PROFILE IN THRIVE: Michael Buchholz

Michael Buchholz on his rooftop in Williamsburg

Dear Everyone,

It's my pleasure to introduce you to Michael Buchholz: superior host, culture monger, food enthusiast, Brooklynite Dandy, brilliant businessmind, and master thriver. Since I've lived in the city, Mr. Buchholz has been one of the only people who I've let lead me blindly (and eagerly) to their most favorite places about town. He hasn't steered me wrong yet, and between you and me, I'm compiling a list of our various outings to make a fail-proof destination manual on the occasion that out of town friends pay a visit. It seems as if he's stumbled upon the magically mysterious and unbeatable formula for getting along swimmingly in his neighborhood in Brooklyn (as well as anywhere else he finds himself) and I'm eager to share it with you.

I tell Michael that we should meet at his favorite neighborhood place for this interview, and he suggests a place called Second Stop Cafe. Not only does he know everything about the place (I can vaguely recall folkloric details such as: the chef who makes the baked goods downstairs once worked at one of the ten best

 restaurants in the world!) but he knows just about every person, be they employees or patrons. The establishment is covered in that Williamsburgonian style one has come to expect from any coffee shop near Bedford-- the decorators are obviously found object collectors, and I've even heard that some of the light fixtures once belonged to JP Morgan and the Plaza Hotel. The girl behind the counter is charming and undoubtedly charmed by Michael Buchholz. I start off the interview with a simple question.

JORDAN: What makes you happy?

MICHAEL: EVERYTHING.

J: That's cheesy.

M: You can't interview someone and say that their answer is cheesy.

J: You're right. Yes, yes, yes.

M: Let's see. Brooklyn. The very basic quality of Brooklyn... that it retains the energy of the city without being overwhelmed by it. I think the city has lost its way.

J: Lost its way?

M: Yeah, lost its way. Every neighborhood becomes a caricature of itself in the city.

Michael is distracted by an incoming patron. They're familiar with one another, naturally. We talk a bit about the caricatures that Brooklyn, and in particular Williamsburg have come to produce, and we laugh.

J: Does thriving in Brooklyn come naturally for you, or does it take a lot of thought?

M: It takes a lot of thought. For me, being stationed in any place requires a lot of effort in order for me to achieve a decent level of comfort. I tend to draw my basic needs from places that I've traveled that I'd like to recreate in some way.

I think this makes such good sense. I'm eating a brownie and a glass of milk, and he's having coffee or tea-- I can't tell which, but given his immense background in coffee, I'll say the former.

M: The problem with the world being so accessible is that we're too familiar with what's out there so we're never content with what's directly available to us.

J: Oooooh, nice! And you're no longer a victim of this syndrome?

M: I think I've just accepted that you can't be everywhere at once.

J: If you could be everywhere at once, would BK be one of them?

M: Yes.

We discuss what a great, bubbling melting pot Brooklyn and New York as a whole truly is. Not only is there a world full of culture and diversity out there awaiting us all, but a world full of connections, as the business minded Michael believes firmly in.

M: I bumped into this woman yesterday who overheard my conversation regarding my business endeavors and she gave

 me her card fifteen minutes later and offered her professional advice and her product to help support me in any way she could. You can meet your next business partner sitting in a coffee shop here.

J: Can't that happen everywhere?

M: People aren't as approachable elsewhere.

J: Some people might read this and say "Brooklyn! Ha! APPROACHABLE?!" What would you say to them?

M: It's all about how you approach a person or a situation.

J: Would you say that's one of the keys to thriving?

M: Yes. Approaching any situation with a positive attitude and a bright outlook.

He's stumbled upon something brilliant. More customers enter, more hellos. He's quite friendly with the owners, too. Little does he know that I'm about to spring a terribly deep question upon him.

J: It's Saturday afternoon and you're hosting an extra terrestrial, anxious to see the area. What you show them will be their lasting opinion of earth before they jet back to their planet later that evening. Where do you go?

M: I'd probably take them right here. Second Stop. If we were in my neighborhood, I'd take them right here.

J: Why?

M: I suppose I appreciate the fact that despite any business's tendency to be a massive

corporation... a big, massive endeavor... you know one person created this certain mold to plant in every single town... there's still the opportunity in a neighborhood like mine to open a smaller scale place that serves the community and is a very clear display of the work of a creative mind.

J: Several businesses in Brooklyn share this characteristic. More so than Manhattan?

M: Absolutely.

J: Does it make it easier to thrive in an environment where small business like these exist?

M: It's inspiring and in the very least sets me on the right path, knowing that its still possible to be an individual despite being in such close proximity to a place that can sweep you away in the blink of an eye.

Michael must mean the city. Michael nods at another customer, I finish my milk, and we go for a walk. He shows me a few of his favorite places and we pass burgeoning new apartment complexes. He's dismayed by them-- especially by a building with a large advertisement posted to it claiming the new apartments as "Adorable!"

M: Why should this exist here?

We continue to walk until we reach his apartment where we'll have dinner with Zachary and Nell (the wonderfully domesticated dog). Before, though, we enjoy the excellent view from his roof, just as the sun sets behind the Manhattan skyline and the streets of Williamsburg below grow dimmer.