Community Bookstore (Cobble Hill)

Community Bookstore

Company type	Independent bookstore
Industry	Retail (Books)
Founded	1974
Founder	John Scioli, Susan Scioli
Defunct	2016
Fate	Closed following owner retirement
Headquarters	Brooklyn, New York , United States
Products	Books

Not to be confused with Community Bookstore (Park Slope).

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Storefront of Community Bookstore in June 2016, shortly before closing

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Interior perspective of Community Bookstore from mid-May 2016, looking toward the back from near the entrance.

Community Bookstore was a bookstore situated in Brooklyn's Cobble Hill district. Initially established in 1974 within Brooklyn Heights, it relocated to Cobble Hill in 1985 following a significant rent increase. The store was managed by John Scioli until his retirement and the store’s closure in 2016. It gained a reputation as an unusually cluttered bookstore, densely packed with books largely sourced through donations from the local community.

Description

The bookstore's interior was famously congested with piles of books, often making browsing a challenging experience. The Wall Street Journal described the venue as having "books stacked from floor to ceiling" and shelves overflowing above a floor covered waist-high with what seemed like an endless array of volumes. Beneath this sea of paperbacks, glimpses of worn carpet occasionally appeared. According to The New York Times, it was "not the typical destination for new bestsellers, literary journals, coffee, or author events but rather a place to explore and reflect—a haven for treasure seekers and those searching as much as for book lovers." Gothamist called it "a chaotic maze" and one of the final bastions of "messy bookstores" in New York City, where navigating without toppling piles was nearly impossible. Despite its disorderly appearance, tens of thousands of books were organized into sections and alphabetized in certain areas.

Scioli noted that prior to his wife’s passing in 2002, the store maintained a more structured arrangement. She had been more adept at limiting incoming book donations. He candidly admitted to The New York Times that he considered himself somewhat of a hoarder: "I feared dying beneath a pile of books one day without anyone ever discovering me."

Eventually, donations became so plentiful that purchasing new stock was no longer necessary.

John Scioli was recognized as an unconventional bookseller with a sharp sense of humor. He often sat outside the shop smoking cigarettes, setting prices that sometimes appeared arbitrary, and rarely offered book recommendations. The store's operating hours were irregular and tended to start later in the day—generally opening after 5 p.m. and occasionally remaining open past midnight—based largely on Scioli’s preferences.

History

John and Susan Scioli launched their first Community Bookstore in Park Slope, Brooklyn in 1971. At that time, Park Slope was emerging as a popular neighborhood for young residents but lacked a well-established commercial district. Recognizing this potential, the Sciolis began with a small shop and gradually expanded. In 1974, they opened a second branch on Montague Street within Brooklyn Heights.

A native New Yorker born in Manhattan's Little Italy to immigrant Italian parents, John Scioli worked various jobs including retail and taxi driving before entering the bookselling industry. Susan, formerly a teacher, brought literary knowledge to the venture; John developed his passion for reading after starting the bookstores. After their separation in 1980, each took ownership of one store: John retained the Brooklyn Heights location while Susan managed the Park Slope store until selling it in 2001 to Catherine Bohne. Bohne later sold it to Stephanie Valdez and Ezra Goldstein in 2010.

Dispute over commercial rent regulation

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Storefront in October 2016, after closing

During the mid-1980s, John's Brooklyn Heights store became a focal point when the landlord chose not to renew Scioli's lease, aiming instead to lease the premises to an ice cream shop willing to pay more than twice the previous rent. As Brooklyn Heights is a wealthy area experiencing steep rent increases, the bookstore attracted media attention as an example of smaller, longstanding businesses being displaced from New York neighborhoods. Scioli found himself involved in legal disputes with his landlord over the eviction, which in turn sparked community support rallying behind him. At that time, then-mayor Ed Koch was against commercial rent control; in response, Scioli publicly increased the price of Koch's 1984 autobiography, Mayor, to triple its original retail price.

After the prospective ice cream business withdrew from the agreement, the landlord initiated a lawsuit against both them and Scioli, demanding over $42 million in damages. The suit accused them of orchestrating protests, letter-writing campaigns, media attention, threats of violence and economic boycotts, as well as applying political and community pressure and inciting coercion and violent demonstrations. The landlord's attorney described Scioli's conduct as "a campaign of terror". Scioli maintained that his only form of protest was what he called a "meltdown," where ten melting ice cream cones were displayed outside the store atop a bookshelf. The New York branch of the American Civil Liberties Union intervened to protect Scioli's free speech rights.

Cobble Hill

Anticipating inevitable rent increases in Brooklyn Heights even without eviction, Scioli sought a more affordable property to purchase rather than lease. He discovered a building located at the intersection of Court Street and Warren Street in nearby Cobble Hill. The bookstore operated from this location between 1985 and its closure following Scioli's retirement in 2016. Reflecting on his tenure, he noted that he had "attempted to close down two or three times" before, unable to "comprehend why people still tolerated this place. Yet regardless of my efforts, customers kept buying books." Ultimately, he sold the property for more than ten times his initial purchase price.

Film

In 2016, John Scioli and his bookstore were featured in a brief documentary titled Booklyn, produced by Paul Szynol for New Yorker magazine.