Babeland

This women-owned sex shop is the queen bee of sex toys, aflutter with open and supportive staffers who will gladly talk you through the chore of picking out the very best silicone dildo or butt plug, matching it with an appropriate leather harness and inspiring you to toss in a quality vibrator while you’re at it. But it’s also much more: it’s a purveyor of sex-related books, magazines, adult DVDs, flavored lube and Babeland tees, and an educator, with a constant roster of how-to lectures, for all genders, from the know­ledgeable staff. This is the original, but smaller, shop; the larger branch is in SoHo (43 Mercer St).