I just moved into The Link on 52nd Street, but I’m from L.A. Where do I shop in the neighborhood?
Mattresses: Every store sells the same mattresses under different names, making it impossible to comparison shop. We have had fine luck with both Sleepy’s in Herald Square, and 1-800-Mattress, a phone service, is also quite reputable. If you want to be fussed over a little more, Bloomingdale’s on 59th and Lexington has a nice mattress department.
Housewares: Anyone new to NY should know about Gracious Home, which survives due to its wonderful range of up-market products and despite its horrendous customer service. The East Side branch is slightly better about waiting on you, but the West Side branch on Broadway and 68th is closer if you want fancy sheets and towels, garbage cans, bridge tables, a vacuum cleaner. The cheaper alternative, where they’re actually nice to you, is Bed, Bath and Beyond, a stone’s throw away on Broadway around 65th Street. Dishes can come from Crate & Barrel, on the East side at Madison and 60th, or you can make a grand trip from the Port Authority on 8th Ave. and 42nd St to Ikea in Elizabeth, N.J. — on Saturday mornings there’s a bus.
Hardware: Hardware 54 between 7th and 8th aves is very helpful, but closed on weekends. There’s a Ninth Avenue store around 47th street, somewhere on the West side, that used to be called Lopez and is now called something else, that is open on the weekends, and they’re very nice. Janovic is the big paint store, on Ninth ave. and 51st/52nd, but you’ll have to sell your grandmother to afford window treatments. Also, not terribly friendly to D-I-Yers, so don’t forget to buy gloves, painter’s tape, and Scott cotton rags, because they won’t remind you.
Locksmith: Simon Key on 55th and 8th Ave, closed weekends.
Dry Cleaners: I trust Kim’s on 52nd Street and Ninth Avenue. I’m pretty fussy, and they cleaned my wedding dress.
Post office: You might think you’ve lucked out, living next to Radio City Station at 322 West 52nd, but it gets pretty crowded in the afternoons so go in the morning. Most newspaper vendors will sell you a stamp or two for a slight upcharge if that’s all you need. The 24-hour post office is Farley, at 31st and 8th Avenue, so if you absolutely have to mail something at 3 a.m., go there. Avoid the 1st of the month, when people from all over are sending in their rent.
Food: Stiles farmers’ market has produce that is cheap, often good, sometimes slightly bruised — 352 West 52nd Street; Whole Foods at Time Warner Center is offers expensive gourmet foods, but often-reasonable frozen convenience foods and a wide organic selection; Westerly Natural Market on 911 Eighth (corner 54th) offers an organic alternative; and the “regular” grocery stores in the are include Gristede’s on Eighth and 54th which is open late but has long lines; Food Emporium on Eighth and 49th, which has good produce but also long lines, and Associated on Ninth and 59th, which is generally the best of them. Please note that the D’Agostinos on 57th off Ninth is permanently closed.
If you want a good steak, either pay up at Whole Foods or schlep to Western Beef on West End (11th Avenue) and 63rd. For fish, De Martino’s Sea Food (Ninth between 54th and 55th) beats Whole Foods, though you have to shop early in the day, because they’ll be closed by the time you get home from work.
Coffee: Empire Coffee and Tea, on Eighth Avenue between 41st street and 42nd street. Hands down. They sell Tate’s chocolate-chip cookies, too, and cider in the winter.
Wine: No particularly good neighborhood wine store (prove me wrong, please!) Worth schlepping downtown to Bottlerocket or Crossroads or Astor Wine and Spirits or Landmark on 23rd between 6th and 7th in Chelsea.