Vanishing New York reports that Twelfth Street Books on 12th Street between Fifth Avenue and University Place is closing after ten years in this location, moving to Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn (becoming Atlantic Books), and the Strip House (a steakhouse chain) next door is taking over its space.
Some history from VNY:
Sadly, in 1999, Strip House replaced 75-year-old Asti, “one of New York’s most beloved and treasured restaurants,” where the waitstaff sang opera while they served Italian dishes. Said one baritone at the time, “In the last decade, our customers either died, retired or could no longer afford to come regularly.” …
Of Mr. Glazier[owner], the Strip House website says he has “put a permanent mark on New York City’s history and landscape by taking ordinary locations and converting them into spectacular concepts.” Correction: Asti was the absolute opposite of ordinary and 12th Street Books is a rarity in a city hellbent on making bookstores disappear.
Asti was a sweet place (although I don’t recall being serenaded by the waiters) and represents the charm of not-ordinary New York, something the aesthetic of the glossy Strip House wouldn’t quite comprehend.
Not sure when the bookstore’s last day is (soon) but you can get a shopping bag of books for $5.
It feels wrong to just sit and watch everything glossed over in CEO Mayor Bloomberg’s New York. Would they put up with this in Boston?* Just curious.
*where the Mayor hails from.
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Photo: Baslow
goodbye to manhattan’s best second-hand bookshop. i guess what we really need is yet another steakhouse, right? “…don’t know what you’ve got ’till it’s gone…..”