Jackson Heights Life

I can confirm that Oda has free wifi at 969 NYC Coffee, have used my laptop, and he's fine with it.  I always buy lunch items plus coffee and I don't stay too long. I've seen other people with laptops there and it's a pleasant place to be as Oda likes to chat and the place has a friendly vibe.

Caffebene is a good option as well.  I don't feel bad about taking up a seat along the windows since it leaves the tables for groups of people.

Agree that Communitea in LIC is great.  Wish we had a place like that here.

This thread is a great resource!

I too have had no trouble working at the big table at E77 on weekdays; seems reasonable to me they want to reserve the little tables for people more likely to be meeting someone for lunch, etc. I love working there.

Tea Cup Cafe at 77th & Woodside is a good spot with wifi too. (Haven't been in a while but went there often when I lived closer.) It can be loud and a little crowded (it's quite small-- one row of seats), so not good if you need perfect silence, but I like that it's open late (often till 11pm).

Does anyone know how Oda in 969 Coffee feels about laptops? Am I wrong that they have wifi there?

A little further afield, I also like Coffeed; good wifi, tables, they leave you alone, rarely crowded. Communitea in LIC is a favorite working place for me; a beautiful, comfortable space with great food and drinks. (Sometimes can get overrun with little kids—but then so can E77. Does not really bother me!) Not remotely convenient but Bean Square in Bayside is large, solid wifi, lots of tables, feels almost office-y. And of course there are a number of good cafe options in Sunnyside and Astoria now (Tea Plus cafe a favorite for writing/working).

The JH library is good; the beautiful renovated Elmhurst branch is even better.

Also, I have not explored this for myself (seems an odd pairing), but Brooklyn Boulders in LIC has a coworking space:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/sethporges/2017/02/24/brooklyn-boulders-climbing-gym-co-working-space/#2e6d84747dc0

And of course there are two WeWorks in Queens now. Great to learn about Austin Space, and really cool that people are thinking about a co-working space in Jackson Heights. I think it would really fill a need—so many creative people, freelancers, work-from-homers, writers, part-timers, etc here.

Not to go too off topic but another neighborhood need I've heard people talk about is artist studio space. The closest are way over in Astoria/LIC/Qboro Plaza (not counting one I know of in Woodside), and seems there might be spaces on Northern, in Corona, etc that could work.

I've used my laptop at 969 Cafe, and agree that Oda is totally receptive (just use normal courtesy/common sense and buy stuff). Note that although there is wifi, there is no public restroom, but it's a nice place to sit for a bit (I usually don't stay longer than 90 minutes-ish).

I took my laptop to Fresh Spilt Milk at one point and chatted with the owner and he seemed happy to have me. I do wish the space was move inviting; the table setup isn't ideal for laptops (lots of booths, fewer single occupancy or large communal spaces).

I find Cafe Benne maybe one step up from starbucks so I don't go often.

For what it's worth, I would be very interested in a local coworking space, especially one that isn't similar to We Work! missmarty, I would be happy to give input if you are looking for additional info/suggestions from freelancers in the area. I dislike working in coffee shops, mainly because I think people use them too often as offices. (This doesn't apply to people that buy food/drinks and leave within a reasonable timeframe. What annoys me is when someone sit at a table for 4 hours, or when someone conducts two hours of interviews from the corner table...)

Anyone interested in sharing our workspace starting Sept 1?

It's a 1-bedroom apartment in the historic district, but nobody sleeps there.

PM if you want more information.

I also put together a map of other spots, hope this is of use: http://bit.ly/nyc-working

This is great, thank you!

A couple of other recommendations that occurred to me...

getcroissant.com allows you to try out just about every coworking space in New York (apart from WeWork). If you just want to try out the service there is nothing preventing you using a free week trial on the top plan (120 hours included), no strings attached.

Spacious.com and kettlespace.com also offer free trials.

Workfrom.co has a great mobile app for finding nearby cafes to work from.
On desktop, Placestowork.net aggregates all the info from Workfrom and other coworking directories