Village People Spotlight: The BookMobile

Although some might argue the West Side has won the battle between villages, with its iconic jazz bars and plethora of bougie shopping experiences, the East Village has maintained a steadfast grip on the gritty indie arts scene. Overflowing with thrift shops, skateboarders and nondescript Michelin-rated restaurants, the East Village continues to surprise New Yorkers with unique finds and (semi-)reasonable pricing. The East Village, like Williamsburg and many neighborhoods of New York, lies between at an interesting intersection of tastes, with independently owned witch stores and tattoo parlors just around the corner from corporate CorePowers and WholeFoods. I’ve met many people who are outright deterred by the East Village’s grunge, and others who (on the flip side) argue that downtown Manhattan is a white-washed husk of its former self after decades of gentrification. But at its core, the East Village still strives for (or at least scratch at) community driven artistry, harkening back to Beatnik-era New York.

Take the BookMobile–a pale green school bus you can find parked on varying streets in Alphabet City…