Best of Manhattan 2024: Neighborhood Stores
| 12 Dec 2024 | 01:46
S&V Hardware. Photo: Brian Berger
Stranded Records. Photo: Brian Berger
Academy Records. Photo: Brian Berger
Eva’s Garden Florist. Photo: Instagram
Gartner’s Hardware. Photo: Naman_M / Twitter
Hong Kong Supermarket. Photo: Brian Berger
Matles Florist. Photo: Brian Berger
Murray’s Sturgeon Shop. Photo: Twitter
Rough Trade Records. Photo: Brian Berger
BEST BOUTIQUE GROCERY
Schaller & Weber
1654 2nd Ave.
212-879-3037
Harkening back to the days when the Upper East Side was substantially central European— German and Hungarian especially—Schaller & Weber, which first opened its doors in 1937, is a meat lovers’ dream come true. First, let’s talk sausage, starting with their own house brand Käsekrainer uncured frankfurters. Then comes Knackwurst, Weisswurst, Bratwurst, weiners, and so on, including a hearty selection of non-Germanic varieties: Louisianian, Irish, Spanish, French. An abundance of bacon, salami, charcuterie, cold cuts and complementary condiments are also available. Recommended soundtrack to such a feast: Carl Maria von Weber’s 1826 masterpiece of German romantic opera Oberon.
Murray’s Sturgeon Shop
2429 Broadway
212-724-2650
Murray the Cop was one of the great characters of Neil Simon’s hit 1965 play The Odd Couple. The apartment where they live—and where Murray the Cop plays cards with Oscar and Felix—was somewhere on Riverside Drive in the upper Eighties. Whether the name Murray the Cop honors one of New York’s greatest appetizing stores, Murray’s Sturgeon Shop on Broadway beteen 89th and 90th St. is unclear but it’s certainly possible. Opened by Murray Bernstein in 1946, the store today is very much like it was, offering particularly Jewish curation of foods Scandinavian, Middle European and Near Eastern origins: everything smoked or picked, from nova lox to herring to whitefish, chicken soup, chopped liver, pickles, soups, coleslaw, knishes, more. Though the current owner’s name is Ira Goller, cognoscenti will understand if you enter the store and howl “Murray!!”
Hong Kong Supermarket
157 Hester St.
212-966-4943
Let’s be honest: if you need a concierge service to go grocery shopping, you don’t go to Hong Kong Supermarket. If, however, like the hundreds of mostly Asian patrons who pack the store at any given hour, you’re looking for a huge array of Oriental food stuffs including produce, meat, fish, frogs, turtles; noodles by the veritable mile, rice by the figurative ton; teas; an uncountable number of condiments, oils, pastes; snacks of all flavors—cookies, candies, crackers and more— mostly from China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan—then Hong Kong Supermarket has got you covered. Online complaints about rudeness are, in this reporter’s opinion, misplaced. It’s a grocery store, not a dating service, and little different in spirit than the great, sometimes brusque Russian markets of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. We’re here for unique and affordable food; we can be friends afterwards—maybe!
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BEST FLORIST
Eva’s Garden Florist
1506 1st Ave.
212-744-8710
Let’s make one thing perfectly clear: this is Eva’s Florist—a family owned and operated business proudly serving the Upper East Side and beyond since 1978. Due to the deceptive manipulations that have become all too common on the internet, Eva’s has been forced to distinguish itself from Ava’s Flowers, an order aggregator. For flower people, this is a crucial distinction, and one you’ll be certain to appreciate the next time you’re in Yorkville and stop in to talk to the happy gang who work there. For flowers and plants; weddings, anniversaries, bar and bat mitzvahs and brisses; graduations and funerals, that’s Eva’s: E-V-A apostrophe S. Tell ‘em Our Town “Best of” sent you!
Matles Florist
329 W. 57th St.
212-246-1181
Because it’s on such a busy, wide block of 57th St., Matles is the kind of place you might walk by a hundred times and not notice—until you’re thinking of flowers and then my god, like the white whale, there it is! Want to bring a bouquet to a special friend at Carnegie Hall or the Metropolitan Opera? Matles is more than up to the task. If you have other needs—birthday, funeral, get well, holiday, graduation, just because—don’t be shy. Having served the Upper West Side since 1962, Matles has seen it all. Despite that experience, they are anything but jaded, proudly stating everything they sell “100% florist-designed and hand-delivered.”
Gabriel Wakeham Floral Design
120 W. 28th St., Studio 4G
212-206-0750
Located in the always fascinating flower district in a building that used to be Public School 48, Gabriel Wakeham is one of the true hidden gems of the city’s floral scene. While their prices aren’t the cheapest, they don’t pretend to be. Positioning themselves as a “luxury” “upscale” florist sets high expectations with prices often to match though for an important event, be it personal or professional, they are by no means outrageous. On the occasion of thank you (to our dear best of readers) for example, one can order two mini orchids ($70); a vase of irises ($115); fresh cut hyacinths ($95); roses and orchid butterflies ($165); pretty peach roses in an antique silver vase ($125. Enjoy!
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BEST RECORD STORES
Rough Trade Records
1250 6th Ave. / 30 Rockefeller Plaza
212-664-1110
Sadly, the UES hasn’t had a real record store in decades and while Rockefeller Center isn’t technically east side, it’s close enough. Enter, shockingly, Rough Trade, the landmark punk-era British independent label which operated a combined record shop and performance venue in 21st century Brooklyn before the waves of Williamsburg gentrification washed them away. Miracle of miracles, in 2021 Rough Trade returned—in a location where real estate is even more expensive! Granted, the new store is much smaller but it’s there alright, to the obvious delight of the tourists and others who crowd it. Vinyl is king here, mostly new titles including Rough Trade exclusive variants, but some used bins also, as well as a selection of CDs and cassettes. Many music-themed books, t-shirts and other souvenirs too.
Stranded Records
218 E. 5th St.
212-529-2081
Originally founded in San Francisco with a second shop in Oakland, Stranded made the leap east around 2009 and immediately distinguished themselves as one of the best of downtown record stores. Though it’s located in the basement of a handsome townhouse, the shop is decently lit and remarkably clean and well organized. Though their stock is nearly all vinyl, it runs the stylistic gamut from rock to jazz to electronic to avant-garde experimentalism. Their new stock, including all in print titles from their great house reissue label, Superior Viadict, is excellent. Drone lovers should pick up their LaMonte Young titles while they’re still available and modern jazzbos shouldn’t miss their recent Joe McPhee series. Straded’s used selection is decent and high-quality (no junk store leftovers here) and even rarities are decently priced. Finally, the staff is very affable—ask them anything and get a friendly reply.
Academy Records & CDs
12 W. 18th St.
212-242-3000
This one is the Xanadu, the mothership, the Dream House, the Bayreuth, the Carnegie Hall, the Birdland, the Max’s Kansas City—even the Loew’s Paradise of Manhattan record stores. Once upon a time on 18th Street—let’s call it 1977 or so— there was Academy Books. It was a fine store that survived a few decades before closing, while next door Academy Records soldiered on under the stubborn ownership of Jospeh GaNun. Is he a little idiosyncratic? Maybe, but in a world that was abandoning and even mocking the idea of physical media, he had to be. Likewise the store’s famous devotion to classical and jazz, which wasn’t so unique in the era of giant Tower and HMV emporiums but was still thrilling, especially for a mostly used store. With some accommodations to changing tastes, Academy today is great as it ever was, with a high quality selection of used vinyl and CDs (still the preferred classical format) across all genres as well as DVDs / BluRays and an always intriguing selection of books. Among the longtime employees, classical manager John, jazz and related expert Blake, vinyl buyer Charles and store manager Gloria are all legends of the trade.
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BEST HARDWARE
S&V Hardware
1450 1st Ave.
212-744-5706
No Manhattan neighborhood is more unfairly maligned than the Upper East Side. We’ve heard it all and quietly seethed with you: it’s boring, there’s no culture, it’s all yuppies and diplomats and hospital workers and old biddies carrying their poodles to luxury dog spas—don’t get in their way! This is all absurd, of course, and reflects an ignorance of both history and of street life reality that one can only call lamentable, at least on a friendly “Best of” like this one. In truth, as we know, the East Side is a veritable labyrinth of treasures and surprises, with none more welcome when something goes awry in your apartment or building than S&V. And if just want to pick up some work gloves, tape, rope and seeds for some playful garden caper, S&V—as jam packed inside as their beloved Yorvkille is outside—can do that too.
Gartner’s Hardware
162 W. 72nd St.
212-873-1050
gartnershardware.com
Still the proverbial store with “everything,” Gartner’s has proudly defied the trendoids and doomsayers for six decades, with no sign of stopping anytime soon. Independently owned and operated, Upper West Siders “got their’s” at Gartner’s before big box stores, before cell phones, before online shopping—even before “the world wide web” or ARPANET. Exactly who Gartner was or when he left has been lost to time, alas, but the incantatory power of his name remains. Say it: Gartner’s for housewares, paint, lighting and electrical supplies, plumbing, tools, shovels and salt. Say it: Gartner’s for key cutting, lamp repair, lock and air conditioning installation. Sat it: Gartner’s for all manner of tool rentals, yes you can do it yourself!
Fulton Supply Hardware
74 Fulton St.
212-587-4088
Call it South Street Seaport or call it the Financial District, just don’t call us late for dinner, as the saying goes. For nearly any hardware needs south of the Brooklyn Bridge, however, you ought to call Fulton Supply. Holding down the waterfront for more than fifty years, there are few things that they can’t do, and some—like being a full-service auto locksmith—that few other hardware stores deal with. Of course they excel in basics too: bolts, electrical supplies, gloves, keys, lighting, lumber, locks, nails, paint, picture hooks, plumbing, screws, tools and oh! so much more. Do they sell a better mousetrap? Maybe. Tool rentals are also available.