2022, they started crowdfunding, developed a brand, and have been working to grow ever since. “Hena and I came up with the name and thought it was funny,” Fisher says, and the rest is history. That June, they hosted an event for pride at Mayday Space in Bushwick with performers, speeches, and co-op education. From there they gained members and followers. Mustafa says, “Most of our capital came from The Working World, a cooperative loan lender, then we had some crowdfunding and pop-ups.”
Their experience is described with humility by Mustafa. She says she “doesn’t want to assume knowledge of anything.” She is a screenwriter and started a production company with her cousin which has allowed her to bring a focus on relationships with people to the development of Boyfriend. Fisher has been working for Start.coop for around two years. Start.coop is just what it sounds like, a nonprofit that works to support those looking to start their own co-ops. She works there as the Director of Finance and Operations, which is also her role at Boyfriend. Her training on financial modeling for starting co-ops has been useful to the development of Boyfriend. Fisher also studied at CUNY SLU where she took a course with Rebecca Lurie in the Workplace Democracy Community Ownership (WDCO) program. The class she recounts as being particularly influential to what she has brought to Boyfriend was Management for a Changing World. The focus on strategy, visioning, the importance of intentional planning periods, and the idea that the seasons bring shifts of attention to the business were large takeaways from that class. Fisher says “there’s a strong culture of reflecting at Boyfriend.” After events they have feedback sessions to reflect and process.
Fisher and Mustafa looked towards a couple other co-ops when thinking about what the structure of Boyfriend would be. “We called every co-op we could find,” says Mustafa. “We talked to Black Star in Austin, Donna in the West Village.” When thinking about structure, they realized the worker-owned co-op model worked best for their vision.. They also liked the idea of a labor buy-in for the workers instead of a monetary buy-in. This means the workers have to meet a certain amount of hours in order to become legal owners of the business. These hours can be accrued through committee meetings and training hours.
Before they hired workers, they wanted to find directors for the bar who would be their co-founders. Nat Risk, the coffee director, came from Nashville and bonded with Mustafa over being queer and from the Middle East. The cocktail director, Kacey Liebes, moved to New York from North Carolina to co-create Boyfriend and developed a flavor-accessible cocktail menu made up of names using inspiration from queer icons. They also have partnered with Sey Coffee Roasters because Risk had been familiar with the business and Sey is an ethical coffee roaster in NYC. They have full transparency in the way that their coffee is made with each package including a description of who the farmer is who harvested the beans. “They really respect the work that went into the bean,” Fisher says of why Sey stood out.
The team of four then hired seven workers after an overwhelming 500 applicants applied. These workers are on the pre-ownership track which means after they work a certain amount of hours and complete necessary training, they have the opportunity to get voted in to be a worker-owner by the Council of Advisors, which is the charming name for their board.
To be a member at Boyfriend it costs a one-time fee of $200 and you have access to a newsletter, the ability to participate in surveys and give feedback, and one free coffee product a month. As a member there is an opportunity to represent what you want to see at Boyfriend by being voted onto the Council of Advisors where they have reserved 1-3 seats for consumer-members. They have plans to hold membership meetings and events for members each season.
“We tried to design the space to look like a bunch of living rooms,” says Mustafa. It’s a fun-shaped bar with a back area perfect for events. The space is full of jewel tones, with whimsical mirrors, and deep green and blue textured drapes. Everything except the bar stools and three two-tops were thrifted or found on Facebook Marketplace or at estate sales. Mustafa says the space reminds her of “a witchy and gay Arab aunt’s living room.”
Their opening day was March 29th, and on March 30th they hosted the Palestinian Feminist Collective who did a celebration of Eid and a Land Back event with a teach-in and dance lesson. On April 11th they brought in Hala Alyan, a Palestinian-American poet, author, and clinical psychologist who hosted her monthly leftist poetry event in their space. Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG) is going to have a town hall meeting at Boyfriend, which will include a reading from NY War Crimes. In May they are going to be the space for The Night We Met dance party for BIPOC with all the proceeds going towards AIDS research. These types of events that they are bringing to the area are representative of their consumers and community. Boyfriend Co-op is a respite from an oftentimes destructive and detached world, while also being a gathering place for community, activism, and events that are supportive of social change.
There’s a lot to be excited about at Boyfriend Co-op, so go check it out. Sign up for their mailing list and become a member if you’re able! They are open Wednesday – Thursday from 8:00 AM – 12:00 AM, Friday and Saturday 8:00 AM – 2:00 AM, and Sunday from 8:00 AM – 12:00 AM. Boyfriend is closed Monday and Tuesdays.
