WORK • Tuesday Routine
ANNA MALTBY • writer/personal trainer • How to Move
Neighborhood you work in: Windsor Terrace/South Slope
It’s Tuesday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
I’m glad you picked Tuesday, because it’s the one day I work outside of my home! I teach a mat Pilates class every Tuesday morning at Esquina, a beautiful fitness studio that opened about a year ago in Windsor Terrace. The class has great, chill, positive vibes: I play a lot of Ahmad Jamal and Kenny Dorham and teach with a challenging-but-accessible approach, so everyone in my class — from athletes to postpartum people to folks who are new to exercise — can have a great experience. We work really hard and have fun, too.
When class is over, I usually film a workout for my newsletter, How to Move. Every week, I share a new 30-ish minute workout video, usually focused on strength training, but with some mobility, pilates, and bodyweight work mixed in here and there — the idea is to take all the intimidation and confusion out of exercise, as well as the toxic, harmful messaging. The studio owner, Ana Costa, is really lovely to let me use her space for these videos.
On the way to or home from the studio, if there’s time, I love popping into other little businesses in Windsor Terrace, which is such a heavenly neighborhood. There’s great coffee at Daytime, Chicago-style hot dogs at Dog Day Afternoon, Syrian and Korean food at SYKO, Mexican at TacoOmar. A personal training client of mine, Stephanie Valdez, owns the most picture-perfect bookshop called Terrace Books just up the street.
What’s on the agenda for today?
When I get home from class, I’ll take a meeting or two for my work as a content strategist, or possibly do an interview or work on a draft of an article for The New York Times: I contribute regularly to the Well section, writing mostly about fitness. Sometimes I’ll pop into a coffee shop like No Filter or Roots Cafe to get some focused work done — or Long Shadow, which is a wonderful coffee place operating during the day in the bar Lowlands over on Third Avenue.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
The restaurant you’re most likely to find me at is Crosta, a fantastic pizzeria here in South Slope. It’s a little fancier than a slice joint but incredibly kid-friendly (if you don’t have kids, I don’t recommend going there on a Friday between 5 and 7 or so, but it’s pretty chill most of the rest of the time). It’s where we kind of trained our kids (who are now 5 and almost 8) to be reasonably well-behaved at a restaurant. We’ve been going at least a couple of times a month.
I also adore this Mexican restaurant called Alma Negra. Their menu is really creative, and the cocktail list is a thing of beauty. We really love Fonda, Runner Up, Leland Eating and Drinking House, Saint Julivert Fisherie, Claro, and Margot. For something more casual, we recently tried Tacos El Bronco in Sunset Park and I cannot overstate how excellent it was.
Park Slope is teeming with excellent bakeries, so at some point over the weekend we’ll likely get something from Winner, Miolin, Simple Loaf, or Southside.
How about a little leisure or culture this week?
I was a pretty serious violinist as a kid, up through college or so, and a few years ago I randomly fell in with this group of older musicians who invited me to play classical music with them even though I was horribly embarrassed about how rusty I’d gotten. The chamber group is called the Brooklyn Brandenburgers and I’m very proud to be part of it. We have such a great time playing together, and our annual concert is in the Old Stone House in Park Slope.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
I recently came to terms with the fact that I hate all my jeans; they’re all either the wrong size or just not the look for me these days. I asked around for recommendations and someone on the Substack chat for the (excellent) fashion newsletter Midimalist recommended The Consistency Project, a shop on Atlantic Avenue. Make an appointment and tell them a little about what you’re looking for and they measure you and pull a million things for you to try on. It’s pretty much all vintage Levi’s and Wranglers, and deadstock Stan Ray painter pants, and the quality is so good. Then, alterations are included in the cost, so you can get them tailored perfectly.
What NYC store or service do you love to recommend?
I’m in love with an aesthetician in Union Square named Laurie Adams. Her business is called LANY Organics, and she truly has a gift for doing facials. Not only is she a compassionate, kind, incredibly calming person, but her gua sha skills are absolutely wild.
Where are you donating your time or money?
I’ve been running a monthly fundraiser for almost three years now called Pilates for Abortion Funds: It’s a Zoom mat pilates class for which the entry fee is proof of donation (any amount) to an abortion fund. I have about 50 participants most months, and we’re on track to pass the $40,000 mark in time for our three-year anniversary in July. I’m planning a live/IRL event to celebrate that, so if you’re interested (or just want to get on the list for the virtual events), please don’t hesitate to reach out using the form on the website.