Gem Spa was a newspaper stand and candy store located on the corner of St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City.

"[5][6][7][8] Often referred to as a bodega,[9][10] in the 1950s, Gem Spa was a gathering place for beats, and in the 1960s it was a hippie hangout,[11] known for selling a wide selection of underground newspapers.

[14] On May 7, 2020, owner Parul Patel announced that the physical store would not re-open due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and rent increases, despite community efforts and a social media campaign to keep it open.

[15][16][3] The building in which Gem Spa was located, 131 Second Avenue, or 36 St. Marks Place, was built in 1898 to 1900 and was designed by Louis F. Heinecke in the Renaissance Revival style.

The clientele initially mainly bought Jewish and foreign-language papers, which began to change around 1963 as they sold more copies of the Village Voice and underground magazines.

[18] Abbie Hoffman gathered people for his 1967 protest at the New York Stock Exchange at Gem Spa,[21] Allen Ginsberg called it a "nerve center" of the city,[22] and the Art Workers' Coalition had their offices above the store.

[citation needed] While efforts to save it were underway, in May 2020, Gem Spa closed permanently, due to lack of business from the COVID-19 pandemic.