The neighborhood bookstore, long declared endangered, is thriving again in New York. New independent shops are opening across the boroughs, defying predictions that online retail and e-readers would finish them off.

The secret, owners say, is being more than a place to buy books. The fictional shop Margin & Spine in Queens hosts readings, writing groups, and children's story hours, functioning as a community living room as much as a store.

The revival rides a broader hunger for physical spaces and human curation in a digital age. Margins remain thin and rents punishing, but the growing map of bookshops suggests New Yorkers are willing to pay a little more to keep a bookseller on the corner.