New York's Strand bookshop begs to avoid official landmarking

Much-loved retailer boasting ‘18 miles of books’ says city’s plans to legally recognise its status would entail expenses that might kill the business

New York City’s most celebrated bookshop, the Strand, is a cultural landmark for locals and tourists alike, promising “18 miles of books” to its customers since 1927. But now the shop is battling attempts to make its landmark status official, saying the designation could destroy it.

Run by three generations of the Bass family since it opened, the shop at the corner of 12th Street and Broadway is the only survivor of what was once known as “Book Row”, home to 48 booksellers in the 1920s. New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission is keen to declare the Strand a city landmark, describing it as “a centre of literary life in Lower Manhattan” and “an internationally recognised bookstore and destination”. But at a public hearing on Tuesday, owner Nancy Bass Wyden begged the commission to reconsider.

Related: A story of survival: New York’s last remaining independent bookshops

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