ASTORIA — A local Starbucks employee is speaking out about a strange encounter that occurred Monday morning, involving a man who claimed to be visiting from the future, and claimed to be his grandson.
Theodore Pecoraro, 24, a shift supervisor at the store, agreed to speak with The Brooklyn Herald about the incident.
"He came in looking amazed," Pecoraro said. "Like, genuinely emotional. He kept saying he couldn't believe he was in a Starbucks before it was a bank. I didn't know what that meant."
The man, described as white, mid-thirties, wearing unusual but not quite identifiable clothing, ordered a Trenta coffee. When it came time to pay, he began swiping his palm over the counter repeatedly.
"I asked him what he was doing," Pecoraro said. "He looked confused. Then embarrassed. Like he'd forgotten something obvious."
According to Pecoraro, the man then offered "a prick of blood" as payment. When that was declined, he asked if the store accepted "Apple coin? And wondered what the exchange rate was for Starbucks bucks?"
"Very confused I said no, we take Apple Pay though."
The man then asked what year it was. Upon hearing the answer, he said "of course, right" and produced a small organizer from his jacket. Inside, Pecoraro said, were bills sorted by year, some appearing old, others unfamiliar.
"He found some regular twenties and paid cash. But he had money in there I didn't recognize. Different colors. Different faces."The man took his coffee to a corner table, where he sat for nearly twenty minutes.
"He kept smelling it," Pecoraro said. "Like it was the last cup he'd ever have."
Then the man approached the counter again and introduced himself as Pecoraro's grandson.
"That's when I called the cops," Pecoraro said. "I figured he'd escaped from somewhere. He wasn't well. That was the only explanation."
But what unsettled Pecoraro wasn't the claim itself, it was the details.
"He knew my name. He knew things about my family. He asked if my sister had gotten cancer yet." Pecoraro paused. "She doesn't have cancer. She's healthy.
Before police arrived, the man began speaking about the future. Pecoraro said he warned of difficult years ahead and advised investing in coffee plantations.
"He said natural resources would become the new currency and that Apple and Starbucks were two of the biggest governments in existence. That they control the entire west coast and that I should take the family there as soon as I could."
Pecoraro laughed when recounting this, though he admitted it didn't feel funny at the time.
"He said it like it was obvious. Like I should already know."
Officers from the 114th Precinct arrived shortly after. The man went peacefully, Pecoraro said. But not before embracing him.
"He hugged me. Tight. And he said 'I love you, grandpa. Take care of Annie and grandma. They're gonna need you.'" Pecoraro's sister is named Annie. Ted doesn't have a girlfriend...yet.
"I never told him my sister's name," Pecoraro said. "I never told him anything."
The man was transported for psychiatric evaluation. His identity has not been released. Police have declined to comment further.
Pecoraro said he hasn't stopped thinking about the encounter.
"He's probably just sick," he said. "Right?"
He looked down at his coffee.
"But he knew her name. And the way he drank that coffee, like, like it was the greatest thing he ever drank in his life. He was so happy he was crying as he cherished every sip."
Pecoraro said he has no plans to invest in coffee plantations but this reporter surely does!