Black Spring Books<\/a>, also a community hub that hosts everything from writing workshops to book launches to singles mixers to music shows, opened in April 2021. This was \u201calways a dream\u201d for Blat, an avid reader, writer and book collector. She was born in Riga, Latvia and her family immigrated to Brooklyn when she was one year old.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_5134.JPG.jpeg\")
Simona Blat, who opened Black Spring Books in 2021, is working to reopen the beloved Williamsburg bookstore after a devastating sewage flood.Photo courtesy of Daniel Penny<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t looking to necessarily start a business at the worst time ever,\u201d Blat said, but she had a collection of books, was out of a job, and \u201cserendipitously\u201d found the perfect building, located at 672 Driggs Ave.. It\u2019s a historic landmark located next door to the childhood home of Henry Miller.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The store takes its name from \u201cBlack Spring,\u201d the writer\u2019s short story collection.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seemed like a really beautiful, wonderful way to honor the rich literary history of Brooklyn,\u201d Blat said.\n<\/p>\n
Black Spring Books has carved its own space in that history. The GoFundMe describes the store as the \u201cwarmest bookstore, event space, living room, backyard, and second home for so many.\u201d Blat, similarly, referred to it as a \u201cthird space:\u201d a social environment separate from the usual back-and-forth of home and work.<\/p>\n
\u2018A living nightmare\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cF-ck f-ck f-ck f-ck,\u201d Blat recalled saying, as the reality of what was happening hit her. The sewage water continued to pour into the basement. Blat and her super began grabbing ruined books from the cloudy, brown water. Blat said her super was diving into the water, looking for a drain pipe to empty the basement. Blat began crying.<\/p>\n
The two found a pump and used it to move the sewage water into the street, into a grate. Books, already drenched in sewage water and ruined, were used to hold the grate open. Blat described it as a \u201cdo whatever is possible\u201d situation. Boxes of books, stacked on top of each other, began to crumble and fall once the cardboard got wet.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like trying to save a sinking ship,\u201d Blat said.\n<\/p>\n
In the following days, once most of the water was pumped out, Blat and her boyfriend, Drew, used an HVAC machine to suck out the remaining water, emptying it over a hundred times. They donned hazmat suits and N95 masks and rubber gloves and began putting soaked, contaminated items into trash bags. Over 100 were filled.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was overwhelming, and it took a lot,\u201d Blat said, as they slowly discovered what books had been ruined. In one case, she lost some of the donated personal library of the late editor-in-chief of \u201cCollier\u2019s Encyclopedia.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really breaks my heart,\u201d she said. \u201cI was entrusted with someone\u2019s lifelong collection, and I had lost portions of it.\u201d
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/MixCollage-27-Jul-2026-04-35-PM-1375.jpg\")
Black Spring Books, an independent bookstore and community gathering space in Williamsburg, remains closed after a sewage flood filled its basement and destroyed hundreds of books, including rare editions and donated collections.Photos courtesy of Simona Blat\n<\/p>\n
One day at a time<\/p>\n
After the flood, many in the literary community and beyond offered resources and help.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Blat\u2019s friend, writer Nicole Treska, who launched a book at the store, started a GoFundMe<\/a> campaign that has raised about $17,000. Blat was also contacted by the office of her local Assembly member, Emily Gallagher, which offered to connect her with legal advice and city and federal emergency assistance programs.<\/p>\n\u201cI mean, I\u2019m gonna cry,\u201d Blat said, grateful.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
For now, the bookstore owner said she takes it one day at a time. Her immediate goal is to reopen her doors after the store has remained closed since the flooding. She hopes to continue doing what she loves \u2014 and what she believes enriches the community.<\/p>\n
But reopening the doors is only part of the challenge facing the bookstore owner.\n<\/p>\n
Blat\u2019s rent was already a challenge before the flood. With her lease up for renewal, she said she is barely making rent and struggled on a daily basis even before the disaster. Sometimes, she feels like she has nothing left to give. Since that Saturday, Blat has found herself asking, \u201cWhy do I do this?\u201d She said the flood shook her and made her question the reality of the dream she has worked to build.<\/p>\n
Yet amid the uncertainty, Blat said the outpouring of support from the community has reminded her why Black Spring Books matters.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI still don\u2019t really know quite how to move forward, and I still feel extremely overwhelmed,\u201d Blat said. \u201cBut I feel like so many people want this place to continue to exist, and that it\u2019s meaningful to them, and that it\u2019s meaningful to the state of the world right now.\u201d<\/p>\n