Literary Things to see and do in New York City

The Strand Bookstore 

Home of over 2.5 million used, new and rare books. 18 miles of Books (closer to 23 now!)  

New York Public Library 

Full of history, architecture, and books. Includes free exhibits and gift shop.

The Morgan Library & Museum 

Once the personal library of J.P Morgan, includes collections of illuminated, literary, and historical manuscripts, early printed books, and old master drawings and prints collected by Morgan.

Edgar Allan Poe Cottage 

The cottage where Edgar Allan Poe spent the last years of his life. This is the home where he penned many of his poetical works, “Annabel Lee”, “The Bells” and “Eureka”. 

Literary Walk in Central Park 

Located at the southern end of Central Park Mall, it’s lined with statues of Scottish poet Robert Burns, Scottish novelist Sir Walter Scott, American poet Fitz-Greene Halleck, and William Shakespeare.  

roughly a 20 minute walk from the New York Hilton Midtown 

The Central Park Carousel 

Featured in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye where Holden feels a rare happiness while watching his little sister Phoebe ride around. 

Lower Manhattan’s Poets House library is free and open to the public as well, though not affiliated with the NYPL system. Peruse its stacks of more than 70,000 volumes of verse or take some time to relax in its airy reading room, overlooking the Hudson River.   

The Schomburg Center in Harlem is the final resting place of poet and novelist Langston Hughes. His ashes are buried under the main lobby floor beneath an installation inspired by one of his poems; his former home, open to the public, is within walking distance.  

Guests of the Library Bar at the Hudson Hotel are invited to read books from the bar’s impressive collection while relaxing by the fireplace. You’ll also be surrounded by hundreds of handsome volumes at Hudson Bar and Books in Greenwich Village and at Bookmarks in Midtown East. Toast writer Oscar Wilde at this namesake gilded watering hole (which has NYC’s longest bar) with a book of your own.  

The Center For Book Arts & The Center for Fiction 
Not only is the art of book making alive and well in the city, but right in the heart of Manhattan is an institution dedicated to preserving the history of and continuing the culture of book arts, a short walk away, The Center for Fiction, the only American non-profit dedicated solely to fiction, offers daily workshops and events.