Perhaps there is nothing so modern as the vinyl record, its streamline design elegantly enclosed in a dazzling 12” cardboard sleeve that promises untold pleasures. For record collectors like the husband and wife photography team of James T. and Karla L. Murray, it all begins with a trip to the local record store.
“Crate diggers (ourselves included) are always on the never-ending search to find that ‘black gold,’” James and Karla Murray write in the book’s introduction. “They are driven by the thrill of the hunt and the hope of finding a long-forgotten musical treasure that perhaps accompanied them during a certain phase or time in life that they can now return to. Or else, they’re looking to discover a new album, leading to further exploration and even more sonic enjoyment.”
Following the success of Store Front NYC and Great Bars of New York City, the Murrays now return with Vinyl NYC: 33 1/3 of the Best Record Stores Across All Five Boroughs, a panoramic look inside the city’s iconic Mom & Pop style record shops. The book weaves together the Murrays’ signature electric exteriors, intimate interiors, environmental portraits, and a wealth of visual details alongside thoughtful profiles of proprietors and their shops penned by music journalist and critic Hattie Lindert.
For the Murrays, whose 2005 photograph of Jay Dee Bake Shop in Jackson Heights, Queens (featured in Store Front NYC) was chosen as cover art for the 12” vinyl of J Dilla’s “Give Them What They Want,” Vinyl NYC is the perfect marriage of their first loves: music and photography.
Don’t call it a comeback
For more than a century New York’s independent record shops have stood at the heart of the neighborhoods they serve, becoming lovingly curated third spaces that foster community, creative inspiration, and cultural exchange. In recent years, vinyl has been enjoying a resurgence, with the medium now reclaiming it’s rightful place in the pop culture pantheon.
“Just like printed books, vinyl albums have, incredibly, made an enormous comeback, with sales increasing for 18 straight years and representing U.S. sales of over $1.4 billion in 2024 (and predicted to be over $3.5 billion by 2033),” Billboard reported in May 2025.
With vinyl sales now outpacing streaming and poised to take over CD sales, James and Karla Murray have created Vinyl NYC as the crate digger’s guide to New York. The book spotlights a wealth of local landmarks that have stood strong against digital technology, inspiring a renaissance across the five boroughs.
Among the golden oldies are Casa Amadeo, the city’s oldest Latin record store, which first opened its doors in the Longwood section of the Bronx back in 1941; Generation Records in Greenwich Village, which has been preserving punk history since 1992; and VP Records in Jamaica, Queens, which began in 1979 as a storefront shop for their eponymous record label, now the largest independent reggae imprint in the world.
The vinyl revival
In recent years, indie record stores have made their return to New York streets as a new generation of collectors have embraced the distinctive pleasures of physical media. Vinyl NYC showcases newcomers like Blue-Sun (Williamsburg), Rebel Rouser (Bushwick), and Manhattan45 (East Village) to the fold, keeping the city current with the latest pressings that DJs break in their nightclub sets.
For James and Karla Murray, making Vinyl NYC was a natural extension of their everyday lives. “We spent hours in the stores featured on these pages, making our own musical selections before heading home to partake in what we refer to as our ‘Japanese tea ceremony,’” they write in the introduction, sharing their experience of sitting with a record and engaging with every last element of the experience.
It’s a gentle reminder of what makes record shops not only the cornerstone of community but a luminous repository of soul, as well as a testament to the exquisite allure of physical media in a world inundated by the endless scroll.
Vinyl NYC: 33 1/3 of the Best Record Stores Across All Five Boroughs is published by Prestel and available for $45.
