Limelight Marketplace: Less Old, More New

Anyone who grew up under the bright lights of New York City is familiar with the Limelight, a converted church on 6th Ave that, for many years, was a beacon of sex, drugs, and really loud drum and bass music. Limelight’s party nights are over, but the clientele is pretty much the same at this newly converted indoor & outdoor mall space. Except, instead of sharing bed buddies, the well-dressed, haply heeled shoppers are sharing chocolates, organic vegetable recipes, and jewelry. This club has become a mall.

For those who had the pleasure of spending a night under the watchful eyes of stained glass saints while participating in sinful activities of Limelight’s past, you’ll barely recognize the place. For starters, it’s clean, really clean. And everything glows with the cover of a shiny white sheen. Sharp looking security guards greet you as you walk in and point you to a standard mall directory, complete with print out map. You enter to glistening (obviously very pricey) chandeliers and smiling shop girls peddling satin nightgowns, ruby necklaces, and Belgian chocolates. After this hallway, you’ll barely remember that you used to leave this same hall completely inebriated, in the arms of someone you just met. What lies ahead is pure Manhattan glitz and glamour.

Floor one opens with the Festival of Shops, a high-end hurricane of Brocade Home, Petrossian, and Soapology. Follow for a taste of It’s Sugar (who some of you might know from it’s Atlantic City outpost), Cupcake Stop, and Baci Gelato in the “Specialty Foods” hall. Outside, you can also stock up on veggies at the Peak Season Green Market- bring a reusable bag.

Upstairs, beauty and jewelry vendors take over, with highlights like Tina Tang, Caswell Massey, and Old Hollywood, which, it should be noted, was nearly a trip back to the old Limelight, with it’s skull-and-crossbones aesthetics and sexual innuendos backlit by stained glass.

There’s one more floor up and it should be noted that while it has the best view of the entire, compact shopping house, it’s the tamest. Mariebelle’s Chocolates looks like a great place to grab an espresso for a lunch meeting, and the Cana Wine Bar, which is not open yet, sounds like an impressive date stop.

Like the old days, you’ll leave Limelight inebriated, only on sweets, not drinks; and wearing limited edition flip-flops, not the number of your newest flame.

Limelight Marketplace sits on 6^th Avenue at 20^th Street in New York City. The hours are as follows: Mon-Sat – 10am-10pm; Sun – 11am-8pm. They can be reached via Twitter and Facebook, as well.