An espresso pinched between your hands, Boulevard Montparnasse bustling in front of you, and Le Monde laid out on the table—you are living your best French life.
In France, there was always time for un café and an hour with paper. The 60-minutes of intellectual me-time left you feeling rejuvenated, both physically and mentally. Malheureusement, the university semester, visa, job, or vacation days usually come to an end, and we must return stateside, trading in our culturally elite lives for watered down coffee and the bleak news alerts of CNN…
Stop the presses (and the tears)! We cannot always be in France, but we can still live that well-caffeinated, well-informed Francophile life: read French publications. With Le Figaro beside your venti latté at Starbucks, or Vogue France on your coffee table, you’ll feel enlightened once more. So go forth, read French, and you’ll be living Frenchly again.
Here are the five best places in New York to find French publications.
Magazine Café
15 W 37th St – Open from Monday to Friday 7am – 9pm, Saturday 10am – 6pm.
You won’t find espresso, café mocha, or a pumpkin spice latte at this café. The Magazine Café in Midtown serves up about one hundred French weekly and monthly newspapers and magazines covering a wide range of topics, from current affairs and business to sports and fashion. Charlie Hebdo and its outrageous comics are available for $9.99, and Paris Match offers all the latest French news and celebrity gossip for $6.00. The complete list of available newspapers and subscription options are available on the shop’s website.
SoHo News International
186 Prince St. # A – Open on Tuesdays to Saturdays 24/7, Sundays 6am – 1am, and Mondays 6am – 12am.
On the corner of Sullivan Street and Prince Street, SoHo News International’s windows are lined with magazines. A newsagent known for selling international publications, SoHo News International offers the weekly version of Le Monde, Le Monde diplomatique, L’Express, Charlie Hebdo, Courrier International, Paris Match, Le Point, Point de Vue, Ici Paris, and Madame le Figaro. While international prices are often more shocking than the news inside, at this vendor,Le Monde costs $3.80 and L’Express, $6.99.
Casa Magazines
22 8th Ave – Open on Mondays to Saturdays 6am – 12am, Sundays 6am – 11pm.
Casa Magazines in Greenwich is a tiny shop so jam-packed with goodies, it resembles the cave of wonders in Aladdin. Amidst thigh-high stacks of foreign newspapers, and rows of magazines tiling the walls, several dozen French publications reside, including weekly news journals like Le Monde, L’Express, L’Obs, Le Point, and Paris Match.
French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF)
22 East 60th Street, NYC. Haskell Library hours vary, see opening times here.
The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) of New York possesses a large collection of French newspapers and magazines available on site at their Haskell Library. The complete list of available texts is accessible on FIAF’s website. An even bigger selection is available in electronic version on their plateforme Culturethèque. Access to the library is reserved for FIAF members only, but becoming a member means you get free access to their weekly movies! The annual subscription is $99, or $35 for people 25 and under.
On the Internet with Uni-Presse:
This one is for the die-hard Francophiles committed to getting fluent in 2017: The French association of Uni-Presse, whose mission is to promote the French language and culture globally, offers more than 650 French publications on its website which are available through either a 6-month or a yearly subscription. Uni-Presse also offers a special annual subscription to the daily newspaper Le Monde with 312 issues for €726.55, or $775.17 (shipping costs included).
