A piece of Penn Station history has been lost.
Penn Books, the Penn Station bookstore that survived the destruction of the original station, has closed.
The news of the impending closure was first reported by Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York.
“I am trying to survive,” the owner Craig Newman wrote in a Facebook post in the #SaveNYC group. “But it gets harder every day. My rent is now a staggering $45,000 a month, not including property taxes, and another $20,000 a year in commercial rent tax. If anybody can do anything or cares about saving my bookstore, please HELP.”
Newman’s grandfather, Arthur Newman, started the bookstore in 1962. Newman has been working with his grandfather since 1978.
Landlord Vornado began revamping the West 33rd St. passageway in 2014, and fast-food options KFC, PizzaHut and eight other eateries closed. Construction is underway at those locations.
