A bookstore in Greenwich Village has been offering rare reads to New York City residents for nearly a century.

The Strand bookstore was founded in 1927 by Benjamin Bass then passed down to his son Fred, and now to his daughter Nancy Wyden.

“My grandfather, my dad had so much equity in here, and this was also part of book row, where there were 48 bookstores,” Wyden says. “And we are the last survivor of that so there’s a legacy here.”

The store has four floors filled with 23 miles of book.

Wyden says the business is not just for books, but also to explore.

“One of our slogans is to get lost in the stacks, so people really enjoy climbing up on the ladders and digging down and seeing what they might from the dollar books outside all the way up to our rare books,” Wyden says.

She says that everyone has a memory of the bookstore.

The store has plexiglass and other precautions to keep everyone safe, and it is open for all New Yorkers to enjoy.

The Strand bookstore has private tours during the pandemic for those interested in rare books.