# New York | Places to Wander

Canonical: https://artist.fyi/places/new-york/
Publisher: The Corporate Artist (artist.fyi)
Issue: Places to Wander, Issue 001. Published 2026-09-13.

Nine independent bookstores worth finding in person.

If you're looking for the best independent bookstores in New York, Places to Wander's edited guide includes Three Lives & Company in West Village, Strand Book Store in Union Square and Albertine in Upper East Side. Explore the selected shops below, with neighborhood context, drawings and links to each shop's own website. The guide is edited, not numerically ranked.

## Selected bookstores

### Three Lives & Company
- Neighborhood: West Village
- Address: 154 West 10th Street, New York, NY 10014
- Official site: https://threelives.com/contact.html
- Entry: https://artist.fyi/places/new-york/#three-lives-company
- Illustration: https://artist.fyi/places/assets/three-lives-company-new-york-the-corporate-artist__marker-study__2026-09-12__v05.webp
- Worth a special trip for: A corner shop at Waverly Place and West 10th where the window does some of the talking.

The window does some of the talking. Three Lives keeps its books close to the street, at the corner of Waverly Place and West 10th.

The person behind the counter read these before you did. Leave room for the conversation.

### Strand Book Store

Founded by Ben Bass in 1927 with a cigar box for a till, the last of the forty-eight shops of Book Row, now eighteen miles of books in a building landmarked in 2019.

- Neighborhood: Union Square
- Type: New, used and rare
- Address: 828 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
- Official site: https://www.strandbooks.com/
- Entry: https://artist.fyi/places/new-york/#strand-book-store
- Illustration: https://artist.fyi/places/assets/strand-book-store-new-york-the-corporate-artist__marker__2026-09-12__v11.webp
- Founded: 1927

The Broadway sign is only the beginning. Strand brings new, used and rare books together at a scale that invites a little getting lost.

The neighboring shelf has been waiting longer than you have. Start with a subject you know and let it interrupt.

### McNally Jackson Books
- Neighborhood: SoHo
- Address: 134 Prince Street, New York, NY 10012
- Official site: https://mcnallyjackson.com/store/1
- Entry: https://artist.fyi/places/new-york/#mcnally-jackson-books
- Illustration: https://artist.fyi/places/assets/mcnally-jackson-books-new-york-the-corporate-artist__illustration__2026-09-12__v02.webp
- Worth a special trip for: A broad literary selection beside art, photography and design books made to be looked at closely.

McNally Jackson’s SoHo shop puts a broad literary selection alongside books made to be looked at closely. At 134 Prince Street, a change of shelf can become a change of medium.

Art, photography, design and literature make neighbouring shelves worth a look.

### Albertine
- Neighborhood: Upper East Side
- Address: 972 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10075
- Official site: https://www.albertine.com/about-us/
- Entry: https://artist.fyi/places/new-york/#albertine
- Illustration: https://artist.fyi/places/assets/albertine-new-york-the-corporate-artist__marker-study__2026-09-12__v05.webp
- The Detour: this issue's editorial detour
- Worth a special trip for: French and English share the shelves inside the Payne Whitney mansion on Fifth Avenue.

French and English share the shelves at Albertine, inside the Payne Whitney mansion. Books from across the French-speaking world give this Fifth Avenue room a much wider reach.

You do not need to cross an ocean to change the language of your afternoon.

### Housing Works Bookstore

A used bookshop run by volunteers since 1994, where all of the proceeds go to services for people living with HIV and AIDS. The Moth has told its stories here.

- Neighborhood: SoHo
- Type: Used
- Address: 126 Crosby Street, New York, NY 10012
- Official site: https://shop.housingworks.org/nyc-bookstore/
- Entry: https://artist.fyi/places/new-york/#housing-works-bookstore
- Illustration: https://artist.fyi/places/assets/housing-works-bookstore-new-york-the-corporate-artist__marker-study__2026-09-12__v05.webp
- Founded: 1994

Used books, records and a café fill Housing Works’ Crosby Street bookstore. The changing selection makes a second visit a different proposition.

The book you take home funds the charity that runs the shop.

### Yu & Me Books

Lucy Yu opened it in December 2021 and named it for her mother’s initials. After a fire in 2023 readers raised $369,000 and it reopened in January 2024.

- Neighborhood: Chinatown
- Address: 44 Mulberry Street, New York, NY 10013
- Official site: https://yuandmebooks.com/pages/our-story
- Entry: https://artist.fyi/places/new-york/#yu-me-books
- Illustration: https://artist.fyi/places/assets/yu-me-books-new-york-the-corporate-artist__marker-study__2026-09-12__v05.webp
- Founded: 2021

At Yu & Me on Mulberry Street, Asian American and immigrant writers fill the reading list. The bookshop also has a café, bar and calendar of gatherings.

Immigrant writers, a café and a bar under one roof. Nobody here is only one thing.

### Greenlight Bookstore

Opened in Fort Greene in October 2009 with money lent by the neighbourhood, and hosts the Brooklyn Indie Party.

- Neighborhood: Fort Greene
- Address: 686 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217
- Official site: https://greenlightbookstore.com/
- Entry: https://artist.fyi/places/new-york/#greenlight-bookstore
- Illustration: https://artist.fyi/places/assets/greenlight-bookstore-new-york-the-corporate-artist__illustration__2026-09-12__v02.webp
- Founded: 2009

The windows on Fulton Street give you a generous first look. Inside Greenlight, the reading continues through staff selections, book groups and author events.

A reading or a book group gives the next book some company.

### Cafe con Libros

An intersectional feminist bookshop and café opened in 2018 in Crown Heights, owned by an Afro-Latine woman and veteran.

- Neighborhood: Crown Heights
- Address: 724 Prospect Place, Brooklyn, NY 11216
- Official site: https://www.cafeconlibrosbk.com/
- Entry: https://artist.fyi/places/new-york/#cafe-con-libros
- Illustration: https://artist.fyi/places/assets/cafe-con-libros-new-york-the-corporate-artist__marker-study__2026-09-12__v05.webp
- Founded: 2018

Coffee and feminist reading share a home at Café con Libros. One gives you a reason to pause; the other gives you something to sit with.

Begin with a book. Nothing after it is scheduled.

### Molasses Books

A used bookshop that is also a bar, in Bushwick, with a tiny imprint of its own.

- Neighborhood: Bushwick
- Type: Used
- Address: 770 Hart Street, Brooklyn, NY 11237
- Official site: https://www.molassesbooks.org/contact
- Entry: https://artist.fyi/places/new-york/#molasses-books
- Illustration: https://artist.fyi/places/assets/molasses-books-new-york-the-corporate-artist__marker-study__2026-09-12__v05.webp

A used-book shop, a bar and a small press: Molasses brings reading and making books into the same orbit.

A bar, a used bookshop and a press in the same orbit. Nobody has decided which is the front.

## Questions readers ask

### What are some of the best independent bookstores in New York?
Places to Wander's edited selection includes Three Lives & Company, Strand Book Store, McNally Jackson Books, Albertine, Housing Works Bookstore, Yu & Me Books, Greenlight Bookstore, Cafe con Libros and Molasses Books. The guide is not numerically ranked. Each entry explains why the shop is included and links to the shop's own website.

### What is The Detour in the New York issue?
Albertine in Upper East Side. French and English share the shelves inside the Payne Whitney mansion on Fifth Avenue. The Detour is an editorial designation, not a ranking.

### Does the guide include used or rare bookstores?
Yes. Strand Book Store (new, used and rare), Housing Works Bookstore (used) and Molasses Books (used). Used, antiquarian and rare books are not interchangeable labels; this guide uses each description only where the shop's entry supports it.

### Which featured bookstores have a café?
Housing Works Bookstore, Yu & Me Books and Cafe con Libros. Check current opening times with the shop before you travel.

### Is there a map of the featured bookstores?
Yes. The New York issue includes a map and shop index. Select a shop to open its entry, then use the shop's official link for visiting details. The illustrated map is an orientation aid, not a turn-by-turn route.

## About this guide

Places to Wander is an editorial field guide from The Corporate Artist to independent bookstores and bookshops worth finding in person.

We look for independent shops with a point of view: exceptional selection, a meaningful specialty, a room worth experiencing, a role in its neighborhood, or the possibility of finding something you did not arrive looking for. The guides are edited, not numerically ranked. A bookstore does not have to stock The Corporate Artist to be included.

A field guide from Morgan Sage Norman, author of The Corporate Artist, a book about creativity at work.

Method and FAQ: https://artist.fyi/places/about.md · All cities: https://artist.fyi/places/index.md · Reading Room: https://artist.fyi/reading-room