Month: November 2019

With so much of the holiday pop-up action positioned near Algin’s no-fee apartment rentals in NYC, you can find fun, cheer, and all the best gifts with ease. Follow us on a brief tour of some of our favorite shopping destinations this season. The Columbus Circle Holiday Market is one of the most beautiful places for holiday shopping. The Grand Central Holiday Fair features exciting up-and-coming vendors from all the boroughs of New York City. And the Union Square Holiday Market offers a wide range of handmade gifts in an alfresco setting, full of warm cider and holiday energy!

Columbus Circle Holiday Market

Internationally known, the Columbus Circle Holiday Market encompasses the full beauty and splendor of the holiday season. Situated at 59^th Street and Central Park West, the market is set against the natural majesty of Central Park: a fitting frame for possibly the most elegant market of its kind in the entire city. Get lost in stall after stall along aisle after aisle of jewelry, unique art, scrumptious local food, and home goods of all types. The market runs from December 4^th through the 24^th and is open Monday through Saturday from 10 am to 8 pm and on Sundays from 10 am to 7 pm. Stop by, and you’ll quickly realize that, in its 15^th year, it’s still getting better and better.

Grand Central Holiday Fair

Equally impressive in its presentation, though set in an utterly different environment, is the Grand Central Holiday Fair. One of the longest-running indoor holiday fairs in NYC, it spans more than half of the historic Vanderbilt Hall at Grand Central. For six weeks, fair-goers can snag unique clothing, toys, artwork, and much more from 40-plus vendors selling merchandise of all types and at all price points. However, what they all have in common is that there’s a focus on delivering American-made and handcrafted items. You’ll also find that many of the materials are locally sourced and that many of the businesses maintain a socially conscious model in their practices—the Holiday Fair Committee devotes the year to finding just this type of vendor. The fair runs from November 18^th through December 24^th, Monday through Friday from 10 am to 8 pm, Saturdays from 10 am to 7 pm, and Sundays from 11 am to 6 pm. Shop for a friend or a family member, but don’t be surprised if you take home more than one special gift for yourself this holiday season. 

Union Square Holiday Market

Host to festivals and markets throughout the year, it’s no surprise that Union Square is the location for a Holiday Market by Urbanspace that is renowned as “a must-visit destination for unique gifts created by local craftsmen and artists.” Millions of people will sojourn to the park not only for this market’s eclectic mix of goods for purchase but also for the range of experiences and activities. Come out for Little Brooklyn and Urbanspace Provisions. Visit the Warming Station and Lounge to regroup or take the little ones to the Kid’s Arts Studio. Add to that their live music, and you’ve quite possibly found the most innovative holiday market in the entire region. The market launches on November 21^st and runs through December 24^th. Swing by Monday through Friday from 11 am to 8 pm, Saturdays from 10 am to 8 pm, and Sundays from 11 am to 7 pm. If you think you’ve seen it all in the city, think again. This market is one-of-a-kind.

Holiday shopping can be exciting again—especially when it’s a bit off the beaten path and full of community spirit but still close to home. Convenient to Algin’s no-fee apartments in Manhattan, these three holiday market favorites also have convenient hours that let you drop by on the weekends or even after work to browse and explore at your leisure. Come by and celebrate the holidays anew.

Hell’s Kitchen, a tree-lined and restaurant-filled neighborhood, is an almost heavenly locale for its lucky locals, and although well-situated no-fee rental apartments in Manhattan are hard to come by, Algin Management offers several within the boundaries of this neighborhood. While it thrives on its proximity to the Theater District to its east, the Hudson River to its west, and Lincoln Square and Central Park to its north, Hell’s Kitchen is not defined by this proximity. As a happening neighborhood that encompasses parts of Hudson Yards and Hudson River Park—and is also a respite from many of the nearby crowds—it delivers its own brand of New York City magic.

Packed with some of the city’s best culture, cuisine, and couture, the area abounds with activities that will please everyone from the maverick millennials who love a short walk to their Midtown offices to the music and drama lovers who are literally down the street from some of the best live theater in the world. Amid the day-to-day and extraordinary urban moments, there are aspects of this neighborhood that will have you exploring for a lifetime. Let’s take a look around.

Breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you’re sure to find endless food options that will cause even your most epicurean of friends to roll up their sleeves and dig into gourmet delights from around the world. While the unofficial meal of Hell’s Kitchen has got to be brunch—you’ll see the neighborhood’s eclectic denizens gathering at seemingly every tasty spot during the weekend—there’s so much more to the area’s food scene, which, among other things, features Restaurant Row, a stretch of 29 fabulous restaurants on 46th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, with a mix of dining experiences you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else in the world. Marseille on Ninth Avenue is a particular local favorite that not only takes its name from the rustic French port city but its culinary influences too. Feast on a brunch of hearty fresh-from-the-ocean clams, lobster, and shrimp or stick to traditional items like veggie-filled omelets or a classic eggs Benedict.

Burn off those brunch calories with a walk to Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle, where fashionistas, makeup gurus, and general retail explorers can find almost anything they’re looking for in this shopping mecca on the Hell’s Kitchen border. Whether you’d like a simple blazer from J. Crew or a luxe cashmere statement sweater from Eileen Fisher, you’ll find it here. Stop by Time Warner Center’s Sephora to try on and buy your favorite fragrance or makeup. There’s no need to run around town when this shopping center has everything you need—not to mention a spectacular view of Central Park.

It’s hard to ignore the fact that Broadway plays are just a few streets away, but Hell’s Kitchen’s exciting off-Broadway theater scene—with venues as diverse as Pershing Square Signature Theater, Playwrights Horizons, New World Stages, and the Theatre at St. Clements (church), to name just a few—does not always get the attention it deserves. The Irish Arts Center is another gem that has a robust calendar of performances and events near the northwest corner of the neighborhood. And, of course, just a little further north of Hell’s Kitchen is a world cultural institution: Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the home to the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Ballet, the New York Philharmonic, and almost 30 other institutions and facilities, both indoors and alfresco, as well as an iconic fountain whose daily displays have provided many an Instagram photo.

So, in Hell’s Kitchen style, reserve your dinner, buy your most fashionable outfit, get your tickets, take a stroll (and some pictures), and, by all means, find the time to finalize a lease for one of Algin’s no-fee rentals in this beautiful and ultraconvenient part of New York City.