Introduction<br >At least a dozen times each week my office phone rings and the vo<br >on the other end plaintively asks， "Where can I find a terrific --<br >What follows is a request for shopping information on a myriad<br >things. Calls come from stylists， editors of other magazines， art dir<br >tors， reporters， TV prop people， presidents of corporations， reade<br >friends， and friends of friends. They know that as New York ma!<br >zine s "Best Bets" columnist (a position I ve held for the past n<br >years)， I scout the city each week， trekking through unlikely neigh]:<br >hoods in search of the best， the newest， and the most original. W~<br >they call and ask where they can find such esoteric items as fenc<br >gloves， vintage toasters， deep-sea-diving gauges， Victorian stuff<br > spoons， Renaissance tiles， or a Spiro Agnew watch， I know just wh<br > to send them. And if they re looking for less-exotic items---a cutti<br > edge gown， a lamp with a Retro look， custom-made shirts， or a<br > bustier--I know where they can find the best of those， too. I cam~<br > realize that it isn t only tourists or visitors who need assistance<br > locating what they want among the riches this city--perhaps<br > world s greatest shopping capital--has to offer. Savvy New Yorl~<br > often need help， too.<br > This guidebook， then， is designed to fill that need. I will tell<br > where to shop for just about everything， from a medieval tapestry 1<br > vintage couture suit to a regulation dartboard to a tony dress， am<br > prices that range from inexpensive to costly. Although broad in<br > range， Shopping Manhattan is also highly specific. I ve suggested<br > actly what a reader is likely to find in each store， and since shops<br > exhaustively cross-indexed， readers can quickly locate just<br > they re looking for. There are forty-nine main categories， from aq<br > games to umbrellas， and I ve covered approximately 000 stores.<br > Things change very rapidly in this city， and a store s stock va<br > each season. Yet what remains constant is the character， quality，<br > . ot~，lo ~ m~rrhar~di~e a sho~ handles. Therefore the specific items tt<br >