(As told to Molly Bennet)
Amy Sedaris, comic actor
The Smoking Shop (45 Christopher Street), I really like. They sell those white matchbooks without any advertising on them, and I like going there to get those, because sometimes I give those away when I do events. I can make my own matches, so that’s a good place to get plain matches. But I really like the guys there.
The Greenwich Letterpress (15 Christopher Street), those girls just moved down the block. I’m always happy to go in there. Usually I try to make my own card, but if I don’t have time, they’re just quality-made cards. And they always have a little something there that I think, damn, I could have made that, like a book covered in duct tape, or little silver balls filled with toys. They just have little quirky stuff.
Joseph Leonard’s (170 Waverly Place) is a little lunch place I go to if I need to have a little business meeting or something. They’ve got a little bar area, so it’s kind of nice.
The post office on 10th Street (70 West 10th Street), I’d have to say that’s a place I frequent every day. And they like me because they saw me on The Good Wife. And I think that’s all it takes for people to embrace you at a post office: seeing you on The Good Wife, or Law and Order. That was my in. But they’ve really taught me well about how to tape up a box. There’s nothing more annoying than being in line and somebody gets to the counter and hasn’t even done anything right to their package. So I’m an A-plus student at the post office.
Life Thyme (410 Sixth Avenue), the health food store, I’m there every single day. It’s a good place to get dandelion greens — I have a rabbit, and that’s what she likes to eat.
Bigelow Surgical Supplies (414 Sixth Avenue) is hands-down one of my favorite places. I’ll go there before I have to go to a drugstore to buy Band-Aids or anything — I just like being in a surgical store. That’s upstairs from Bigelow Pharmacy, on the second floor. I love Bigelow’s drugstore, but the surgical supplies is a place I really like. You can even rent a wheelchair there, $15 a day.
Lighting and Beyond (35 West 14th Street): Back to my rabbit, when she chews a cord or something, they’ll fix it while you wait. I never knew that! I thought you just bought lightbulbs, but you can just bring your own lamp there, and they’ll just fix it for you! That was a good thing.
The Japanese grocery store on Sixth Avenue, I can’t pronounce it, but it’s Dainobu Japanese Deli Grocery (498 Sixth Avenue). They’ll also give a little something to bring somebody, like a little powder puff, or you go to their cosmetic department or laundry department, you’ll find little weird things you can give people.
Reminiscence (74 Fifth Avenue): I’m glad that’s still around on 14th and Fifth. The last thing I bought there was a square-dancing skirt. But I like them, because if you’re working on a show, and you need a weird pair of earrings or a Mexican outfit, you just run there and they’ll have it.
And Wigs and Plus (37 West 14th Street) — I’m there all the time as well. Like when I did the Simple Times book, instead of hiring a hair person, I just went to Wigs and Plus and I bought a lot of wigs, because they were already styled.