CYCO, a Yiddish bookstore and publishing house that has operated in New York City since 1938, has managed to stave off closure thanks to community support and a crowdfunding campaign that raised more than $62,000, Patch.com reported.
CYCO, pronounced "Tsiko" and short for Central Yiddish Cultural Organization, has bounced around New York City since its opening but has resided in Long Island City in Queens since 2010. Last fall, the bookstore's fate became uncertain after the nonprofit Atran Foundation announced that it would cut off its funding for CYCO, and by January CYCO had enough money only to keep it open through March.
Hy Wolfe, CYCO's director for the past 23 years, began searching for new benefactors while Rosza Daniel Lang/Levitsky, a longtime store patron, worked with writer Molly Crabapple to create a crowdfunding campaign. Launched in February, the campaign has so far raised $62,352 from more than 660 donors.
The funds from the campaign will not only cover the cost of rent for the next full year but also allow CYCO to run additional cultural programming like acting workshops, dance classes and printmaking lessons. Going forward, the organization also intends to switch from being volunteer-based to paid.
"We're at a point in time today where Yiddish is on the upswing," Wolfe told Patch. "To fund a book center and not close a book center down is one of the elements of the foundation of a language."