Starbucks, 83rd and Broadway Starbucks has in these last few years become as ubiquitous in Manhattan as in every other major American city. Critics cite the coffee shop's prevalence as another symptom of the increasing blandness of New York City; boosters claim New York coffee was never as good as people said it was until the West Coast chain came to town. We'll give the last word to Joe Fox in You've Got Mail: "The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don't know what the hell they're doing or who on earth they are, can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall! Decaf! Cappuccino!" next: Café Lalo