Crawford Doyle Booksellers Closes After 21 Years On Upper East Side

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Crawford Doyle Booksellers — one of the Upper East Side's last remaining independent bookstores — is closing after doing business in the neighborhood for 21 years.

Signs were posted in the Madison Avenue bookstore's window that thanked the stores customers and announced the business was closing permanently

"Crawford Doyle Booksellers is closing. We thank you for your patronage during the past 21 years. We are grateful for your loyalty and support—and for the opportunity to have served you in these interesting times. Farewell," the sign reads.

John Doyle opened the bookstore with his wife in 1995 after retiring from his career at IBM, he told Patch. The couple originally intended for the store to be a ten-year post-retirement plan, Doyle said.

"After 21 years, we decided it was finally time to wrap it up," Doyle said. "We had a great run but time marches on."

The couple will continue to run their rare book business by appointment, according to a sign placed in the store's windows.

Photos by Patch