I am always giving advice on “what not to miss” while in New York City so I thought I would give out a little advice on “what to miss” while in New York City.
A few weeks ago a co-worker wanted a recommendation for a shopping mall in Manhattan. I paused for a moment before thinking “Does Manhattan even have any shopping malls?” It is a well-known fact that New Jersey has a plethora of malls and even Elmhurst, Queens has the Queens Center. Then I remembered Manhattan Mall.
Manhattan Mall was once a gleaming gem in Midtown. With escalators snaking through ten floors of stores, it gave every city kid an insight into the world of the suburbs. Nothing was more “Americana” than working your after-school job at Gap and having lunch with friends at Hot Dog on a Stick. I went there… once. It was back in the mid-90s and while I was young and impressionable, and yet I still preferred the energy and ambiance of shopping on Fifth Avenue to the sterilized, glorified sanctuary of the mall.
Just a few weeks ago I was walking through Midtown and wondered what had become of Manhattan Mall; I decided to duck in and take a look. While I was half-expecting it to have been purchased by Donald Trump, painted gold, and fully converted to condos, the reality was much more bleak– Manhattan Mall is a skeleton of what it once was.
The mall’s stores reflect the “tween” demographic that shop at the mall: Wet Seal, Steve & Barry, Strawberry, Foot Locker, and Aeropostale are all pre-teen favorites. Even the food court, once popular with office workers, is slowly closing and only four restaurants are still operating: Charley’s Steakery, Desert Moon, Nathan’s Famous, Sarku Japan. The top floors have been leased as office space and the DMV has moved in. But all is not lost at Manhattan Mall, JC Penny is slated to open a store (making this their first Manhattan location) and the Starbucks hasn’t jumped ship… yet.
If you miss your hometown shopping malls and absolutely must have a mall experience while in New York, go to The Shops at Columbus Circle or Queens Center in Elmhurst, Queens, and leave Manhattan Mall off your list.
Location: Manhattan Mall, Sixth Avenue & 33rd Street (map) 212-465-0600
Getting There: N, Q, R, V, W to 34th Street-Herald Square; 1, 2, 3 to 34th Street-Penn Square; PATH to 33rd Street;
Hours: Sunday 11am-7pm; Monday through Friday 9am-9pm
译文:
一定不要去曼哈顿的购物中心（纽约旅游者）
一直以来，我总是在告诉人们当去纽约时，哪些是不能错过的。所以，我觉得应该提出一些有关在纽约应该错过的事情。
几个礼拜之前，一个同事建议我去曼哈顿的购物中心逛逛。我停了一会，思考着“曼哈顿有购物商场吗？”
众所周知，纽泽西有大量的购物中心甚至艾姆赫斯特（美国皇后区），皇后们有皇后的购物中心。然后，我记起了曼哈顿购物中心。
曼哈顿购物中心曾经是中城（曼哈顿的心脏地区）的一刻闪烁的宝石。自动扶梯上上下下繁忙地穿梭于10层楼中，它使每一个城里的孩子都走进了一个郊区的的世界。没有什么比在嘉普(财富500强公司之一，总部所在地美国,主要经营服装零售)做兼职，与朋友们在餐饮店就餐更显得美国化了。我曾经去过一次。。。那已经是90年代中期的事情了，当时我还非常年轻，对那儿印象很深。我现在依然钟情于第五大街购物中心散发出的纯净而又华丽的气氛。
就在几个礼拜之前，我漫步在中城，想知道曼哈顿购物中心变成什么样子了，于是，我决定走近去看一看。我想象着它现在已经被Donald Trump购买了，漆成了金黄色，变成了名副其实的公寓大厦，然而，事实上，它比我想象的要荒凉的多。曼哈顿购物中心只剩下了以前的空壳。
购物中心的库存显示了在此购物的人们的年龄层次。湿封，史蒂芬和巴里，草莓，弗洛克和邮政航空公司都是青春期前孩子们的最爱。即使是美食广场，这个曾在上班族间风靡一时的地方，现在也陆续关门大吉，只剩下4个饭馆仍在营业：Charley’s Steakery, Desert Moon, Nathan’s Famous, Sarku Japan。最顶层已经外借，变成了工作的地方，车辆管理所搬了进去。但是，仍然会有坚守阵地的，JC Penny 准备入住此地（将这里作为他们在曼哈顿的初营地），星巴克也不会跳槽。
如果你想念家乡的购物中心，而且你在纽约时一定有过去购物中心买东西的经历，你可以选择去哥伦布中心或埃姆赫斯特皇后中心的商店，把曼哈顿购物中心从你的列表中彻底抹去。