City News Café reopens in Chicago, hours after stolen car fleeing police crashed into Portage Park building
A well-known café and newsstand in Chicago's Portage Park neighborhood was damaged early Thursday morning when a stolen car that police were pursuing crashed into it.
Police said at 4:30 a.m., officers saw a black Kia sedan running red lights in the area of Six Corners at Milwaukee and Cicero avenues and Irving Park Road. The car matched the description of a vehicle that had previously been reported stolen, police said.
Officers turned on their squad car lights and sirens and tried to pull over the driver, police said. The driver of the Kia did not stop, and fled from officers before losing control and crashing into City News Café, at 4018 N. Cicero Ave.
The café and newsstand said the car hit the storefront and outdoor café area.
Two people from the car were taken into police custody at the scene. Two others ran off, but were quickly also located and placed into custody, police said.
The four people in the car — a 17-year-old boy, a 22-year-old man, a 23-year-old man, and a 26-year-old man — also all suffered minor injuries and were taken to an area hospital in fair condition, police said.
No one else was injured, according to police and the café.
Three guns were recovered from the car, police said.
Workers spent the morning boarding up the broken windows at the café, and reopened by the afternoon after getting the green light from the Chicago Department of Buildings to let customers back inside. Inspired by the Kevin Smith film "Clerks," the café spray-painted the message "I assure you, we're open" on the plywood boards next to the entrance door.
Regular patrons were relieved no one was seriously hurt after seeing the aftermath of the crash.
"I was completely flabbergasted," Lillian Pilto said.
The café's customers said they are glad their usual spot for coffee, books, and more is keeping its doors open.
"This is just such a great community spot. I mean, this is such an important place," said Aaron Cohen.
"The fact they're still standing, it just shows like, 'We're just going to move on, we're going to rebuild, and we're going to keep the spirit rolling,' which is really what a lot of us Chicagoans need is keep the spirit rolling, keep fighting, keep standing, and I'm really proud that they are still holding up today" Pilto said.
In posts on social media, owners said they hope to have full repairs done by late next week.
City News Café's roots go back to 1978, when owner Joe Angelastri bought a corner newsstand at 4002 N. Milwaukee Ave. Angelastri was only 18 at the time, according to the City Newsstand website.
City Newsstand moved into a former bookstore on Cicero Avenue and opened in that space just after the New Year in 1988, according to the store website. Angelastri converted the store to magazines.
Angelastri also bought and rebooted the Chicago-Main Newsstand, at 860 Chicago Ave. in north suburban Evanston, which had closed in 1993 due to a rent dispute. He reopened the newsstand in 2000.
Back in Portage Park, City Newsstand expanded to two storefronts, renovated, and added a café with seating for 12 in 2011.
City News Café only coincidentally happens to share the name of the City News Bureau, the legendary Chicago wire service that provided Chicago newspapers and later TV and radio stations with police and fire, courtroom, and local government news dispatches. The City News Bureau also served as a training ground for rookie journalists — among them Mike Royko and Seymour Hersh.
The City News Bureau operated from 1890 until 1999, and then under Chicago Tribune ownership as the City News Service through 2005. The wire service broke the news of everything from the 1929 S. Valentine's Day Massacre to the Tylenol poisonings of 1982.
A new book, "Sirens in the Loop," documents the history of the storied wire service.
