The Vamp On The 6

Jenny From The Block HERE

Alberto and I took a little ride uptown on the 6 Train. For those of you who are New Yorkers you know I am talking about the subway. The 6 Train gained some fame when Jenny from the block wrote a song about the 6 Train.

The view from Target overlooking the East River

I used to have a boyfriend who lived in Soundview (in the Bronx), the same neighborhood Jenny from the block comes from, so I am well acquainted with the 6 Train.

You can see the Manhattan skyline from the East Harlem Target

And why pray tell are two oldsters heading up to East Harlem on this fine summer day? Well, we're going to Target of course!

East River Plaza

Target just opened a new store on the island of Manhattan, accessible by subway. It's at the East River Plaza, a mall that also has Costco, Best Buy, Marshalls, Old Navy and more.

The escalator up to Target in New York City!

There's plenty of parking, and you can get there by cab, but we wanted to take the subway to see if this is feasible for New Yorkers. You take the Lexington Avenue line, the 6 Train, to 116th Street.

The Target PR says it is a five block walk, but it is a way long five blocks.



When we got off the train, and up to street level, we were asking a man about how to get to Target, and you could tell he is already over all these downtown types bothering him about Target.

But he was sweet to us and said we would better off taking the bus, because it was a long walk. If you walk, you walk east (towards the East River) on 116th Street, a major shopping street with lots of interesting things to look at.

Alberto invites me into shop at the new Target in East Harlem

Just as we were deciding what to do, a free shuttle bus from Target pulled up! So we hopped on, and within three minutes we were there.

Target painted the 6 Train for the grand opening

The location is spectacular, right ont he East River, with the FDR Drive (an expressway of sorts) right below. Cars were whizzing by, and the river view was wonderful.

Manager at Target wearing a chic pencil skirt

The store itself is like any Target anywhere. But it was so fun to be a brand new store that everyone in so excited about.

Special designer merchandise was made for the Harlem Target

They have a whole bunch of designer articles made just for this grand opening.

Five percent of each product's revenue will go to local charities like Museo del Barrio and The Young Women's Leadership School.

The designers are: Isabel and Ruben Toledo, who created graphic bikinis, t-shirts, beach towels, and sarongs; Stephen Burrows, who worked some color block magic on knit dresses and tops; and Marc Samuelsson, whose pop art place mats, napkins, and pot holders are cute as can be.

Prices range from $3.99 to $34.99, and the collection will have a wider national release and on Target.com starting August 1.

I bought the Isabel and Ruben Toledo beach towel
It is a work of art!

The banana napkins remind me of Andy Warhol

I snapped a few pictures in the store, and saw some pottery that looks very much like vintage Bitossi pottery from Italy made in the 1960's.

Bitossi pottery copy cat - and only $14.99

Then I snapped a photo of a very chic looking manager wearing a pencil skirt as part of the Target uniform of red shirts with khaki pants. She politely informed me that taking photos on the store was not permitted. Who knew?

We had a date with Nicole from Sketch 42, so we decided to cab it back downtown. She lives in the mid fifties. There is a cab service in the parking lot, but they are not metered cabs. It's more of a collection of car services, what we used to call gypsy cabs. They quoted us $15. for the ride.

We just have an aversion to gypsy cabs so we walked to Pleasant Avenue, and easily flagged a cab. The fare was $13. plus $2. tip, and we decided it would be okay to take the gypsy cab next time.

Our visit with Nicole was wonderful. She is an amazing talent, and her home is even better in person than all the great photos we have seen of it on her blog HERE.
This girl needs to be in Lonny or Elle Decor or House Beautiful or Rue!

Photo from Nicole Cohen of her home from her blog Sketch 42

So hop on the 6 Train and check out the new Target!