By John Friia

Best place to shop with bros
Brooks Brothers Flatiron Shop, 901 Broadway at 20th Street, 212-228-3580
If you’ve got your boyfriend, brother or any male-type person in tow, bring them to this specialty Brooks Brothers locale, where they’ve got a “man cave” with a photo booth and a foosball table. They can keep themselves occupied and also give suggestions for the men on your shopping list. For Black Friday and Saturday, any purchases made between 9 a.m. and noon are 20 percent off with a MasterCard, 15 percent off with any other payment method.

Best place to find gifts for your eclectic relatives
Kisan Concept Store, 125 Greene St. near Prince Street, kisanstore.com
Kisan offers high-end women’s apparel, children’s clothing, toys and more with a chic and feminine urban twist. Owners Thorunn Anspach and Olivier Bremond have traveled the world to bring their Parisian sensibility to New York through the products they feature. This Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., items including shoes and accessories for women, children and men will be discounted up to 90 percent, so you can find a quirky European hat for Aunt Mindy without breaking the bank.

Best place to go with a gaggle of ladies
Haute Hippie, 9 Prince St. near Bowery,
212-431-0101
Bring your posse of gals to peruse clothing that’s been described as “a little bit bohemian and a lot of rock and roll” while sipping on complimentary mimosas and chomping down cupcakes all day on Friday. The shop runs the gamut from luxe gowns to their more low-key Haute Hoodie collection, so it’s a great one-stop shop for gifts. Plus, in keeping with the shop’s cheeky nature, everything black will be 25 percent off on Black Friday.

Best place to chill the heck out
eBay and Bliss Spas, 568 Broadway at Prince Street
Everyone knows that shopping on Black Friday can be a stressful experience, what with all the energy expended to grab the last faux fur vest on sale. This year, eBay has collaborated with Bliss Spas to offer free mini-manicures, pedicures and foot massages on Black Friday. While relaxing, you can browse eBay on their mobile app and take advantage of their Holiday Collective. The online company has teamed up with big-name designers to offer holiday gifts all under $100; some of the participating designers include Jonathan Adler, Fallon and Tibi.

Best place to shop for gadget lovers
AC Gears, 69 E. Eighth St. near Broadway, acgears.com
AC Gears is basically a toy store for adults, running the gamut from serious technology (did someone say 3-D printer?) to delightful gizmos you didn’t know you needed. They’ve got functionally brilliant iPhone cases, camera equipment, a plethora of timepieces and tons of options under $50. On Black Friday, they will be offering up to 50 percent off on never-discounted electronics, headphones, watches, toys and more.

Best place to buy your way into the hearts of children–and their parents
Dinosaur Hill, 306 E. Ninth St. near
First Avenue, dinosaurhill.com
This independently owned East Village shop stocks unique, intellectually stimulating (but still cool!) games and toys for kids. We’re not in Toys ‘R’ Us anymore, Toto. They also sell handmade children’s clothing, limited-edition stuffed animals, musical instruments, and newborn and toddler clothing. The best part is that on Black Friday, customers who sing “Row Row Row Your Boat” get a 15 percent discount. Warm up those pipes.

Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons

The controversy over canceling the New York City marathon this weekend does not merely extend to the dangers posed for runners by downed power lines and flooding throughout the city — it also has to do with displaced residents of downtown Manhattan who just want to go home in peace.

For those who can’t go home, out-of-town marathon participants taking up valuable hotel space and resources has understandably raised tensions.

Other downtown New Yorkers want the rest of the city to understand — between the damage, deficits and crowding — Hurricane Sandy is not yet over for them.

Some have taken to blogging about their experience, hoping uptowners can begin to grasp their struggle, one to which many, they claim, seem blissfully unaware. Some can’t deny they’ve even had a little fun — the grownup equivalent of a snow day, perhaps.

Matthew Russell, a real estate agent with a love for post-apocalyptic movies, is one of them. Russell decided to stick out the storm in his 6th floor East Village apartment. In his blog post about “Living in the Dead Zone,” Russell was careful to note he, a healthy, 29-year-old with enough cash to get by, had an advantage over many. He added some of the elderly tenants who stayed in his building would have simply been unable to descend the “pitch black staircase” to evacuate.

The superintendent in Russell’s building has looked after the elderly tenants everyday, he explains, replenishing the water in their toilets and bringing them warm meals from Queens. Russell uses a hot cup of water, heated with the building’s gas, to “shower” in the morning.

Russell explains the system pedestrians have developed to signal their presence in the darkened streets: “At every intersection pedestrians flash their lights wildly in order to cross in safety, and judging by the driving pace, that is remarkably wise.”

Another blogger, Bianca Posterli, wrote of her experience after witnessing a transformer explode: “I…walked out of my apartment on 9th Street to a scene straight out of the apocalypse.

“While New Yorkers rarely ever talk to each other, here were complete strangers sharing stories, ruminating on what the next few days would hold,” she wrote. “I made my way to the corner, where a line had formed outside of the deli at least 15 people deep. With my cell phone out of order, I did something I thought I’d never have to do – used a pay phone.”

She also noted, insightfully, the one “upside” of Sandy: “For once we’re completely unencumbered by constant access to Twitter, Instagram, and emails. We’re forced to make conversation, get to know our friends, and LISTEN to each other.”

Stan Williams, “Maxim” magazine’s style editor, and his partner also decided to stay in their 7th floor apartment in the Village during the storm, a zone he coined “Zombieville.”  Only about 10 percent of the residents in Williams’s 200-apartment building stuck out the storm.

Williams said daytime was fine, pleasant even, when he’d briskly walk two miles to his midtown office, where he’d camp out for most of the day.  Returning home, however, “was pretty frightening once you got past Flatiron,” especially considering a notable drop in police presence, though in the dark it was difficult to tell if anyone was around at all.

Williams echoed the sentiment of Russell and Posterli, saying: “I feel fortunate. It was inconvenient, but an adventure.” He also noted how the blackout actually helped him focus and boost his productivity. All three were intent on finding a silver lining.

As Russell pointed out, all three seemed aware they were the “best case scenario” as far as storm survivors. “That is NOT the case for most people,” said Russell, who added he was “seriously having a blast.”

Downtown was buzzing with excitement yesterday for the prospect of free vibrators. Trojan announced that it would be distributing 10,000 Tri-Phoria and The Pulse devices — $40 and $30 retail values, respectively! — from two hot dog carts in different neighborhoods throughout the day, so New Yorkers lined the streets of the planned locations in anticipation.

Most people left disappointed, though, because a City Hall rep stopped the popular condom brand from delivering the goods shortly after they set up shop.

Citizens were not shy to express their frustration with the city’s interruption to media on the scene. “There’s a lot more important things the city should be worried about than a free-vibrator giveaway,” bar owner Melody Henry told New York Post. “Bloomberg doesn’t want anyone to have fun. You can’t have a giant soda. You can’t have a vibrator.”

Photo Courtesy of Alissa Fleck

The NYPD’s Night Out Against Crime in Union Square last night promised a “neighborhood block party,” but a party, it failed to deliver. The annual event, celebrated by police precincts nationwide to “strengthen neighborhood spirit and heighten drug and crime prevention awareness,” was entirely overwhelmed by ordinary Union Square traffic, and no one—the NYPD least of all—seemed to mind. In fact, I might not even have found the event had it not been for the two NYPD shirts meandering in the vicinity.

Rather than connecting with the public in any real or symbolic way, two police booths were cordoned literally behind a steel barricade, out of the way of general Square merriment. At the FBI booth, a woman who gave the name Dinah, handed me a coloring book and various pamphlets geared toward children, including one on “how to spot a terrorist.”

“Do you have kids,” she asked, and when I replied that I did not, she said: “What about nieces and nephews?” as she continued to pile the cartoonish pamphlets into my hands.

I asked Dinah if she could talk me through the purpose of the event, but as I reached for a notebook she stopped. “You’re not going to take notes, are you?” she asked.

Two girls with braces at one NYPD table (the other was abandoned) encouraged me to take more pamphlets, as they fumbled for an explanation for why they were there. A police officer ate a hot dog nearby and struggled to stay out of people’s way.

Finally I was directed to an NYPD spokesperson. “Can you tell me what this event is about?” I asked. She replied, as the woman next to her poured butter into the popcorn popper, it was a nationwide event with the intent of showing community members police departments were serious about crime prevention.

“So it’s about building relations between the NYPD and community members?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said.

“Do you feel these relations have been suffering lately?”

“I’m not going to answer that,” she said.

I asked if she would provide me her name.

“No, I will not,” she said, covering what I presume was a name badge.

The friendly faces I encountered at the renewable energy table were a welcome relief. “Please, talk to me,” I said, as I dropped my stack of pamphlets onto their table. After they recited their congenial spiel, I asked what they were doing at the NYPD Night Out Against Crime event, squeezed between a Jamba Juice booth and one hawking keychains. “We just sort of show up to events like these,” they said. “We don’t really know what this is about.” Confusion seemed to be the ambiance of the day.

At the Starbucks table—an added perk of the event was the NYPD’s stated desire to “connect with local businesses”—a man stood behind a spread of iced beverages. “Yes,” he said, seemingly exasperated, as I approached, in the voice of someone tired of being the main attraction for all the wrong reasons. “Yes, yes, yes, before you even ask.” I sheepishly grabbed a complimentary iced coffee and booked it out of Union Square.

As I left the area, a man stopped me. “Hey, are they giving away free iced coffee?” he asked, indicating the small blur of blue tents.

Fox reports six people were shot in NYC on National Night Out, putting a damper on the night’s success.