SPECIALS
WITH THIS AD EXPIRES 5/31/19
SPECIALS WITH THIS AD EXPIRES 5/31/19
SPECIALS WITH THIS AD EXPIRES 5/31/19
SPECIALS WITH THIS AD EXPIRES 5/31/19
BRONX TIMES R 24 EPORTER, MAY 22-28, 2015 BT
Noëlle Santos, The Lit. Bar owner, and Borough President Diaz (l) cut the ribbon for the
grand opening of the Bronx’s only bookstore. Photo by Veronica Feliciano
The snazzy new Lit Bar offi cally
opens shelves on Alexander Ave.
Borough President Diaz purchased copies
of Maya Angelou’s ‘Poems’ and ‘The Son Will
Rise In December’ by Eddie Pabon during the
bookstore’s grand opening celebration.
Photo by Veronica Feliciano
BY ALEX MITCHELL
A place for literacy has fi nally returned
to the Bronx and its called The
Lit Bar.
Marking its offi cial opening on
131 Alexander Avenue, the years-long
brainchild of Soundview’s own Noelle
Santos pairs the borough’s only bookstore
with a snazzy and fun, spirited
bar for all.
Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.
watched and cheered along with Santos
as she cut the ribbon on her revolutionary
‘book and bar’ concept along
with many notable Bronxites on Saturday,
April 27, better known as National
Independent Bookstore Day.
She took her inspiration to open the
borough’s only independent bookstore
some years ago when Barnes and Noble
in the Mall at Bay Plaza closed permanently
at the end of 2016.
It was a concept that began like
many start up businesses, utilizing
‘pop up’ shops to gain interest and fi -
nancial backing.
In Santos’ case, she started her
quest at the Bronx Museum of the Arts
at the same time that B&N had left the
Bronx.
The Lehman College graduate won
the New York Public Library and Citi
Foundation’s NYStartUp business
plan competition over 358 startups
within the same period of time, propelling
her concept forward.
Some time after that, her crowdfunding
campaign to “bring a goddamn
bookstore to the Bronx” ended
up raising a whopping $170,000.
Fast forward to 2019, the little book
kiosk evolved into a 2,300-square-foot
beautiful, decorated space of shelves
that comprise a rolling library that the
borough has been so long deprived of.
One of the borough’s most talented
artists, Andre Trenier was called on to
do the lifelike mural of a woman holding
a book titled: ‘The Lit Bar by No-
elle Santos’.
In the back of all that is where the
more fl uid portion of the store begins.
That’s where a hybrid bar and café sets
an ambiance unique to that of many
other bookstores.
From a bar with the décor of stacks
of books, to comfortable upholstered
and cozy chairs, to smartly placed tabletops,
the Lit Bar is ready to do business
Bronx style.
Santos’ Lit Bar joins a revitalized
corridor of unique Bronx businesses,
like next-door neighbor Beatstro, a hip
hop-themed restaurant that pays homage
to the south Bronx.
Most of all, it returns a much
needed opportunity to encourage reading
in the Bronx.