Nightdreamer’s Guide to New York City: Shopping Destinations

When you’ve gone around NYC for a bit, you might notice that there are excessive varieties of stuff sold here, and they could tempt even the most economic crisis-embittered curmudgeon (try saying economic crisis-embittered curmudgeon 3 times fast!). Actually, I’ve gone to SoHo a few days ago, and saw just how savagely people spend their money there, and I thought: did the recession happen or what? Anyway, I’m not here to inculcate you on the virtues of thriftiness (yikes do I sound pompous saying that) but I have places to suggest to you should you ever want to buy the following:

Books

The largest bookstore chain in America is Barnes and Noble, but there are other chain bookstores, like Borders, Inc. If you’d like to imagine what Barnes and Noble look like, think Fullybooked (if you’re in Philippines) or Eslite (if you’re in Taiwan). Most Barnes and Noble carry a large selection of books and periodicals, and a decent selection of music and video products. As long as you’re not boisterous, it’s fine to sit on the floor and hang out with your friends while browsing for a few titles. I got to finish reading some comic books here like Batman Adventures: Mad Love and Strangers in Paradise Volume 1.

But if you’ve found books you’re interested in here, I urge you NOT to buy them just yet, unless if they’re computer books, in which case, go crazy. Write their titles down on a piece of paper (or save a message on your mobile phone) and then see if you can find it at Strand Bookstore (location: 828 Broadway and 12th St), where they sell new, used, and rare books at discount prices. Though it may be cluttered, it’s paradise for bibliophiles.

If you’re looking for compiled trade paperback comic books, you will be content with Barnes and Noble and, if you’re lucky, Strand. Those looking for individual issues should go to Forbidden Planet (located adjacent to Strand), which also has a great selection of toys, collectibles, and sci fi books.

  (photo from wikipedia)

Music

Sadly, I’m not very knowledgeable about where to get recordings. I saw a lot of independent music stores in Greenwich Village but I haven’t gone inside any of them, so I can’t say if they’re any good. Near Strand Bookstore (which is, near Union Square, which I haven’t listed as a tourist spot because I’m not a fan of that place) is Virgin Records. I guess the store is huge, which means there may also be a huge assortment of recordings, but I’m not sure.

So why did I bother writing a section on music? Well, I do have places to suggest if you’re into audio equipments. Go to J&R.

At the Broadway Street corner 49th, there’s a music store called Colony Record and Radio Center. It doesn’t sell lot of recordings in it, but if you’re a musician and you’re looking for sheet music, you’ll have a hard time finding another store with a selection as huge as Colony’s. I bought a sheet music of jazz standards there, which is splendid; now if only I can play…

Fashion

Before you start looking at me funny, I want to tell you that I know less of this than I do about books and music, so you can lower your eyebrow now. That said, you can buy designer clothes in Macy’s at affordable prices. The stores surrounding Wall Street (near the Ground Zero, formerly World Trade Center) also sell bargain-priced clothes. One that I favor is Century 21 Department Store (22 Cortlandt Street) for its large stocks of discounted shoes.

You’d also want to go to thrifts shop to hunt for secondhand bargain clothing (and other goods). Few of them can be found in East 23^rd Street, from 3^rd to 2^nd Avenue (or is it 2^nd to 1^st?). Their names are Salvation Army, Goodwill, and City Opera. It’s to your discretion whether or not the clothing, furniture, recordings, books, and artworks sold here are of good quality, but any store where I can buy a polo shirt from GAP for $5 is ok for me. Just remember to wash the clothes you buy there first before wearing them.

Lastly, if you’re buying I HEART NEW YORK t-shirts for your annoying souvenir-hungry friends, go to Chinatown where you can 7 of those for $10. Generally, Chinatown – and maybe Little Italy – is a good place to buy souvenir items at low prices.

Taiwanese readers, a little warning about New York City’s Chinatown (at least the one in Manhattan, at Canal St.; I dunno about the Queens one at Flushing) is that most of its residents are Cantonese and that some of them cannot speak Mandarin.

Electronics Store

Best Buy is known all over America, but, depending on your needs, that may not be the best electronics store. For everything that falls under electronics category, go to J&R, but if you’re looking for audio and video equipments, B&H (location: 420 9th Avenue) is even better.

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