It has a nice collection of old and modern used books that feels like walking into a story of fantasy. Love the place if you are in NYC pass by it.

One of the last great secondhand 4th Avenue bookshops - I was delighted to find it and visit there while in Manhattan last week! Just like many NYC bookshops I remember from the past, its cramped, small, and not well-alphabetized. But, it is charming, and you can easily find treasures there! I found a signed Joyce Carol Oates first edition for only $25! Glad its surviving and Id definitely visit again!

Alabaster Bookshop is a used and rare bookshop, just a couple of blocks away from Union Square Park. this independent bookstore is a breath of fresh air in an area that is clogged with retail chains and layers of redundant businesses. it’s awesome to see a store like this thrive and survive in NYC.the store itself is very smalls. there are books everywhere from floor to ceiling but they are organized in a methodical way. there are deep discounted books to search through if you want to discover reading treasure in the book carts parked outside. the store has variety of major book genres organized by author name from general fiction and nonfiction to horror to sci fi and beyond. most of the books, themselves, are discounted bc they are used. it’s a win-win at Alabaster books bc you get to support a local business and get great fiction or nonfiction at all way lower prices.i am really glad i stopped in this store bc the service was awesome. i was having trouble locating a book and the staffer/owner(?) was really helpful and picked through some books for me. he ended up finding one of the titles i was looking for…it’s the extra effort and thoughtfulness to help as opposed to just point to a section of the store to look in…that i appreciated. and hello’s and thank you’d go a long way. it really is the little things that make a retail transaction an experience as opposed to just a forgettable purchase.highly recommend supporting this store.

Got a great book about the history of VR! FCFVA APPROVED!

Very quaint and expensive bookstore. Not very organized. The atmosphere was a bit snobby, not welcoming. Found one really great poetry book.

Cozy. Had my books. Good prices. Friendly service. Clean and books well kept.

Great bookstore on former bookstore row. They let me buy a book on the honor system since I didnt have cash and they had a $10 credit card minimum.

Interesting book store in midtown Manhattan. Itll most definitely have something that caughts your interest. Bought two books here and will come for more sometime in the future!

Open late and has a huge selection of books packed in. Spent a weekend exploring book stores in NYC and stumbled upon this one. Probably the best!

Everything you want in a small independent bookshop. The guy working was friendly and helpful.

A great small bookstore especially good for fiction.

The person I interacted with knew very little about books, they didn’t have many of the famous books which won booker prize awards recently. And he was super rude to a senior citizen.

Curated selection of old/rare books. Some first editions. Includes New York, polical science, fiction, the East, religion, and some oddballs. Also $2 books out front like Architecture of the Anglo Saxons. Staff was nice.

Was so excited to go here after a night in the city with my daughter. Took a taxi down from Times Square only to find they were closed at 9pm. Google says they are open until 10. Plz change your hours online.

Small and comfy bookstore. I am adding this review to partially cancel out an excessively harsh 1-star review, whose poster was angered by the fact that the advertised hours were incorrect. Even if they hadnt posted, this is easily a 5-star bookselling establishment.

Just went there for the time and they wanted $600 for a book that goes for $200 on the higher side. I mean wouldnt you think someone interested in something like that would know the value? Robbery.

Stumbled upon this place while in the area. The vitrine inspired my curiosity, I got in and walked out with three books - one I long wanted to buy, the other one as a present to my wife and the third as a surprise for myself of an author I was long curious about.It felt so good in the store and for some time after I left it and I thought to myself that this is how buying books should be - you go in without knowing what exactly you want and find exactly what you need.Ill definitely be coming back very soon.

Its a good used book store.

Always a good stop

!😊This is a real gem of a place. I swear that the guy by the name of Joe is a book keeper there!.. YoU!

Small but very cute and can find some treasures if you take your time and look through!

Despite the bookshop looking wonderful and cozy, I was greeted by an incredibly rude employee at the front,--a male with glasses, and short hair. He was incredibly rude for no reason, giving attitude when I was just asking simple and polite questions to try and find a book. A note to the owner, please dont have employees who are rude to customers for no reason. If they dont want to be there, then they shouldnt be the first face a potential customer might see.

A hidden gem in the city.

A small used bookstore with carefully curated selections

They bought some books off my girlfriend. Very fair, kind, and accommodating staff.

A nice quiet place, love it:📚❤

Small store and very well kept. I must go back.

Books outside....Nice!

This is one of my favorite bookstores. Its perfectly quaint with a suitable occult section. I dont come here nearly as often as I want to but the $2 outside books are always nice to look at. Bonus points for the perfect book store smell.

Really like this place. Its a cozy spot, with very well-read staff that give excellent recommendations. Much better than the proximal Strand Bookstore. Even though I live a couple 6 stops away from here, I visit every weekend. Probably my favorite location in Manhattan, apart from my own apartment.

Lovely little bookshop. So much fun to browse older books. They have a few newer books but most are older. Such a delight.

One of the few gems left of NYC bookshops. They carry a well curated and diverse assortment of hard to find art, architecture and literature classics. These are the type of places we all hope will stand the test of time but happy they’re still here. Small shop but if you’re into tangible hard covers and special books - this is your place!

Very nice place with amazing book collections. The staff was very cooperative and friendly. Highly recommended book store.

Great selection of books at very reasonable prices. The store manager was also very friendly and helpful :)

Left me interested in what else they had

Didnt find what I was looking for, but actually very well organized for a used book store and the staff was very helpful and nice.

Ive brought part of my library to the shop. The books were processed and evaluated very quickly and it was a real pleasure dealing with both persons who helped me with the books. Being a vivid reader myself I loved the shop and all the books I saw in there. Certainly will be coming back to this lovely place to sell and to buy books.

I took a portion of my late fathers enormous, beloved book collection to the Stand; the manager told me it was too large to accept without having made a prior appointment. He then took a brief look through the bags and said that he wouldnt be interested due to condition issues. I asked he had any suggestions for where I could sell or donate the books - he suggested I try the Alabaster Bookshop, or just drop them off at the Salvation Army. The two kind, helpful men at Alabaster took the time, without an appointment, to inspect each and every book. They kept a moderate pile and returned the rest to me, with an offer to help me drop them off at the Salvation Army. They paid me $31, but the money was irrelevant to me - what mattered was that they took the time to inspect the books and kept the interesting and sell-able ones. Dropping them off at the Salvation Army would have been so depressing - all the years my father spent collecting and enjoying his books, gone. At least now a portion of his collection will be enjoyed by other readers.

Like the store selection and employees are very helpful! I trade in my books here and always get a better deal on certain books than at Strand. They appreciate one-offs, are looking for used and rare, and otherwise treat you like a person, instead of an “offer”. Humanity in a bookstore does not have to mean “no commerce”!

Lovely book store. If the young and welcoming guy is the store owner, I would give 6 stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Good selection of used book, especially in some topics e.g. arts, music, architecture, and classics... Poor choice of scientific and economic book though. Prices are a bit high though imo

Wonderful selection, especially for books i would have never have thought to seek out.

Wonderful used and rare book store. The last store of what used to be book row on Fourth Avenue. Knowledgeable and helpful staff, a treasure trove of books in all genres, and extensive $2 racks outside to browse.

Love this place! Where else can you find old classics for 50 cents! We left with several DVDs and.

This bookshop is small with a great use of space to its large amounts of books it contains with a large amount of titles from used to rare and old to new this small store isn’t big in size but has a lot to offer in the case if books

Interesing books better than the big ones around

Didnt find what I was looking for, still my favorite book store. New hire seems great!

Alabaster is the best used bookshop in the city. Hands down. The employees are always willing to help find a book or recommend something amazing. This is definitely my go to bookstore.

Best store ever. Absolutely no bias here.

An oldie and a goodie. Tiny but just big enough that you can get lost in stacks of books. Around the corner from the Strand, but well worth visiting for the more intimate setting.

Excellent! Found Chris Stein’s ‘Point of View’ for only $35

Cozy neighborhood bookstore, has a good selection and good prices.

Great customer service. Knowledge of rare books, gift ideas, writing styles.

The guy who works there with the glasses has the WORST attitude!!!!!!!!!! So sassy!

Great variety of books from modern novels to scientific to antiques

They were helpful staff and they have a huge variety too. I wish they had a bigger store.

Interesting selection of $2 outside books, I can always find something!

A great bookstore- a very interesting selection, wonderful atmosphere, and a very nice and knowledgeable guy behind the counter. Everything Id dream in a bookstore, really.

Small and cozy, good place to get collectible book appraisals.

Great small bookstore go staff variety of prices high-end medium and some very economical.

My personal favorite within the village area, its not just the comforting scent of literary treasures old and new, it is also the rare and dying scent of authenticity, you can roam all day in modern new York and not find its likeness.

Great opportunity to find a really obscure book, pricing was okay.

Its everything you want from a used book store, and its jam packed to the gills with books.

Best bookstore in NYC. Hands down. A must visit.

Great bookstore with a great selection of classic books.

Great book shop. Found inexpensive older books.

Very cozy bookstore. Find treasures at affordable prices.

A used book store on F/K/A book row, 4th avenue south of 14th street (where 4th becomes Park Avenue South. Yes, theres a big indie bookstore, Strand, a block away. But that doesnt mean you shouldnt walk around the corner to check out the selection.at Alabaster. Lots of used books in many subjects. Fair prices, and a turnover of selection. Theres a benefit to looking through real used books, looking through them, and finding what you want, perhaps something you didnt know existed. Alabaster is one of the remaining places you can still do that.

Great spot, good selection and thoughtful assistance.

Easy to search for fiction and reasonable priced.

Good selection, but pricey.

Great books and reasonable prices

Had a weirdly condescending experience with the guy sitting at the desk. Maybe he was having a bad day, but it seemed like during our three minute interaction (I was trying to see if they would buy a book I had), I had wasted a huge amount of his time or something.

A real bookstore with a good inventory.

Wonderful shop, nice owner, good prices.

Cozy bookstore with neat collection!

Best bookstore around.

Nice books.

Always has when Im looking to read

Theres something special here

Great selection

Educational

Great bookstore!

Alabaster bookshop

Buy local!

Loved it here

Great place!!

Awesome

Gem

Nice bookstore for old books. He has books for $ 2.

I loved it

“The storefront of the Elabas bookstore is very small, typical of the New York bookstore design style, the color of the logs is distributed in the small space, and the floor to the ceiling is filled with books, as much as possible in the smallest range. The bookstore sells The books are mainly second-hand books, there are many rare books hidden in the book pile, be patient, you will find your favorite.

Literary

Just used bookstore