The fate of St. Mark’s Bookshop in Manhattan’s East Village, once a haunt of writers Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs, will be in limbo until late next month, when the landlord plans to decide whether to reduce its rent.
Cooper Union, the arts engineering school that doesn’t charge its students tuition, owns the property. Sales at the store, opened in 1977 by co-owners Terry McCoy and Bob Contant, have dropped 35 percent since the financial crisis that hit in 2008. One year earlier, they signed a 10-year lease at a rent of $20,000 per month on the 2,700-square-foot (250-square-meter) shop. Falling sales have forced them to reduce inventory and fire eight part-time employees, and now they are seeking a rent cut of $5,000 a month from Cooper Union.
