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The Daily News had reported that an extension was in progress, but 
Veronica Liu, the managing editor for the publisher Seven Stories Press, said Word Up Bookstore, which she runs with the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance and Vantage Residential in a vacant Broadway storefront, will stay open through September. PHOTO: Gloria Pazmino
Word Up, the plucky volunteer bookstore occupying a vacant Broadway storefront, has received an extension from landlord Vantage Residential – it will continue to enchant local readers through the end of September.
the actual date was not confirmed until this week.
The bookstore at 4157 Broadway near W. 175th Street opened in June as part of the Uptown Arts Stroll and was supposed to close mid July. But co-organizers Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance and Veronica Liu, the managing editor for the publisher Seven Stories Press, both confirmed that landlord Vantage Residential had agreed to keep the shop open through September.
In just under a month what was a lonely former pharmacy has been transformed with borrowed shelves and chairs and a creaky secondhand air conditioner into a lively space devoted to all manner of printed material, on consignment from small presses from around the country.
The makeshift operation – entirely volunteer – includes homemade signage and spur-of-the-moment maintenance, such as a bucket suspended from the ceiling to capture a leak above the checkout counter.
Literature – printed in English, Spanish, Russian and other languages – is sold by consignment with local authors keeping 100 percent of the revenue.
The space has been a beacon for the local literary set, with events scheduled just about every night, from poetry readings, to concerts, to meetings of writers groups.
On Sat., July 9 at 2 p.m., comic book artists Seth Tobocman, Sandy Jimenez, Mac McGill and others will perform live readings from their work with projected images.
Word Up is open weekdays from 4 to 9pm and weekends from noon-4pm.
For more information visit http://wordupbooks.wordpress.com or just head down to the bookstore.
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