The East Village is losing another bookstore – and this time, it’s a big chain operation that’s biting the dust.
The Barnes & Noble branch at 4 Astor Place will close at the end of the year because the rent is too high, company spokeswoman Mary Ellen Keating said yesterday.
“We’d like to stay there, but we really can’t afford it,” she said.
Keating would not reveal how much the rent is.
Barnes & Noble has operated at Astor Place since 1994.
Shares of the company have been down as much as 10 percent this year as revenue growth slowed.