Upper West Side Independent Graphic Bookshop: Saturday Plan

There is no comics-only store on the Upper West Side right now, so an independent graphic bookshop plan here runs through two Strand stores and a public library. The Strand opened on Columbus Avenue between West 81st and 82nd Streets in July 2020, in the space Book Culture lost earlier that year, and in July 2025 it added The Strand Lincoln Center at 2020 Broadway near West 70th Street. Add the St. Agnes library branch on Amsterdam Avenue and you have a full Saturday for graphic reading.

Upper West Side readers have watched their bookstore map shift several times in a few years. Book Culture's Columbus Avenue store was closed by city marshals in January 2020 over unpaid rent, and the Strand took over the storefront that summer. In 2025, Shakespeare & Co. closed its store on Broadway at West 105th Street in March, and the Strand moved into the company's last remaining New York space on Broadway between West 69th and 70th Streets.

The result is that the Strand is now the main independent bookseller across much of the neighborhood. For graphic novel readers, that means two shelves curated by the same company but in very different rooms, which is useful for planning: you can visit one in the morning and the other in the afternoon without repeating yourself too much.

Start on Columbus Avenue, where the former Book Culture space gives the Strand a neighborhood store with room for browsing. The graphic novel shelves here lean toward the titles Upper West Side families and readers ask for: literary graphic memoirs, acclaimed adult graphic novels and a strong children's and young readers section that includes many illustrated series.

Arrive soon after opening on a Saturday, before the brunch crowds along Columbus spill into the shops. Pick two or three books to compare and hold off on buying until you have seen the second store; the Lincoln Center shop is small, but its tighter curation sometimes surfaces a title that the larger room hides among many others.

One block west, the St. Agnes branch of the New York Public Library on Amsterdam Avenue is the cheapest way to test a graphic novel before buying it. NYPL cardholders can borrow for free and place holds across the system, and the branch's teen and children's shelves are particularly useful for parents trying to find the next series for a young reader.

Use this stop to read the opening chapters of anything you found on Columbus Avenue. If a book does not grip you in twenty pages, skip the purchase. If it does, you now know which volume to buy and which later volumes to reserve through the library.

The American Museum of Natural History sits a few blocks east on Central Park West at 79th Street, and it pairs well with a graphic reading day. Its dioramas, dinosaur halls and the Rose Center have inspired countless illustrated science books, and many readers who love nonfiction comics find the museum shop's illustrated titles a natural continuation of the morning.

Skip the museum on a rainy Saturday unless you have booked ahead; it is one of the busiest family destinations in the city in bad weather. On a dry day, Theodore Roosevelt Park beside the museum offers benches for reading what you have already picked up.

Ride the 1 train from 79th Street down to 72nd Street, or walk south along Broadway, to reach The Strand Lincoln Center at 2020 Broadway. At about 2,500 square feet, it is a compact shop, and that size forces sharper choices on the shelves. That makes it a good place to compare against the Columbus Avenue store: if a graphic novel earned a spot in both, it is probably a book the staff believe in.

The location also sets up an evening. Lincoln Center is two blocks south, so you can end a reading day with a performance or simply sit by the Revson Fountain plaza with a new book before heading home.

Be honest about what the Upper West Side cannot offer. If you want weekly comics issues, back issues, deep manga runs or collectibles, neither Strand shop is built for that, and you will save time by riding downtown to Forbidden Planet near Union Square or to Midtown Comics in Midtown. Those stores serve collectors and series readers far better.

The Upper West Side plan is for readers who want graphic novels as books: memoir, literary fiction, nonfiction comics and children's illustrated series. If that describes you, the neighborhood offers a calm, walkable day without the crowds of downtown comics shops.

A middle path works for mixed groups: spend the morning on Columbus Avenue and at the library, then send the collectors in your group downtown on the 1 train while everyone else finishes at Lincoln Center. The two halves of the day can meet again for dinner near Columbus Circle, which sits between both worlds on the subway map.

The 1 train stops at 79th Street and 86th Street, and the B and C stop at 81st Street–Museum of Natural History, all within a few minutes of the Columbus Avenue store and the library. For the Broadway shop, use 72nd Street on the 1, 2 and 3 or 66th Street–Lincoln Center on the 1.

Families with strollers should note that the walk between all stops follows flat avenues, which makes the route easier than many downtown book crawls. Bring a tote large enough for oversized illustrated books, which are common in children's sections.

Karpo APP can turn this into a plan you can reuse. Tell Karpo you want a Saturday of graphic novels on the Upper West Side, mention who is coming and whether the museum is in or out, and it can help you sequence the two Strand stores, the library and a lunch stop, then keep the reading list in one chat for the next weekend.