Interior of Free Wifi. — Photo by Sarah Pappalardo
I’ve been staring at a mysterious and exceptionally fancy sign on Wilson Avenue that says “free wifi.” For anyone who was wondering, wonder no more: Free Wifi is a bar and café soon to open at 42 Wilson. With an enormous vacant area in the rear, owner Benny Vela plans to showcase local artists, host live music, and do most anything to take advantage of the space. (I think the first step to success might be changing the name of his business.)
Free Wifi will be on soft open this week, and Vela says they will serve beer, wine, liquor, coffee and some light food. While the place remains empty and unstocked as of Saturday night, you can be sure, of course, that it will have free wifi.
(The name of this place is now V Ultra Lounge.)
Professional Alternative February 23rd, 2010 at 10:28 am
Wow. Shades of 280 Cafe and Phorum. Maroon walls and terra-cotta-colored ceramic tile are not what “we” are looking for. What, no 50-inch plasma with a football game on it?
sjp February 23rd, 2010 at 12:48 pm
funny you mention that: the same night, we were on our way to Phorum, where we found that they turned into a shitty pizza joint – they don’t even take credit anymore!
Then we went to 280 cafe, where a mother was trying to sell us “fundraiser” candy for $2 a pop.
Welcome to 3 of the most depressing places in Bushwick.
sweetser February 23rd, 2010 at 1:32 pm
These comments absolutely reek of the entitled yuppie mentality that causes tension in our changing neighborhood. The spot hasn’t even opened yet and it’s already “not what we’re looking for,”? Are you guys serious? Cry me a river that one of your fancy new establishments no longer accepts credit cards, even though they sell decent pizza for $1.50 a slice. And god forbid a low-income mother is trying to sell candy to you while you’re trying to pretend you’re living it up in greenwich village. The comment about the 3 most depressing places in Bushwick really made me cringe though. Are you not aware of the poverty in our neighborhood? In Bushwick we have Bethany House for Children, numerous housing projects, countless vacant lots, abandoned buildings, and neglected tenements. Depressing isn’t a bar and restaurant scene that isn’t up to your standards. Let’s get our heads out of our asses and have some perspective on the bigger picture here, and maybe just wait until this place opens before we pass judgment.
sjp February 23rd, 2010 at 2:56 pm
Sweetser, I beyond agree with you. Please realize that that comment was talking about bar/restaurants that are trying to appeal to entitled yuppie crowds and not achieving it.
But you’re right; I should clarify that these are the 3 most depressing bar/restraurants in the neighborhood. The taquerias next door are doing way better business.
Professional Alternative February 23rd, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Oh give it a rest sweetser, this place is obviously what the goombah owner thinks people with a few disposable dollars want to spend their money on. He’s not catering to the people who live in, as you put it, neglected tenements. He has dollar signs in his eyes with none of the on-the-ground knowledge of the community whose money he’s trying to hoover up, and it’s plainly obvious with this cheesy crap bar/wifi/whatever the fuck. He probably thinks “wifi” is just a cool word the cool kids use to talk about all that cool stuff they do.
I’d LOVE to be proven wrong but I’m certain I will not be.
Matt February 23rd, 2010 at 3:56 pm
sweeter, your self righteous faux outrage is tiresome.
But yeah, anyway…
Phorum makes decent pizza. It’s just not a comforting hangout. For ANYONE.
And 280, never been but anytime I’m in an establishment and someone is trying to sell me a fucking rose or some candy, I want to punch them in the gunt. I don’t care how sincerely in need they are. Get out of my face.
dmgardner February 26th, 2010 at 12:00 pm
i think “Free Wifi” is an ingenious name. very meta.
sweetser February 27th, 2010 at 5:07 pm
sjp – thanks for clarification
pro – do you have some other information that i’m not seeing? otherwise it seems you’ve concluded a lot of things about this place based on a name (which is almost definitely ironic humor) and one interior photograph. you may turn out to be right, i just think we need to give this spot a chance to open before we decide “lame” or “cool.”
matt – you called my point tiresome and then added nothing to the conversation except your desire to punch people in the face. good luck with that.
either way, based on location alone i think this place will do well. wreck room and king’s county are cool spots, but the demand in this area for a place to hang out is currently exceeding the supply.