Farrar, Straus & Giroux is making its first move since 1961, leaving Union Square and heading a few blocks west to new lodgings at 18 West 18th Street. The move is planned for the end of the year, possibly around the Christmas holidays.
"We’ve been talking about it for probably a year-and-a-half or so," FSG president Jonathan Galassi told PW. "When leases loom, you have to start thinking."
Unlike many other imprints under the Holtzbrinck Publishing umbrella (including St. Martin’s, Palgrave, Picador and Tor/Forge, all of which are located in the Flatiron Building on 23rd Street), FSG is retaining its own office. "It was never contemplated that we were going to be in the Flatiron Building," said Galassi. "We’ve always had our own address. We’ll be very close to them, but we’re separate. Everyone has always understood that that was a value that was important to our way of publishing. The whole Holtzbrinck ethos is about the independence of the constituent parts."
Galassi, after 21 years at FSG, is looking forward to his more spacious surroundings. "Now we’re on three floors; we’ll be on two larger floors. We’re taking raw space and creating our own offices out of it so we’ll be able to organize the relationships of the departments better, to have more communication flow, more efficient use of space. So it should be a much more livable and comfortable environment."
And how does the FSG staff feel, many of whom have been at FSG on Union Square for years? "I think that they probably feel three things," said Galassi. "They feel sad to be going away from something that their long-term connection to is something affectionate, in a way. But a lot of them think they are going to get better space so they’re excited about that. And where we’re moving to is very close to where we are now so nobody’s life patterns are being disrupted."
