Author: Jamie Aronson

Downtown’s Mother’s Day Gift Guide 2016

Post author By Jamie Aronson
Post date April 29, 2016

This Mother’s Day, give mom the gift of amazing beauty products, chic charms or even a fun day at the spa! We have a list of some of our favorite gifts, their prices and where to purchase them. Take that, macaroni necklace!

Ahava Dead Sea Crystal Osmoter

Ahava.com

$77

How about gifting your mom this dead sea crystal serum that reduces wrinkles? With its revolutionary formula this oil-based serum firms up the skin and leaves it with a new radiance. Think of it, not as a way to say “Mom, you’re getting old,” but rather as an apology for all the wrinkles you’ve surely caused.

Marc Jacobs Nail Polish

Marcjacobsbeauty.com

$24

This superior polish lasts longer with a stronger gloss and a high shine, and comes in over 30 classic and unique colors. You’ll easily be able to find one your mom will love. As an added bonus she won’t have to reapply coats and coats of lacquer to get a strong finish, leaving her with more time on her hands – now with beautiful colored nails.

Lena Tote

Tusk.com

$398

Every mother needs the classic mom bag. You know… The one that has everything imaginable from napkins and snacks to tents and a spare tire. Okay, maybe not quite that elaborate but you get the point. Somehow moms always manage to think of everything to bring – even the stuff you never knew you needed. Give her a beautiful bag to put it in like this Lena Tote from Tusk.

Chamilia Charms

Chamilia.com

*Prices Vary*

If your mom likes jewelry, she’ll love the Chamilia charms. Make sure to get her a Chamilia bracelet and then start adding the charms. They come in a variety of shapes, colors and sizes – some with letters, some with stones. With these you can even start a new tradition of gifting her a new charm each year, and you’ll no longer have to worry about what to get her next year!

iPad Pro

Apple.com

*Prices Vary*

Is your mom tech savvy? For this Mother’s Day give your mom the new 9.7-Inch iPad Pro. With the power of a computer but the size of a small book it’s easy to bring along and allows mom an easy way to keep track of everything. Because, lets be honest… When you forget something mom is always going to be the one you ask first, right?

East End Bike Tours

Gilt City New York

$79

What about doing something active? If your mom likes to move, these East End Bike Tours from Gilt City are sure to bring her heart happiness all the while getting her heart rate up. Be sure to buy two tickets and let her bring a guest – she may even bring you! Pack a picnic basket and enjoy a nice 13-mile guided-tour – add the wine sampling tickets and you have the perfect recipe for a day of biking, picnicking and wine tasting with a scenic view.

Chanel Perfume

Chance by Chanel at Chanel

$100

Perfume is always a good idea for a Mother’s Day gift. Check out Chance for Chanel by Chanel, a fresh and floral fragrance with a vitality that’s sure to put a little more pep in your mother’s step and a good way to make her send you a loving thought every time she puts on a little spritz.

Bulgari Conia Coral Gift Set

shop.nordstrom.com

$85

You can also kick it up a notch by giving your mom not only a perfume but an entire gift set like this BVLGARI Omnia Coral Gift Set. Complete with an Eau de Toilette, a scented soap, a body lotion and a chic pouch to put it all in. This is sure to bring both joy and a new twist to your mother’s pampering routine.

Spa Packages from Haven Spa

Havenspa.nyc

*Prices Vary*

Talking about pampering – you can also let someone else pamper your mom for Mother’s Day. Gift her a spa package and let the staff at Haven Spa treat her to a wide range of treatments from a rejuvenating facial to a relaxing massage. Get your mom ready for another year of motherhood.

Dinner at MAMO Restaurant

Mamonyc.com

*Prices Vary*

Treat Mom to the best of SoHo dining at MAMO Restaurant. This French/Italian Provencal menu from Michelin-starred Executive Chef Massimo Sola hits all the right notes. Mother’s Day Specials include Salmon Carpaccio with Asparagus Salad and Burrata, Risotto Primavera with Diced Vegetables, Roasted Veal Top Round with Wild Leeks and Potatoes, and for dessert Profiteroles with a decadent Chocolate and Rum Sauce. Don’t forget the Mother’s Day cocktail; the delicious Fiore di Miele which is made with St-Germaine, lemon juice, pisco and prosecco.

-Jamie Aronson

Culture News

Coachella 2016 Highlights

Post author By Jamie Aronson
Post date April 27, 2016

If you own a flower crown, enjoy fridge accessories and have an Instagram account, chances are you aware that Coachella happened recently. Between great weather in the valley and an even greater lineup (along with surprise performances) this year’s go-around did not disappoint.

Usher did a tribute to Prince, Kesha performed amidst her lengthy court battle with producer Dr. Dre, and Kanye West took the stage by storm. Guns N’ Roses killed it too, obviously.

Perhaps the artist with the most buzz, however, was Sia. Sporting her half-blonde-half-black wig with bangs that obscured her face, she gave the crowd soaring vocals and a performance piece that challenged the art at the fest. Although she remained motionless and fixed to a mic-stand, her mini-me dancer Maddie Zeigler (from “Dance Moms”) and several other dancers emerged to add a little ‘oomph.’ In true Sia fashion, Zeigler contorted, twitched, spasmed and convulsed throughout the night, closing the show with her now-trademark dance number to “Chandelier.” It was a sight to be seen.

Photo: Courtesy of: Coachella Instagram

Between DJ’s like Disclosure and The Chainsmokers and alternative groups like Matt & Kim, variety wasn’t lacking. The lineup alone was incredible.

Overall, most festival goers would give it a 10 out of 10 and the rest, well, they were probably hopped up on too much LSD to count that high.

As millennials pack up their Free People feather-adorned dresses and bid adieu to the valley, they leave behind their voices and the need to inform their co-workers that they’re “literally so excited for Coachella this week.”

Photo: Courtesy of: Coachella Instagram

Until next year, Colorado desert.

-Jamie Aronson

Dining

Wolfgang Puck To Open New Restaurant in New York

Post author By Jamie Aronson
Post date April 26, 2016

This summer, Wolfgang Puck will open his new New York City restaurant. Named ‘Cut,’ it is a Lower Manhattan branch of the steakhouse chain that he first opened in 2006 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills.

Long based on the West Coast, Puck has been on an expansion spree over the past few years, as he has opened new restaurants in Singapore, London, Bahrain and Istanbul and offering up cookbooks, cooking tools and prepared foods. His retail products alone are worth hundreds of millions in sales each year, according to Bob Goldin of Technomic, a food-industry research and consulting firm.

Rather than cooking formal French food, the restaurants offer his own French take on traditional cuisines. When opening his first Chinese restaurant in 1983, he says he used butter as a thickening agent instead of the more traditional cornstarch. “It was very rich,” he recalls. “I made the richest Chinese food there was.”

In the future, Mr. Puck thinks that it “might be good” to open a branch of Spago in New York. While he is also exploring the idea of a modern Mexican restaurant, he is in no rush to embark on new dining concepts just yet.

“It’s like having another child,” he says. “It takes a lot of time and patience, and then you have to make him grow up.”

-Jamie Aronson

News

30 Park Place Prepares for Its Opening

Post author By Jamie Aronson
Post date April 25, 2016

In a few shorts months, 30 Park Place will welcome its first visitors. The Four Seasons hotel that will occupy its lower floors, along with a new Wolfgang Puck restaurant, is scheduled to open in July.

The imitation limestone pillar, designed by Robert A.M. Stern, is well on its way to being complete. The skyscraper is now fully sheathed, and scaffolding has come down from much of the lower portion of the structure.

Work continues on the upper floors, which will hold several over-the-top penthouses (one of which just hit the market last week).

-Jamie Aronson

Events News

9/11 Memorial Hosts 5K Walk/Run

Post author By Jamie Aronson
Post date April 18, 2016

On Sunday, April 24, the September 11 Memorial is hosting a 5K walk/run. It starts at Pier 26 at 8am and makes it way along the Hudson River, finishing at the corner of Rector Street and Greenwich Street. The walk/run will not be timed as it’s purpose is for fun, not competition.

Registration prices vary; children under 12 are free and any members of the FDNY/NYPD/PAPD and U.S. Military are $20. Adults are $45 and kids ages 13-22 are $32. When you register, you receive the following:

– Bag and T-shirt
– (1) movie ticket courtesy of Fandango
– $5 off your Maple lunch or dinner order
– 25% off Museum entry
– Bib N’ Brunch specials when you show your bib at over 45 lower Manhattan participating establishments

All proceeds go to the 911 Memorial. The event will be held rain or shine, although participants will be notified is there is severe weather.

Click here for FAQ’s regarding the event.

-Jamie Aronson

News

Giant Glowing Bunnies are Hopping to Brookfield Place

Post author By Jamie Aronson
Post date April 14, 2016

No, this isn’t an obscure dream or the side effect of taking one too many ibuprofen. Giant glowing bunnies are indeed taking over Battery Park City. A little late for Easter, they will be hopping over to Brookfield Place thanks to Australian artist Amanda Parer. These bunnies aren’t your average house pet, they are sewn from white nylon and internally lit, standing over two stories in height and 39 feet long.

Although whimsical, this artwork—titled “Intrude“—holds the deeper meaning that our environment is fragile. Parer’s home country finds rabbits a burden, as their population exploded in Australia after they were brought over by European colonists in 1788, causing problems in their ecosystem.

This animal represents contradiction: furry idyllic innocence planted in a field of grass vs. the ‘elephant in the room’ of the often ignored problems regarding environmental impact.

Sharing with Boston Magazine, she said, “In my work, I really like extremes—I like to capture darkness and light and human mysteriousness. People see the work and initially see the rabbits as cute. Then they approach the work and might feel a little bit of fear because they’re so big and giant… I wanted them to look like they’ve just hopped into—or intruded into—the space.”

Check them out from April 17 to April 30 at Brookfield Place, 230 Vesey Street.

-Jamie Aronson

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