On Saving the St. Mark's Bookshop (From Itself)
Only capitalism can be allowed to decide anything! An idea that's working out great for the people of NYC so far. Isn't "If you can't pay whatever rent we're charging, get out" a great motto for a city? Choire Sicha, you're a stooge, you don't know which way is up, dude...
Posted on September 12, 2011 at 9:22 pm
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On Saving the St. Mark's Bookshop (From Itself)
Amazon may be open 24/7, lady, but you can't go there on your lunch break.
I actually do buy books at St. Mark's regularly (even Theory--"mishaps," you should have actually read the books, you might have learned something!). But the truth is that all the $16 paperbacks in the world aren't going to allow this bookstore to pay the rent that, say, a bank branch or a Duane Reade can (what did you think was going to be there next?). So the question becomes, can we rely on something other than pure economics to save the place? Can the public, through public action, have a say in the appearance of the landscape of its own daily life?
The answer to this question, luckily, is yes! It's a citizen action about the public landscape when you vote for a politician who supports low income housing. Or, it's a public action (successful, so far) to fight the arrival of WalMart in New York City. In fact, lots of cities, town, and communities make and act upon decisions about what kinds of businesses they want in their downtowns and Main Streets. Of course, many don't--traveled across America by highway recently? Housing developments and strip malls--economics unbridled. So which places do you like to visit and spend time in? Come on, Sicha, I know you love those McDonald's-free Hamptons...