Strand owner: Landmark status would endanger my bookstore

The owner of an iconic bookstore made good on her promise to beg New York City to withhold landmark status from the building that houses it.

The Strand, which opened in 1927, is one of the world’s largest bookstores — part of the reason that the Landmarks Preservation Commission seeks to designate it as a landmark. (Its architecture is also noted.)

However, owner Nancy Bass Wyden explained to the New York Times that landmark status would bring a huge financial burden with it, noting the irony in how an award meant to preserve would in fact endanger the business.

She shared the same concerns at a public hearing Tuesday, according to the Guardian, which also cited the New York Post as saying a decision is expected in early 2019.

Read more about the Strand’s history here.