Coliseum Books may be down – but like a gladiator in the arena, it is struggling to rise once more.
With its lease expiring next month, the famed independent bookstore faces closure, thanks to a huge increase in rent by the owners of the building at Broadway and 57th Street that Coliseum has called home for 27 years.
But the booksellers have vowed to open in another spot – and store insiders hope it will be nearby.
“We hope it can reopen, in the middle of next year,” said manager Allan Kelin. “With the energy of the owners, the chances are pretty good.”
Coliseum Books is the last of Midtown’s large independent bookstores. It offers more than 100,000 titles.
Faced with the building owners’ threefold increase in Coliseum’s $100,000-per-month rent, sources said, the store is scheduled to close on Jan. 25.
“They say the new AOL Time Warner building [at Columbus Circle] is affecting the rents in the area, even though they haven’t even moved in yet,” said another store manager, Ronald Stephenson.
Neither the store owners nor Joseph Moinian, the owner of the building, could be reached.