CD stores in lower Manhattan

I will be in the Big Apple on business for a day or two and miss the good old Tower Records days. Any recommendations for lower Manhattan. I'm looking for stores that have a nice used CD section as well.

 

J&R Music World, 23 Park Row (near City Hall)

http://www.jr.com/information/directions.jsp

Virgin Megastore, 52 East 14th Street (Union Square; 10 blocks north of the old Tower Records)

https://www.virginmega.com/VMS/screens/about_us/locator/union_square.jsp

Paul

 

St. Marks Place, between Second and Third Avenues is still worth a visit - both Rockit Scientist and Sounds are still there. Rebel Rebel in the West Village is still great. Other Music on 4th (across from the old Tower) is going strong. Around the corner from them is Downtown Music Gallery, a really great store if their focus is your thing (check their website). There's a new small shop on East Fifth Street (between Second and First Avenues) that's about mainly Brazilian vinyl but also has other kinds of things. Can't remember the name, but I pass it every day, PM me if that's of interest and I'll make a note of it Monday.

And J & R is really worth checking out (only a tiny bit of used, though), a surprisingly good CD and DVD department. I always find some oddball stuff there. Interesting buyer, I'm guessing.

All in all, it's not what it was, but there's still plenty of stuff out there. Have a great visit!

 

Miles coming to my neck of the woods!

Academy Records is great for Classical and Jazz used CDs, they are on 18th street between 5th and 6th avenue.

Some useful stores have already been listed on St. Marks, check out Kim's Video on the first floor for used stuff while you are there.

On third avenue between 8th and 7th streets there's a store with a basement full of used stuff for half off last time I was there. It's called Norman's Sound and Vision. You gotta do some digging, but I've found quite a few CDs there.

Over on the west side, Bleeker Street Records at 239 Bleeker between 6th Ave and 7th Ave South has a huge selection of used CDs.

There's another store on 12th street between Broadway and University called Second Hand Rose's Music. Their prices are not cheap, but they have a decent size case of original pressings, MFSL and OOP stuff. They also have a ton of vinyl.

On avenue A, there's a small store called Etherea between 4th and 5th streets. Not a lot there, but if you're in the area worth peeking in.

 

FWIW, Virgin is closing its Times Square store.

 

More great suggestions. Unfortunately, Mondo Kim's last day is today, but they've opened a much smaller music and dvd branch on First Avenue (between 7th and 8th Streets, I think).

The cool thing about Academy is that they'll let you bring in a portable CD player and check out anything in the store. At least they used to...

 

They still do. I did it last night. I've saved a lot of money with this option.

Kim's wasn't ever on the top of my list for CDs anyway, but a shame they are moving.

 

When do the sales begin?

PS - We should keep this thread going indefinitely for our NYC members. Give a heads up on sales or rare stuff we see in the shops.

 

Other Music:

http://www.othermusic.com/index.cgi

later, chris

 

Guys, thank you so much. Many great recommendations while I had a good nights sleep.

J&R has become a regular for me after Tower closed but I will certainly check out many of the other places with specialty focus (like Jazz) and with second hand sections.

Plenty to pick from, should be fun.

 

I read that a few days back - does anyone know when their closing sale starts?

 

I think there slated to close in April.

 

Well, I might be back by then.

 

Yeah! I love to visit St. Marks Place when in that neck of the woods. Have a lot of old lps too with Sounds stickers on them, last time I went got a few good deals on some used cds.

 

J&R has expanded their vinyl section at the expense of their oldies CD section. The last time I was there, they had dozens and dozens of cardboard boxes full of old LPs, many of them sealed titles from the 70's and 80's. It looked to me like they had pulled these out of storage somewhere. But some of the prices were silly..they wanted $9.99 for sealed copies of David Soul LPs.

 

I was at J&R on Thursday. They still have those boxes of vinyl, many 50% off.

 

I think Sounds is closed on Mondays and/or Tuesdays, fyi.

 

J & R is the best choice but there are several Barnes & Noble stores with decent inventory also.

 

Many thks, will be there on Friday and Saturday morning.

 

I seem to remember a lot of shops in the Village are closed Mondays at least.

 

Things are definitely not what they were a few years ago in NYC...

If you don't have much time, I'd say hit J&R and Academy...Other Music if your tastes are a bit more "out there"....

 

Take a long last look at all of the indy stores you shop in because based on the conversations I had with some of their owners when I was there this summer, almost none of them will be there in 2010.

 

Those have been there for a few months now. Many are old cut-outs, probably leftover from the final (at that time) days of vinyl when the ever-expanding CD section was pushing out the LPs. Some of those 10-15 dollar albums used to sell for 3.99-5.99.

 

Thank You

Thank you all for the tips off the beaten track (at least for me).

Got into town yesterday night and went straight to the Blue Note to see Holly Cole.

After the mandatory business meetings this morning and a brief stop at J&R, I headed over to Bleekers Street Records, found a few nice ones and satisfied my sweet tooth next door at Rocco's Cafe.

Just a block over is Bleekers' Bob Vinyl - not a lot in terms of CDs but a nice vinyl selection. Around the corner is Generation Records, they have a very nice used CD section in the basement.

It was time for lunch at one of my favorite spots - Blue Water Grill on Union Square. And then I hit the jackpot. So the big shout out goes to George.

Second Hand Rose's Music left a big dent in my bank account. I walked out with dozens of Silver MoFi's, 25&28 DPs, VDJs & VDPs etc etc.
Prices for some items were a bit high but I got great discounts on all Jazz and Pop First & Second Pressings, only paid full price for the MoFi's - but what can you do, they were still missing in my collection.
Am I glad I don't collect vinyl right now, it would have ruined me. They even offered to ship items on my wishlist to Australia for me. This will from now on be one of my regular stops.


Tonight I went for a second time to the Blue Note - Robin McKelle. I will follow your advise and stop tomorrow at St Marks Pl before I have to head to the airport.


PS: I wasn't looking forward going from 100+ to below 30 temperature wise, but it actually wasn't that bad - even enjoyd the few snow flakes today.

 

Please don't miss Academy Records, Miles!

They are on 18th street between 5th ave and 6th ave.

Mostly Classical and Jazz, but lots of rare and OOP stuff.