St. Mark's Books Is Out of the Woods for Now

In a turn of events from very recent news that New York's St. Mark's Bookshop would not be receiving a rent reduction from a self-described "broke" Cooper Union (inciting a flurry of discussion about the college's finances), The New York Times reported late last night that the two have actually reached a deal. Instead of the $5,000 reduction the bookshop said was needed to stay in business, Cooper Union has instead "agreed to reduce the store’s rent to about $17,500 a month from about $20,000 for one year, and to forgive $7,000 in debt. The school will also provide student help with revising the store’s business plan." Student help with the business plan? Well, whatever works!

Turns out that Manhattan borough president Scott M. Stringer jumped in to meet with both parties in hopes of working out an agreement. More from the Times:

“I tried to split the difference,” Mr. Stringer said, adding that he intervened because the store, open since 1977, was important to the neighborhood’s cultural life. “When an independent bookstore goes out of business, a part of us goes with it. In my neighborhood, on the Upper West Side, when Shakespeare and Company went out of business, West Siders lost something that they couldn’t get back.”

The Cooper Union, which gives every student a full scholarship, has its own financial problems and announced on Monday that it might begin charging tuition.

“Despite our constraints, we felt it was important to help them because of what their presence means to our community,” said the college’s president, Jamshed Bharucha, who took over in July. “The relief that we’re providing is so that the bookstore can come up with a viable and sustainable business plan not dependent on further subsidies. That’s the key piece there.”

In the past year, the bookstore’s owners have reduced their staff through layoffs and have cut their own salaries in half, but it was not enough to offset losses from the poor economy and the rise in sales of electronic books. Mr. Contant said August was the store’s worst month in memory.

But since then, as the store owners went public with their losses, the neighborhood rallied in response. A group called the Cooper Square Committee started a petition to save the store, attracting 40,000 signatures. Business picked up by about 25 percent in September and October, Mr. McCoy said, leading him and Mr. Contant to believe they could continue with a smaller reduction in rent.

The owners have no plans to rehire staff. The store’s finances remain fragile, especially as the current sales levels recede, Mr. Contant said.

“The outpouring of support for us was just incredible,” he said. “But you never know what the deal is going to be. We have to make people realize it’s not over as such just because we’re out of the woods for now.”