Need a quirky gift but don’t have the cash? Fish’s Eddy is still your place. The store has been a destination for decades, but may have been forgotten with all the new boutiques and chain stores that have moved in to hawk their wares for the price-conscious. With beautiful votives for $10, kitschy coasters for $3.95 and sets of Japanese garden glasses for $20, you can stock up on distinctive stuff for your pals—and maybe even have a little left over to spend on yourself.

Best Place to Feel Like a Kid: Make Meaning
329 Columbus Ave, betw. W. 75th & W. 76th Sts., 212-362-0350

Remember when you were tricked into going with your friends to one of those pottery places where you had to plate while gabbing about your girlfriends? It’s back—kinda. Make Meaning opened up a few months ago in child-friendly Upper West Side and has somehow managed to balance the twee with the sophisticated. They have classes to teach you how to make items with glass, or you can try out candle-, jewelry- or papermaking. Sure, there’s always the chance that you’ll feel a little uncool sitting around while threading beads. But remember that whole knitting thing? Plus, getting your hands a little dirty is always fun.

Best Place to Place to Feel Like a Man: Hog Mountain
192 5th Ave., at Sackett St., Brooklyn, 347-725-4236

After logging 5 miles on the stroller and an afternoon of Daddy & Me classes, Park Slope guys can find refuge at Hog Mountain, the general store for men. Walk out with a silk tie, a brown leather wallet, a Carhartt jacket, a flannel shirt and a saw. It’s Americana for an urbane set that prefers a classic look that’s stylish. The store is stocked with a variety of Levi’s jeans—even skinny (if you must) and slim-fit. Men can treat themselves to Lucky Tiger grooming products, get a pair of cuff links and finally learn how to tie a bow tie from the store’s knowledgeable owner. Just make sure you park your stroller far enough from the tool section, out of Junior’s reach.

Best Place to Hawk Your Clothes: Buffalo Exchange
332 E. 11th St., at 1st Ave., 212-260-9340

Unlike certain consignment shops that seem to only want to take your most bizarre and ugly items of clothing (we’re looking at you, Beacon’s Closet), Buffalo Exchange will actually validate your sense of style by buying up the items in your closet you either don’t fit in, no longer wear or just never looked right on you. And instead of taking your things and having you wait around for them to sell in order to collect, they hand over the cash upfront. BE has outposts nationally, but the East Village outlet looks for trendy, seasonal pieces that are in good shape. It’s even a cute place to shop.

Best Tattoo Parlor for a Newbie: East Side Ink
97 Ave. B, betw. E. 6 & E. 7th Sts., 212-477-2060

Achieving legendary status as the leading tattoo parlor in New York in the 1990s, East Side Ink is a clean and unintimidating place, staffed by knowledgeable and exceptionally talented artists. The original shop was opened in 1992 by the highly regarded Andrea Elston, but nowadays, veteran tattoo-aficionados Josh Lord, Jen Terban and Yadira Mendez-Firvida run the show and include inking personalities big and small: Lord, Patrick Conlon, Mark Harada and Ethan Morgan. Over the years, some of the shop’s famous clientele has included Ozzy Osbourne, Woody Harrelson, Brian McKnight and Amy Winehouse. You might remember that about a year ago they got into a bit of trouble with the city for letting an unlicensed Rihanna tattoo her initials on to some of the shop’s eager artists—a health-code no-no that could have costed up to $2,000 in fines!

Best Shoe Repair According to a Drag Queen: Steve Express Shoe Repair
311 E. 14th St., betw. 1st & 2nd Aves., 212-228-9368

Sure, there are fancier shoe repair shops in the city, in trendier neighborhoods surrounded by fancy boutiques. But why would you want to pay an unnecessary $50 just to re-sole a heel? A hole-in-the-wall down a short flight of stairs, Steve’s is a secret favorite of shoe-abusing East Village drag queens. He can replace your soles, re-attach or straighten a heel (without using cheap glue—his work actually lasts) and perform all kinds of repairs for under $30 a pair. In fact, the only time our tipster paid more than $30 for a service was when the man crafted a high-heeled leather boot into a strappy sandal contraption, for a mere $60. Plus, he can fix watch bands and batteries, adjust your jewelry and even copy your keys! They don’t make ’em like this anymore.

Best Cheap Nail Salon That Won’t Give You Fungus: Tina’s Nail Salon
555 5th Ave., at 15th St., Brooklyn, 718-369-1908

Forget the red plastic covering the ceiling and the tacky hanging fixtures—Tina’s in South Park Slope is the best deal for mani-pedi pampering. For $12.50, you get a pedicure complete with a massage, and you can add on 10 more minutes for $10. Really, it’s just unheard of. Plus, the place is clean, the staff is friendly and the pedis are actually good.

Best Yuppie Marketplace: Eataly
200 5th Ave., at W. 23rd St., 646-398-5100

Once upon a time, the whole idea of grocery shopping was that you could buy and make food that would cost less than eating at a restaurant. That notion, dear reader, is completely outdated—but that’s not entirely a bad thing. At Eataly, the mammoth Italian grocery store and restaurant Deathstar in the shadow of the Flatiron building, owners Mario Batali and Joe and Lidia Bastianich stock the shelves with pricey pastas, sauces, meats and more, all designed for you to make a perfect meal at home, at only slightly less than it might cost to dine at a nice-ish Italian restaurant. While it’s not in our nature to pay upwards of $10 for a pound of fresh pasta or almost the same amount for a jar of sauce, there’s something about the store and what it promises that makes it seem (almost) OK. Perhaps it’s the bustling, authentic Italian feeling of what’s happening inside or maybe just the way that perfect-pasta guy grins while you try to decide if one portion of spinach ravioli is worth a night’s drinking money (it is), but spending too much on groceries here actually feels good. If you’re aching for the experience but don’t want to drop the cash, try going in for veggies—on a recent trip, they weren’t any more expensive than at the Associated.

Best Food Delivery: New York CSA & Organic Food Delivery

The locavore movement has annoyed us enough to yell at people who are perfectly nice—but want to keep us from eating our morning banana. But then there’s the idea of Community Supported Agriculture: cutting out the middleman and just buying fruit and veggies directly from the people making it. What could be wrong with that? It works by CSA members paying for an entire season of produce upfront as either “shares” or “half shares” and then showing up at a designated location and day to pick up your produce. Yes, it’s a little like hoity-toity peasantry, but it’s also a way to figure out how to experiment with strange tubers and other legumes you may never get up the courage to purchase on your own. And in the process of your 21st-century dietary explorations, you get to support people trying to make a living from the land.

Best Place to Buy CDs by Belgian Punk Bands: Generation Record
210 Thompson St., betw. Bleecker & 3rd Sts.

In an era when the definition of an album—does a download count?—is very much in dispute and even CDs are a vestige of the pre-Internet past, it’s nice to have a place where you can actually pick up music and hold it. While no record store—and Generation is not an exception—can compete with the encyclopedic variety (and low prices) of the Internet, its staff does an excellent job of culling through the new and old of obscure genres (Third Wave Ska, Psychobilly, Norwegian Death Metal), and you’re guaranteed to stumble on a record you didn’t know you needed.

Best Bespoke Bike Boutique: Adeline Adeline
147 Reade St., betw. Greenwich & Hudson Sts., 212-227-1150

Have bicycles really won the war of the city’s streets? While we still hate when they go the wrong way on the new bike paths, it has been great to see more and more people take to the roads and not end up roadkill. Now that we have bike-T-shirt collaborations and even cycle shops with coffee bars, it seems the trend may be here to stay. The cycle studs can have their testosterone-fueled havens; we’re throwing our support behind Adeline Adeline, a pleasant boite dedicated to bikes. Owner Julie Hirschfeld is in tune with what women want from bicycles. And it seems to be the cute accessories, along with the retro models (from $380 to $2,000—or more).

Best Place to Kick Your Tires: Downtown Auto Center
348 Bowery, at Great Jones St., 212-777-4848

What with always-heavy traffic, recessionary potholes, ever-diminishing free parking, battalions of quick-triggered meter maids and now floating bike lanes, Manhattan has become a little less friendly toward car owners—especially if they’re not blessed with a robber baron’s-size bank account. If you have been keeping a car anywhere near the East Village, however, at least you’ve been able to score quick and convenient servicing. Downtown Auto Center—which offers tire changes, inspections and minor repairs—has been operating from the same location, on Great Jones Street and the Bowery, for the last 50 years. But this charming patch of nostalgia has been reportedly purchased by a Miami-based luxury hotel chain—another victim of the Bowery’s super-gentrification. So you better get your oil changed quick.

BEST VIDEO STORE

Champagne Video
1577 1st Ave. (at E. 82nd St), 212-772-2058
213 W. 79th St. (at Amsterdam Ave.),
212-873-4600
While Netflix seems to have converted most everyone to mail-order movie watching, Champagne Video, a good ol’ fashioned rental palace, endures-which speaks volumes about this business. The recipe is pretty simple: Champagne employs people who actually know film, plus it boasts a user-friendly layout of DVDs that helps indecisive browsers make selections, rather than overwhelming visitors with endless rows of films. In fact, Netflix subscribers sometimes visit Champagne while waiting for their next shipment or if they’re not quite in the mood for whatever’s sitting at home. Plus there’s something so comforting and old-school New York about all that pink neon-like a little slice of Times Square, minus the live nudity.

BEST PLACE TO FEEL WELL-HEELED

State of the Art Shoe & Leather Repair
2449A Broadway (betw. W. 90th & 91st Sts.), 212-877-7787
At his tiny, tattered storefront on Upper Broadway, Uri Zilkha has tended to the soles of well-and unwell-heeled Upper West Siders for more than 20 years. In the 1980s, he re-dyed their leather motorcycle jackets. In the ’90s, he re-heeled their strappy stiletto sandals. Now, he rebuckles their statement designer handbags. But that’s not all. For $4, he will shine the shoes of their offspring. For $50, he will put new zippers in their winter boots. And for $60, he will take their favorite pair of footwear, the one with the holey lowers and the threadbare uppers, and make it new again. Because Zilkha knows that nothing fits quite like an old shoe.

FINEST (AND NICEST) SALES TEAM ON THE UPPER EAST SIDE

Alvin Ingram & Patrick Dawes at Stubbs & Wootton
1034 Lexington Ave. (betw. 73rd & 74th Sts.), 212-249-5200
Clearly the nicest and most stylish sales crew on the Upper East Side, Alvin Ingram and Patrick Dawes not only know their brand of European handcrafted shoes, slippers and accessories inside and out, they go above and beyond when it comes to customer service. Walk in the door and you are automatically greeted with a smile and a hello. Both Dawes and Ingram will gladly run up and down the store’s stairs searching for your size-and they are great with style suggestions, too. Primarily made of embroidered velvet, the shoes and accessories at Stubbs and Wootton are fashionable and fun. Embroidered coin purses for $60 make great gifts.

BEST PLACE TO SMOKE FOR FREE

Nat Sherman
12 E. 42nd St. (betw. Fifth & Madison Aves.), 212-764-5000
It seems that thanks to Mayor Mom, smoking indoors has been relegated to divey bars and your apartment when you’re too lazy to step outside. Not so! At the Nat Sherman store on East 42nd Street, smokers can sit back and relax with one of the luxury brand’s nine varieties of cigarettes or cigars. For those with undeveloped smoking palates, the tobacconists will even crack open a pack and let you try a smoke on the house (we’re partial to the MCD’s and Hint of Mint). Downstairs in the Johnson Club room-where membership gets you a private humidor and invites to all sorts of smoky events-you can relax with a cup of specially blended Sherman coffee and laugh at all the suckers who have to stand outside for their fix.

BEST BRA FITTING

Bra Tenders
630 Ninth Avenue, Suite 601
(betw. W. 44th & 45th Sts.), 212-957-7000
If you wear a bra (or should), this is the place to go since no one in the city knows more about giving women a properly fitting bra. Ask Bette Midler, Nicole Kidman and Melanie Griffith. Bra Tenders has been working with costume designers, wardrobe professionals and actresses for more than 30 years and has converted many to their customized, over-the-shoulder-boulder holders-even ’60s holdouts who hated wearing bras.
Call and make an appointment for a fitting. When you arrive, you’ll be shown into a spacious private room for a consultation. You’ll be amazed at how well they fit and feel-and that you really do look so much better in a sweater. Although they carry bras from Calvin Klein to Cosabella-size AA to L-you can also find things as pedestrian as Playtex. And there’s no charge for the attention. Lori Kaplan, co-founder with her husband, says, “We’ve never let a customer walk out of Bra Tenders without the right-fitting bra for her body-and we never will.”

BEST PLACE TO SHOP FOR A LAST-MINUTE GIFT

Museum of Sex
233 Fifth Ave. (at E. 27th St.), 212-689-6337
If you’ve ever had the pleasure of perusing the merchandise at the Museum of Sex gift shop, you know that it’s impossible to walk out without mentally putting together a wish list for your loved one’s next special day. The gift shop boasts an assortment of gift ideas with a surprising variety of price points (including the good ol’ standby: penis pasta). From your standard sex shop novelty items (erotic dice, vibrators, flavored lubes) to inappropriate twists on old standards (naughty balloons, naughty doorknobs, naughty playing cards) to high-end designer options by Jonathan Adler and Cynthia Rowley. And if, upon opening, the giftee has the audacity to become scandalized, just tell them to relax-it came from a museum.

BEST JEWELRY REPAIR

Murrey’s Jewelers
1395 Third Ave. (at 80th Street), 212-879-3690
Murrey’s Jewelers has been around for so long that the grandchildren of its earliest customers are now getting married. And when they do, they buy their rings from the same shop their grandparents did. The quaint family-owned store has been the go-to place for jewelry repair since 1936, and does everything from restringing pearls to retooling watches. The store’s employees are so good at what they do-together, their experience adds up to 150 years-that those in the biz have nicknamed Murrey’s the “jeweler’s jeweler.”

BEST DRY CLEANERS

Ernest Winzer Cleaners
1828 Cedar Ave., Bronx, 718-294-2400, www.winzercleaners.com
To find the best dry cleaners, you’ll have to leave Manhattan and travel to the Bronx. But that’s no problem since Ernest Winzer Cleaners’ radio-dispatched trucks pick up and deliver anywhere in the tri-state area, especially near Broadway and Lincoln Center, as they’ve been cleaning costumes for Broadway productions since 1908 and now the New York City Ballet, too. They’ve cleaned costumes for George M. Cohan, Helen Hayes, the Barrymores and Ziegfeld. When we had a Burberry cashmere sweater with a nasty stain (long story), Mr. Winzer sent it back as good as new.
Mr. Winzer is a wizard: clothes will never come back with broken or missing buttons, or with leather buttons that are torn, cracked or discolored. This isn’t the cleaners you go to because they’re cheap, but because they’re good. And anyhow, it’s cheaper than having to throw the garment out when it’s ruined by lesser craftsmen.

BEST PLACE TO GET TARTED UP (VEGAN STYLE)

Polished Beauty Bar
250 W. 78th St. (betw. Broadway & West End Ave.), 212-933-1830
This bright new spa, recently opened by sisters Micki and Susan Nam, is a working girl’s dream. After their first visit, returning customers are routinely greeted by name. Here, they can browse through the entire 240-plus Essie color collection to find the perfect match for that fuchsia dress. Or they can go “vegan” and opt for one of more than 300 vibrant hues by Zoya, favored by health-conscious women for its lack of harmful chemicals. At Polished, high-end sterilizing equipment keeps tools and surfaces germ-free, and tricked-out pedicure chairs offer full back and bottom massages. While their nails dry, patrons can peacefully leaf through dozens of unspoiled gossip and fashion magazines, watch classics on the flat-screen TV, or simply sit back and enjoy their complementary mini-shoulder rub. The salon stays open until 9:30 p.m. on weeknights, so there’s plenty of time after work for both a bite and a mani-pedi before heading home to TiVo.

BEST USED BOOKSTORE

12th Street Books
11 E. 12th St. (betw. 5th Ave. & University Pl.), 212-645-4340
Rumors continue to swirl that this little basement bookstore is threatening to close or move location, but it all seems to be baseless twittering. And if it ever does disappear, we will almost give up trying to find quality used books in the city. While others cater to rare book tastes or overpriced selections-complete with misanthropic proprietors-this short-aisled shop continues to stock hard-to-find titles without the perplexing penchant of charging almost-brand-new prices. Organization is just right: Alphabetical by sections, but still disorganized enough to make you feel like you’re discovering some lost jewels. You won’t get rich on trying to re-sell your books (don’t even try, just head over to the nearby Strand for that). The selection of lit, architecture, art and criticism is so fine, however, that you won’t mind the little inconveniences.

BEST BOOKSTORE, EAST SIDE

Logos Bookstore
1575 York Ave. (betw. 83rd & 84th Sts.),
212-517-7292
In a neighborhood in which Barnes & Noble operates two stores within two avenues of each other on 86th Street, it’s nice to throw some business to the little guy. Though Logos isn’t a superstore, it’s certainly not lacking in selection. The shop, part of a 24-store nationwide trade association, boasts a large Judeo-Christian specialty section and is also well stocked with the less pious fare of contemporary fiction, children’s literature and history. For those customers who find themselves paralyzed by the choice, owner Harris Healy runs reviews and suggestions on the store’s website, http://logosbookstorenyc.com. Should nothing there suit, the site invites patrons to call for a personal recommendation. Try getting that kind of help at Borders. Its book club, Kill Your TV, meets on the first Wednesday of every month.

BEST NEW GROWNUP TOY STORE

MUJI Flagship Store,
New York Times Building
620 Eighth Ave. (at 40th St.), 212-382-2300
We don’t follow the cult of MUJI-we enjoy being organized but don’t need everything in a muted palate of Japanese design-but we were more-than-excited to finally have the designer store at the base of the New York Times building. Not only can you pick up your collapsible cardboard speakers, nifty wall hangers and transparent plastic organizers in one big ode to style, you’re in a vortex of black, white and tan that includes the media behemoth that could crush you from above. Watch out!

BEST MIDDLE-OF-THE-NIGHT HAIRCUT AND PEDICURE

Hair Party 24 Hours
76 Madison Ave. (at E. 28th St.),
212-213-0056, www.hair24hours.com
You didn’t know you needed to get your hair cut at 4 a.m.? Well, of course you do! And luckily the crew at this 24-hour glass box dedicated to cutting, styling and painting are there to pamper and primp at all hours. Just imagine: you’re out late at a cocktail event and suddenly your coif falls flat. Well, just hop in a yellow cab, hightail it to just north of Madison Square Park and hop in a comfy seat to get a blowout so you can head on over to the next soriée. OK, maybe it seems silly, but can you imagine scheduling a facial for the middle of the night so you can wake up feeling nice and clean? Or how about a mani-pedi after a Friday night of drinks so you can relax with your toes bathed in bubbly? The possibilities are pretty endless and, in a city that claims to be running on all cylinders at all hours, it may now actually be becoming a reality.

BEST SIGN THAT RECORD STORES AIN’T DEAD

Hospital Productions
60 E. 3rd St. (betw. 1st & 2nd Aves.),
212-614-9652
A record label, music store, mail-order business and soon-to-be performance space, Hospital Productions is evidence that weightless iPods have yet to eclipse bulky, colorful albums that used to be carted around in milk crates. Owner Dominick Fernow has actually expanded recently, stocking his store with more than 1,000 cassette tapes (remember those?), CDs and vinyl. Fernow specializes in bands like Burning Star Core and Akitsa-noise and black metal bands. “I came to New York because I wanted to fill what I saw a void with a truly underground store,” Fernow said. We’re not giving up our iPods anytime soon, but we’re happy to go down to Fernow’s store and buy some music with actual heft. We reveled in something we’d forgotten about long ago after we made our purchase: liner notes.

BEST MASSAGE ON A BUDGET

New You Again Chinese Bodywork
205 W. 80th St. (betw. Broadway & Amsterdam Ave.), 212-721-5437
At New You Again, don’t expect a lavish waiting room to lounge in pre-massage while sipping cucumber water and enveloped in a plush terry cloth robe. Masseuses at this basement-level establishment usher clients through a small entryway adorned with Chinese scrolls and acupuncture charts to a dimly lit back room where thin white curtains separate the three massage tables. The operations are bare bones, but the prices can’t be beat: an hour-long massage at New You is $48, whereas most city spas charge upwards of $100.
The slight awkwardness of having to discreetly disrobe in such close quarters quickly fades as you relax into the freshly laundered sheets and take in the soft instrumental music playing overhead. The massage therapists apply pressure to just the right spots gently-but persistently-to work out all your kinks, putting the massage on par with the best chi chi spa. The back massage includes a hand and arm kneading, a neck and shoulder rub and a relaxing scalp massage; it ends with a warm towel on the back. Stop in for a quick, 10-minute back rub ($10) or stay for longer; 20 minutes is $18, 30 minutes is $26. A 40-minute foot rub costs $36. Credit cards are accepted and, after 10 visits, clients get a free massage. As your treatment draws to a close, the timer next to your table will ding and your masseuse will ask if you want more time. Saying “no” will be a struggle.

BEST MASSAGE, UPPER EAST SIDE

Mimi Nail & Spa
1541 Second Ave. (at 80th Street),
212-327-1358
1540 First Ave. (betw. 80th & 81st Sts.),
212-452-0004
David at Mimi Nail & Spa wins hands down (no pun intended) as the finest masseuse on the Upper East Side. He truly is the best in town. Some people just know what to do and are meant to do this kind of work-he’s one of them. David intuitively knows which areas need focus, and his handiwork is topped off with a hot towel press. If David happens to be busy, just walk one block east to Mimi’s second location, on the corner of First and 80th, and ask for Mike. He’s a very close second. Prices start at $15 for 10 minutes and run up to $80 for a full hour.

BEST LITTLE LINGERIE SHOP

Only Hearts
386 Columbus Ave. (betw. W. 78th & 79th Sts.), 212-724-5608
Owner and designer Helena Stuart’s intimate boutique stands out for its elegant-yet racy-high-quality lingerie. The friendly employees are even better for their eagerness to help you look and feel your sexiest. You’ll spend more on Stuart’s made-in-NY delicate lace panties, beautiful bras and comfy cotton and silk cami-boy short sets than on your run-of-the-mill undergarments. The pieces are well made, however, and reasonably priced for luxury lingerie. A delicate white lace bra costs $62 and sheer white panties $32. Shopping at the store is also a pleasure compared to the chaos of some of the larger, chain lingerie stores.
If you’re on the prowl for something fetching to unveil during an intimate evening with that special someone, splurge on one of the store’s scented Tocca candles or chocolate body frosting to truly sweeten the night. Only Hearts also carries cute cotton dresses, slinky slips, nightgowns, Italian-made leather shoes and jewelry (many designed by New York artisans).