On a freezing cold Sunday afternoon in January, a line of warmly dressed New Yorkers stretched down Huron Street. The line started more than halfway down the block and ended at the door of Archestratus, a local bookstore specializing in vintage and new cookbooks. A few days earlier, Archestratus owner Paige Lipari had posted a flyer to Instagram, calling upon “the incredible members of the #archestratuscommunity to bake [their] heart out” to benefit mutual aid organizations in Minnesota. The bake sale’s main goal, the post said, was “to get funding quickly to the people of Minnesota who are currently being terrorized and executed by federal agents.”
Locals did indeed bake their hearts out, and in the end, the January 31st CRUSH ICE bake sale raised an impressive $11,003, and a total of 874 people donated.
With everything going on in the US today, some of the many ways of processing and taking action involves coming together as a community. It’s in times like these that support is crucial, and so is revealing to others our care and want to help.
Archestratus, which recently celebrated its ten-year anniversary on October 2nd, 2025, has become known as a space where community is built and kept alive. The first thing you notice when you enter the bookstore is the warm and accepting ambiance, which has attracted a community of all kinds of people for years. When I interviewed Paige about how she built this community, she said that she had “always wanted a place that feels active and alive.”
“If I had to reflect on what the recipe has been, I think it would be a three-tiered cake of consistency, inclusivity, and flexibility,” said Paige. In her words, one of the most important ingredients of community building is “to believe in an idea, even if it isn’t catching on right away, and push it out there over and over over a long period of time.” Inclusivity has always been at the heart of Archestratus’ mission. “When you have a space and invite people into it,” Paige said, “you create a container that has to feel safe for everyone, or it’s ultimately for no one.”
Kindness is also something that matters a lot to Archestratus. On Sunday, while people waited in the low 20s temperatures, someone with Achestratus distributed little cups of hot coffee, a gesture that embodies Paige’s philosophy to “lead with the heart.” As you got close to the front of the line, a small space heater did its best to keep people warm.
Once inside, I immediately forgot about the cold outside. I must have seen more than fifty different treats, each baked with love. Each person was given a glove and a box to fill. We moved around the room in a slow line, picking up treats priced between $3 and $9. It was heartwarming to see just how many people had baked, and how many showed up to support a good cause in the midst of all this chaos.
Baking for a good cause is sort of a tradition at Archestatus. Over the years, Paige has hosted and organized fifteen bake sales. This one, she told me, was “the largest and most successful as far as the number of people who baked and the number of people who came out in one day and purchased.” These bake sales have raised money for “RAICES, the Yellowhammer Fund, the Brigid Alliance, the Biden campaign, community efforts in Ukraine, mutual aid groups to help build back LA, mutual aid groups in Minnesota, and many more.”
I asked Paige how she got started with raising money through community baking. “The first bake sale was actually organized by a wonderful group of customers who are still customers to this day and often bake for the bake sales,” said Paige. “I saw the power of them then, did a little research, and found out they played a huge role in funding the civil rights movement. […] Another point in history where women’s work was undervalued, but undeniably potent.”
Paige also said she believes that in 2026, purchasing power is “our greatest power” and that “we already have the tools to stop this violence from progressing.” For her, funding people in need directly is a solution. “I truly believe bake sales (raising money for the right people) and targeted boycotts (stopping the flow of money to the wrong people) can help stop the rise of fascism.”
After participating in the bake sale (I made focaccia) and also purchasing many delicious cookies, I realized that in difficult times or in situations that we feel we cannot control, it really helps to have a community. As a Greenpointer who has grown up a few blocks from Archestratus and has known the store since I was four, I am very thankful that this place exists. Today, not everyone is safe, and unfortunately, the country we live in is not safe. However, it’s places like these that offer a warm, safe space that welcomes anyone.
Finally, I asked Paige what her favorite thing about being a small business owner is. This is what she replied: “Watching people like you grow up. Truly. I love seeing a scruffy single guy become a responsible dad, or a 4-year-old who runs around the shop become a quiet teen. People’s lives are lived over time in a place. It’s simple and inevitable but feels quite magical.”