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 114 stores indexed on this page. Last updated October 29, 2023.

Recent Changes

• October 26, 2023 - Return Three Lives to its original corner location.
• October 26, 2023 - Idlewild Books appears to have transitioned entirely to language classes as opposed to bookselling
• October 26, 2023 - remove Boulevard Books; correct Alabaster Bookshop Instagram link
• October 26, 2023 - Add Topos Too, currently in a "soft opening"