Best sex shops in New York City

Babeland

• Price band: 1/4

At this friendly sex-toy boutique—run by women and skewed toward women—browsers are encouraged to handle all manner of buzzing, wriggling and bendable playthings, including the famed Rabbit Pearl vibrator. The shop also stocks a huge variety of

Coco de Mer

• Price band: 2/4

The first NYC outpost of this British boutique, founded by Justine and Samantha Roddick, puts the ass in class. Think: racy lingerie by Stella McCartney, sustainable-wood paddles, comics (Anal Intruders from Uranus!) and dog masks. Dressing rooms

Eve's Garden

Billed as the first sex shop for women, by women, Eve's Garden strives to steer female sexuality away from penis-shaped straws and subpar vibrators. The store's founder, women's-rights activist Dell Williams, designed it to be high-class, welcoming

The Leather Man

If you're a man in love with leather, this West Village fixture (in operation since 1965) is the only place you'll ever need to shop. Most of the Leather Man's items are made in-house, and tailors are on hand to modify them, often for free (good

Nitecap Video & DVD

This S.I. mainstay is the largest supplier of toys on the East Coast, and it shows. Make a day trip out of your visit and you can walk away with armloads of DVDs, toys and even smoking accessories. The products run the gamut, with basics like the

The Pink Pussycat Boutique

The PPB's main focus is on couples looking to invigorate their sex lives with props, potions or costumes. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable, and the store carries a huge number of toys, starting with cheap bullet vibes and topping out with

The Pleasure Chest

This store covers all the basics for both masturbators and couples. The Pleasure Chest's inventory is mostly high-quality (even some "luxury" sex toys for those with padded wallets), though you can also stop in for cheap novelty gifts, like

Purple Passion

Purple Passion has vibes, floggers and so much more in its 4,000-square-foot Chelsea store. Catering to couples, single women, pro dommes and men, it carries a huge selection of leather and BDSM gear, including halters, gags, corsets and strap-ons.

Shag Brooklyn

• Price band: 2/4

Samantha Bard and Ashley Montgomery-Pulido’s shop boasts a top-rate selection of toys, including wood and marble dildos, plus hats, jewelry, home goods, fine art and even vagina doorknobs, cast from real vajayjays.

Tic Tac Toe New York

Whether you're looking for blow-up dolls, gag gifts, vibrating dolphins or costumes, this is an A1 destination. The business works as a general-goods store for the adult provocateur, with an extremely friendly, mostly female staff, and young