At bottom is a list of all the independent, non-antiquarian, non-collegiate bookstores in NYC that I know of (though I've yet to visit them all...yet), as I assume no one needs help in finding or learning about chain bookstores. I hope this list is helpful for those living in and/or visiting the city. I'll try to update it as needed, and please comment or e-mail if you notice omissions or errors.
THE TOP TEN:
(updated 2012.06.12)
1. Van Alen Books, 30 West 22nd Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)THE FULL LIST:
The only bookstore in NYC devoted to architecture and design (since Urban Center books closed in 2010) is this small storefront space designed by LOT-EK that incorporates tiered seats for events. Van Alen Institute's bookstore opened in late April 2011, and its initial selection is small but very good. Hopefully over time the stock will expand while maintaining the quality.
Finds: The Studio-X Guide to Liberating New Forms of Conversation
2. McNally Jackson Books, 52 Prince Street (between Lafayette and Mulberry)
This two-story space with cafe in Soho/Nolita has a selection of architecture books that has gotten bigger and better, carrying titles by publishers not found in other bookstores. Likewise for its selection of periodicals on architecture. Note: McNally Jackson is the name for Canadian bookseller McNally Robinson's New York store.
Finds: Translation from Drawing to Building by Robin Evans
3. Strand Bookstore, 828 Broadway (at 12th Street)
No surprise here, as it would be difficult for the store with a self-proclaimed 8 miles of books not to have a good selection of architecture books. They also have a very good selection of books on urbanism.
Finds: A Sense of Place, a Sense of Time; The Destruction of Memory: Architecture at War; Good City Form; Shelter
4. MoMA Design and Book Store, Midtown: 11 West 53rd Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues), Soho: 81 Spring Street (at Crosby Street)
It would be surprising if MoMA didn't have a quality choice of books on architecture; unfortunately the best selection isn't at Spring Street or the 53rd Street storefront, but on the second floor mezzanine inside the museum, where a $20 fee gains you admission.
Finds: AMP Arquitectos
5. Rizzoli Bookstore, 31 West 57th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)
A beautiful, three-story townhouse in Midtown is home to the well-known publisher's bookshop that carries titles by numerous publishers, not just Rizzoli. Go to the second floor for architecture book and the third floor for sale books.
Finds: Talking Cities
6. Kinokuniya Bookstore, 1073 Sixth Avenue (between 40th and 41st Streets)
The Japanese bookstore's new location across from Bryant Park is a three-story space with a large selection of Japanese and English-language books, magazines, as well as Japanese tchotchkies and a cafe. The architecture selection is solid with hard to find titles from Japan alongside domestic and European releases.
Finds: Casa Brutus
7. The Skyscraper Museum, 39 Battery Place (at First Place)
This small gift shop features merchandise related to the museum, but also a good selection of architecture books ranging "from the theoretical to the aesthetic, of interest to everyone from the novice to the connoisseur." Admission to the museum is not necessary for a visit to the gift shop.
8. P.S. Bookshop, 76 Front Street, Brooklyn (at Washington Street)
The airy loft space in Dumbo is but one reason to check out this newish bookstore. Of course the other is a really good selection of used books on architecture, similar in breadth to Spoonbill and Sugartown. Note: The store was in the midst of moving to this new address the last time I was in the area.
Finds: Terminal Architecture by Martin Pawley
9. Book Culture, 536 West 112th St. (1/2 block west of Broadway)
Located close to Columbia University, this two-story store naturally caters to academia (meaning the best time NOT to go is the start of terms when the store is turned upside down to cater to students and professors), though it carries a really good selection of new titles on architecture and urbanism, with many remainders at low prices and the occasional used gem.
Finds: GAM Issue 01, Production of Space, Fabrications
*NOTE: Book Culture is the new name of Labyrinth Books.
10. Archivia Books, 993 Lexington Avenue (between 71st and 72nd Streets)
"Specializing in architecture, art, design decorative arts, gardens, interiors," this Upper West Side bookstore's selection veers towards the traditional over the contemporary. Nevertheless it's now the closest in NYC to a bookstore devoted to architecture books, and the space is conducive to browsing.
Tied for 11 (while these don't have "top-ten"-worthy architecture selections, they excel as places to "make finds" in other subjects or just hang out):
» East Village Books and Records, 101 St. Mark's Place (at Avenue A)
» Housing Works Bookstore, 126 Crosby Street (1/2 block south of Houston)
» Left Bank Books, 17 8th Avenue (between Jane and West 12th Streets)
» Mercer Street Books, 206 Mercer Street (between Bleecker and Houston)
» St. Mark's Bookshop, 31 Third Avenue (at 9th Street)
» Spoonbill and Sugartown, Booksellers, 218 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn (at 5th Street)
» Westsider Rare and Used Books, 2246 Broadway (between 80th and 81st Streets)
(updated 2012.06.12)
» 12th Street Books, 179 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn (between Court and Clinton Streets)
» 192 Books, 192 Tenth Avenue (at 21st Street)
7th Avenue Books, 202 Seventh Avenue, Brooklyn (between 2nd and 3rd Streets)
» Airstream Books, 546 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn (between Lorimar and Union Avenues)
» Alabaster Books, 122 4th Avenue (between 12th and 13th Streets)
» Archivia Books, 993 Lexington Avenue (between 71st and 72nd Streets)
» Argosy Book Store, 116 East 59th Street (Between Park Avenue and Lexington)
» Assouline Store, 768 Fifth Avenue (at 58th Street, in the Plaza Hotel)
»Biography Bookshop, 400 Bleecker Street (at 11th Street)MOVED/RENAMED (see bookbook)
» Bluestockings Books, 172 Allen Street (between Stanton and Rivington)
» Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks, 163 West 10th Street (between 7th Avenue and Waverly Place)
» Bookberries, 983 Lexington Avenue (at 71st Street)
» bookbook, 266 Bleecker Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues)
» The Book Cellar, 1465 York Avenue (at 78th Street)
» Book Court, 163 Court Street, Brooklyn (between Pacific and Dean Streets)
» Book Culture, 536 West 112th St. (1/2 block west of Broadway)
» Bookmarc, 400 Bleecker Street (at West 11th Street)
» Book-Off, 49 West 45th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)
» Books of Wonder, 18 West 18th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)
» clic Bookstore and Gallery, 189 Lafayette Street (between Gramd and Broome Streets)
» Community Bookstore, 143 Seventh Avenue, Brooklyn (between Carroll Street and Garfield Place)
» The Community Bookstore, 212 Court Street, Brooklyn (at Warren Street)
» The Corner Bookstore, 1313 Madison Avenue (between 92nd and 93rd Streets)
» Crawford Doyle Booksellers, 1082 Madison Avenue (between 81st and 82nd Streets)
» Dashwood Books, 33 Bond Street (between Lafayette and Bowery Streets)
» Dexter Sinister, 38 Ludlow Street (between Hester and Grand Streets)
» East Village Books and Records, 101 St. Mark's Place (at Avenue A)
» Greenlight Bookstore, 686 Fulton Street (at South Portland)
» Heights Books, 109 Montague Street, Brooklyn (Between Henry and Hicks Streets)
» Housing Works Bookstore, 126 Crosby Street (1/2 block south of Houston)
» Idlewild Books, 12 West 19th Street (near 5th Avenue)
» Kinokuniya Bookstore, 1073 Sixth Avenue (between 40th and 41st Streets)
» Kitchen Arts and Letters, 1435 Lexington Avenue (between 93rd and 94th Streets)
» Left Bank Books, 304 West 4th Street (between Bank and 12th Streets)
» Material Connexion, 127 West 25th Street, 2nd Floor (between 6th and 7th Avenues)
» Mercer Street Books, 206 Mercer Street (between Bleecker and Houston)
» McNally Jackson Booksn, 52 Prince Street (between Lafayette and Mulberry)
» MoMA Design and Book Store, Midtown: 11 West 53rd Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues), Soho: 81 Spring Street (at Crosby Street)
» Morningside Bookshop, 2915 Broadway (at 114th Street)
» OHWOW Book Club, 227 Waverly Place (between Perry and 11th Streets)
» Park Slope Books, 200 7th Avenue, Brooklyn (between 2nd and 3rd Streets)
»Phaidon Store, 83 Wooster Street (between Spring and Prince Streets)CLOSED
» Posman Books, 9 Grand Central Terminal (Vanderbilt and 42nd Street)
» Potterton Books, 979 Third Avenue, Brooklyn (between 58th and 59th Streets)
» Powerhouse Books, 37 Main Street, Brooklyn (at Water Street)
» Pranga Bookstore, 354 Court Street, Brooklyn (at Union Street)
» Printed Matter, 195 10th Avenue (between 21st and 22nd Streets)
» P.S. Bookshop, 76 Front Street, Brooklyn (at Washington Street).
» Rapture Café and Books, 200 Avenue A (between 12th and 13th Streets)
» The Read Café Bakery and Bookshop, 158 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn (between 8th and 9th Streets)
» Revolution Books, 9 West 19th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)
» Rizzoli Bookstore, 31 West 57th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)
» Rob Warren Books, 51 West 28th Street (between Broadway and 6th Avenues)
» St. Mark's Bookshop, 31 Third Avenue (at 9th Street)
» Shakespeare and Co. Booksellers, Downtown location: 716 Broadway (at Washington Place)
»Skyline Books, 13 West 18th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)MOVED/RENAMED (see Rob Warren Books)
» The Skyscraper Museum, 39 Battery Place (at First Place)
» Spoonbill and Sugartown, Booksellers, 218 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn (at 5th Street)
» Storefront Books, 97 Kenmare Street (at Cleveland Place)
» Strand Bookstore, 828 Broadway (at 12th Street)
» Symposia Bookstore, 510 Washington Street, Hoboken, NJ
» Taschen Store, 107 Greene Street (between Prince and Spring Streets)
» Three Lives and Company, 154 West 10th Street (at Waverly Place)
» Traveler's Choice Bookstore, 2 Wooster Street (between Canal and Grand Streets)
» Unoppressive, Non-Imperialist Bargain Books, 34 Carmine Street (between Bedford and Bleecker Streets)
»Urban Center Books, new location TBD, reopening Fall 2010CLOSED
» Ursus Books and Prints, 981 Madison Avenue (at 76th Street)
» Van Alen Books, 30 West 22nd Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues
» Vox Pop, 1022 Cortelyou Road, Brooklyn (at Stratford Avenue)
» Westsider Rare and Used Books, 2246 Broadway (between 80th and 81st Streets)
» Word Books, 126 Franklin Street, Brooklyn (at Milton Street)
And another one bites the dust... #10 Park Slope Books is slated to close later this year.
ReplyDeleteI liked the list but I was disappointed that Court Street's Community Bookstore didn't make the list... I'm convinced that it contains every book you may desire. You just have to dig through every random, nicotine stained pile to find it.
Park Slope's closing? I noticed 7th Avenue books next door is closing soon (if not already, and changing owners, if lucky) though I didn't know about Park Slope closing.
ReplyDeleteI've been to Community Bookstore once and can't say I found much while wading through the piles of old books. The architecture section was definitely slim and on the "home and garden" end of things, though the social science area did have some stand-outs, as I recall. It reminded me of a place in Chicago that seemed ready to cave in on itself. Good thing books aren't part of a code inspection...or are they?...
Labyrinth Books is now Book Culture and is between Broadway and Amsterdam, not west of Broadway but east of Broadway.
ReplyDeleteThese are two different places. One is on the West Side of Broadway at 114th. The one (two stories high) is on 112th between Broadway and Amstersdam.
DeleteThe one on Broadway was added later, something I didn't put yet in the list. Thanks for pointing it out. I'll add it soon.
DeleteThis bookstore cafe is a perfect and unique combination of the aforementioned two establishments. It has two spiral staircases and a balcony, is cozy and welcoming, sells used books for half the retail price or less, holds cool events like concerts and readings, has appeared in movies, is a non-profit staffed by volunteers.
ReplyDelete-------------------
Sally
Connector
Really a great list provided in this post.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
Architecture Program
You missed The New Museum Store. They have a great selection and the design of the Museum itself is a beaut.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this list. I have made some great finds because of it.
ReplyDeleteHey there, I have a bunch of new and very good Architecture books.
ReplyDeleteAny recommendations as to which store gives the best bang for your buck when it comes to selling?
The only stores I have experience with for reselling are Strand Bookstore, Book Culture, and Spoonbill and Sugartown. I would not recommend Spoonbill and Sugartown (they were snobby and didn't take any of the books I brought them, ones that I thought were a good fit for the store...otherwise I wouldn't have lugged them there); Book Culture is good for trades (they give more in trades than cash); Strand only deals in cash, and their prices were close to the ones I had in my head before bringing them to the counter.
DeleteOnes I haven't dealt with that would be worth looking into are P.S. Bookshop (like Spoonbill and Sugartown their prices are high, so they might give a good bang for the buck), Mercer Street Books (when I'm there and they're dealing with customers bringing in books, they seem to be at least reasonable), Alabaster Bookshop (small bookstore near the Strand that has a decent architecture selection), and Argosy (they deal with fine and rare books and with large libraries).
In general it seems like bookstores pay 25% of the cover price for a book, unless it's worth more for some reason (out of print, signed, rare).