Blue Store, a sex-toy and erotica shop on 8th Avenue

Another of Chelsea's rather garish sex-toy and porn stores, the Blue Store (206 8th Ave, 212-924-8315) has garnered its share of bad press since it opened in 2003, first stirring the ire of neighbors who complained about its relentless blue-neon facade and the neighborhood's seeming excess of such establishments. Then in 2005 cops shuttered the place for a bit following a prostitution sting. The store has cleaned up its act some and is still an excellent source of gay erotica, lube, and such - plus, the staff is generally quite friendly, if a bit indifferent about whatever you might be browsing or purchasing (and after all, isn't that what many people want from staff at a porn shop?). It competes with such neighbors as the Unicorn (around the corner, next to Barracuda gay bar), and Rainbow Station. Pride NYC appears to have closed.