Strand Bookstore Owner Will 'Fight To End' Against Landmarking

EAST VILLAGE — The Strand Bookstore has gathered some 6,000 signatures to fight the building's possible landmarks designation, its owner said Tuesday.

Nancy Bass Wyden, who owns the famous store and its building at Broadway and E. 12th St., has been fighting a bureaucratic battle with the Landmarks Preservation Commission over the possible designation.

In December, the commission held its first hearing concerning the store and, on Tuesday, it held a rare second hearing on the matter after outrage from Wyden and her supporters.

"My family has proven its love and loyalty to the city," Wyden said. "We've proven our commitment to this building."

Wyden detailed her family's history at the bookstore, from her grandfather who opened the store nearly a century ago sleeping on a cot in the basement to her father who worked for years to save money to purchase the building himself, anticipating the difficulties an independent bookshop would face in the future.

Wyden fears landmarking the building would create bureaucratic hurdles for storefront or rooftop work with time-consuming additional steps for LPC approvals.

On Tuesday her lawyer, Alexander Urbelis, hinted at a possible legal battle if the commission votes to landmark it.

"I think a legal battle between the commission and the Strand would benefit neither party," said Urbelis. "However, we do know that we will fight and fight to the end to protect the Strand."

The building is up for designation along with six others along the Broadway corridor south of Union Square, which were a part of a negotiation of preservationists with Councilmember Carlina Rivera following the City Council approval of a 21-story technology training center, dubbed the "Tech Hub."

At the time, the Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation called the final plan a "fraction of a fraction" of what the group wanted.

Rivera continues to support the building's designation.

"There is no question it represents an integral part of our local history," Rivera said. "But after numerous conversations with LPC staff, I am confident in their assurances that this store will not be struck with burdensome delays or hurdles should its owners need to change the layout and design to react to future market realities."

Wyden and Urbelis proposed an alternative: protect the building's facade through a preservation "easement" in place of designation.

But one preservationist said an easement could provide less flexibility than designation.

"Those are also very strictly observed," said Andrea Goldwyn, director of public policy at The New York Landmarks Conservancy. "It requires a lot of review, and potentially would not allow the same flexibility that LPC designation would."

The Landmarks Commission Chairperson Sarah Carroll agreed an easement is not a favorable alternative and said she'd be able to elaborate at a public meeting on the matter. Carroll and other preservationists countered Wyden, saying much of the changes she has cited require only staff-level approval, which they argue is relatively quick and simple.

"[O]ur staff is flexible and very accessible," Carroll said at a Tuesday LPC hearing, calling Wyden's displeasure with a possible designation "philosophical opposition." "I just want to point out again that the Landmarks Commission is sympathetic and responsive to the needs of businesses."

Despite preservationists downplaying her fears, Wyden, who's husband is Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, said further research since December has only confirmed her concerns that being landmarked would financially burden the bookstore.

"I would hate to be the person that puts a memorial tombstone on the Strand because of all these added city agency costs," Wyden said.

Image credit: Rob Kim/Getty Images Image caption: A view of Strand Bookstore on Jan. 12, 2016.