The Thing

The Thing is completely out of order in every possible way, stacked to the brim with records, books, and cd’s– so much so that many crates of records are completely blocked by additional crates of records. It would take a lifetime to comprehend everything in this store, and you would be covered in 6 inches of black dust after the first few hours. Stock tends toward 12″ singles from 15 years ago, including lots of house and Hip hop on local labels. Quality ranges from pristine and unopened to totally unplayable.
There are also lots of regular junk store oddities and some valuable pieces of A/​V equipment for anyone willing to clean them deeply before use. I hope this place stays here forever. Maybe a must see? Go decide for yourself.

This place is a Hot Mess, if ever there was one. It’s not for the faint of heart. While I was there I spotted two dudes (who I don’t think were together) who were poking around in those masks that you see on people who are doing surgeries, painting cars, and on sometimes on asians walking in big cities sometimes to prevent getting germs (?). I don’t know if these gents always wear these masks, or just do so at The Thing — but it may not be a bad idea wearing one if you come here.
I should note that I LOVE crazy, disorganized junk stores. That, and the score of treasures I got for $ 8 necessitates my 4 score. By the way, on the same day, I spent more money for one piece of vinyl, with skips, at Academy. My discs from The Thing were in perfect condition and one was never even opened.
My review is for the Vinyl, primarily, because most of the junk at the front of the store is just that.
There appears to be absolutely no method to the madness of how the vinyl is shelved and «organized.» Records are facing backwards and forwards, shelved upside down and in absolutely no sense of alphabetical or musical category order. I decided to just give myself to the musical goddess and let my ringers run along the spines of vinyl, occasionally stopping to see where I landed.
I walked out with a doubletruck 2 disc remix collection of Ace of Base jams, an unopened copy of DIANA by Miss Ross, and a copy of Lisa Lisa’s Spanish Fly in Mint Condition. For $ 8!
Bring your own bag (s)…

Sadly, I only made it by the shop on day 7 of a 7−½ day trip to Gotham from Seattle. I arrived at 1 PM on a Friday and left about five minutes before they closed at 7:30 PM that evening. I picked out 75 LP’s and 12 inch singles, all were priced at two dollars each and they gave me a bit of a discount, and even threw in a roller suitcase so I could get all this crap back to my hotel room. Amongst my haul were some fairly valuable Mike Oldfield 12 inch singles, extremely rare No-​Man singles and albums (featuring Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree) and about 65 other cool items including lots of great test pressings and hip-​hop singles. Like everyone else has said, my only regret was that I didn’t bring gloves and a mask, and even forgot to bring any Sani wipes to clean my hands which were CAKED with filth by the time I was done.
In my six hours, I was able to go through one very small corner of the upstairs record area, which was about ¹⁄₆ of the entire upstairs inventory. I never even made it to the basement which i was told has 30 – 50 times more records than what I looked at!
I will be back again in December, and I will make sure that I set aside a couple solid days to go through the shop, but this time with gloves, Sani wipes, and maybe even a mask.

If you know me, then you know have a thing for checking out junk shops and record stores. So it should be obvious that I would LOVE The Thing. And yes, I love The Thing. It is one of my favorite spots in the area; it speaks to my inner hoarder. :)
Years ago, I would go in The Thing with my roommates and look around through the CDs, books, and miscellaneous. You never knew what randomness you would find. My most awesome find was an old hardcover book that completed a series set in my personal library. The book was in great condition and was cheap! Since then, I was a fan. You also find more personal items at this shop — like old photos, letters… once we found someone’s old Kodak slides. Pretty cool stuff.
Just make sure to bring some hand sanitizer for after you’re done digging through record stacks and junk shop gold. If you’re allergic to dust, maybe have some tissues and Benadryl on hand… Other than that, The Thing is awesome!

This is a review of the vinyl section only, although The Thing does offer plenty of vintage clothes, books, magazines, comics, etc. at fair prices.
If digging through thousands of records and risking your respiratory health as a result is something you are okay with then The Thing is a must visit. Just note that you must be willing to get down and dirty or else this place will absolutely disgust you. That said, you never know what records you’ll find here. While most of the stock is worthless hip hop 12″ from the 2000’s, there is always the small chance of digging out a diamond in the filthy, awful rough. All records are priced at $ 2, so it’s worth the trip if you have the time and guts to wade through the dust, mold and grime that will likely kill you in extended doses.
I am a true digger at heart so The Thing both pleases me and makes me very sad. It’s great coming up on relatively rare funk and jazz albums for cheap but depressing to have to flip through tons of vinyl that should have been shipped off to a landfill years ago or simply should never have been pressed up at all. In short, The Thing is everything you love and everything you hate about shopping for records in an organized chaos setting.

Don’t come here if you’re not a certified digger/​thrift shopper. I came with my boyfriend who wanted some records but I was over it pretty quickly. I must admit that it was cool to take a walk down memory lane by looking at old hits that many of us have forgotten. Come here if you have time to browse and get lost in the past. Don’t come here if you have a dust allergy or easily bothered by clutter.
Pros:
— Vast collection of vinyl records and other random items
Cons:
— Most vinyls are singles and not albums
— Lack of organization
— Cluttered assortment
— Dirt and dust

Like vinyl? Whether your a budding DJ, die hard record collector, or just like finding cool old album art like I do The Thing is definitely worth a look. There are two floors filled with boxes of records that have utterly no order to them. But that’s the thrill of it. Finding a classic Jackson 5 album in mint condition for just $ 2 — WoW!
Yeah, it’s a bit dirty and way unorganized, but who cares. I recently spent 4 hours searching around and didn’t even realize it till I looked at my watch (yeah, I’m one of the few who still wears one). Not only is their place filled with great vinyl, but they have a plethora of other great old stuff too — comics and graphic novels, VHS and DVDs, old film posters and memorabilia, adult magazines, and much more, you never know what you’ll find at The Thing till you find it. My problem is that I never have the room to carry everything I want to buy with me on my bike so I have to always narrow my choices down which is pretty tough.
I’ve been hunting there several times and haven’t had the bad experience with the staff that I’ve read others have had. They’ve always been kool with me. If you’re trying to relive your old Tower Records days then you should probably go elsewhere, as this definitely ain’t that. But if you like thrifting and have a good eye and plenty of patience then this is the place for you. Just come with plenty of time on your hands as you’ll most likely get lost in the void just like I did. Now, let’s try and find that Skid Row album I’ve been looking for…

this place is awful. the records are disgusting and unorganized. and many boxes have black mold (a serious health hazard). Also, last time I was there I asked about a fireplace design book at the front desk to get the price. When I decided to not buy it, the guy working behind the desk LITERALLY threw the book at me as I was leaving. When I walked back in, he didnt apologize or anything, but shut his mouth (like a coward.) This place is a dump, with at least one awful employee, dont waste your time.

As good as it gets: a basement full of vinyl and main floor full of amazing pop culture leftovers, books, etc.
A must-​visit stop in Brooklyn.

Staff-​yup
2.Endless crates of lp’s 12′ singles and crates filled with 45’s — yup
3.Fresh stock that is constantly being rotated-​check!
4.Comics, books, photos, adult mags, graphic novels, dvd’s, vhs tapes etc etc –Yes!
No attitudes, cool peeps and killer piles of vinyl-​what more do you want son/​sonette?
If you put in the time you will find something for almost nothing here.
It’s a daunting task and you need to devote some hours to grab the gold. but it’s in there… waiting for you, buried next to a firestone xmas special lp.
There are more records here than anyone will EVER be able to dig thru so it is a psychologically challenging task, but in the end if you put in the work you WILL be rewarded with some gems at a really fair price way below normal retail.
Aside from the voluminous crates of doom there are great books, art, vintage photos, comics and other ephemera to be had… go ahead. get down with your bad ass self and prepare to get dusty fingers kid!
Do «the thing baby» you will not regret it.

Some people may not like to dig through endless crates of records, in confined spaces or dusty places. The thing may not be for everyone. But you can’t beat the price or the amount of records anywhere located in one spot! There are so many records there, you may not know where to start. The price is right too! I have found some really nice gems, in really good condition! Keep in mind these records are used and dusty. You will have to clean them. I would suggest you wear clothes you don’t mind getting dust on, and don’t be crunched for time when you go there. Maybe bring some wipes and hand sanitizer. Happy digging!

Perhaps the biggest record mausoleum — no, crematory, ever. The burnt ends of burnt ends of disjointed garbage cast-​offs the world over. I remember 15 years ago there was a North Greenpoint spot that bought collections and the cat claw shredded dregs of DMX 12“s would get pushed down to The Thing. I know the story about the one Metro Area guy discovering a random electro record he ended up reissuing, and I’ve heard the spaz case finally coming up on a $ 30 afrobeat record he only had to pay $ 2 for after breathing in ten hours of mold spores in this fire hazard.
If you’re a tourist in town for three days and want to get your digging changed my life on, suit up. Head down to DiFara’s afterward for a four hour pizza wait, your time has no value.

The thing is great! The pricing can be strange though. There’s total junk that’s mad expensive, and then there are also great deals. I actually bought four Waterford champagne flutes here for $ 10 and flipped them on Ebay for $ 50 a piece.

I visited. NYC and the Thing was high on my list of ‘must see places’. (Being a vinyljunkie) The nice owner told me, there were problems in the back of the store, water came from the appartment above and the vinyl-​sectiën was closed.
But when I told him I came all the way from the Netherlands, he could’nt refuse.
So I went down stairs and saw what so many others had written in their reviews!
Where do I start? Where do I start? I kept asking myself.
But after na hour or so I came out with 6 albums! Satisfied but a pity I did’nt have enough time to dig some more.
Played 10 bucks and posed with the friendly owner in front of the store.
Love the place!!!

I don’t usually review a place after only one visit, but this place is a digger’s dream. The have tons of stuff ranging from old advertisements, CDs, vinyl records, comic books, books, toys… the list goes on and on. You can easily spend an entire day in here. However, finding something you may want is harder than it is. This placed is filled to the ceiling with stuff and some bins and places are inaccessible.
Nevertheless, it is still worth it to make at least one trip to this store. That is, unless your claustrophobic. (Don’t enter the basement)

The Thing about it is…
I have lived all over the world, and have bought vinyl everywhere. I can honestly say The Thing has the largest ensemble of records I’ve ever come across. There really isn’t a way to count them. Any worker there will give you an argumentative sum the other one will either not agree with, or will simply say ‘fughedaboutit’, or ‘sounds about right’. What a humble abode for such an enormous collection. When I’m not there, sifting through hundreds and hundreds of squared spaces of vinyl, I’m thinking about being there.
If you are a ‘vinyl head’ looking for some bargains, know this: $ 2. Let me clarify that… just two bucks per record. No matter what you find. Just let that sink in. Make sure you go in the basement, and pardon the mess because once you realize you are in wall to wall vinyl world, it won’t even register, so just forget about the dust right now.
Now, it’s pretty much all about vinyl here. But it’s also a thrift store that has the ins and outs for cheap, and who knows, you just might come across an original Speak ‘n Spell or some Coleco Vision cartridges… vinyl trance, notwithstanding.
Enjoy, and may you find what you are looking for, or discover the rarest of the rare records. If your religion is Vinyl. The Thing is Mecca.

My verdict on The Thing? Would never have known to go in there had I just been passing by. Looks like a trashed thrift shop from the outside. Most of the records are downstairs, though there are hundreds, maybe thousands upstairs, too, in the back. So they must easily have the most records of any shop in NYC. But they’ve also got to be the least organized. With stacks upon stacks upon stacks of records, this place really requires serious crate digging to find stuff. And there’s zero rhyme or reason to the way the vinyl is basically shoved into crates and shelves. I had to blow mouse droppings off any records I took from the very top of the stacks. And by the time I left, I wished they had one of those emergency showers outside for chemical burns to clean the filth off my hands. Still, worth a trip, especially if crate digging is your thing.
The other thing I should point out: Every record, no matter what you find is $ 2. So you will get your money’s worth for the work, that’s for sure.

When I was little, I would bring home at least one book per day. My parents would have to tell me to STOP reading because it was bad for my eyes to read that much.
So, when I walked into this store which is lined with used books I knew that it was a good idea that I brought my big purse today. It did bother me that the sign on the wall next to the books said they started at $ 1 a piece, but the sign at the cash register says $ 2. Still, it’s cheaper than paying shipping on
.
They do have other stuff, like old crates and dish ware, some clothing (but not much). The store is also disorganized. I think it adds to the charm of the place, but I can see how others would dislike stepping over large plastic garbage bags in order to get to the other side of the store.
I did find an old suitcase that is pretty awesome ($ 6). It reminds me of the one that I used to keep my Barbie accessories in when I was growing up. I’ll be using it as a prop for my Halloween costume, but perhaps I’ll donate it to my niece afterwards.
This is definitely a cool spot to browse, and pick up a new book for the subway rides.

I found some really rare gems here for $ 2. I found Led Zeppelin stairway to heaven album and Jefferson airplane white rabbit which were original. When I come here I spend about 3 hours digging around from crate to crate. I come here to dig for house, techno, classic rock and funky old school soul music hoping I can find a classic gem.
I would recommend this place for any DJ who love vinyls to go check it out. Come ready to get dust all over yourself

Wow… well…
I’m sure everyone has written about the ungodly mess, but I’m going to review the records themselves
If you’re a DJ that still lugs around records crates from gig to gig, first of all, I salute you… you’re a real DJ. Second, you really need to come to this place. This has probably all the 12″ single hip-​hop, disco, dance, etc. in the world. Im’ telling you, you can probably make a killing if you specialize in old school 90s rap and hip-​hop. I found a sealed copy of Kris Kross’ Totally Crossed Out… SEALED. They have everyone from Ini Kamoze to Snow to Puffy to Ace of Base to Jay-​Z to Brandy. Live out your middle school dances and your brace-​faced awkward days.
If you buy them by the bulk, you can probably get a deal from the already cheap $ 2 a pop record. That’s how great this place can be.