The Thing – Brooklyn New York record store
Open – 1001 Manhattan Ave. Brooklyn New York 11222
Recently I had a chance to spend an old fashion day searching for records in Brooklyn. There are plenty of record stores alive and well in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Indeed, there were more stores to visit then I had time for in a single day. The confluence of cheaper rent and proximity to a community interested in buying vinyl leads to great selection and opportunity.
Here is my first post about the stores I visited. I start with The Thing. I heard of it, but had never before experienced it. As the sign says, more used vinyl than anywhere else in NYC. No man could look at it all in a day (or two or three …. ). Prices can’t be beat – 50 cents a single, $2 an album. There is only one catch – there is absolutely, positively no organization. So let the crate digging begin. David Johansen, who oversees the proceedings from his perch over the gateway to records, would be proud.
Oh, its a second hand shop for some of the upstairs.
Wanna go? You can find The Thing on our Record Stores Map
You can’t truly appreciate just how many records there are without a video – a number of people have obliged – here’s one – titled Josh Goes Diggin’ @ the Thing – Brooklyn New York from Josh Lamont.
Here’s a link to a May 7, 2006 article on the Thing in the New York Times by Nathaniel Rich titled Vinyl Underground It’s old, but he estimates that they have 130,000 records in there. What do you think?
And who could resist an article titled The Thing: It Came From The Basement from Resident Advisors/Max Pearl in January 2017. Here’s hoping your name is not Evan.
Of course, this article made me think of John Carpenter’s 1982 horror cult classic
starring Kurt Russell as a helicopter pilot fighting The Thing in an Antarctica station with a group of unlucky and soon to be dead (hope I didn’t give anything away) scientists. Hey, you still gotta watch it to see if Kurt dies. Or becomes a Thing.
Next up on my Brooklyn trip – Earwax.
