5. The Strand // 828 Broadway
Considering that they’re the most famous used bookstore in New York, you’d think that their carts would be picked over, but I’ve found some good stuff over the years. I should mention that I’m biased, and I base a lot of my loyalty on how much old Penguin/Pelican paperbacks I can find. Their 48 cents bins are pretty good, though they tend to smell like a bowling alley shoe rental room.
4. Housing Works Bookstore Cafe // 126 Crosby Street
Their $1 shelves are quite decent, and you can find a lot of things that can be bought on their normal shelves for a much higher price. The real action, however, is in the small 50 cent cart. You can only get a prime perusal if you have it to yourself though, so I’ve spent many minutes intimidating another browser to hurry up already so I can have it to myself.
3. Spoonbill and Sugartown // 218 Bedford Avenue
Slim pickings. You’d be better off snooping around the booksellers who set up shop on the street. If you exit the store through the backdoor and into the arcade you get a lightly better selection out in the dimly lit hallway. I found a funny book from the seventies on various sexual positions that had illustrations that were clearly inspired by Ziggy and Precious Moments figurines.
2. Mercer Street Books & Records // 206 Mercer Street
This cart is successfully stocked with enough decent books to lure you inside the store. It’s a bit of a tease, really. The carts usually don’t have anything impressive, but it’s just one of those stores that you feel obligated to like out of sheer solidarity. Also, does the Tuesday with Morrie guy realize that his books are now being published straight-to-bargain-bin?
1. Book Thug Nation // 100 N. 3rd Street
As one of my favorite bookstores in Brooklyn, this store has an impeccable bargain cart. I don’t know what their criteria is for placing books in there, as I’ve found crisp, new editions of recently released books. That leads me to believe that they’re in there because someone was murdered while reading that book or it came from the house of a murder victim. Either way, I don’t mind too much.
