Interview with a Bookstore: Housing Works Bookstore in New York

Welcome to the largest community-based AIDS service organization in the US – and a fantastic bookstore

Interview with a Bookstore from Literary Hub is part of the Guardian Books Network

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Housing Works Bookstore Cafe’s opening is a bit of a mystery, but let’s say it opened, in our beloved Crosby Street location, in 1996. But the history of the bookstore goes back to the history of Housing Works, Inc, which was founded in 1993 by Charles King and Keith Cylar and other members of the groundbreaking AIDS activist group ACT UP. It was simple: if you had AIDS and you had no place to live, it was impossible to receive the lifesaving care that you needed. Today we are the largest community-based AIDS service organization in the country. We provide housing, primary care, job training, and legal help, to more than 20K homeless and low-income New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS.

As the story goes, in 1993, an angel investor approached Housing Works with a proposal: an investment in a second hand store of designer goods, stylishly presented and frequently rotated, sold at not rock-bottom but irresistible-bargain prices. The thrift shop swiftly opened and exceeding its three month financial goals within the first weeks.

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