Vinyl Stores in NYC

I will have a few hours to kill one afternoon in a few weeks from now in the City. Where/what are some good vinyl stores I should visit?

 

Bleecker St. Records (not Bleecker Bob's) on Bleecker at Carmine St. (6th Ave)
Rockit Scientist and House of Oldies on Carmine between 6th and 7th Ave.
Generation Records which is just south of W. 3rd St. a block or two east of MacDougal (other side of 6th ave)
Good starting points...

 

I have not been to the City since 9/11. Do I need to go to the trade center site?

 

There are probably better ones. But in the neighboorhood where I work, there are a couple located within walking distance each other they are...

Bleecker Street Records
239 Bleecker Street (at Sixth Avenue)
New York NY 10014
+1 212 255 7899
Located in West Village.

Generation Records
210 Thompson Street
NYC, 10012
212-254-1100

Bleecker Bob's
118 W 3rd St, New York, NY - Get Map
212-475-9677

There are 2 or 3 others that aren't quite as good along the same path. One is called
Rebel Rebel (pretty small - mostly used CDs). The other one is on Bleeker somewhere on the walk between Blleker Bob's and Bleeker Street records. It's called Village something or other - sorry I'm not sure, it's not that great anyhow. If you are not going to be in that neighborhood, there are two others that I remember as being good but haven't been in awhile. One is...

St. Marks Sounds
20 Street Marks Pl
Tel: (212) 677-3444

Academy Records
12 West 18th Street
New York, NY 10011
Phone: 212-242-3000

 

It's Village Music World. They have good CD stuff, and no vinyl to speak of.
I haven't been to Rebel Rebel.

 

I just remembered another smaller store that's roughly in the same area as Generaton and the Bleeker stores, probably about 7 or so blocks from Generation. It's a neat little place called "Rocks in your Head". They have a smaller section of used vinyl than Generaton and Bleeker Street Records and their prices are probably a buck or two higher. They do have a good amount of the re-released stuff (Sundazed etc) in addition to used vinyl. And the cds are in glass cases on the wall. So it's tight quarters, but usually it's not packed with people. I like it - it's got character. The address is...

Rocks In Your Head
157 Prince Street
New York, NY 10012

Telephone:
212-475-6729

 

House of Oldies is way overpriced and Rockit Scientist (a very cool store) is actually moving to 33 St. Marks Place in the middle of April for anyone that cares.

 

This is a part of Acadamy Records where the have the Rock and Blues LP's. I scored a couple of MoFi Steely Dan LP's there (not cheap) and a lot of Blues albums at very good prices.

Academy LPs
(Jazz, Pop, and Genre LPS)
77 East 10th Street
New York, NY 10003
Phone: 212-780-9166
Fax: 212-780-9446

I have not been able to go to the WTC since 9/11. It just hit me too hard. I go to the city at least once a month.

 

Thanks for the WTC comment. Not sure what I should do....

 

I agree with the HoO comment but there are some bargains to be had...he does have just about EVERYTHING too.

Rockit Scientist needed more room for vinyl - plain & simple.

 

I don't recall the exact title, it was probably 10 months ago. That was when they first moved into their new location and I've never been back. I was some cheeze metal title from the late 80s or early 90s that really isn't that hard to find. After seeing what common stuff went for there, I decided to take my business elsewhere.

You really can't shop for vinyl in NYC because it is so overpriced for the tourist market. You're better off heading out to NJ and going to Vintage Vinyl of, even better for vinyl, Princeton Record Exchange.

There is a few places in the East Village that are a little more reasonable, like Finyl Vinyl (I think it is on E. 6th Street) and one or two others I can't recall right now. Norman's in Cooper Sq (3rd and St. Marks) might have some vinyl downstairs and Mondo Kims has some vinyl on St. Marks.

 

You should go and see it. It is not creepy at all. I worked on the 87th & 91st floors of WTC2 from 1979-1994 and was there for the 1st bombing and knew several who died. About a year after the bombing I was in NYC and went down there about 11pm on a Friday night expecting to get a very strange feeling. It was not. My impression was it seemed that the whole complex was simply "beamed up". It is truely amazing how that whole area has bounced back.

 

Hey you NYC folks I was wondering if some of the places I used to go to are still there:

Subterranean Records on Cornelia St., real close to Bleaker Bob's. You have to to down to get into this hole-in-the-wall place.

Second Coming Records on Sullivan St.

There was also this place across from sounds on St. Marks, I think it was called Venus Records, they had lots of vinyl the last time I was there.

 

There's a certain school of thought that suggests that everything in Manhattan is overpriced because of the tourists. I believe that it's all overpriced because the locals haven't been out of the city in 40+ years (and probably not out of their neighborhoods in 20) to check prices anywhere else (and also because of the high cost of doing business, rent, taxes, etc.). YMMV, of course, but I think this applies to vinyl as well, with an additional price uptick due to the fact that vinyl is now a 'hipster' pastime.
Also, it's important to note that we're not talking about NYC as a whole so far, only lower Manhattan (and pretty much exclusively the Village). I know some perfectly decent places in Brooklyn that won't sell anything over ten bucks.
Of course, I've never been to Princeton Record Exchange, so you may have the best store in the universe there, for all I know. It's worth noting, though, that the question at hand was "Vinyl in NYC."

Rocks in Your Head is also a great store, on Prince St. between Thompson and West Broadway. I've also found a bunch of WG first pressings there, including several targets...

 

Was there last time I checked.

No more, sadly. It and its sister CD store closed up a few years back.

 

Is the Venus Records you're talking about the one that was a second floor walk-up? If so, I don't believe that's there anymore. It may be a CD store still, but it's not Venus Records anymore. I haven't been to the others you mention. I used to go to Venus all the time back in the mid-late 80's. Great store!

Danny H.

 

I would also add that renting a store in NYC is astronomical, and certainly costs more than renting in NJ. The employees have to be paid more and etc etc. All of which could explain why most of the stuff in NYC costs a few bucks more than other places.

I have places in NJ where I like to go shopping for records and CDs, and yes, they are cheaper than the city by a buck or two. There are other advantages too, like PREX and Vintage Vinyl are fairly large stores which make the visit worthwhile.

The thing I like about NYC though, is that I can go out for an hour or two, since I have to be over there for work anyway, and I can walk into two or three different stores and rummage. No driving necessary and you can visit more than one place in a short period of time. Even if I don't come away with something, I enjoy it.

Danny H.

 

I was in Norman's this past weekend, and it was almost exclusively CDs. Great selection of new CDs upstairs (lots of obscure stuff and some oop) and a decent selection of used in the basement.

 

I have heard of PRE, I am going to have to check it out soon. Thanks for the input.

 

Yeap thats the place. The last time I was there about 10 years ago they had lots of collector type vinyl on the lower level.

 

Very true. It's amazing - life goes on. And I don't mean that to sound disrepectful to what happened. You can still feel the tragic loss, but it's also heartening that the area has been able to rebound.

 

Thanks for all the feedback. I am pretty much interested in "audiophile" vinyl at this point, new or used. Maybe some gold CD's, but mostly audiophile viny. That being said (sorry for the late clarification) where are the places to go? I leave tomorrow afternoon for the Apple...

 

The best i can recommend is Academy LP's (see earlier post). It is very hit and miss for really great stuff. For audiophile stuff you better off going to Red Trumpet or Acoustic Sounds, prices are high but they have selection and they stand behind what they sell.If you go by Academy be sure to check out the Virgin Mega Store in Union Square, it is beyond belief (and they have new vinyl).