East Village Books — Attraction in New York

First walking in I felt that this was a five star sort of place - it's cozy and fairly spacious with that perfect "little used book store" feel. The organization of the shelves is by genre and that's pretty much it so you have to look at everything if you're looking for something in particular but it's amusing to search through the shelves. Selection was solid and prices were reasonable for used books. Cash only.

However, the atmosphere changed to being weird, confusing and a little unnerving. They decided to play audio from air traffic controllers on the day of 9/11 loudly over the store speakers. It was distracting and odd and didn't make a lot of sense for a cozy bookstore. It went on for the rest of the forty five minutes or so I spent in there, even after a friend of mine asked the shopkeeper if he could maybe turn it down. He rudely retorted that it was "nostalgic" which we found strange. Other patrons in the store also seemed upset by the audio.

Furthermore, when I was checking out I noticed a tote bag that said something like "if you see something, cheer them on." I was wondering if my interpretation of that being a pro-terrorism play on "if you see something, say something" was just missing the point or if it was just blatantly anti-American. When I asked the shopkeeper what that was supposed to mean, he just handed me a card and said email the owner and ask. He was pretty rude and dismissive.

I'm not sure if I am overreacting but it left me with a bad taste in my mouth for supporting this establishment which gave the impression of looking favorably upon terrorism and violence against innocent people and doing little to dispel it. I regret having spent money there and will not return. I'm all about independent thinking in bookshops but there is a line and East Village books has...

East Village Books is a used bookstore, planted on St. Mark’s Place. the store is small and stacked from floor to ceiling with books, cds, dvds, postcards and more. the store is pretty cramped, a little rough around the edges, and feels a bit like a store before big box chains took over the world. EVB also buys books (check the website for what is being bought). the store is strictly cash only. the store has fans (no ac) so during the heatwave the inside was a bit steamy.

customer service is pretty much nonexistent here. staff or owners really won’t budge if you are looking for something. i had a couple of questions and got hand gestures and pointing as a response. eventually i found what I was look for by searching the store on my own. while i didn’t expect the employees to find stuff for me, i did think that a few uttered words would be worth their time. a little effort on the staff’s part would have been appreciated but i get it.

i did end up finding one of the books that I was looking for…the discount on used paperback books is just okay at best. a book that would normally be $16 new at retail would be $12 used at EVB…and you’d likely find that same book for like $4 used on Amazon. prices are reduced on used books but not as deep as i thought. perhaps in the future, the folks will eventually try to be a little bit more personable.

normally i’d give two stars any place that has customer service that is this lacking. however the world needs bookstores so I am rounding up to three stars. and this experience was a reminder that i need to renew my library card.

the staff here seem to resent having to interact with customers. idk—maybe i am reading this store wrong. however it is their business, and they will likely keep running it this way as it is their...

I try very hard to patronize local book stores. I know how hard it is for them to survive in an Amazon world. However the customer service I experienced while I was at East Village Books makes me think they’re already one foot out the door. I arrived here because someone at Strand recommended I try it to find a specific book I was looking for. I would also like the mention that the person at Strand also offered to call Barnes and Noble for me when we found out they didn’t have what i was looking for, but i declined in favor of a local store. When I arrived at East Village Books, I told the man behind the counter that I was looking for a specific translation of The Iliad. He pointed me to a general area of shelves, about 15 feet long and from the floor up 2 shelves. At 7 months pregnant it’s not easy crawling around on the floor, so when it became apparent that the books were in no order (i saw different copies of the Iliad 10 feet apart) I asked for some additional assistance, but he declined, confirming they were in no order. When I questioned if there was someone else who could help with this request he said no. I said that I expected better customer service and he replied, “this is the customer service.” This pregnant lady waddled back to the subway empty handed, not even knowing if they had what I was looking for, and certainly bummed to shop online.

For everyone thinking about going here, please start with Strand and Alabaster Bookshop - both nearby - in today’s difficult environment, these are the stores that...