Welcome to Writes & Bites — a series where creative writing MFA student Arianna Gundlach reviews a cool writing spot in New York City and tackles a writing topic that’s been weighing on your mind. This week, we look at Conwell Coffee Hall located at 6 Hanover St. in the Financial District.
Hello, chilling readers and writers. I’ve been expecting you.
Halloween gives us one night a year to put on a costume and live in the world or era of our choosing. One night in the glass slippers of a princess, the pointed hat of a witch, the mask of a superhero, the dripping jewels of a silent movie star. But what if I told you that fantasy doesn’t have to end when the clock strikes midnight? Instead, I could let you in on a little secret. Somewhere in New York City, there’s a gold revolving door that lets you enter your swanky main character moment all year round. Desperate to know where, dear reader?
I could just keep it to myself…
Oh, don’t look so worried. You know I don’t gatekeep.
Sandwiched between side streets in the Financial District, you’ll find the 20 Exchange Place skyscraper, home to the infamous gold revolving door under faded green stenciling. Look up and learn the name of this mysterious yet instantly charming locale — Conwell Coffee Hall.
The tension begins to build.
A revolving door is a dramatic and satisfying way to enter a building. Talk about making an entrance. Immediately on the other side is a small staircase — the venue again makes you wait to reveal itself in its entirety. The plaque beside the staircase explains the space’s origins, tracing back to J.G. Conwell and the Life And Trust bank.
With each step, you get a bigger glimpse of the vaulted ceilings, marble pillars, and rippled green walls.
Finally, at the top, the tension peaks and the payoff is real. You waltz into the tiled foyer full of tall standing tables, lit by a chandelier, and framed by four marble pillars on either side. Ahead, you can see silver teller windows on a gray marble counter and Eric Diehl’s larger-than-life mural “Destiny, The Great Caretaker” spread across the wall. A combination of a mansion (possibly haunted), speakeasy, and bank, Conwell Coffee Hall is a place where you’d expect Jay Gatsby to throw a classy party.
On either side of the foyer are the traditional seating areas populated with tufted leather couches and tables that seat two to four paired with curly-back wooden chairs. These sections give an old-fashioned library/study vibe. Tiered topiaries adorn the low tables in front of the couches, and small lidded lamps sit on the regular wooden tables. The soundscape is a combination of big band and lounge music.
Because the comfort of one’s butt is very important, I was happy to find the couches very comfortable and properly cushiony. If you plan to stay a while, this is a great seating choice.
While the dim lighting is nice for ambiance, it’s rough on the eyes for reading or writing. Even while I was taking notes, I could practically hear my dad saying I was going to strain my eyesight. So, while working on a laptop is preferable, if you’re determined to write by hand, it’s better to sit next to one of the large windows to utilize the natural light.
The windows are fitted with floor-to-ceiling velvet curtains — the curtains bigger than the windows themselves. The dramatic sizing reminded me of being shrunk down into a dollhouse. But I don’t mind being a dainty doll in all of Conwell’s grandeur. I’m sure the green velvet material with golden tassels would be quite alluring to Scarlett O’Hara or Maria von Trapp, who had an affinity for making dresses from drapes.
After arriving early (close to 7:30 on weekdays) and securing your seat first, as I always advise, go to the reutilized teller windows to order. The menu can be found on the foyer’s center table, posted to the letter windows (in rather small print), or on the website. However, the online menu slightly differs from the in-person one. So you may want to double-check specialty and seasonal drinks. Beverages include caffeinated staples, specialty lattes (pumpkin spice, maple), hot chocolate, apple cider, and iced tea. They start serving cocktails toward the evening. The food offerings include house-baked pastries (sweet and savory), salads, soups, and toasts.
You’ll take a number and put it on your table. A server will then bring your food and drink. Drinks are served in solid, wide-rimmed cups on saucers, and food is served on plates with cloth napkin-wrapped silverware. The maple latte I ordered was also paired with a biscotti.
While the maple latte didn’t actually taste like maple, the coffee itself was decent and worth drinking. The grilled cheese croissant (I didn’t know such a delicious thing existed) was flaky with the perfect infusion of cheese. I’ve previously enjoyed the bacon, egg & cheese croissant, which is closer to a sandwich and sometimes still leaves room for leftovers.
I was initially disappointed to see they weren’t offering water anymore table to table — having been to Conwell previously — until I spotted the new water tap. Guests can now grab a glass and get water themselves. Something I highly appreciate as a dehydrated introvert.
Sitting there, enjoying your coffee and croissant, you might start to wonder about the venue’s history. You might think back to Life And Trust Bank and J.G. Conwell listed on the plaque by the staircase. Maybe you’ll even go to the website and read up on how Conwell “made his fortune with Conwell’s Cough Syrup before becoming the biggest banker on Wall Street.”
Hate to burst your bubble, but none of this is true.
Plot twist.
While the venue claims to exist on the premise of being housed inside the former Life And Trust bank and founded by Life And Trust’s CEO and chairman J.G. Conwell, this is actually an elaborate ruse. “Life And Trust” is a theatrical experience from Emursive and Conwell Coffee Hall’s history serves as its promotion, according to Vulture. Conwell Coffee Hall is really inside the former City-Bank Farmers Trust Building, a predecessor to Citigroup.
The clever design and signage at Conwell Coffee Hall demonstrate how tension, when carefully built, delivers the best twists. As writers, we can learn from this principle: tension should start early and create a sense of urgency.
Start by setting a ticking clock — a deadline. How much time do the unsuspecting friends have to find the murderer? Two days versus two months changes the pacing drastically. Two days is a quick, tight tension, while two months is more of a slow burn. Both can be done under the right circumstances. Either way, make sure this deadline is clear to the reader as soon as possible. The reader will then start drawing conclusions about when characters need to make certain decisions to keep the story moving forward.
Next, set up the stakes. Stakes are something to be won, lost, or risked. They can be concrete and tangible like money or abstract and internal like love. Higher stakes (life-altering) create more tension. If they don’t find the murderer in time, what happens? Will the murderer strike again? Will the police arrest everyone? Again, make these clear and remind the reader of them throughout.
Lastly, make sure characters have distinct motivations. How did each of the friends know the deceased? Were they all present on the night of the murder? Why do they want to discover the murderer? The different answers to these questions, depending on the character, will create a pull and tug of who the reader roots for and who they suspect. Depending on how you set this up, you can also preemptively place blame on one character, while making sure another character seems completely innocent.
Then there’s pulling off the twist.
Ground your reader in the status quo world of the story — what things are like before everything changes. The reader will become invested and accustomed to these defined circumstances, and thus more surprised and affected by the twist (inciting incident, cliffhanger, plot twist).
Leave a vaguely traceable line of hints. I’m not saying lead the reader to guess the twist before you reveal it (try not to do that), but the twist should be within the realm of possibility based on the constraints you’ve determined. For example, if you mention a loophole to a magic system on page 200, and that’s how your twist is possible, make sure the loophole is mentioned somewhere before that page. Preferably in a much earlier, arbitrary place — thus presenting it as unassuming.
So when you’re done scouring FiDi for a guy in finance (trust fund, 6’5”, blue eyes), stop into Conwell Coffee Hall. Study the tension and twists alive in the space. What makes the rouse of J.G. Conwell so believable? Or perhaps unbelievable? Settle back into the leather couch and let the tension in your own story simmer. Then, when you have your reader right where you want them, pull the trigger and twist.
Conwell Coffee Hall
6 Hanover St.
(646) 412-5747
https://conwellcoffeehall.com/
| Commute 18 minutes from the UC via subway (4/5) | Hours Mon, Wed, Thurs, Fri: 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues: 7:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Sat-Sun: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. |
| Tech Guest Wi-Fi available (ask for password). Sparse outlets. Laptop-friendly. | Layout Foyer with standing tables and teller windows where you order. Seating to the left and right: couches and tables that seat 2-4. |
| Gems Preserved bank hall; order at teller windows; very comfortable seating; snacks and small meals; ambiance. | Noise Level Somewhat noisy |
| Atmosphere Old-timey 1920s vibe with low lighting. | Rating 3/4 Stars – based on The New York Times star system: “ratings range from zero to four stars. Zero is poor, fair or satisfactory. One star, good. Two stars, very good. Three stars, excellent. Four stars, extraordinary.” |
| Be Aware Arrive close to opening. Space fills up around 9:30 a.m. on weekdays. Lighting is not good for reading a physical book or writing by hand. Bathroom is in forefront of right seating section. |