Does anyone not hate Bill de Blasio?
The outgoing New York City boss has the opposite of the Midas Touch. Even the most minor, seemingly problem-free things, spin out of control. And then suddenly he’s in a public feud with the wife of Senator Ron Wyden and the owner of a classic bookstore.
The owner of a famous bookstore in New York City is pushing back on a decision to commemorate it with a historic landmark designation, blasting it as “eminent domain” and a “bureaucratic straitjacket.”
Nancy Bass Wyden, owner of the ‘Strand Bookstore’ — one of the few remaining in the city — is “already a landmark” and that the historic designation was a “punishment” that just invited more “red tape and bureaucracy.”
“They get to decide what color our sign is, our awning is, what material we use,” Wyden said, according to NPR.
“They get to decide what kind of windows we have, what kind of metal we use on our doors. Anything that has to even be put on the rooftop, they get the decision-making on that and it’s just wrong. It’s just unfair.”
Wyden is married to Senator Ron Wyden, who represents Wyoming. A Democrat.
Bill de Blasio is currently running in 2020. This is not great timing for getting into a dumb fight with a Senate Democrat.
There’s nothing to really landmark. Past renovations have turned Strand into a quasi-Barnes and Noble. The bookstore is historic. But it doesn’t much resemble its past bare concrete and steel shelves glory.
And you can’t landmark that.
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