McNally Jackson
Run by a husband-and-wife team of book editors, McNally Jackson is most New Yorkers’ first stop for international, classic and contemporary books. Outfitted both with a café and its own printing press that is open to customers, McNally Jackson also stocks DVDs and a capacious selection of literary magazines.
52 Prince St, New York, NY 10012, +212 274 1160
Housing Works
This used bookstore is a nonprofit business dedicated to combatting homelessness and AIDS. Besides its impressive shelves of books, its perks include a used record section, a fantastic array of coffee table art books and racks of vintage science fiction books, making it SoHo’s premiere bookstore.
126 Crosby St, New York, NY 10012, +212 334 3324
192 Books
192 Books manages to achieve a lot with its modest space; a new bookstore in Chelsea that has outlasted the same area’s defunct Barnes & Noble. Unlike many bookstores of its ilk, 192 Books demonstrates a curated collection where you can actually discover buried treasures of fiction and nonfiction among the usual NPR-buzz books and recent hardcovers.
192 10th Ave, New York, NY 10011, +212 255 4022
© Courtesy 192 Books
Idlewild
Idlewild Books, near Washington Square Park, is something special indeed – an internationally flavored bookstore where you can shop by country, region and language. In addition to its indispensable travel section, Idlewild also offers language courses, making good on its mantra of voracious reading without superficial or geographic borders.
170 7th Ave S, New York, NY 10014, +212 414 8888
Bluestockings
This volunteer-staffed bookstore specializes in feminist and socially committed books – something genuinely enviable and empowering in times when marginalized populations can feel politically powerless. But it’s impossible to feel that way within its doors, where you can browse hundreds of titles engaged in questions of community, representation, and civil rights –definitive New York City values – for all.
172 Allen St, New York, NY 10002, +212 777 6028
The Strand
Here it is! The famed 18 miles of books of The Strand make it much more than a bookstore – it is a New York City institution, where you can buy and sell everything under the sun (as long as it is printed), and while away many an afternoon within its always-stunning collection. Despite its status as the lifeline of Manhattan book culture, The Strand has a rainy-day, homey feel even when it is bustling with customers from around the world.
828 Broadway, New York, NY 10003, +212 473 1452
The Mysterious Bookshop
Otto Penzler’s Mysterious Bookshop is the destination for fans of mysteries and its founder (who edits an impressive number of anthologies on the subject), lovingly curates the store’s once-in-a-lifetime collection of novels, collection, and all things mysterious. Visiting the store will truly take you back to a day of friendly neighborhood bookstores, and it is impossible to browse without feeling touched by the love that has gone into maintaining the store over the years, despite the gruesome subjects so voluminously expounded upon within its shelves.
58 Warren St, New York, NY 10007, +212 587 1011
Forbidden Planet
Primarily a comic book store, Forbidden Planet is more accurately termed a fan culture store, with a vast and always-entertaining collection of artifacts – action figures, magnets, statuettes, you name it – from the worlds of science fiction and fantasy. As such, its considerable collection of genre books is unrivaled in specialty stores, and the staff are always more than happy to make a recommendation!
832 Broadway, New York, NY 10003, +212 473 1576
Book Culture
Not to be slighted by the downtown crowd, Columbia’s massive two-story used-and-new bookstore has never faltered (even when it changed its name from Labyrinth Books), supplying the city with a Strand-worthy used collection, as well as the latest from independent and university presses.
536 W 112th St, New York, NY 10025, +212 865 1588