Relieving stress at Westside Rifle & Pistol Range.   (Photo: Courtesy of Westside Rifle & Pistol Range)

• Westside Rifle & Pistol Range

  20 W. 20th St., nr. Fifth Ave.; 212-929-7287

  A small sign outside an unassuming Flatiron office building is the lone indication that ammo is flying in the basement. To blast some caps at Manhattan’s only shooting range, first-timers need to call ahead to schedule a mandatory training session and provide information for a criminal-background check. For $65, an NRA-certified instructor imparts the basics of loading and operating a firearm safely, and sets you up with a box of 50 bullets and a weapon at the range. Then you unload on a paper target. It won’t magically reconstitute your 401(k), but the reassuring bang and recoil provide their own kind of stress relief.

From the 2009 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine