In about 1957, I was first brought to New York, by my father. Since we went by train from Pittsburgh, I'm sure we passed through the old Penn Station, both on arrival and departure, but I really don't remember that very well. (You have to remember that architectural splendor was something that was expected at that time as some kind of cultural convention. Train stations, movie palaces, all public spaces seemed much grander in retrospect, compared to most of the prefab stuff we see nowadays.)
My father took me to the old secondhand bookstores on lower Third Ave. All I remember is many kind of dilapidated old buildings down there, with dusty shelves lined with old books, which my father would pore over. (He loved histories about the U.S. Civil War, which was curious, since he had been born in Nova Scotia.) All I remember of that was standing around. I was 8.
Interestingly, as my whole family was bookish, I eventually became bookish too, if only by osmosis. I later ended up living in New York, from 1972-87, when I became a habitué' of several old secondhand bookstores thereabouts. I loved the Gotham Bookmart, on West 47th St., between 5th and 6th, where a sweet man named Phil Lyman was particularly helpful. I should think he probably spent the better part of his life working there. Then there was Weiser's, an occult book store, on Broadway near West 4th St. downtown. They specialized in all kinds of alternative literature, both scientific and fictional. The clientele there also seemed at least as colorful as the subject matter. And I can't forget the Argosy, up in the East 50's and about Madison or Lex. They specialized in higher end, costlier first editions and illustrated books. Even the Strand back in those days had a special Rare Book Room, up on the 5th Floor. You had to be called up there, then take an elevator at a different entrance, separate from the main bookstore, where you were met by an attendant.
The Strand still stands, but it's become more of an industry. Gone are the creaky wood floors. Now they have an elevator! But, if you are willing to dig, you can still find interesting catalogues from all kinds of art exhibitions and auction houses. I always liked looking at that stuff. And the staff still seems pleasingly alternative funky, as they always did, though now they're mostly younger.
And I loved all the record stores. 8th St. between 5th and 6th seemed to specialize in them: Happy Tunes, where practically everything was $1.99, Dayton's, which had soundtrack bootleg lp's, and had another branch over on Broadway, a block or so south of the Strand, Greenwich Village Disk, which didn't have much of anything, and Discophile, which rather haughtily dealt only with Classical recordings. There was also funky Footlight Records, over on 2nd Ave. near 12th St.; it had the best old movie soundtracks and shows, and the two owners, a gay couple named Frank (?) and Eddie sat at different sides of the room, and frequently corrected each other. (They eventually sold the store and retired to Florida. The place still specialized in the same stuff, changing to another nearby location, but eventually that too ceased to be. Now it's an online site, though it has a lot of interesting product.)
