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The Pod 39 Hotel

Opening Hours
Today: Open 24 hours
Tues:
Open 24 hours
Wed:
Open 24 hours
Thurs:
Open 24 hours
Fri:
Open 24 hours
Sat:
Open 24 hours
Sun:
Open 24 hours
Location
145 East 39th Street
Neighborhoods
The Pod 39 Hotel 1 Hotels Murray Hill

I would never have thought that all the basic necessities that one needs in a hotel room could fit so compactly in a bite-sized well-decorated room. Mini flat screens, a desk, space to hang a few things, even a safe were in each of the rooms that we entered. The bathrooms were sleekly functional, including a strong shower. In our increasingly globalized world, a Japanese concept has found a new American home and is flourishing in the heart of Manhattan. The Pod is modeled after Japanese capsule hotels that feature a small bed for sleeping and little else. Hospitality is stripped down to its necessities, all the while maintaining guests' comfort. This keeps pragmatic travelers happy and prices down, as who really wants to spend time in their hotel room when they can be walking the side streets of Manhattan?

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The Renwick Hotel

As someone who once owned a bookstore, I was delighted by each of the little surprises and details hidden throughout the Renwick. I walked into the lobby to find a multimedia mural on the wall, designed by Gregory Siff, decorated with items that were found when the original hotel was renovated. There were yellowing letters attached to the wall along with depictions of New York landmarks and pieces of the lives of John Steinbeck and Thomas Mann, both of whom lived here when it was filled with artist studios and lofts. I was eager for Tom and Olivia to arrive, as I knew that they, too, would appreciate the hotel's celebration of writers and artists, which begins with the name: James Renwick is the man who, with no formal training, was the main architect behind St. Patrick’s Cathedral in the nineteenth century. The artistic flourishes continued along the walls of the lobby. A bookcase had a clever column of Steinbeck’s books lined up with a painting of the author on their spines. On the stairs down from the door, which looped around to become a bench, there were succulents in glass cubes perched on top of additional piles of books. David Israel, the Asset Manager, explained that the hotel brought in seventeen local artists to work on the overall design. He pointed out the outline of people at the park made out of string and nails just to the left of the door. David informed us that the piece took the artist five nights to create on the wall and that it represented a snapshot in the story of her family. “There is art everywhere, ” David said simply. To prove his point, he took us outside where Gregory Siff had tagged all four sides of the hotel’s temporary water heater with graffiti. From the art to the amenities, everything is made in New York. David told me this while pointing out that the wood paneling behind the concierge came from the building’s original water tower. The bed linen, the bath products, and the room fixtures all come from within the city. Even the hotel restaurant, Bedford and Company will serve New York distilled spirits when it opens at the end of 2015. Stepping into the almost completed space, I could already sense the warm atmosphere that the midcentury design would produce. It felt like a club where the artists of New York’s Golden Age would sit around and swap ideas. Each of the rooms upstairs had details that were artsy and playful. David explained that the Renwick is trying to “bring a more edgy, Soho feel to Midtown. ” He went on to say that the hotel has tried to create a room both for the creator and for lawyers and businessmen, making it perfect for weekday and weekend travelers. David was proud to announce that there are no double beds in the hotel: the smallest size is a queen. He opened the door onto a room that was decorated in honor of Thomas Mann, with his face painted on the white wall and his quotes scattered around the room. I found it fascinating that the Time Magazines on display throughout the hotel were found during the renovation, and that the New York City skyline painted on the blinds is common to all rooms, but that each one is unique. “There is no framed art in this building – everything is functional, ” David said. My creativity was sparked everywhere I looked: the cup holder was made from paper mache pages of the great Gatsby, the robes mimicked artist smocks with an embroidered dash of paint on the back, and the Do Not Disturb signs took the form of paintbrushes. Even the notepad, a staple of most hotel rooms, doubled as origami paper. We thought that the Mann room was creative, however we were blown away by the next room, which David told me was specifically crafted for the artist in all of us. Easels were scattered throughout the room with different size canvases. The cup holder, which in the other room held pens, was filled with paintbrushes of every size and shape. On the notepad, there was a little drawing. David said that many of the housekeeping staff, whom he refers to as “creators, ” are artistic themselves, and are encouraged to leave their work for guests. Though we did not see it, David informed us that there is also a writer’s suite, complete with a typewriter. Even though the Renwick had only been open a month when we visited, he said that he had already had repeat guests requesting specific rooms. After showing us the Hemingway Suite, which has a little rooftop balcony, David led us back down to the lobby, pointing out the original mail chutes and elevators. On our way out, I could not help noticing that there really was art everywhere: on the walls of the fitness room, in the bathrooms, in the stairwell. I was reminded of the quote from Andy Warhol that I had seen on the wall of one of the guest rooms: “Art is anything you can get away with. ”

More places on 39th Street

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Mark Fisher Fitness

It’s not every day you’re greeted at the gym by a man wearing teeny tiny swim trunks and plastic lei. And it’s not a regular gym where the boss arrives for a meeting resplendent in chicken hat. Which stays on for the duration, despite the rising temperatures. But then, Mark Fisher Fitness is not any old gym. In fact, it doesn’t even call itself a gym; it’s an “enchanted ninja clubhouse of glory and dreams”. It’s a place where clients are called ninjas and trainers are called unicorns and where mirrored balls, graffiti and disco lights take the place of the usual utilitarian gym furniture. “We like to keep things colorful, ” said Mark in understatement. “So there are lights. There’s a closet with costumes, so if the trainer feels like dressing up in Victorian era garb or an S& M unicorn, there’s a leash they can wear – whatever feels good. “But one thing that’s also important to us is just taking people where they’re at, so a lot of the ninjas who come here AREN’T insane, ” Mark added. “We say if someone wants to come to a dance party and someone wants to take off their pants and someone wants to cry quietly in a corner because they’re having a really bad day, everything’s perfect, you’re OK wherever you are. ”Mark describes himself as once that “classic skinny, awkward, Martian man, afraid-of-girls guy” who only properly found his place in this world when he started to work out in high school. “I was also a professional actor – which is partly how we’ve become such a fixture in the Broadway community – and throughout my twenties I fell more and more in love with the training. It was like the mistress I slowly left my wife for. ”A few years ago he quit acting completely and committed himself to training fellow New York misfits. “My own experience in the gym, starting as someone who didn’t feel very good about his body and didn’t feel like an athlete, it was very difficult for me, ” Mark said. “We like to say, in the most affectionate way, that the ninjas are like an isle of misfit toys – all manner of humanity, all ages and colors and backgrounds that are generally united in that we all have a feeling of being an outsider at times. I just wanted to celebrate that, and also to provide really good fitness information. I’m a huge fitness nerd, so it’s very important we provide a really good service with results. ”So if you want clear, no-nonsense weight loss and are willing to put in the hours, the intensive six-week Snatched program might be your bag. Alternatively, there are group classes, and semi-private training packages, Mark’s cheaper but just as effective version of a personal training program, where you train with two other ninjas and a dedicated unicorn. Unsurprisingly, many of the gym goers are from the Broadway community. Mark has worked with plenty of performers to get them ready for a specific role (such as a ninja playing a boxer in Kinky Boots) as well as backstage workers. “We train a lot of composers and directors and casting directors – and from their friends it’s trickled out to other professions; people who maybe work in white collar jobs but are a little bit weird, ” Mark shared. “The nature of their life means they perhaps don’t get to be as creative as they’d like so they can come in here and do whatever they want to do. ”The trainers, too, are a colorful bunch, counting among them one of the city’s best known drag queens, a gay porn star, a tattooed graphic artist who was a skate punk in a former life, and a professional clown who, at the last minute in med school, decided he wanted to be a clown not a doctor. “We need people to be really great coaches, but we also need them to be really authentic and comfortable with who they are. And a holistic approach means this crazy fitness family doesn’t just take care of your physical fitness; it offers life coaching workshops, classes on book keeping for financial fitness, advice on time management …“We hope to be a place where people come for general betterment, ” Mark explained. “Fitness is so transforming because you’re able to be more creative and stable and braver with your life. You’re feeling better about yourself, you’re eating well, you’re sleeping – we know your brain is going to work better. Additionally, it’s interesting to see how much of your life you can control. New York can be an isolating town – particularly for performers, who spend a lot of time getting rejected. So there’s a certain power one discovers when you know you can control what you eat and how you look. ”This story was adapted from the W42ST article, "Mark Fisher Fitness — The Gym Where New York’s Misfits Go to Work Out. "

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Offsite

There are intriguing spaces sprinkled throughout the city that invite corporations to utilize their facilities, but stepping inside Offsite is a unique experience designed specifically for the business meeting clientele. The brainchild of Patrick Everett and Shawn Kessler, they have created a stunning turnkey facility where all day conferences can be held. Companies are invited to bring their employees together for a productive 9am-5pm meeting in the three levels of fully equipped space, which can then be flipped effortlessly into an appropriate venue for an evening event. The rooms are configured so that some forty people are able to sit around one gigantic table or be rearranged into smaller units. Attendees never have to feel confined to one space, as they can move around freely on each floor, dividing up into smaller breakout sessions, when necessary. The rooms are versatile and technology oriented, fully outfitted with AV equipment - as Patrick referred to it, "plug and play. " Endless pens and pads, drinks and snacks, including large jars of enticing candy, are provided throughout the day. The partners have paid attention to every detail, taking into consideration exactly what they believe their clients will require, including a small executive office that allows for a private phone conversation and a myriad of white walls that are actually whiteboards. Offsite works with some of the terrific catering facilities in the area to provide top lunches and dinners for groups, and everything is served on their attractive dishes. While being given a tour, Patrick told me that he had been an event planner. When he discovered that there was something important missing in the corporate world, he found his niche. As he began to imagine the possibilities, he worked diligently on his concept with Shawn. Basically all one has to do is book the space, and the rock star team at Offsite will handle the rest.