St. Mark's Bookstore fighting to stay alive (Michael Moore will be there today)

What an opportunstic little twit. I hope he's wearing his "I'm a down and out guy just like you, can't you see I'm wearing Wranglers, have a flannel and wear a baseball cap everywhere I go" look... Meanwhile, he lives in a 7.5MM penthouse on the upper-east side.

East Village. NOT Lower East Side. Fercryinoutloud. 31 3rd Avenue Is not even near where the LES starts.

The 40,000 petitioners can fuck themselves with a power drill. Buy your goddamned books there and they'll have no trouble paying market rent. What kind of lazy-assed cockroaches appeal to a landlord rather than resolving the matter by actually patronizing the business?

@ 11:58 You sound like a typical trust funder. Go back to Connecticut asshole.

Booklynvegan

If every one who signs the petition just goes there and buys a book there wont be a need for a petition. Make sense?

Oh no Michael Moore made a bunch of money by putting out good books and movies. That must mean that he doesn't care about populist causes right? He's done a lot more good than you have.

You forgot to mention that he is fat.

$20,000/mo rent is EXACTLY why NYC is quickly becoming a parody of itself. There is no way an independent business could even attempt to pay that. That one month of rent is more than most of the people who work there make ALL YEAR.

We already priced every good artist, musician, or author out of town. Now all the great bookstores, record stores, and restaurants are going to go too. NYC is just a playground for the rich, and the poor or those from other places are treated like utter shit. The amount of arrogance, elitism, and entitlement in the air is far greater than the oxygen. Say goodbye to "the culture" you love so much hipsters.

You're half right 12:08. I grew up middle class, but I make more than enough money to be able to one day set up trust funds for my own kids if I choose to do so. I can tell by your dim response that you'll never be blessed with that possibility though.

Sorry...cant take Michael serious anymore with that fat ass neck of his. Looks like a Jim Henson creation. Stop eating you fat tub of shit.

Heh. Someone said Michael Moore puts out good books and movies.

You guys are all missing the point. If the bookstore is forced out of the premises, the East Village could get a much-needed American Appareil store or maybe even a Starbucks!

12:14 probably lives in Vermont.

Michael Moore is a working man's hero (sandwich)

Geez. This reminds me of all the CBGB bullshit. The place had sucked for years and then, all of a sudden, people think the landlord or city have some sort of obligation to prop it up.

Go to the bookstore and buy some books. Otherwise, shut the fuck up!

why not ask the parents of the kids who go to cooper? lord knows they're good for it

If those 40k people donated $6 each to the book store, it would be able to pay its rent for a year at the current rent. Not sure what the rent's going up to, but even if it doubled, those 40k people would just have to donate $12 each for a year's rent.

I realize it says "nearly 40,000 people" so maybe some big spenders could throw in like a $20.

A petition to force the landlord to lower the rent? Wow! Ok.

The rent is too damn high!

They should do a Kickstarter!

shut it down. st marks needs a duane reade.

Some people don't understand economics.

Momofuku Book Bar. Boil those motherfucking books!

Who gives a fuckin' shit about some bookstore? I DIDN'T GET A RADIOHEAD TICKET!!!! WAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!

Cooper Union should be ashamed of themselves, they have more money than god and this type of greed is ruining every unique thing left to NYC. we are turning into middle america right before your eyes. just look at what cooper union is going to do to astor place - turn it into midtown!!! with all the corporate schmucks to come along with it. SAVE ST MARKS BOOKSTORE!!! SAVE NYC!!

Michael Moore is a fat slug that is making my healthcare insurance premiums skyrocket.

We ALL pay for fat people. I do not want to support your destructive lifestyle, Fat McFatty

SAVE ST MARK'S BOOKSTORE? Why do you hate the planet? Buy a Kindle already, you goober.

Hey everyone, I know its a rainy day out there but cheer up! Lets not get all down on bookstores and petitions! The free market is cool, but it does push some cool things out of the city. Heck that's why I live in BK. Bring your bookstore here maybe, except not to my street because people are always putting out free books in front of their house here. Its kinda funny because you get to see who just finished "Tuesdays with Morrie" and what not. Today I found a copy of "memories of a geisha" in front of someones house and I chuckled and took it. Then I noticed the bookmark; two radiohead tickets for tonight. That's life for ya i guess.

I was just over by the Occupy Wall Street square. What a pathetic bunch of hippie dickheads. Michael Moore has been promoting these fools and they have no clear motive and are just a bunch of hacky sack playing nerds. I hope they all get their ass beat by the cops. I hate hippies just as much as I hate Wall Street. Che rules!

"Forgive yourself before you die. Then forgive others." (166) - Morrie

12:15, I couldn't have said it better.

@12:17 thank you for assuming my intelligence level and being so rich and smart. I will assume you don't read books, they're filled with all those hard words and stuff.

It's been a pleasure sharing the city with you, you being too lazy to actually spend time to look for apartments, paying middlemen who keep the rents artificially high to please landlords, driving rents up to ridiculous prices due to your laziness, keeping everyone not a lucky, connected, elitist scumbag, in poverty. It's so glad you could find the time in your day to belittle a famous indie bookstore inbetween your Kardashians fix and the stock market reports. Please, move to the suburbs like you will in 3 years anyway, watch Netflix, keep counting your money and not paying your fair share, while the rest of humanity pays for it with their blood and sweat.

Why is this place considered an institution worthy of special treatment?

LOL, suburgatory, amirite!?!

@2:46 because they sell books. @2:39 maybe they should see if they can pay their rent in "blood and sweat"

You worked really hard on that, 2:39.

I'm sure that anyone else here who has been subjected to similar comments will agree that it is highly amusing to be the target of a blindly flailing idiot who thinks he's hurling daggers of insight.

@12:51
"Geez. This reminds me of all the CBGB bullshit. The place had sucked for years and then, all of a sudden, people think the landlord or city have some sort of obligation to prop it up."

Take a quaylude bro..Just because your stupid band couldn't get to play there don't be all pissy about CBGBs..
Sure Hilly should have bought the place back in the 70s when things were going for pennies on the bowery..but NO ONE thought that far in advance..
Also, that place was historic..There were GREAT bands playing there up until the place closed.Just because you didn't like them doesn't mean shit..

@12:55
"why not ask the parents of the kids who go to cooper? lord knows they're good for it"

Cooper Union is free to those who earn a scholarship...that means..for those who deserve it..not just because dad has money..

Bullshit, 3:21. CBGB was nothing but a historic relic for a long time. Part of that was due to the fact that the NYC music scene was shit, but their booking of touring acts sucked as well.

unemployed 20-somethings always = trouble waiting to happen.

cops ought to just keep whacking them with billy clubs until they get the picture and join the human race or assume room temperature.

who buys books anymore? just put another starbucks in it's place and get it over with.

Yes rent in New York is high, but this isn't why bookstores and record stores in this city keep on disappearing. They're outdated businesses that sadly don't have a place in our world today. These kinds of businesses are closing down all across the country, from the big cities to the suburbs. Why should Cooper Union have to prop up a business that will never be able to survive? It's just delaying the inevitable. What will St. Marks Books do the next time their lease is up? Technology has pretty much killed physical media, and if someone really wants a physical copy of a book or record they can just go on Amazon and get it cheaper anyway.

4:30-well put

12:15 knows what's up

4:30 nailed it.

Damn y'all harse crowd to go back n forth with. Not that I'm on either side. 20 Mins TIL Michael Moore ! Lol

who cares? kindle is where its at.

3:47

please learn to use the correct form of "its"

obviously, you need to go back to some type of school, or possibly read more well-written books

can;t believe NYC has such a bunch of whinners.spirit of new york city has been gone since the 1980s

why can't nyc go back to 1977?

Thanks to the disappearance of book & record stores, I now enjoy killing time in cell phone stores.

@ 4:30 the thing is their lease isn't up. they just agreed to a 10-year lease at this rent only two years ago

I was just over by the Occupy Wall Street square. What a pathetic bunch of hippie dickheads. Michael Moore has been promoting these fools and they have no clear motive and are just a bunch of hacky sack playing nerds. I hope they all get their ass beat by the cops. I hate hippies just as much as I hate Wall Street. Che rules!

Posted by Anonymous | September 29, 2011 1:42 PM

You obviously enjoy bailing out Wall St three times to the tune of Billions which they did not need either when they gamble and manipulate with others money.

You do realize theres a pretty varied crowd down there besides punk or hippie looking kids dont you? Theres union workers, teachers, and many others there from all over the country.

^ Cool. A nice variety of stupid people.

2:57-right on

7:41-i don't give a fuck about grammer. i didn't go to school and will never need to go to school. you know exactly what im saying so fuck off bitch