Visited: June 2018
Do you have a few hours to spend in New York City and a comfortable pair of walking shoes? Get ready to have the bookstore walk of your life.
I was in New York City for a work conference last summer, and though Jonathan flew out to visit for the weekend, I had a few evenings to myself during the week after the conference activities were over. So what’s a solo girl in NYC to do? Walk to all the bookstores, of course!
I was staying at a hotel in Midtown, so one evening I set out in the late afternoon. I visited the New York Public Library to see the gorgeous Rose Main Reading Room and get a library card, then I walked down past the Flatiron Building and began my self-guided bookstore tour:
Strand Book Store
My first stop, of course, was The Strand. With 18 miles of books, this is perhaps the most famous bookstore in New York City (and maybe even in the U.S.).
Mercer Street Books & Records
I had seen Mercer Street Books in a few Instagram posts and always loved the fun light-up sign. The inside of this shop was equally charming, with rows and rows of used books, including many out-of-print titles for rare book collectors.
Housing Works Bookstore Cafe
Next up was Housing Works, possibly the bookstore I was most excited about visiting. It is almost entirely staffed by volunteers so more proceeds can go toward Housing Works’ advocacy and services. There is also a cafe, and there are readings or events most nights (including an open mic night on the evening I visited).
McNally Jackson Books
I had also learned about McNally Jackson via Instagram, but I didn’t realize it was the bookstore with the beautiful flying books above the cafe. (Also, that wall you see in the above right photo? It’s covered in book pages!)
Bluestockings
I ended my self-guided bookstore walking tour at Bluestockings in Lower East Side. The bookstore describes itself as a “volunteer-powered and collectively-owned radical bookstore,” and as you can see from the displays above, it’s a great place to go if you need a little (or a lot of) girl power in your life!
By this time, it had been dark for a while and I was a 3-mile walk from my hotel, so I decided to Lyft back. I estimated that I walked about 5 miles on this trip and it took five hours, but that included stopping for drinks and dinner along the way.
When Jonathan joined me over the weekend, I dragged him to one more bookstore (Three Lives & Company in the West Village, pictured at the top of this post), and it ended up being my favorite of the trip! We also visited Books Are Magic in Brooklyn, but as that’s not in Manhattan, I didn’t include it in my map (bottom of post).
Even when I wasn’t seeking out a specific bookstore, I stumbled across them everywhere, including in Chelsea Market (above left) and when walking through the East Village after one of the best meals we had in New York (above right). To see the relative locations of these bookstores, check out my Google Map below (the yellow bookstores are ones I didn’t get to on this trip):
I know Manhattan is a hotbed of independent bookstores, so if you have any I should add to my “need-to-visit” list, please let me know in the comments!
