Shakespeare & Co. To Open Another UWS Location

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY - Calling all bookworms! Shakespeare & Co. is set to get its third New York City and second Upper West Side location.

The new storefront will be located at 2736 Broadway near West 105th Street at the former site of Steps Clothing Company, which closed in 2023. The bookstore plans to open in March.

Loyal customers won’t find the iconic cafe or the self-publishing espresso book machine in the new store. For those, you’ll have to visit the Shakespeare & Co. locations at 2020 Broadway on the Upper West Side and 939 Lexington Ave. on the Upper East Side.

The Upper West Side's original Shakespeare & Co. was nestled on West 81st Street and closed down in 1996 – a loss to the neighborhood that author Toni Morrison told the New York Times was "melancholy and outrageous."

The Upper East Side location made headlines last year when it had its indoor cafe shuttered by city health inspectors, Patch previously reported.

Inspectors knocked the cafe for not cleaning or sanitizing wiping cloths in-between uses, a lack of Food Protection Certificate held by a manager or supervisor of the cafe, food, supplies, or equipment not protected from potential source of contamination and no approved written standard operating procedure for avoiding contamination by refillable returnable containers. Read more: Shakespeare & Co Cafe Closed By City Health Inspectors