Remembering Lloyd Porter
If you have lived, laughed or loved in Bedford-Stuyvesant over the past 15 years, you’ve likely engaged with Lloyd Porter. The co-owner of the Bread Stuy and Bread Love cafes, alongside his wife Hillary, Lloyd wove a magical thread through the neighborhood’s tapestry and left a legacy of community before his COVID-19-related death a month ago on May 6.
His businesses were rooted in Black Brownstone Bed-Stuy, which, back in the early aughts, had become ground zero for gentrification in New York City. Displacement, hostility and fear created a milieu of tension when Bread Stuy opened at 403 Lewis Avenue; yet Lloyd championed the counterbalance of inclusion, optimism and resilience.
Affectionately called Brooklyn’s “Mr. Hooper,” he welcomed folks in his cafe to commune over coffee, croissants and red velvet cake; use the free WiFi to research how to keep their legacy property in the family; or write emails as they “worked from home.” He was known to hire people with criminal convictions, returning dignity to those who often felt unemployable by an unforgiving society. After seven years, Bread Stuy closed in 2011, reemerging in 2013 as Bread Love in the carriage house of the mansion at 375 Stuyvesant Avenue.
It was a serene setting with outdoor seating, the century-old mansion as a backdrop and a canopy of trees. I was scheduled to throw a day party there with a few friends when I got word that Bread Love had caught on fire the previous night. I hopped on my bike and rode over, immediately saddened by the sight: the carriage house was completely burned out and charred black. But there was Lloyd with his usual optimism. He said the good part was that the fire happened overnight when the cafe was empty, and nobody was hurt. He deadpanned that he didn’t think the space was suitable for our party anymore!
A throughline at Bread Stuy and Bread Love, besides Hillary’s bomb baked goods, was the loving community that Lloyd created — a legacy we’ll never forget. He is survived by Hillary and their daughter, MacLemore. Please consider donating to the GoFundMe campaign for his daughter.
—By Dick Burroughs
