If you’re still in the neighborhood, you have approximate five hours to say goodbye to Morningside Books, which closes tonight at midnight. The New York Times spent some time at the store recently, and yesterday detailed both the store’s lively final days, and its financial struggles, along with a slideshow.

Many neighborhood residents talked about their disappointment over the store’s closure – one resident said, “it’s not like losing a finger. It’s like losing an arm.” Apparently, the store owners received over $60,000 in donations to pay the store’s rent (approximate $9,000 a month, according to the Times).

But the story also notes just how fiscally untenable the store’s position was: $158,000 owed in rent, and the owners finally threw in the proverbial towel in April, after several revenue-increasing options (including opening a coffee shop inside the store) fell through. It’s unclear what the space’s future will be–the owner of Book Culture has entered a proposal to buy it, continuing the fifty-year streak of it being an independent bookstore–but for now, we are just sad it had to end.