NYC Bookstores

New York City loves its independent bookstores. It eulogizes those that have faded and celebrates when new ventures are launched. And while the historic Book Row may have passed away in the 80s, there are still many indie bookstores dotting the map, across all five boroughs. Here, I have attempted to collect all of the currently-open general-interest independent booksellers in NYC. Any store with regular-ish hours (excluding religious booksellers and appointment-only rare book sellers) is included.

While Manhattan and Brooklyn still lead the pack, Queens has a respectable number of stores, and all five boroughs are represented, with the Bronx and Staten Island both hosting lone independent stores. Lower Manhattan has the highest density of booksellers.

The listings here are kept up-to-date to the best of my ability; however, I make no promises about either the accuracy or reliability of the information. If you spot an error, or I've missed a shop, please let me know by email, mastodon, or twitter. Originally based on the "Hack Spots" website by @jllord (although I don't believe any of the actual underlying code still survives at this point).

There are currently 119 stores indexed on this page. Last updated October 14, 2024.

Recent Changes
  • October 14, 2024 - Printed Matter -- St. Marks has closed
  • September 20, 2024 - La Joie de Vivre has closed suddenly.
  • September 7, 2024 - Terrace Books has moved locations.
  • August 16, 2024 - Two new combination eatery/bookstore locations, Honey Moon and Sullaluna
1804 Books 320 W 37th St, New York
192 Books 192 10th Ave, New York
Adanne 115 Ralph Ave, Brooklyn
Aeon Bookstore 151 East Broadway, New York
Alabaster Bookshop 122 4th Ave, New York
Albertine Books 972 Fifth Ave, New York
Archestratus 164 Huron St, Brooklyn
Argosy Books 116 East 59th St, New York
Astoria Bookshop 36-19 30th St, Astoria
Berl's Brooklyn Poetry Shop 126A Front St, Brooklyn
Better Read Than Dead 867 Broadway, Brooklyn
Better Read Than Dead & Burly Coffee 90 Kosciuszko St, Brooklyn
Bibliotheque 54 Mercer St, New York
Black Spring Books 672 Driggs Ave, Brooklyn
Bluestockings Cooperative 116 Suffolk Street, New York
Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks 28 East 2nd St, New York
Book Club Bar 197 E 3rd St, New York
Book Culture 536 W 112th St, New York
Book Culture LIC 26-09 Jackson Ave, Queens
Book Culture on Broadway 2915 Broadway, New York
Book Thug Nation 100 North 3rd St, Brooklyn
Bookmarc 400 Bleecker St, New York
BookMark Shoppe 8415 3rd Avenue, Brooklyn
Bookoff 49 W 45nd St, New York
Bookoff Brooklyn 934 3rd Ave, Brooklyn
Books Are Magic (Montague St.) 122 Montague St, Brooklyn
Books Are Magic (Smith St.) 225 Smith St, Brooklyn
Books Of Wonder 42 West 17th St, New York
Bravo's Book Nook 115 MacDougal St, New York
Burnt Books 157 Huron St, Brooklyn
Cafe con Libros 724 Prospect Place, Brooklyn
Catland 985 Flushing Ave, Brooklyn
Chartwell Booksellers 55 E 52nd St, New York
Codex Books 1 Bleecker St, New York
Community Bookstore 143 7th Ave, Brooklyn
Cups and Books 2024 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn
Dashwood Books 33 Bond St, New York
Dear Friend Books 343A Tompkins Ave, Brooklyn
Desert Island Comics 540 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn
East Village Books 99 St. Mark's Place, New York
ETG Book Cafe 208 Bay St, Staten Island
Freebird Books 123 Columbia St, Brooklyn
Greenlight Bookstore 686 Fulton St, Brooklyn
Here's A Book Store 1964 Coney Island Ave, Brooklyn
Hey Kids! Comics 157 Huron St, Brooklyn
Honey Moon Coffee Shop 517 Onderdonk Ave, Ridgewood
Housing Works Bookstore Café 126 Crosby St, New York
Human Relations Books 1067 Flushing Ave, Brooklyn
James Cummins Bookseller 699 Madison Ave, 7th Floor, New York
Joanne Hendricks Cookbooks 488 Greenwich St, New York
Karma Bookstore 136 East Third St, New York
Kew & Willow Books 81-63 Lefferts Boulevard, New York
Kinokunya 1073 Avenue of the Americas, New York
Kitchen Arts & Letters 1435 Lexington Ave, New York
Leaves Bookstore 140 Nassau Ave, Brooklyn
Left Bank Books 41 Perry St, New York
Liz's Book Bar 315 Smith St, Brooklyn
Lofty Pigeon Books 743 Church Ave, Brooklyn
Logos Bookstore 1575 York Ave, New York
Mast Books 72 Avenue A, New York
McNally Jackson Books 134 Prince St, New York
McNally Jackson Books City Point 445 Albee Square W, Unit G112, Brooklyn
McNally Jackson Books Seaport 4 Fulton St, New York
McNally Jackson Books Williamsburg 76 North 4th St, Brooklyn
McNally Jackson Rockefeller Center 1 Rockefeller Plaza, New York
Melville House Publishers 46 John St, Brooklyn
Mercer Street Books & Records 206 Mercer St, New York
Mil Mundos Books 323 Linden St, Brooklyn
Molasses Books 770 Hart St, Brooklyn
Namaste Bookshop 2 W 14th St, New York
P&T Knitwear 180 Orchard St, New York
Passageway Books 150 9th Ave, New York
Pillow-Cat Books 328 East 9th St, New York
Posman Books Chelsea Market 75 9th Avenue, New York
POWERHOUSE @ IC 220 36th St, Building #2, Brooklyn
POWERHOUSE Arena 28 Adams St, Brooklyn
POWERHOUSE on 8th 1111 8th Ave, Brooklyn
Printed Matter 231 11th Ave, New York
Quest Bookshop 240 E 53rd St, New York
Quimby's Bookstore 536 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn
Recirculation 876 Riverside Dr, New York
Respect For Life Books-N-Things 537 Nostrand Ave, Brooklyn
Revolution Books 437 Malcolm X Blvd, New York
Rizzoli Bookstore 1133 Broadway, New York
Shakespeare & Company 939 Lexington Ave, New York
Shakespeare & Company (Manhattan Valley/Columbia University) 2736 Broadway, New York
Shakespeare & Company (Upper West Side) 2020 Broadway, New York
Sister's Uptown Bookstore 1942 Amsterdam Ave, New York
Spoonbill & Sugartown, Booksellers 218 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn
Standards Manual 212 Franklin Street, Brooklyn
Strand Bookstore 828 Broadway, New York
Sullaluna Bistrot & Bookshop 41 Carmine St, New York
Sweet Pickle Books 47 Orchard St, New York
Taylor & Co. Books 1021 Cortelyou Rd, Brooklyn
Terrace Books 1624 10th Ave, Brooklyn
The Austin Book Shop 104-29 Jamaica Ave, Richmond Hill
The Book Cellar 1465 York Ave, New York
The Center for Fiction 15 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn
The Corner Bookstore 1313 Madison Ave, New York
The Drama Book Shop 266 W 39th St, New York
The Lit. Bar 131 Alexander Ave, Bronx
The Mysterious Bookshop 58 Warren St, New York
The Ripped Bodice 218 5th Ave, Brooklyn
The Strand At Columbus Ave 450 Columbus Ave, New York
The Word Is Change 368 Tompkins Ave, Brooklyn
The World's Borough Bookshop 3406 73rd St, Queens
Three Lives & Company 154 W 10th St, New York
Topos Bookstore Cafe 788 Woodward Ave, Brooklyn
Topos Too 59-22 Myrtle Ave, Queens
Troubled Sleep Books 129 6th Ave, Brooklyn
Turn The Page... Again 39-15a Bell Blvd, Flushing
Unnameable Books 600 Vanderbilt Ave, Brooklyn
Ursus Books 50 East 78th St, Suite 1C, New York
Village Works 12 St. Marks Pl, New York
Westsider Rare & Used Books 2246 Broadway, New York
Westsider Records 233 West 72nd St, New York
Word Bookstore 126 Franklin St, Brooklyn
Word Up Books 2113 Amsterdam Ave, New York
Yu and Me Books 44 Mulberry St, New York