Ground Central Coffee Company

ground central holds its ground on second avenue, which isn't nothing when you're surrounded by midtown lunch spots competing for the same tired foot traffic. the coffee here is taken seriously in a way that midtown east doesn't always reward. you're walking distance from the united nations, grand central, and about forty office towers full of people who could easily settle for less, and a lot of them don't. that's the actual story. the neighborhood pulls in a transient crowd, yet ground central has built something local people return to. if you've got a morning window before the 10017 zip code fills up, a well-pulled espresso here is a decent reason to arrive a little early.