EAST VILLAGE — Neighborhood coffee chain The Bean will take over the original St. Mark's Bookshop space on Third Avenue in September, according to the shop's owner.
The Bean unfurled signage in the windows of the storefront at 31 Third Ave. advertising the upcoming outpost, which is slated to open on Labor Day, said owner Ike Escava, adding that he plans to pay tribute to the longtime bookshop at the new location.
"We plan to put in some type of homage to the Bookstore as well as to some other East Village legends," Escava wrote in an email. "It is our intention to show off our East Village pride."
News of the opening was first reported by EV Grieve.
The bookstore was forced out of the storefront at the corner of St. Marks Place in 2014 due to rising rents before subsequently opening in a new space on East Third Street. The shop was unable to keep up with rent there, as well, and shuttered for good in February 2016.
The new coffee shop will be The Bean's fifth New York City outpost, including two others in the East Village, one near Union Square and another in WIlliamsburg.
