New York City (Fodor's, 2012) - Fodor's [27]
When you’re shopped out and ready to drop, hit Bliss SoHo (568 Broadway, 2nd Fl., between Prince and Houston Sts.) for a muscle-soothing Ginger Rub massage. Just be warned, this type of pampering isn’t the “walk-in” variety, so book at least a month ahead on | www.blissworld.com or just enjoy the spa store with its lotions and potions to cart back to your hotel.
MODERN ART AND DESIGN
Even if you’re not in the market for a $1,000 skirt, the 23,000-square-foot Prada design store (575 Broadway | 212/334–8888) is worth a stop to check out the Rem Koolhaas design. TIP Try something on just to experience the drama of the dressing room, just as hyperdesigned as the rest of the space. A showcase of everything wired, the Apple Store (103 Prince St. | 212/226–3126) is a tech-head’s Nirvana.
Edgy in the ‘70s and ‘80s, SoHo still retains some of the artists’ galleries that brought the neighborhood to the forefront of the city’s art scene at the time. Several of SoHo’s better exhibition spaces, including Deitch Projects and the Drawing Center, are clustered in the vicinity of Greene and Wooster streets near Grand and Canal. Many a rainy day can be spent enjoying the often outré collections inside, no purchase necessary.
19TH CENTURY ARCHITECTURE
SoHo has the world’s greatest concentration of cast-iron buildings, built in response to fires that wiped out much of Lower Manhattan in the mid-18th century. It’s hard to single out any one block, as almost all have gorgeous examples of the various cast-iron styles (Italianate, Victorian Gothic, Greek Revival), but Greene Street has two buildings that are architectural standouts: the Queen of Greene Street and the King of Greene Street.
Other notable buildings are the Beaux-Arts Little Singer Building and the Haughwout Building on Broadway, and the 1885 Romanesque Revival Puck Building (295 Lafayette St.), a former magazine headquarters and now a busy event space. Lastly, the “Look down, look around” admonishment need not apply only to commuters in Penn Station. In SoHo you’ll notice lights in the sidewalk along Broadway and neighboring streets. Starting in the 1850s, these vault lights were set into sidewalks to permit daylight to reach basements.
TOP ATTRACTIONS IN SOHO
Fodor’s Choice | King of Greene Street.
This five-story Renaissance-style 1873 building has a magnificent projecting porch of Corinthian columns and pilasters. Today the King is painted in high-gloss ivory and houses a boutique on the ground floor with an array of fashion-forward international labels and an espresso bar that among other things, serves mochas, affogatos and green tea lattes. | 72–76 Greene St., between Spring and Broome Sts., SoHo | 10012 | Subway: R to Prince St.
Queen of Greene Street.
The regal grace of this 1873 cast-iron beauty is exemplified by its dormers, columns, window arches, projecting central bays, and Second Empire–style roof. | 28–30 Greene St., between Grand and Canal Sts., SoHo | 10012 | Subway: J, N, Q, R, Z, 6 to Canal St.
WORTH NOTING IN SOHO
OFF THE BEATEN PATH: Charlton Street.
The city’s longest stretch of Federal-style redbrick row houses from the 1820s and ‘30s runs along the north side of this street, which is west of 6th Avenue and south of West Houston Street. The high stoops, paneled front doors, leaded-glass windows, and narrow dormer windows are all intact. Nearby King and Vandam streets have more historic houses. Much of this area was once the site of a mansion called Richmond Hill. In the late 18th century Richmond Hill was set in what is described as a beautiful wild meadow with glimpses of the nearby city and the “hamlet” of Greenwich Village, which served variously as George Washington’s headquarters and the home of Abigail Adams and Aaron Burr. | SoHo | Subway: 1 to Houston St.; C, E to Spring St.
Haughwout Building.
Perhaps best known for what’s no longer inside