The NYC coffee-shop office is endangered as small cafés start putting restrictions on laptop use

Industry savvy, latte-drinking individuals may start finding it harder to conduct their business in coffee shops and small cafés.

The recession has been especially punishing for restaurants, with fewer people going out to eat this summer. Small cafés taking the brunt of the hit because of their relaxed policy towards lingering guests are starting to put limits on in-house coffee drinkers who use laptops.

“You don't want to discourage it; it's a wonderful tradition,” said Janice Pullicino, owner of Naidre’s in Park Slope, to The Wall Street Journal.

Nadir’s, like many New York coffee shops, has a laptop prohibition during busy hours, when the café depends on flipping tables to make profit.

A sign on the small neighborhood café reads: "Dear customers, we are absolutely thrilled that you like us so much that you want to spend the day... (But)...people gotta eat, and to eat they gotta sit."

Pullicino has even covered some power outlets throughout her shop, preventing laptop users from plugging in. She told The Wall Street Journal it was a cost-cutting measure to save on electricity.

These strict rules worry many individuals who depend on coffee-shops as cheap hubs where they can conduct business.

“It’s a constant search for places with the Internet where I can sit and focus without being frowned upon,” said Leah Meyerhoff, 29, a film director and freelancer, to The Wall Street Journal.