Sky Coffee goes cashless after break-ins

Teya Vitu, The Santa Fe New Mexican
·1 min read

Mar. 20—Sky Coffee in the Railyard went cashless March 11 after a string of break-ins.

All transaction are now card-only, owner Bill Banowsky said.

"We were just getting barraged by crime in that location," Banowsky said. "We are going cashless to hopefully stop the crime."

Sky Coffee general manager Lili Sheehy said during business hours, people would steal from the tip jar, and after hours, people would break in.

"I feel like this year we have seen a huge increase with the homeless population," Sheehy said. "We have had to kick out many in the past few weeks."

Rowley Farmhouse Ales in November was the first known Santa Fe restaurant to go cashless after two armed robberies and the safe getting stolen.

"Nuckolls will probably be cashless, too," Banowsky said.

Banowsky owns Nuckolls Brewing, which has been under construction since 2019 near Sky Coffee, but he does not have an opening date set. Banowsky also owns Violet Crown Cinema and is co-owner of the Sky Railway along with author George R.R. Martin, National Dance Institute of New Mexico co-founder Catherine Oppenheimer and other investors.