New York Record Stores

[Soulfool76]

Hi,

 

I'm going to NY for the first time in a couple of weeks and wanted to pick up some vinyl whilst I'm over there.

 

Can anyone here recommend some good record stores that sell soul / funk vinyl?

 

Thanks.

[Sceneman]

all the stores used to be in bleecker street ,but i havent been in ages so i dont know whats the latest.

do a search and see 

[nksouldude]

Hi Mate has sceenman says a lot of shops in the bleeker street area down the bottom of Manhaton though there shops in my experience are a waste of time Your best bet is to try areras out of town like the Bronxe ive walked up and down acroos and back to find very little but still worth the experience if you have the time Though best not to go at night Happy hunting

[Soulfool76]

Yeah, a few people have mentioned Bleeker St. Managed to find a few online that I'll try out.

[KevH]

Be prepared for JM's book to make an appearance from under the counter.!!! Happy hunting.

[Sceneman]

i have some old catalogues issued by bleecker Bobs shop and they make a good read but hes prolly not trading anymore .there was another shop called The House Of Oldies also gone ...onto the net i guess 

[Sceneman]

i have to correct myself , House Of Oldies is still going at another location ,and have 1 million records in stock !!

 

 

https://www.houseofoldies.com/

 

might be worth taking some UK issues with you to trade with him .........

Edited April 24, 2013 by sceneman

[Mr Smithy]

Say your prayers for Bleeker Bob's, Just walked by this afternoon.
Official last day was last Saturday, but someone was in there boxing up so he let me in.
Managed to spend $7 on about $5 worth of 45s just because.

[Sceneman]

arrgghh

 

https://www.spin.com/articles/bleecker-bobs-golden-oldies-new-york-record-store-final-days/

 

 

 

It was an institution, a rite of passage, a historical landmark, and a great place to kill time at 2 a.m. on a weekend before you passed out on the couch. Bleecker Bob's helped start one of New York's greatest bands, was America's No. 1 punk outpost, and was on the receiving end of solicitous phone calls from Madonna. KORY GROW goes behind the counter of a record shop for the ages, and gets the real story on why the beloved joint had to close its doors.

 

The aromas of must and dust were what stuck with you when you exited Bleecker Bob's Golden Oldies Record Shop, the dumpy yet iconic LP store in New York City's mercurial post-boho Greenwich Village. The scents wafted out the door, where they lingered in that no-man's-land between Ben's Pizza and Village Psychic. The collected fetor of decades-old cardboard, vinyl, and plastic all comingling, the whiff of oldies begging to be rediscovered.

 

It was unforgettable.

 

For the past 32 years, Bleecker Bob's shared its air at 118 West Third Street, and it amassed a downtown New York legacy that dated back to the early '70s. The store hosted any number of notable events – it's where Patti Smith met Lenny Kaye, where Joey Ramone directed New York magazine readers in their 1994 "Where to Find It" issue, where Newman on Seinfeld insulted its (fictional) surly store owner, and on and on. As of Sunday, April 14, though, it was merely another façade awaiting its transformation into yet another place to buy frozen yogurt in Manhattan.

 

As with the 2006 shuttering of CBGB, which stood about 10 minutes' walking distance from Bob's, as well as any number of the City's downtown music hubs that have closed in the last decade (the Bottom Line, Tonic, Sin-é), Bleecker Bob's is now another signpost for the ever-homogenizing Greenwich Village. What was once the booming beatnik stomping ground that served as home to Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix, and then about a decade later, the Ramones and Blondie, now offers more and more of the amenities available at most Midwestern malls. To residents and tourists alike, the closing of Bleecker Bob's is another high-points blow in the assassination attempt on the neighborhood's character.

 

Early in my reporting for this story, the friendly, bearded man who ran the poster section in the back of the shop and who went merely by "Bill," uttered six words that resonated deeply with me during the month and a half that I spent at the store: "This is a landlord's town now." It's a sentiment echoed by the neighboring businesses and customers of Bleecker Bob's. A few days before the shop closed, I phoned Lewis Rosenthal, the property's landlord (according to New York City records), but despite the power he holds in the situation, he declined to comment for the story. Nevertheless, the cast of characters willing to talk, including the store's employees, its neighbors, customers and competitors, as well as Bob himself, took the time to share their memories – good and bad – of the New York institution as it played out its final days.

 

See the history of Bleecker Bob's in photos, featuring Robert Plant, Debbie Harry, and more.

[Seano]

There's stuff on this in the past threads somewhere, but I don't honestly know how to find a link to that. 

 

It's a 2 or 3 of years since I've been, but I've posted photos over time and a Brooklyn guy, Tim, commented in February, regarding A-1 Records being open:

 

• It still is as of Feb 4 '13, as are Academy's three stores.

Here's Tim's link:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/13873181@N06/

 

Academy Records Brooklyn store is in Wiilamsburg, well worth a shot, lots of cheap 7" and plenty of albums. Their other store at the top end of East Village over towards Avenue A is smaller but also worth dropping in on, and not far from A-1.

 

I put them on a Google maps while ago, so a fair few of these have closed (sadly including Big City, good place for Soul):

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?msid=203611530700193463245.000482b970fd77323e5a8&msa=0

[Carty]

"The Thing, "  Greenpoint, Brooklyn, massive cellar of second hand vinyl ( crates and crates of 45s but lots of them in poor condition, ) also at least  two other vinyl shops close by,    if you do visit the thing, plan to be there for a whole morning or after noon , you will not get through it all, also as it is a charity shop it is dirt cheap , ( word of warning , this place is a dirty dusty cellar and theres guys down there in gloves and dust masks ! take a packet of lockets or some thing and you should be ok .)

[soulwaxusa]

_{I live in NYC in the Bronx and sad to say but most of the good NYC record stores are long gone. The few that remain like Academy save all the good stuff for Ebay.I rarely bother with the shops anymore... it's too depressing.  It is a sad state of affairs but with the high rent in the city many stores have been forced to close their doors. If planning on coming to NYC best to schedule your trip around a record show. There is the yearly WFMU fair, the bi-yearly Record Riot in Brooklyn etc... I sell at both events. I also sell at the monthly show at the Holiday Inn on 57th Street every 3rd  Saturday of the month. I am there most months and always have soul 45's for sale.  It's a small show unfortunately but the upcoming show in May will be expanded  to the big ballroom and include extra dealers.}  

Edited April 30, 2013 by soulwaxusa

[Weingarden]

It's a sad state of affairs. New York is hands-down the worst big city in the U.S. when it comes to record stores. Add to that the fact that there are probably 10 times as many people here looking for records as in any other city in the U.S., and the situation is just the pits.