UES Pharmacies And Dry Cleaners Fit For A Mayor

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — With Chirlane McCray's recent revelation that the first family's trips to Park Slope don't end at the gym, one might wonder whether Mayor Bill de Blasio ever bothers to walk around the neighborhood he currently calls home.

In a recent interview with The Cut, McCray said that she and de Blasio return to their former neighborhood for simple errands.

"We really love our Y — we've been going there for decades," she said. "I also go to the dry cleaners and pharmacy there, which is very grounding. Because people know us and we're not a novelty to them, we don't get interrupted as often as we might if we went elsewhere."

De Blasio's near-daily rides to Park Slope in an SUV armada have drawn the scorn of many a New Yorker, especially as the mayor lectures about climate issues and reducing carbon footprints. And the issue came to a head this summer, when President Trump pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord.

"Everyone in their own light has to change their own habits to start protecting the earth," he said at the time.

With de Blasio's recent election victory bringing him another four years at the helm of New York City, it might be a good time to remind de Blasio that he's not actually required to live in Gracie Mansion. The Park Slope YMCA is only a 30-minute train ride from City Hall.

But if he insists on staying on the Upper East Side, here are some pharmacies and dry cleaners the first family could check out, instead of driving for 25 minutes (a generous estimate) to Park Slope for shampoo and pleated pants.

Pharmacies:

The pharmacy closest to Gracie Mansion is a Duane Read on East 87th Street and York Avenue. It's a little more than one block away from another Duane Reade on East 86th And First Avenue. A CVS is conveniently located nearby at East 82nd Street and First Avenue.

You get the picture.

There are also plenty of alternative options if de Blasio doesn't feel like supporting the huge corporations taking over New York City's storefronts. Try Capitol Chemists on First Avenue between East 85th and 86th streets, Drug Mart on East 86th and York Avenue or Tisane Pharmacy & Cafe on East 86th between First and Second avenues.

Dry cleaners:

The selection of dry cleaners near Gracie Mansion is just about as expansive as pharmacies, and there's an added bonus in that they are almost all small businesses.

De Blasio won't have to walk far to visit the trio of Oxford Cleaners, Sartorious Cleaners or Morris Cleaners — all of which are located within a block of the intersection of East 86th Street and York Avenue.

Here's hoping de Blasio puts more thought into this list than he did in our gym recommendations.

You can read the full interview with McCray here.

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images News/Getty Images