Press
Best Bookstore in the City
New York Inquirer — November 08, 2006
“…Lit candles and stage lights illuminate the embrace of books around you, and the result is a distinct intimacy.�
Monthly folk concert evokes intimacy and another era
The Villager — January 19, 2005
“The December concert, the last installment of the series for 2004, was sold out, and there was standing room only. The atmosphere was cozy and informal; like a gathering, as opposed to the typical raucous vibe of a rock show. Instead of a mosh pit, members of the audience sat respectfully in chairs, or on the floor surrounding the stage. People also stood along the two stairways curving up to the balcony, where more people stood to watch the show. They had their eyes toward the small stage, a slightly raised platform covered with a Persian rug and bathed in the honey glow of a soft spotlight.�
Best Bookstore to Make Noise At
Village Voice — Best of New York, 2004 — April 04, 2004
“Seems like you can’t walk into a bookstore without knocking into a cup of coffee these days. At Housing Works Used Book Café, music writer and editor Alan Light has come up with (pun alert) a very ‘novel’ idea by curating Live From Home-a monthly musical series featuring folks like Lyle Lovett, Ryan Adams, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Rosanne Cash. So go, and dare someone to tell you to be quiet while you’re pumpin’ to the Cowboy Junkies.�
Best Concert Series
New York Magazine — May 12, 2003
“Combining the sleek polished wood of a Park Avenue club house, the angular clientele of a SoHo lounge, and the shaggy liberalism of a nonprofit coffee house, Housing Works has been downtown’s anti-Starbucks for seven years.…a new concert series is giving coffee house folk an extreme makeover. Ryan Adams inaugurated the monthly series in January (when he wasn’t opening for the Stones at Madison Square Garden), and Rosanne Cash launched her comeback album here in March.�
