NYC Bookstores

Here's my list of the top ten bookstores in New York City for books on architecture and urbanism. The list includes a web page link (if available), address (all shops in Manhattan, unless noted otherwise), description, and one or more "finds" made at each. I'll admit my tastes veer to the used and the cozy, two qualities that bookstores definitely shouldn't be afraid of.

At bottom is a list of all the independent, non-antiquarian 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.

R.I.P.: Urban Center Books closed in January, 2010, after the Municipal Art Society moved from the Villard Houses to 57th Avenue. The Urban Center Books web page says they "hope to reopen...in the near future," but an Architect's Newspaper editorial from July indicates that won't be happening. So unfortunately, like Chicago with its recent closing of Prairie Avenue Bookshop, New York City has lost its only bookstore devoted to architecture books.
Update: As reported in The Architect's Newspaper in October 2010, a pop-up bookstore run by the Van Alen Institute was scheduled to open in November for a six-month run, potentially staying open longer. The store would be carrying some of Urban Center's inventory for sale.

THE TOP TEN:
(updated 2011.02.17)

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. McNally Jackson Books, 52 Prince Street (between Lafayette and Mulberry)
This two-story space with cafe in Soho/Nolita has a small selection of architecture books, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in quality. Likewise for its selection of periodicals on architecture. Note: McNally Jackson is the name for Canadian bookseller McNally Robinson's New York store.
Finds: Essays on Architecture by Papadakis

5. 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

6. 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: Light Construction Reader, Terminal Architecture by Martin Pawley


7. 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.

8. Spoonbill and Sugartown, Booksellers, 218 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn (at 5th Street)
Located on a bustling Williamsburg strip, this hip store reflects its hip surroundings. The architecture and urbanism selection is surprisingly broad with reasonable prices on used items.
Finds: Design with Nature, Theory and Design in the First Machine Age

9. 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.

10. Left Bank Books, 17 8th Avenue (between Jane and West 12th Streets)
The tiniest bookstore of the bunch (if not the city), this gem specializes in first editions and other rarities. It's amazing so much quality fits into such a small space. Note: The bookstore has moved from its West 4th Street location. The store may be a little bit bigger, but not so much it loses its intimacy. Thankfully the quality selection is intact.
Finds: Architecture Without Architects

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)
Mercer Street Books, 206 Mercer Street (between Bleecker and Houston)
St. Mark's Bookshop, 31 Third Avenue (at 9th Street)
Westsider Rare and Used Books, 2246 Broadway (between 80th and 81st Streets)

THE FULL LIST:
(updated 2011.01.10)

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)
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 Robinson, 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)
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 Caf� and Books, 200 Avenue A (between 12th and 13th Streets)
The Read Caf� 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)
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 2010 CLOSED
Ursus Books and Prints, 981 Madison Avenue (at 76th Street)
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)