Side of the Rhode: Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? - October 10, 2025

HOT

The Sandbar Cafe is Taking Coffee on the Road in South County

There’s a new coffee shop coming to South County - in a trailer.

Narragansett native Brady Hazard is launching the mobile Sandbar Cafe to meet what he says is a market opportunity, with rising brick-and-mortar rents in the community. 

“The idea to even open a local business was one that did not come very easily, I can tell you that,” said Hazard. “I have been toying with the idea for years now to have a breakfast place in Narragansett.”

“But as someone who lives in Narragansett, I’ve seen over two dozen local restaurants close in the past year due to rising prices and I've seen a local coffee shop that I've been going to since I was four - Cool Beans - just close its doors because [their rent was tripled] and they couldn't manage it.”

So Hazard, who works with Danny Biller at Daisy’s on Point Judith Road, approached his boss with the proposal for a coffee truck. 

“It’s given me a really great opportunity to not only build it from essentially the ground up for us, but to be able to see what is struggling in the market and be able to fit in where people have been losing money in a lot of instances,” said Hazard. 

Turning the Dream Into Reality 

Hazard, who is the youngest of three boys raised by a single mom, thought that he might want to pursue teaching - but “due to unforeseen circumstances,” he left URI to take classes online at CCRI while working at Daisy’s. 

“Yeah, it was a breakup,” laughed Hazard. 

And when he started eyeing the idea of launching his own business concept, it was his family that provided some “food for thought.”

“My brother works in Galilee at Champlains in their seafood market. My father used to be a fisherman as well,” said Hazard. “In that area, you can have close to 3,000 tourists a day. And there’s no breakfast. So I said to Danny, let’s capitalize on a market that’s failing. We’ll go down there at 5 AM. [Sell to] fishermen, people taking the ferry, and then we’ll move to the URI area.” 

Hazard said he’s currently “going through a lot more hoops” than they did with Daisy’s for all the required permitting. 

“The town and town council…yeah, they’re sticklers,” laughed Hazard. 

But Hazard is undeterred in his mission. 

“Take places like Nitro Bar…they started off as a cart and now they’re brick and mortar [in Newport] and killing it,” said Hazard. 

There will be baked goods, says Hazard, and everything will be local, right down to using Dave’s Coffee as their supplier.

“So yeah, breakups suck, but I just love that I’ve picked myself up by the bootstraps,” laughed Hazard. “And I own my own company now.” 

Follow the Sandbar Cafe on Instagram to keep an eye on its upcoming activity. 

HOT

RI Native and Brown Receiver Ty Pezza Makes ESPN

HOT

Winner, Winner — Two Chicken Dinners

Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau has been recognized with two national awards:

Stella Award for Best CVB in the Northeast from Northstar Meetings Group 

Best CVB in the East from Meetings Today 

PHOTO: PWCVB

HOT

Airport Expansion Needed (for Awards)

Condé Nast Traveler announced the results of its annual Readers’ Choice Awards, with Rhode Island International Airport (PVD) securing its place as one of the Top Ten Airports in the United States. PVD ranked 8th among the country’s best airports, continuing to be recognized as the top Airport in New England.

This marks the sixth consecutive year that PVD has been named among the nation’s top ten airports by the prestigious Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards. The award, which has become the ultimate benchmark for excellence in the travel industry, was determined by more than 520,000 submissions from readers rating their travel experiences. The results provide a comprehensive look at the destinations and airports that travelers love and return to year after year.

HOT

Duffy & Shanley Platinum Award

Kudos to the local agency that received a national award from PR News for its launch of a new product line.

Ever heard of Bonds? Neither had most of the U.S., according to market research. Ubiquitous in Australia, the HanesBrand-owned basics company is known for its effortless style and irreverent tone.

For their U.S. launch, they featured Robert Irwin, son of Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, and capitalized on NYC’s large Australian expat community. Robert appeared in People Magazine and on Entertainment Tonight while Bonds hosted a launch event at Australian-owned NYC bar Old Mates Pub. Miss Universe Australia was in attendance as well as some other Aussie staples, like live reptiles and spiders.

The campaign generated 22.5 billion media impressions and 58 million organic impressions. With new visibility, Robert Irwin went on to be announced as a Dancing with the Stars celebrity guest.

CEO, Annette Maggiacomo in photo. 

HOT

Peace Deal

After two years of death and destruction, it appears to be coming to an end.

President Donald Trump deserves credit for bringing the hammer to both Israel and Hamas.

NOT

Investigation: Credit Cards in City Hall

A GoLocal investigation uncovers questionable uses of credit cards in Providence City Hall.

GoLocalProv, through a public records request, has found that staff and members of the Providence City Council are using credit cards for travel, Twitter accounts, and expenses related to a conference hosted by the Democratic Socialists of America.

This review comes after GoLocal first reported that the City has put a hold on the use of the Council’s credit cards.

One of the expenses put on a Providence credit card is tied to an open invoice for City Council’s chief of Staff, June Rose, and Councilor Miguel Sanchez to attend a conference in New Orleans titled “How We Win,” a conference hosted by the Democratic Socialists of America Fund. The event is scheduled for December 5-7, 2025.

According to documents, the expenses requested for the conference were for Rose.

Rose defends the expenditure for the New Orleans Democratic Socialist event.

“CM Sanchez's registration and transportation are not covered, but when staff are requested to travel with a councilor for work it is covered by the council office's transportation and training budget. This is a conference hosted by a 501(c)(3) only for elected officials and government-side staff,” wrote Rose in an email to GoLocal.

But Rose’s statement of who attends is not consistent with the group’s website, which states that, in addition to elected officials and their staff, activists and organizers tied to the group’s Democratic Socialists of America chapters. 

Those chapter members "demonstrate real socialist values, as opposed to what the right-wing describes as socialism. By being visible, active, and made up of ordinary people who decided they were tired of feeling powerless, chapters help undermine the right-wing’s use of socialism to scare people.”

And more.

PHOTOS: Credit card, Mapr.n/Unsplash; June Rose/X and DSA

NOT

The Local Embarrassment Is Now a National Embarrassment

The Superman Building is featured in the Wall Street Journal.

The vacant building is the poster child for urban office building failure.  

The headline on the homepage of the Wall Street Journal is:

The Landmark U.S. Office Buildings That Are on Life Support

Providence’s Superman Building has been empty since 2013, despite a revival effort; ‘It’s dead down here now’

America's leading business publication writes:

The beloved 26-story office tower that defines this capital city’s skyline has been empty since Bank of America pulled out in 2013. Its owner proposed converting it into apartments, but local officials balked, insisting it remain a commercial hub. It swiftly became a symbol of downtown blight.

This July, a solution finally seemed in reach. The 70-year-old developer who owned it, David Sweetser, had cobbled together a $308 million financing package for a conversion plan blessed by local officials. Then Sweetser died, once again clouding the future of the tower known locally as the Superman Building, for its resemblance to the fictional Daily Planet headquarters.

The Superman Building’s failure is juxtaposed with some reuse successes around the country.

“Some have made it to the other side of the conversion process. New York’s Woolworth Building, once the world’s tallest, reinvented its top floors as high-end condominiums. Both the PSFS Building in Philadelphia and the Foshay Tower in Minneapolis were reborn as hotels,” wrote the Wall Street Journal.

But nothing says state and local governmental failure more than the 12 years of vacancy at Providence’s tallest building. 

"But by all accounts the boarded-up Superman Building has dragged down the local economy, especially in the area near City Hall where it’s located. The tower used to be the hub of an area with lively stores and restaurants. Today many nearby retail locations are closed," adds the Wall Street Journal.

In 2014, GoLocal unveiled an appraisal on the Superman Building that showed the building has no value. 

NOT

ADUs Were Supposed to Be a Solution to RI’s Housing Crisis; They Have Been a Bust

Governor Dan McKee, along with the revolving door of Rhode Island Housing Secretaries over the past three years, have all claimed that Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) would be a big part of the effort to solve Rhode Island’s housing crisis.

With the median price of a single-family home now over $500,000 in Rhode Island, an ever-decreasing number of buyers can purchase a home.

In summary, less than 20% of Rhode Island households can afford to buy a median-priced home, making the state one of the most challenging markets in the country for homebuyers.

So far, with ADUs there has not been much to show for all the talk.

Under McKee, there have been four Housing Secretaries in the past three plus years:

- Joshua Saal: He was the state's first Housing Secretary, appointed in 2022. He resigned in January 2023 following criticism over the department's slow progress.

- Stefan Pryor: The former commerce secretary was appointed to the role in early 2023. He left for a private-sector job in July 2024. And now he is back as the acting Secretary of Commerce.

- Daniel Connors (Interim): He served as the interim Secretary from July 2024 until December 2024, when he returned to his role at the Executive Office of Health and Human Services.

- Deborah J. Goddard: Appointed in November 2024 and officially confirmed by the state Senate in March 2025, she is the current Housing Secretary. She had a controversial time while working in New York City.

MA v. RI

In the first six months of 2025, Massachusetts reported 844 ADU applications — and is on a pace for 1,700 or more for the year.

Rhode Island’s Office of Housing claims it does not have any data for 2025, but told GoLocal that in 2024, it had permitted 163 and only completed 66 ADUs in 2024.

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