All services a good mechanic (at a shop or not) can do.

As far as shops organizing parties...not my thing. As far as shops sponsoring racers... all I can say is whenever I see some ****** in his SIDs kit I want to push them into traffic.

Nah, not shops organizing parties. Just shops supporting parties. www.getbettergabe.com - we have a buddy who's in a bad way, we threw a big party, and some of the shops that support the scene (as it were...) were really supportive, donating things to raffle off, etc.

That Brooklyn Board and Blade place opened up in the old Bike Station location. Bike Station moved to a slightly larger (though more storage space) on Park and Adelphia. That's my Brooklyn shop, although B's Bikes in Greenpoint had a good mechanic the last time I was there.

In Manhattan, since I tend to stay below 14th Street most of the time, Continuum is my shop of choice. Amazing selection of vintage parts, good service, Jeff is a great mechanic, and Fritz and Amanda are good to hang out with if it isn't too busy. Continuum does a lot of custom builds, not just fixed gear and single speeds. Jeff has designed three frames now since the shop opened like two years ago (two aluminum models and the new steel lugged ones that ride sooooooooo smooth). Owern of NYC Velo is nice, as are most of the employees and Bike Works builds good wheels. From what I can tell, Chari & Co. seem to be able to sell products way below retail value. Got to wonder how they are surviving.

NYC shops are just different than in other cities. They aren't as many big box shops and most shops are staffed by a few people and the owner. The selection may not be as large but you get more attention and better treatment without having to know the owner or a shop employee.

to the OP, just visited Liberty Bicycles during lunch hour. It was great. The guy was nice and friendly and very accommodating.

+1 for B's Bikes. Except it gets crowded on the weekends. The last time I was there, they won't do anything more than a 5 minute fix (meaning helping people who having rode their bike for over 3 month change tubes and pump their tires)

Gonna throw my 2 cents in for King Kog in Brooklyn near the BQE and Graham.

Fixed gear specific shop without that attitude.
It's pretty small, but they have good prices and service. I haven't seen Toshi doubles for less anywhere in the city. ($90)

Also both mechanics are really friendly, do good work, and a big bonus is that it's never crowded.
Anything I ever needed done was fixed on the spot.

For used bikes/parts I always recommend Frank's bike shop, all the way east on Grand in the LES. They've been there forever and have loads of old stuff for super cheap, sometimes they'll just give you an old part off a junked bike. Probably not a first choice for high-end parts, but I almost always go online for that anyway.

when i was in NYC i only had time to stop at one place, so i dropped by continuum. great stock of stuff, the paramount was sex on wheels. The guy I talked to was nice, didn't get his name. I don't think it was the owner, some guy sporting a buzz cut, maybe 5'9". anyways, I contemplated getting something but couldn't think of any parts i wanted. wanted one of their frames, but didn't have the money. as I was walking out i saw the tshirts and asked about them, and he hooked me up with a free shirt! I'll probably buy something the next time i fly across the country.

I wanted to go by chari & co, but didn't have time. did business with them through ebay. their prices online seem steep (the track frame i got had an asking price of $820 i think, but they sold it to me for 400. imo definitely fair for a fillet brazed njs frame). they shipped it to me quickly and it was well packed (though they used a skidded out rando among the packaging material, thought that was funny lol)

Trackstar
(without a doubt)

Thanks for listing a few of the good NYC local shops. Can anyone recommend a few online shops as well? So far I've come across Bike Tires Direct and it seems decent but maybe some veterans know of some better ones.

This.
People expect NYC bikes shops to be all powerful. When in reality, every shop is catering to a niche or two. One shop cant stock everything, you have to search.
And the thing is, a lot of NYC bike shops have an NYC attitude. If you don't know what you're talking about, expect to get walked on and don't get butt hurt because of it. Go in and act like you own the place and get respected.
If you're a girl, every bike shop should be cool to you.

Inverse - I've noticed a number of shops condescend to women.

i have good things to say about almost all of the NYC shops I've been to.

as someone else said, different places specialize in different services / inventories. my #1 choice for mechanic work is Bike Works in the Lower East Side. Now that I live in Brooklyn, I trust B's Bikes in Greenpoint to do easy-to-medium mechanic jobs for cheap. Other than that, it just depends on what I need.

Even though I'm a mechanic myself and a Time's Up member (meaning I have a whole shop of tools to use when I need them and access to a wholesale bike parts account) I try to patronize local bike shops whenever possible. It's important to support the local cycling economy and I know these guys are on the front lines of promoting cycling throughout the city.

yes. They think I have no idea what i'm talking about.

Oh me too, especially at Bicycle Habitat.
I was just saying all shops should be cool to the ladies, and if they aren't, they aren't worth any ones time.