• Gallagher's Art & Fashion Gallery

  111 Fourth Avenue, 212-473-0840; gallaghersfashion.com

  For fourteen years, design professionals have flocked to Gallagher’s Fashion Archive in the East Village in search of inspiration. Old and new books and magazines relating to fashion, design, and popular culture pack the seven rooms of this basement bonanza. But for mere mortals, it can be a cramped—and intimidating—place. Now Gallagher’s has moved the cream of its collection to a roomier street-level space, where anyone can feel comfortable shopping for back issues of magazines both familiar (Vogue, Esquire, Interview) and obscure (Status & Diplomat, Charm, She) while gazing at original photography and curated exhibits. It would be easy to spend the day here, chatting with Walter Cessna (the incredibly informed manager) and drooling over the gorgeous offerings, except for one thing: Seating is limited, which reminds you that this is a business, not a library.

From the 2004 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine