beta
beta
Don't let the Man get you down. Revitalize your overworked spirit with these midtown lunch escapes. Think of them as mini-field trips for adults.
This is as luxe and grand dame as it gets in Manhattan department stores, but head to the 5th floor to unwind, where you can browse younger brands like Alexander Wang and Phillip Lim and shoes by Margiela. Housewares on 7 often has sales on beautiful crystal tumblers and prettily-scented candles.
Didn't you know? This boutique plays host to stars like Sarah Jessica Parker and Andre Leon Talley on Fashion's Night Out, with great seasonal sales. Their comfy seats and charming back yard make for a relaxing splurge.
This welcome haven from 57th Street's hustle is more a home than a store. Carpets quiet footsteps and beautiful dark wood bookshelves hold intimate histories of artists, fashion designers and famous New York characters.
Escape to this rock-climbing, lap-swimming oasis near 10th Avenue, where few tourists care to venture. Lounge by the pool with your Kindle, bake in the sauna, get a massage, or tackle the modest climbing wall.
Strangely enough, though they panic me in suburbs, malls in New York relax me. Like tiny oases in a giant, pulsating being, malls are mostly removed from the street hustle and bustle here. This mall features a new JCPenney, with collaborations with high-end designers, a GameStop, Toys 'R' Us, Radio Shack, Aeropostale, Express, Victoria's Secret and a food court. Why not indulge in suburbia for your lunch hour?
Get your lunchtime art on in this Taniguchi-designed building as clean and elegant as the art within. Escalators take you on your multilevel tour and there are even spaces to take a breather, like the 2nd floor lounge under the Calder mobile.
Two levels of art, cooking, fiction, manga and Japanese pop culture are wonderful enough in cool-starved midtown, but an upstairs cafe with tea and donburi is even lovelier on a rainy day.
Perennially crowded with a waiting room like a mosh pit, this free rink is frequently Zambonied because of heavy usage. Cost of skates: $14. But BYOS and its entirely free with a pretty view to boot. You can't beat that in NYC.
Product maven? Welcome to product heaven. Bliss' supersoft magnolia moisture mousse, anti-cellulite lotions and post-waxing and shaving AHA anti-ingrown cotton pads are renowned. Waxes are professional and as painless as possible, massages are strong for the tough Manhattanite, and wraps, facials and scrubs are so very relaxing.