- nbhd -
flatiron & nomad

In my mind, the Flatiron District is the postcard imagination of New York City. It’s the idealized version of Manhattan. Quintessential New York architecture around you, urban parks and plazas to break up the city blocks. Bustling at a constant rhythm but not too chaotic. A bit more grown up without being too business-y, a fair choice of beautiful hotels without being too touristy, fancy high end shops and restaurants mingling with mass commerce retail and food chains on wide avenues. Dare I say, it’s like the good version of Midtown.

Like its namesake building, Flatiron is a classic choice. Not a star like the Empire State, not grandiose like the Met, a classic sensibility that has aged well over the decades. It’s a landmark that is the safe choice for favorite buildings, one that will get you nods all around. The neighborhood is similarly neutral, generally well-liked. There’s a lot of shit to talk about other parts of Manhattan but Flatiron and Nomad are pretty agreeable to most.

Between Union Square and Madison Square, they cover a lot of ground. Theres the 5th Avenue shopping, a lot more comfortable of an experience than Soho for running any retail shopping mall errands. And then there’s 6th Ave shopping, big box stores and household necessities stores for all other errands. There’s a comically beautiful Home Depot. And a lot of low hanging fruit tourist attractions we love to hate on (ahem, Harry Potter Store, Friends Experience, looking at you). And similarly coded shops (LEGO, Eataly, etc that feel like attractions even though they are fully functioning shops). And then on the other end of the spectrum some of the more pretentious parts of the city with the shamelessly scene-y Fotografiska and the questionably private Gramercy Park. Not to mention the plethora of high end furniture stores and custom design shops. And some of the most celebrated fine dining establishments in the city.

In Union Square we have perhaps the best greenmarket in the city, and in Madison Square we have one of the better parks in Manhattan (honestly the trees of Madison Square Park are the real MVPs). On any given weekend, Nomad is about as close to Midtown as I care to get, and as someone who usually doesn’t exist in this part of the city, it feels like a treat every time, with undertones of the giddiness of a visitor to the city.