Upper West Side Coffee Shop Set To Close

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A small Australian cafe on the Upper West Side is saying farewell later this month, according to an announcement.

Gertrude, at 204 West 96th Street, between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway, is closing its doors roughly four years after opening, the coffee shop said last week.

"The time has come to close the doors at gertrude," the post read. "we are looking forward to celebrating this journey with you til the end."

The cafe's final day will be April 21, and Gertrude will be hosting bake sales, with a "pay as you wish" system for their baked goods and retail offerings.

"Sorry to hear that," one Instagram user commented on Gertrude's post, "you were an asset to the UWS and my life."

After a career in the corporate world, Australian Shweta Khare opened Gertrude in August, 2020, with offerings of specialty coffee and a cozy bakery turning out in-house made delights.

The name comes from a street back in Melbourne, Australia.

In its short time, Gertrude won a loyal customer base, hosted sidewalk musicians and was even named as a best coffee shop by Eater.

“I’ve lived in the neighborhood for 10 years and I’ve always wanted to do something like this because I felt there was a big gap in the market. But the economics for small business in New York is very challenging,” Khare told the West Side Rag.

According to I Love The Upper West Side, who first spotted the news, Khare says that a new coffee-only shop from the Upper East Side — Green Lane Coffee — will be taking over the spot by mid-May.