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.

Granny-Made
467 Amsterdam Ave., 212-496-1222,
grannymade.com
A little girl peered into the window of Granny-Made one morning, eyeing a stuffed giraffe wearing a tutu and dolls dressed in real baby clothes. The store’s owner, Michael Rosenberg, said it was not the first time children have gaped at the window.
The store’s supply of zippered cable-knit baby sweaters attracts many customers, said Rosenberg. He displayed one light blue sweater made by his grandmother, who he said was the inspiration for the store.
“We’re still a little old-school, but we like that about Granny-Made,” Rosenberg said.
Woven alphabet wall hangings—which have become favorite baby gifts—also adorn the front of the store.
Granny-Made sells unique, handmade quilts, including one embroidered with characters from the Paddington and Thomas the Tank Engine stories. The store is distinctively New York—cardigans with images of the city’s skyline and yellow taxi booties are also stand-out items.
“There are much fewer stores like this one,” Rosenberg said. “Big box stores are coming in. But we will always have people who want specialty.”

Olde Good Things
450 Columbus Ave., 212-362-8025,
ogtstore.com
At Olde Good Things, the saying “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure” is put into practice. At this store, a former ceiling or floor, repurposed, makes a great table. Old motorcycle chains can be used to make decorative lettering. And why throw away 60-year-old school chairs? They can find a new home in someone’s house.
“I would hope that customers walk out with a renewed sense of the scarcity of our natural resources,” said Joe Stren, the store’s manager. “We’ve become a nation of waste.”
In the store, a mirror made of an old window from the Flatiron Building is for sale. A French chandelier from the 1870s that used to adorn an all-girls school in Long Island hangs from the ceiling. Customers can buy an old mantel recovered from the Plaza Hotel or railings from old Brooklyn brownstones.
The store also sells a few new items, such as a fiberglass carousel horse that was originally brown but was repainted with colorful patterns. It is an exercise in preserving the past—even when the past takes on a new form.

Blades  
156 W. 72nd St., 212-787-3911, blades.com
In 1990, just a few years after Rollerblade came out with the inline skates that began that decade’s rollerblading craze, Blades opened its doors on 72nd Street between Broadway and Columbus—just in time for the grunge era to hit Manhattan. Before Blades, no store had existed on the Upper West Side that sold rollerblades, skateboards and the skater-style casual clothing to match.
Throughout the ’90s, Blades provided Upper West Side teenagers with baggy pants, sneakers and, of course, rollerblades. But as the store became more and more established, it began to attract adults and families looking for a new, fun way to exercise and spend time together. Located just a block away from Central Park, Blades kept the loop filled with rollerbladers and skateboarders young and old.
Today, the newly renovated store bears no suggestion of Blades’ 22-year history. The clothes on the racks have gotten pricier (but are still reasonable), the rollerblades are more high tech and the skateboard display would make any enthusiast’s eyes glaze over. But behind the brightly lit counters filled with sports watches and accessories and the wall of trendy hats, Blades is an Upper West Side staple that has shaped both youth fashion and uptown outdoor life for over two decades.

Town Shop
2273 Broadway, 212-787-2762,
townshop.com
Town Shop operates on a single concept: 80 percent of women wear the wrong bra size, according to Danny Koch, the store’s owner.
“If your breasts are closer to your navel than they are to your chin, you need a new bra,” Koch said. His family business has been operating in its current location since 1936.
“My grandmother really went out of her way to teach me why it’s such a special place, to make sure that the concept that she put forward—which was a store that was based in old-fashioned customer service—was still going to be intact in the Upper West Side, because while it’s good to make some money in your business, it’s better to make your customers happy,” said Koch.
Bras in the store range from sizes AA to K, and employees help even the most well-endowed find the perfect fit.
Town Shop can do about 60 alterations for the same style bra, Koch said. Some of those styles are nontraditional—they have memory-foam bras, an anti-sweat sports bra and a bra with clear straps in the center, to name just a few. The store’s bras range from $42 to $168, Koch said, most of them in the $60-$78 range.
“There’s an old adage that you’re not supposed to try to be all things to all people, but at the Town Shop, we still try,” Koch said.

Off Broadway Boutique
139 W. 72nd St., 212-724-6713,
boutiqueoffbroadway.com                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Between the upscale eateries and swanky stores of West 72nd Street lies the Off Broadway Boutique, a quirky and often overlooked gem of the Upper West Side.
“I was a dancer, model and actress, and I didn’t want to be skinny anymore, but I loved fashion,” says the store’s founder, Lynn Dell, in her quick New York voice. “So what can you do that’s more wonderful than opening a store?”
Like its owner, the Off Broadway Boutique is eccentric and over the top—passing by on the street, the mannequins draped in colorful wraps of fabric adorned with extravagant hats and bold jewelry give you a glimpse of what lies behind the doors. Catering to older, plus-sized women, the store orders and manufactures clothes from all over the world and sells vintage designer pieces.
But don’t think you can walk in to find the same pieces every season. “I make very few things, because everything is special,” said Dell.
For 41 years, Dell’s mission has been to bring “‘Glamour’—that’s glamour with a capital G” to Upper West Side women. “We have had people who have been customers for 41 years now—sadly, some of them are starting to move to Florida. But people in the neighborhood love it; the theater people also love the vintage section in the back,” Dell said.

Soutine Bakery
104 W. 70th St., 212-496-1450, soutine.com                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Soutine aptly describes itself as a “small corner of Paris in New York City.” Tucked away on 70th Street just off of Columbus in a tiny store barely big enough for the display counter, Soutine bakes some of the most delicious French pastries and breads on the Upper West Side—arguably in Manhattan.
Just a few skilled bakers turn out the array of tarts, cakes, cookies and breads that are prepared fresh daily. Flowered wedding cakes that taste just as good as they look decorate the shelves as examples for the many couples who come to buy their cake there.
In the early 1980s, owners Madge and the late Barry Rosenberg opened Soutine, which has remained one of the few mom-and-pop bakeries on the Upper West Side—many have been put out of business by bakeries like Magnolia or Crumbs. But nothing can beat the quality you will find at Soutine. Their goods retain the warm taste of homemade treats while incorporating the refinement of French cooking. Standing in the tiny modest store, one can almost imagine looking out the glass windows to see the cobblestoned streets of Paris.

Himalayan Crafts
2007 Broadway, 212-787-8500,
himalayancraft.com                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Walking into Himalayan Crafts is like stepping off the city streets and into an international oasis. Buddha statues from Indonesia and Nepal adorn the back of the store, Bhutanese animal masks—some with long horns and large teeth—border the wall and the fragrance of incense permeate the room.
Shozo Miyahara, the store’s owner, lived in Nepal for many years, where he said locals did not have a place to sell their crafts. With that in mind, Miyahura conceived Himalayan Crafts, which he opened in 1991, as a place to sell Nepali items.
Most of the store’s selection is handmade, Miyahura said. Carved wooden jewelry boxes sit atop a table in the center of the store. Some items come from Handwork of India, a not-for-profit organization that employs women and people with disabilities. The store is also stocked with fair trade handbags, jewelry made from old African and Italian glass beads and prayer beads for the Hindu and Buddhist faithful.

Tap Dancer Marshall Davis Jr. joins Savion Glover on stage for a special performance at the newly renovated Bernie Wohl Center inside the Goddard Riverside Community Center on April 19.

Changes Proposed to UWS Retail Rezoning

Earlier this week, the Department of City Planning proposed several modifications to the Upper West Side retail rezoning plan that is currently making its way through the Uniform Land Use Review Process. The proposal will limit the frontages of banks and restrict other retail spaces along parts of Amsterdam, Columbus and Broadway on the Upper West Side.

Many small business owners and residents as well as Community Board 7 and City Council Member Gale Brewer have praised the plan as a way to preserve mom-and-pop shops and keep big-box retailers out, while real estate groups and some BIDs have criticized the plan for limiting business and development.

The proposed changes are intended to help maintain retail diversity and give building and business owners more flexibility, streamline expansion and grant concessions to existing businesses according to a City Planning spokesperson. One of the biggest changes is the introduction of a faster certification process that would let existing businesses apply to expand frontages to 60 feet without submitting an environmental review. It would also increase the maximum residential lobby frontage from 15 feet to 25, a recommendation made by Borough President Scott Stringer, and permanently grandfather stores larger than the proposed allowable frontage, where previously they would be forced to revert to smaller spaces if vacant for two years. Also, construction projects scheduled to be completed within six months will be exempt from any new regulations passed.

Mel Wymore, a Community Board 7 member who has been supportive of the rezoning measure, said that the modifications seem fair and provide “real flexibility and accommodation for local businesses and landlords.” He said that City Planning has been “extremely responsive” to the community’s feedback. The City Planning Commission will be voting on the modifications within the next few weeks.

UWS School Goes Green

Last week, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Department of Environmental Protection announced the winners of $4.6 million in grants to community-based green infrastructure projects that aim to improve the water quality of New York Harbor by reducing combined sewer overflows. The Ascension School, at 220 W. 108th St., was awarded $245,213 to create an educational green roof and vegetable garden. The garden will not only provide a learning environment for the students but will help reduce the amount of runoff that flows into the East River watershed by absorbing rainwater.

“The Ascension School will now be able to house a state-of-the-art new green roof, reusing rainwater for growing fruits, vegetables and native plants, all while teaching our schoolchildren about local, sustainable agriculture,” said project manager Will Travers.

Each of the 11 projects that were awarded grants will help keep sewage runoff out of the harbor. When heavy storms hit the city and the sewer system exceeds its capacity, wastewater is released into the rivers in order to prevent it from backing up into buildings. The more water that is absorbed into the ground and permeable surfaces, the less overloaded the sewer systems will be, reducing the quantity and frequency of sewer overflows.

Take a Saunter Around Manhattan

Next Saturday, May 5, the Shorewalkers will hold their 27th annual Great Saunter, a 32-mile walk around the perimeter of Manhattan. Pre-registration is closed, but participants can register in person on May 5. The cost is $20 for non-members; the walk is free for members.

Registration will begin at Heartland Brewery, 93 South St. (at Fulton Street) at 7 a.m. The walk starts at 7:30 a.m. The route will take the group up the West Side, clockwise around the island, arriving back at the brewery at approximately 7 p.m. to rest weary leg muscles and toast the day’s achievement. The tour will meander through 20 parks and provide views of the Statue of Liberty, New Jersey, the Palisades, each of the outer boroughs and all kinds of river sights.

There is a stop for lunch in Inwood Park around 1 p.m, with a mid-morning break at River Bank State Park at West 138th Street and a mid-afternoon break at Carl Schurz Park at East 84th Street. Participants are advised to wear comfortable shoes and clothes and bring extra socks, water, snacks and blister treatment. The walk will take place as scheduled rain or shine. Visit shorewalkers.org for information and registration forms.

‘Today’ Host Raises Funds for Breast Cancer

Last week, Today show co-host and breast cancer survivor Hoda Kotb delivered the keynote address at Beth Israel Medical Center & St. Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospital’s Breast Service Luncheon at the Pierre Hotel on the Upper East Side. Her speech was followed by an exclusive fashion show by designer Zang Toi. The event, now in its 21st year, raised $600,000 to benefit breast cancer programs.

Music to Stop Violence Against Women

Classical pianist and composer Emir Gamsizoglu will give a benefit concert this Saturday, April 28, at 7:30 p.m. at the Fourth Universalist Society’s Gothic Church, 160 Central Park West. Proceeds from the performance will go to the anti-violence groups Men Can Stop Rape, the Center Against Domestic Violence and VDay’s campaign to stop violence against women in Haiti.

Gamsizoglu, who was born in Turkey, was a basketball player until an injury forced him to change his focus to music. His mother, a ballet teacher, taught him to play Chopin’s Waltz in C Sharp Minor on the piano at age 20, and he continued to study piano in Istanbul and Paris. He will be performing selections from Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and Prokofiev, as well as his own compositions. Tickets are $20 or $15 for students and seniors, available at the door.

A compromise in the retail expansion proposal that will change the landscape of Columbus Avenue in the West 90s may be near.

The Witkoff Group, the company that owns 248-unit Columbus House, wants to create 4,950 square feet of commercial space with a two-story ground-floor structure. This would extend all the way to the sidewalk, cutting down on the open space between West 95th and 96th streets. The expansion would wrap around the base of the 33-story tower, closing off pathways between buildings.

Community Board 7’s land use committee disapproved of the plan, and the full board is slated to discuss the proposal at its June 1 meeting. But a co-chair of the land use committee has drafted a compromise proposal that would preserve some open space between the ground-floor stores and the residential building.

“What makes that block somewhat unique is that there are two stand-alone buildings separated by these walkways. It’s sort of a nice feature,” said Richard Asche, the land use co-chair who drafted the compromise plan. “We thought it was not a good idea [to close the pathway], and made the block look worse.”

Scott Alper, partner at the Witkoff Group, did not respond to requests for a comment.

Board 7’s land use committee also wants a proposal that is agreeable with the commercial tenants on the ground floor. The four businesses on that block feared they would have to close or relocate.

“Our approval is conditioned on tenants being satisfied that there is a binding right of first refusal [of the new commercial space],” Asche said.

Anne Cottavoz, who owns Columbus Natural Food, said she delivered more than 3,000 petition signatures from neighbors and customers urging the developer to keep small businesses on the ground floor.

“What I hope to get is that we come to an agreement where we can be comfortable, that we’re secure,” Cottavoz said.