Dog days
Ditmas Park real estate, Moonflower, Lore Bathing Club, The Muse, Deer Mountain Inn, best frozen NYC cocktails, MORE
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REAL ESTATE • First Mover
Three for-sale properties that came to market in Ditmas Park & Midwood in the last 60 days.
→ 652 Marlborough Ct (Ditmas Park) • 4BR/3.1BA, 3025 SF house • Ask: $2.175M • Victorian-era on a cul-de-sac • Monthly taxes: $1005 • Days on market: 15 • Agent: Karen Wolfe, Brown Harris.
→ 783 Rugby Rd (West Midwood, above) • 5BR/2.1BA, 2910 SF house • Ask: $2.5M • Queen Anne-style w/ wraparound porch and original detailing • Monthly taxes: $935 • Days on market: 52 • Agent: Alexander de Bordes, Compass. Open house Sun 12-130p by appt only.
→ 534 E 24th St (South Midwood) • 6BR/4.1BA, 5049 SF house • Ask: $3.125M • rebuilt turn-of-the-century Victorian w/ 30’ x 35’ backyard • Monthly taxes: $701 • Days on market: 17 • Agents: Tay Kim & Esteban Gomez, Compass. Open house Sun 1230-2p by appt only.
REAL ESTATE LINKS: City facing lawsuit over rollout of pied-à-terre tax • Mamdani abandoning plan to turn Nolita’s Elizabeth St. Garden into housing • East Village’s Wisteria House sells for $3.65M • 81-story new development Casoni nears completion in Garment District • In Boerum Hill, developers buy church at 360 Schermerhorn St., will demolish for new development • Brooklyn Heights ponders if it’s ready for new 51-story neighbor.
WORK • Friday Routine
Repping hard
CAROLINE MCKAY • founder • Caro
Neighborhood you live & work in: Soho
It’s Friday. What’s the scene at your workplace?
Friday afternoons are my favorite; things finally start to breathe a little. I have my own PR studio, Caro, and we work with brands across hospitality and design (and some other categories!) — we get genuinely excited by cool founders and their stories. The weeks can get pretty hectic, which I love, but by Friday afternoon, I’m ready to shift gears. I go to my co-working space, The Malin in Soho, and I’ll tie up any loose ends or grab a coffee (or tea) with a client, editor, or colleague, which is my favorite way to end the week.
Where are you drinking or dining this weekend?
You caught me on a good one! Okay, so I know I’m late to the game, but Bartolo was one of my favorite meals of 2025, and I finally have another reservation there Friday night; very excited. Before that, though (and I debated sharing this because it feels like a bit of a best-kept secret), Moonflower on West 11th has the most incredible happy hour Monday through Friday, 4-6p, 50% off all bottles of wine. You walk out with a $30 bill, and it’s become my favorite way to kick off a weekend with friends.
Saturday, I have a reservation at Dean’s (intel), which recently opened right near me, and if the weather holds up, I might get there early just to stand outside for a drink first (channeling spring in London). Later that night, I’m hoping to pop into Stars (intel) before a party in the East Village; it’s only 12 seats, though, so that might be wishful thinking on my part.
As much as I love chasing new spots, my Sundays are when I like the classics. Lately, I am on a breakfast rotation between The Waverly Inn (my dream if it’s even a little rainy, is there anywhere cozier?), Commerce Inn (newer but it feels like a classic, and the club sandwich!!), or Balthazar if I wake up in a particularly social mood.
I’ve been itching for a proper afternoon in Bed-Stuy and Clinton Hill with my friend/colleague McCall, who lives over there. Don’t Call Me Shirley and Golden Ratio are both on the list.
How about a little leisure or culture?
I ran the Brooklyn Half Marathon in May. I ran the New York City Marathon two years ago, and that was my first bigger race since. It was so fun to end at Coney Island. And then there’s the well-known walk, which I think now most people have probably done, but I’ve been dying to get to: 16 miles from the top of Manhattan down to the bottom. Start at the Cloisters, end at The Dead Rabbit, with a bunch of good stops in between.
I also have a membership at Lore Bathing Club, and it’s the perfect addition to my wellness routine. It’s simply a beautiful sauna and cold plunge, but I’ve run into so many people I’ve known from over the years in New York. Plus, it’s such a nice alternative to bring a friend to rather than drinks or dinner.
Any weekend getaways?
Livingston Manor in the Catskills. Shameless plug, but I bought an adorable A-frame cabin up there in 2022, and it’s become one of my favorite corners of the world. And a great weekend reset from the city.
Recs there: The Kaatskeller for pizza, Upward Brewing Co. for beers, The DeBruce when you want a fancier, special dinner, Main Street Farm for stocking the fridge with local goods, Sunshine Colony for natural wine, and Somewhere in Time Farm for Saturday morning farm boxes and yoga.
What was your last great vacation?
Egypt, two years ago, for my cousin’s wedding. I learned about ancient Egypt in school, but nothing prepared me for actually standing in front of the pyramids, walking through the temples and tombs, and seeing how extraordinary that civilization was (and the level of preservation + detail!).
The highlight was a hot air balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings in Luxor at sunrise. And if you ever go, stay at Al Moudira Hotel. Every room is completely unique; the whole place feels like a dream. It’s genuinely one of the best hotels I’ve ever stayed at. If I go back, I have the Nour El Nil Nile River Cruise as number one on my list, and also hope to make it to Siwa Oasis.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
The Demi from Terra Kaffe: a bean-to-cup super-automatic machine, design-forward, makes your apartment smell great, and saves you so much on going out for coffee. And for the ladies, the La Ligne Colby Pants in satin: best clothing purchase I’ve made all year.
What store or service do you always recommend?
Buccal facial massage from the Spa Thermae at Sui Yoga in Soho. A hack if you get TMJ. And also their regular deep tissue massages with Leonore; she’s incredible! Also, my friend and acupuncturist Thalia, who owns The Muse in Flatiron, just opened the space this year. She also offers amazing facial acupuncture (a rare find), cupping, etc. I leave feeling never better!
Where are you donating your time or money?
I’m a big dog and animal person and found out that Best Friends Animal Society in Soho, has an Adventure Buddy program, which I had just started to do. Basically, you can volunteer by taking dogs in the shelter out on walks. Unfortunately, the space is currently under construction, but it’ll be back soon; it’s such a good chance for the pups to decompress and get noticed by potential adopters!
CULTURE & LEISURE • Dog Days
Joe Hisaishi • Radio City (Midtown West) • Sat @ 8p • orch 3, $247 per
Olivia Dean • MSG (Midtown South) • Sat @ 8p • sec 106, $850 per
Dogstar • Webster Hall (East Village) • Wed @ 8p • GA, $73
CULTURE & LEISURE LINKS: Bowery-themed exhibition, ‘Devil’s Mile’, coming this fall to New Museum • New East Village pizza shop, Ecce, features owner’s wall-art tribute to Melville • Is ‘42Below’ the new dating hotspot? • Monoculture is back.
GETAWAYS • Tannersville
Oh, Deer
Before you even check into your room at the Deer Mountain Inn, the cookies win you over. They’re underneath a glass cloche at the desk, and smell cartoonishly appealing. Years after my first visit, I still think about the first bite of the cookie I ate on the idyllic walk from the main building to my artist’s cabin in the woods.
In fact, it’s just the beginning of the culinary delights at Deer Mountain, which to my mind is the best place to eat in the Catskills (in addition to a great place to stay).
Like many Catskills restaurants, the menu changes constantly to reflect local, seasonal ingredient availability. What sets the kitchen at the Deer Mountain Inn apart is its commitment to foraging, fermenting, and curing whatever they can in-house. On various visits, I’ve had things like hand-cut potato chips dusted with a ranch-like seasoning made from foraged ramps (the perfect vessel for scooping up creme fraiche and caviar), sausage made from goats raised a few mountains over, and cured steelhead trout.
The culinary team at the Deer Mountain Inn also elegantly riffs on the classics. I go here for cheeseburgers dressed up with bordelaise and vibrant Harvest Moon cheese with a side of chili and sumac-dusted fries, or the platonic ideal of a roast chicken. They hit a mark many kitchens aim for, but often miss: consistently perfect comfort food with fun little twists. Add that to the fact that the dining room feels like it belongs on the set of a rom-com, and it’s hard to make an argument to stay anywhere else.
You can just pop in and eat at the restaurant here. I often do. But there are some aspects of dining at the Deer Mountain Inn that you simply have to stay there to experience. The lavish ritual of moving from your dinner table to an overstuffed leather couch by the fireplace for a spread of desserts, paired with the sommelier’s favorite amari is reason alone to stay the night. –Carina Finn
→ Deer Mountain Inn (Tannersville, NY) • 790 Co Rd 25 • Rates from $415/night • Reserve dinner.
GETAWAYS LINKS: Is Sag Harbor the new Montauk? • On Shelter Island, appreciating new Korean restaurant Blue Han… and a not-so-Vogue 36 hours on Shelter • A North Fork guide to plentiful produce.
BARS AND RESTAURANTS• The Nines
Drinks, frozen
The Nines are FOUND’s distilled lists of the best. Paid subscribers access the complete Nines archive, including our favorite restaurants by neighborhood.
Bar Snack (East Village), Electric Mayhem (mango, Vita Coco, Chamoy, Squash amaro, Absolut Tabasco), sweet, spicy, and a little chaotic, tropical slush balances juicy mango w/ tangy chamoy and kick of Tabasco