Reading spots

Date: March 4, 2009 2:47:21 PM EST
To: inyc@timeoutny.com
Subject: Reading in NYC

I'm a relatively new subscriber to your fantastic publication. But boy, do I have a problem. I love to read, and when I find the rare chunk of time I can devote to a book, I'm always at a loss for a great reading spot. How about a couple suggestions? Where can I find a cozy, quiet little nook?

Thanks for everything, every week! Nick C., Astoria

"My reading spots are not about ambience but about the desperate New York search for a quiet indoor place where you can be left alone without the meter running," says WNYC radio host Brian Lehrer. His top-of-the-line choice: Any hotel lobby, like that of the Waldorf-Astoria (301 Park Ave at 50th St; 212-355-3000, waldorf.com). "Start with the Waldorf and work your way down," Lehrer says. "As long as you don't look like a panhandler, they'll leave you alone." On the other end: any fast food restaurant. "Unlike at restaurants with waiters, you can sit and nurse a coffee all day. Same deal as the Waldorf: Just act invisible."

Superhero and Marvel corporate mascot Spider-Man reads "his favorite newspaper to hate, The Daily Bugle" atop The Chrysler Building (405 Lexington Ave at 42nd St, 212-682-3070), according to Joe Quesada, editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. "The light is spectacular, especially on the northwest corner, and the eagle gargoyles are more comfortable than you would think." Quesada himself finds peace and quiet at the dog run at Madison Square Park (Fifth Ave and 23rd St, madisonsquarepark.org), with his yellow Lab and a book: "Sorry kids, no comics—I read those for work."

Ivanka Trump, just before she boarded a plane to Dubai, suggested enjoying a read on a bench at The Pond in Central Park (Central Park South between Fifth and Sixth Aves, centralpark.com), which is convenient for her—it's a stone's throw from the Trump International Hotel and Tower on Central Park West.

Actress, playwright and poet Sarah Jones suggests "a bench in the garden of The Church of St. Luke in the Fields" (487 Hudson St at Christopher St, stlukeinthefields.org). If you want to remain indoors, Jones recommends the Queens-bound E or F train, "or any of the least-populated subway lines during the middle of the day." She likes to alternate between reading and "character-hunting" on her rides.

"In the summer, I love to sit on the waterfront in Williamsburg," says Brazilian Girls frontwoman Sabina Sciubba of East River State Park (90 Kent Avenue at North 9th St, nysparks.state.ny.us). "Of course, by saying this I might be ruining it."

Most folks read in coffee shops, but where do the baristas go? "In line at Trader Joe's" (142 E 14th St between Third and Fourth Aves; 212-529-4612, traderjoes.com), says Taryn Yaeger of Gorilla Coffee (97 Fifth Ave between Baltic and Warren Sts, Park Slope, Brooklyn; 718-230-3244, gorillacoffee.com). She also enjoys reading on the subway and in Prospect Park, but "I've been in that line and gotten homework done," she says. "It's better than talking on your cell phone."

See more You asked for it