Houdini's Latte Lab
A new coffee shop frothing with history, a local mom's Hollywood connection, and a feel-good group that knows how to spin a good yarn. All this and more, inside!
Before we start, a heads up that police in NY and NJ are seeking information about a missing person, 20-year-old Emilio Acosta, last seen two days ago in Weehawken at 12:30AM near Daniel Webster School. Story here on CBS news. Thank you for any help.
When It Comes To Local Intel, Chat GPT Doesn’t Know Jack
Since our start in April 2024, the Weehawken Gazette has had more than 50,000 page views and each issue features content you can’t get anywhere else.
If you ask Chat GPT (or any AI) about many of these topics, they won’t know anything, at least not until we write about them. Fact: the beautiful new cafe we profile below, is not on Chat GPT’s radar when asked about new coffee shops or cafes in Union City — but Chat GPT did list two places that do not exist. Sad and true!
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Escape To A Magical New Cafe In Houdini’s Old Haunt
Red alert for coffee fans with a hankering for a cool hang: there’s a fabulous new cafe in Union City, just south of the reservoir, and its only been open for a month.
It’s called Beni Coffee, it’s located in a groovy collector’s-grade furniture studio, and they also offer baked goods and light bites. Recent specials included roasted turkey, marinated kale and basil pesto on sourdough and a sassy tuna salad with lemon zest and pepperoncini on baguette.
Currently only open on weekends from 9a-4p, Beni is spacious, light-filled and undeniably stylish. The owners are a lovely Weehawken couple just finding their footing with the new venture. But they seem super enthusiastic and they floated the possibilities for future movie nights, social gatherings, and more. Verdict: total hidden gem… and there’s cool history to boot.
Wait, What Cool History?
Thing is, Beni Coffee is in Union City, but Union City wasn’t a thing until 1925. And once upon a time, their 19th street location was called Weehawken Street, and this part of town was called West Hoboken.
When you walk in the door to the building Beni coffee is in, you will be greeted by a portrait of world-famous escape artist and magician Harry Houdini. This was perplexing until we learned that the building is the former site of Houdini’s film lab which he started in 1916, and when that failed, it was his workshop. Judging by the photos, it’s not much changed. See then and now comparisons, below.
So cool, right? No doubt we should totally hold a Houdini seance here next Halloween — when it will be Houdini’s 100th deathiversary! Until then, follow them on social, sip a latte in Houdini’s lab, or snap up a special sandwich.
So what are you waiting for? The address? Oh yeah!
Beni Coffee is at 216 19th St, Union City, NJ 07087
Related: See pictures of Houdini in his Weehawken Street workshop here.
Find more pictures of Beni on the Weehawken Gazette Instagram.
Tight-Knit Group Meets Seven Days A Week
Recently we saw a post on Facebook where a local man was asking if there was a crochet group in town. Then we saw a post on Reddit, where a woman was asking if there was perhaps a local knitting group.
Well friends, there is a local knitting group, and a local crochet group, and even a local loom group — and they’re all the same group.
It’s called Knitting With Love. They meet for an hour and a half, 7 days a week, at 525 Gregory Ave in Weehawken, gathering Monday at noon, and at 4P all the rest of the days of the week.
Sharing Purls Of Wisdom
They formed in June 2025, thanks to Isabel Diaz, and her friend Ann Marie. Isabel initially wanted to relearn knitting to make her 97-year-old mother a prayer shawl and noticed her friend Anne Marie, an expert knitter and crocheter, had some beautiful baby sets that she had donated. That’s when Anne Marie taught others, and they decided to make items to donate.
On how the group grew, Diaz says, “Soon, by word of mouth, more joined, many who hadn’t knit since they were children, and others, like Emily joined, a master in the art of crocheting. One of our ladies, Elia, found an unfinished project of her late mom’s, and made a baby sweater and blanket. It was very emotional.” Diaz added that Victor Berrera, a commissioner in West New York, has been instrumental in helping them achieve goals, find places to donate, and create flyers.
Even better, the town of Weehawken supplies machine-washable yarns the group uses to knit, crochet and loom items they send to worthy causes including baby items to Palisades Hospital, blankets to local animal shelters, and care packages for veterans/active service members.
In fact, on the day we visited, there were representatives who were arranging to take massive amount of their handmade goods to be shipped to Weehawken residents serving overseas, including one who is at a med vac unit in Kuwait, and another serving in the reserves in Germany.
The group is billed as “classes” on the flyers, but they are more like a club that welcomes everyone, from experts as well as total beginners. And although the group takes place at the senior apartments, they stress that you do not need to be a senior to join.
The flyers for the group point out many of the benefits of joining, from laughs and positivity, to memory enhancement and skills gained. Research backs this up, and more. Knitting has been shown to help lower blood pressure and the stress hormone cortisol, increase dexterity, and maybe even increase lifespan. If you don’t believe us, see this article on The Health Benefits of Knitting.
When asked about the group, the benefits, and the items they make good causes, Diaz said, “I’m going to get emotional… we put a lot of love into this.” I asked if it was relaxing and she said yes, adding, “When here, I forget about everything else.”
See more pictures on our Instagram here. To learn more and signup, call the Weehawken Senior Citizens Office at 201-319-6060. They are also looking for more yarn donations, so if anyone has a source, or a desire to donate, be in touch.
Local Journalist’s Secret Film History
Local mom Caren Lissner, pictured below, is well-known to anyone who appreciates local news.
Many people might remember Caren as the former editor of the dearly-departed Hudson Reporter, or know that she’s currently a hard-working Patch reporter covering Hoboken and Jersey City. She’s also contributed op-eds and original reporting to many top publications, including this fascinating piece in the NY Times that dove into the slew of abandoned homes up on the cliffs of Union City.
But what many people don’t know is that she’s also an essayist and novelist who had one of her books, Carrie Pilby, turned into a star-studded film. How cool is that?
Since the filming for the movie took place a decade ago, and the movie is a comedy/drama that takes place over the holidays, we thought this would be a good time to find out more.
Caren told me that when she was a twentysomething writer living in Hoboken, she wrote four young-adult novels — all of which were rejected. Finally, when she was 29, she took her single-girl-in-the-city experience and penned "an offbeat novel” called Carrie Pilby, about a 19-year-old genius who graduates from college early, moves to NYC, and doesn’t understand how to date or make friends.
The book was published in 2003 and was optioned twice, but both times, the project was considered for TV, but never made. Then, in 2012, two producers decided to option the book and make their first indie film together.
Caren says that thanks to their "funny, smart script” they were able to bring on well-known actors including Nathan Lane, Vanessa Bayer, Colin O’Donoghue and more. Ten years ago this month, the producers shot the film in NYC before Christmas, Caren was on the movie set, and she even appears sitting on a bench in a scene shot in Central Park.
The film premiered in 2016. Caren attended cast parties and walked the red carpet. She says, “Seeing my characters come to life was a dream come true, and the producers did a great job.”
And since then? In 2010 the book was re-released as a teen novel, and the film streamed on Netflix from 2018-2023. Now it’s available on other platforms, including here on Apple TV as well as YouTube, Fandango, and Google Play.
What’s next? Caren is still reporting, writing essays and told me she is finishing up a memoir called How We Became Homeless: A Cringy Chronicle of Downward Mobility.
Support her work by reading the book, streaming the movie, or following her reporting on Patch.
Happy Holidaze, Y’all!
There’s so much more to show and tell, but we’ll save it for next time, promise.
No thanks to Hugo Holland, our unpaid copyeditor — because he’s super busy this week, so we refused to let him edit any of this. If there are errors, it’s on us.
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Tah for now, nice nabes!
Susie
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Absolutley love the Houdini connection here, turning his old film lab into a coffee spot feels like the kind of serendipity that makes local spots memorable. The historical continuty is wild when you see those then-and-now photos, barely changed. I've found that cafes with an actual backstory like this tend to become real community anchors instead of jsut another espresso machine. The weekend-only hours might be limiting for now but if they expand to movie nights like they mentioned that could be huge for the area.