Mad Men + New York City

 
There isn’t another show on television that oozes style, sex and sophistication quite as well as Mad Men. And lucky for us, the show is back for their fourth season this Sunday on AMC at 10pm.
 
Set in mid-century Manhattan, Mad Men follows a Madison Avenue advertising agency as their employees struggle with family, clients and hippies. What is nearly as fascinating as the characters themselves is the city around them and the bars, restaurants, hotels and sleek offices they frequent. Thanks to the show’s incredible set designers, once you are done ogling the gorgeous secretaries it’s that walnut credenza in the back that really leaves you stunned. But even before the 2007 premiere of Mad Men, the mid-century modern style craze was in full swing amongst the designers and interior decorators of New York so in addition to all the iconic places to visit around Manhattan, there are new stores to get you in that swinging 60s feel. Below are a few choice shops to decorate your home like the Drapers, mid-century architecture and art to inspire and bars in which to celebrate all your new found hipness in true Sterling-Cooper fashion- with a scotch.
 

ART & ARCHITECTURE:
The Seagram Buidling is an architectural marvel designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, in collaboration with Philip Johnson. The building also holds the famous Four Season’s Restaurant whose interior has remained unchanged since 1959 and is a NYC landmark. We can only imagine all the meetings Sterling and Cooper must have had here trying to impress clients.
Address: 375 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10152

 
The Whitney Museum owns 186 works by mid-century artist and mobile maker extraordinaire, Alexander Calder, seven of which are usually on display. A worthy destination in its own right, the Calders are merely icing on the cake of the museum’s exciting exhibits.
Address: 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street, 
New York NY 10021

 
The Guggenheim is one of the most famous buildings in all of New York. Designed by Frank Llyod Wright, the museum opened its doors in 1959 and houses a permanent collection of modern and contemporary art as well as a rotating exhibition.
Address: 1071 5th Avenue & E 89th St, New York, NY 10128

 
The Metlife Building started off its days as the Pan Am, a looming work of 1960s architecture before being bought by then tenants, Metlife. It is one of the 50th tallest buildings in the U.S., designed by Emery Roth & Sons.
Address: 200 Park Avenue, north of Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10166‎
 
In episode 2, Season 3, Sterling Copper is hired to man the campaign for the demolition of the Old Penn Station to make way for Madison Square Garden. Don Draper elegantly pitches to the developers “New York City is in decay. Madison Square Garden is the beginning of a new city on a hill.” At the time, 85% of New Yorkers were against the raising of the building and rightfully so, the Beaux Arts built in 1910 was one of the greatest structures in the city. Remnants of Old Penn Station can still be seen underground, particularly at the Amtrack, track one, near the baggage area.
Address: 1 Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10119
 
EATS:
When Peggy Olson wants to celebrate her copywriting victory at Sterling Cooper, she and the gang pop over to P.J. Clarke’s, a New York Institution since 1884, to take advantage of their famous barstaff and no doubt their burgers.
Address: 915 3rd Avenue at 55th St., New York, NY 10022
 

ENTERTAINMENT:

Though the much loved original theater was torn down in 1966, the 1969 replacement Ziegfeld Theater is one of the last large scale single movie theaters in the country and the only one in New York. Designed by Irving Gershon and containing lush, red, carpeted interiors, the theater seats over 1,100 people.
Address: 141 West 54th Street, between 6th and 7th ave., New York, NY 10019-5302 – (212) 307-1862
 
Don and Betty Draper attend a performance of Fiorello! at The Broadhurst Theatre in the first season. If what’s currently on offer isn’t up your alley try and charm your way in to sneak a peak at the foyer’s stunning two -story chandelier.
Address: 239 West 45th Street between 7th and 8th ave, New York, NY 10036
 

SHOPPING:
On a mission to exchange a duplicate chip ‘n’ dip dish, office creton Pete Campbell finds himself at Bloomingdale’s on Lexington Avenue, the department store’s flagship built in the 1930s in the art deco style.
Address: 1000 3rd Avenue at 59th St., New York, NY 10022
 
For authentic mid-century finds at better than Manhattan prices, head to Two Jakes Used Office Furniture in Williamsburg stacked with huge rooms of funky filing cabinets and retro desks to pick your way through.
Address: 320 Wythe Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211 – (718) 782-7780
 
If climbing through antiques isn’t your thing, try Open Air Modern in Greenpoint which houses a selection of rare and used books along with carefully curated mid-century furniture.
Address: 606 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222 – (718) 383-6465