Bleecker Street Records is famous for those living in the area–and for many of us from farther away, too. And with good reason. This two-floor New York City record store, located at 239 Bleecker Street between Carmine & Leroy in the West Village, is chock full of excellent finds.

If you start on the main floor and work your way down, a first-time visitor will probably find it easier to pace themselves than if you go down to where all the amazing goodies are (downstairs). By the time you come up for air you’ll be flat broke! Unlike some of its NYC counterparts in the Village, Bleecker Street Records is efficiently organized and very easy to browse in spite of a huge volume of titles.

For the first-time visitor, Bleecker Street is a bit deceptive in terms of layout–you’ll probably get through many of the stacks in the basement before you discover the Collectibles side of the house (which is behind you as you walk down the stairs.) Just about the time I was asking myself where all the hidden gems were located, I found them waiting on the opposite side.

It has to be said; Bleecker Street Records is NOT run by a bunch of clueless record buyers. They know what’s collectible, and these LPs are priced accordingly. Experienced collectors looking for holy grail LPs will do well here, but newcomers may be put off by some of the prices until they learn what’s reasonable and what’s not. There truly is something for every stage of collector here, but it’s best to know what’s a steal and what’s not before trying to navigate LPs sold in ANY shop as “collectible”.

The selection in the Bleecker Street collectibles area cannot be beat. These records are plentiful, as well cataloged as the non-collector stuff, and there is a nice cross-section of genres and artists for sale. There are LPs, 45s, 10-inches, the whole gamut.

This is one hell of a record store. Vinyl junkies, this should definitely be a destination for you when you’re in the NYC area. I WILL be back!

–Joe Wallace