Drugs, groceries, books

[154 W. 10th Street, West Village, Manhattan, c. 1939–1941. From the NYC Municipal Archives Collections. Click for a much larger view.]

Since 1978 this corner has been home to the great bookstore Three Lives & Company. In recent years Elaine and I have bought books there (many books) every time we’ve visited Manhattan. One of these days or years we’ll get there again.

Before no. 154 was a bookstore or a grocery-delicatessen (with payphone, as per the Bell Telephone sign), it was a drugstore, or drug store, the subject of a 1927 Edward Hopper painting.

Here’s a New York Times article with much more about the history of no. 154 and Three Lives.

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A reader notes that there was once another bookstore in the rear of the building: Djuna Books, named, of course, for Djuna Barnes.

Related reading
More photographs from the NYC Municipal Archives (Pinboard)