The original queer social spaces, and still some of the best.
Updated October 2026
Long before apps and group chats, bookstores were where queer people found each other: a shelf, a reading, a flyer on a corkboard. New York still has a remarkable set of queer-, feminist- and women-owned independent bookstores, and many of them run readings, book clubs and community nights that make them as much a social space as a shop. For more ways to spend a day or an evening, see our guide to queer activities in NYC.
Below: the stores our community recommends, borough by borough, and how to turn a bookstore into a way of meeting people.
Bookish queer and sapphic New Yorkers also find each other through 10th Muses, a community for lesbian and queer women, trans and nonbinary folks, 30+. Its Literary Salon group on WhatsApp, for writers, books and the spoken word, is where readings get shared and book-club plans get made, and the events calendar lists current outings.
McNally Jackson in SoHo and the Strand near Union Square are not queer bookstores, but both are large independent bookstores with author events, and they make easy meeting points.
Books of Wonder in Chelsea is a children's bookstore, worth knowing if you are buying for small people in your life. Yu and Me Books in Chinatown, opened by Lucy Yu in 2021, focuses on immigrant stories and the Asian diaspora.
The Ripped Bodice in Park Slope is a romance-only bookstore, woman- and queer-owned, and a natural home for sapphic romance readers. Café con Libros in Crown Heights is an intersectional feminist bookstore and coffee shop; Community Bookstore in Park Slope has been open since 1971.
Further north, Hive Mind Books in Bushwick and The Nonbinarian Bookstore in Crown Heights are small, community-minded queer bookstores, and Greenlight Bookstore in Fort Greene and Books Are Magic in Cobble Hill both host author readings.
The Astoria Bookshop, founded in 2013 by a queer woman, Lexi Beach, is a general-interest neighborhood bookstore with author events and book clubs — a good anchor if you live in Astoria or Long Island City.
Go to readings rather than just browsing: there is a built-in topic, a natural moment to talk afterwards, and the same faces come back. Join a store's book club for a few months; a monthly club is one of the easiest recurring things to commit to. And bring a friend who is new to the city — a bookstore is a low-pressure first outing.
Or bring the habit into a community: the 10th Muses Pulse, the members' community feed, is a natural place to post "anyone want to come to this reading?" and find gay women and nonbinary readers who say yes. Joining is free.
Each card links to the store's page in our community directory.
Yes. Brooklyn has the most: The Nonbinarian Bookstore and Café con Libros in Crown Heights, Hive Mind Books in Bushwick and The Ripped Bodice in Park Slope.
The Ripped Bodice in Park Slope is a romance-only bookstore, woman- and queer-owned. Most independent bookstores will also order sapphic titles for you.
Many do. Check each store's event calendar: readings and book clubs are one of the easiest ways to meet people with similar interests.
Queer Activities in NYC · All 10th Muses guides · Join 10th Muses
10th Muses — Social Club for Queer Women and Nonbinary Folks in NYC. Founded in September 2025 by Andrea Himmel.