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An avid shopper for silky underthings, Lauren Blankenship was tired of itty-bitty boutiques that had panties crammed into drawers, inexperienced staff, and closetlike dressing rooms. So she and her husband, Allen, opened Bodyhints.

Sure, Lord of the Rings action figures are hot now, but come February, will Junior even remember Frodo and Gandalf? The best holiday gifts for kids are the ones that will hold their attention well past Christmas dinner.

Let's say you are a man in need of a makeover. You could spend a week hopping from boutique to boutique—maybe in an SUV, accompanied by a group of five style-obsessed guys spouting double entendres. Or you could do it with just one elevator ride, to Saks Fifth Avenue’s seventh floor.

When you get a typical salon blowout, a stylist tugs your tresses into submission for nearly an hour, and they usually go limp and frizzy by the next day. Then there’s Simon Sabag.

City cyclists have a lot to worry about—jaywalkers, cabs, bus fumes—so it’s a blessing that they can take care of all their bicycle needs, at least, in one stress-free stop.

On a typical Sunday at Footlight Records, you’ll see hipsters snatching up Italian lounge CDs, hip-hop artists trolling for new beats among the vinyl movie soundtracks, seniors browsing through the Broadway cast recordings, a Liza impersonator scoring Cabaret on DVD.

Yes, we’re more likely to show off the results in the summer, but exfoliation is just as important in the cooler months, when skin tends to dry out.

When we fantasize about life in a mile-long, pure-white loft, the walls are dotted with splashy vintage posters. We cultivate this fantasy at Chelsea’s Gail Chisholm Gallery, recently relocated to a sunny new loft.

So you’ve mastered Warrior 1 and some moves on the Pilates reformer and can manage the elliptical without too much huffing and puffing. But can you put them all together? The newly relocated Exhale spa offers the toughest and most efficient workout hour in the city.

Even though New York’s mean streets aren’t prime trick-or-treating territory (unless you mean something else by “trick”), we’re still better equipped for the holiday than anyplace else in America.