Sadly, Manhattan is as famous for its vanished bookstores – the era-defining Gotham Book Mart, original gay bookstore The Oscar Wilde Bookshop, and the oldest independent bookstore, St. Mark’s Bookshop – as for those that have managed to survive, despite soaring rents. The paradox should alarm us: Manhattan is the densest population of readers on earth, with the fewest independent bookstores. Yet those that remain are an eccentric, expansive, and expertly curated lot. Here are nine of the greatest bookstores in New York, and the world, running the gamut from specialty stores such as Forbidden Planet and The Mysterious Bookshop, to institutions such as The Strand.
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
