Yu & Me Books owner grateful Chinatown community is supporting effort to reopen after devastating July 4 fire
NEW YORK -- A fire in Chinatown shuttered an important bookstore in the community, but the owner of Yu & Me Books said people have stepped up to make sure it doesn't close and continues elevating diverse voices.
A fire in an apartment above the shop on Mulberry Street on July 4 sent smoke and water down below, and ruined Lucy Yu's hand-built furniture and cafe.
"To see that destroyed in hours, is difficult," said Yu. "The largest damage was the water damage. As you know, books are made of paper."
Yu and her friend salvaged what they could out of the approximately 2,000 books inside the shop, but it wasn't much.
In January 2022, CBS New York's Elle McLogan met Yu, a former chemical engineer who poured her life savings into opening the store.
"It's the first female Asian American bookstore in New York City and the focus is on immigrant stories, mostly those that don't take up a ton of shelf space at most other bookstores, and I wanted to full up my entire bookstore," Yu said.
FLASHBACK: Yu & Me Books: Lucy Yu's Chinatown bookstore focuses on immigrant stories
It became a place for people to read, grab coffee or wine, or sit and talk.
"I think the hunger for what our store offered became even stronger once people heard about it. That was something I never expected," said Yu.
Author Henry Chang stopped by the store to check on Yu after the fire.
"I was heartbroken," said Chang. "She became a big success in a very short period of time and everybody loves her."
Yu said it will be a year before she can reopen the Mulberry Street location because of the repairs needed.
The bookstore may be down, but it's not out. More than 6,000 people have donated money.
"Asking for the minimum of what it would take for us to stay open for a year and we reached our goal within four hours and more than doubled our goal," said Yu.
"When this happened, people really came out," said Chang.
Yu said she can continue paying her employees and plans to run pop-ups while looking for a temporary location in Chinatown.
"This was devastating and it was very hard, but to see the outpour of love and support for a very tiny store, we're maybe a thousand square feet, and I didn't know this dream was going to be anything anyone cared about," said Yu.
The fire was a plot twist. The next chapter was the generosity of others.