New York University's Fales Library and Special Collections is located on the third floor of the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library at 70 Washington Square South (off of Washington Square Park) between LaGuardia Place and the Schwartz Plaza, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City.
The personal libraries of James Beard, Cecily Brownstone, and Dalia Carmel form the core of this collection.
In addition to thousands of published books and magazines, the Downtown Collection includes extensive holdings of archival and manuscript material; film and video; original artwork; theatrical models; and other realia.
The Fales Library preserves manuscripts and original editions of books that are rare or important not only because of their texts, but also because of their value as artifacts.
The Downtown Collection archive is rich in late 1970s and 1980s punk rock and no wave post-punk videos, drawings, films, photos, interviews, posters, correspondences and other ephemera.