The New York Café reopens

Budapest's legendary New York Café, one of the Danube monarchy's most popular literary cafés, has reopened after extensive renovations. Writer Ivan Bächer recalls: "Once, every corner and every room, not only of the café but also of the entire palace and even the entire block, was full of journalists, authors, publishers and editors.” But now, according to Bach, the new Italian owners have killed its literary soul with their refurbishing zeal. "A bullet-proof showcase in which a few dozen beautiful old books are hermetically sealed hangs on one wall – a safe full of books. When the café opened back in 1895, playwright Ferenc Molnar threw the keys into the Danube so that this shining institution could never be closed. Now that the café has reopened, the keys of the showcase should be thrown into the river so that no-one gets any silly ideas like wanting to leaf through a book here.”

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