When Gothamist was a wee middle school student on the Upper West Side we stumbled into the unique and wonderful experience of finding a bookstore to call ones own. In a perfect world everyone would know the feeling of a musty store where they could walk in, chat with clerks and other patrons, flip through a few books, learn something and feel completely at home. That bookstore, in our case, was the Applause Bookstore on 71st Street. One of the great theater bookstores it had a lot of everything for everyone (well, if you were interested in theater or film). But after 25 years the curtain is coming down on the store which in recent years has found much of its business sapped by the Internet, corporate bookstores, and patrons changing interests.
And so now Applause is going through an extended curtain call. Earlier the store announced that it would be closing at the end of June, a date which was then pushed back to the end of July, and has now been pushed once again to the end of August. But that is probably it. Applause was a great bookstore (one that launched a great publishing house which is no longer affiliated and is not closing) and so if you have the time, stop by and browse for a minute, take advantage of the closing sales and get a glimpse at the end of an era.
So that's our childhood bookstore (well and Forbidden Planet, but that's another story), what was yours?
Applause Books at 211 West 71st Street (212-496-7511)
Open Monday-Saturday 10-8, Sundays 12-6
