Crain’s Breakfast Forum with Attorney General Eric Schneiderman will be held at Roosevelt Hotel, located at 45 East 45^th Street (4 miles from OfficeLinks’ Wall Street office, 1.5 miles from OfficeLinks’ Chelsea office, 1.2 miles from OfficeLinks’ Bryant Park office, and 1/3 mile from OfficeLinks’ Grand Central West office) on Thursday, February 16, 8-9:30 am.  Tickets are $75 per person (or $750 for a table of ten) if purchased by February 9, $80 thereafter (or $800 per table of ten). Pre-registration is required to attend this event. To register for this event, click here.

Can’t make it? @crainsnewyork will be tweeting live from the event. Follow #agforum and join the conversation at 8:00 a.m. on the day of the event.

In late 2011, the Wall Street Journal asked its readers “Is Facebook worth $100 Billion?”  I don’t know the answer to that question but I was intrigued.  The article explains that in a world dominated by social media, Facebook is viewed as the “exhibit A” for consumer engagement.  How can businesses capitalize on this trend?  eShakti, an ecommerce fashion site based at OfficeLinks’ 1440 Broadway location seems to know the key to connecting with its customers.  During my conversation with Carmella Heverin, a fashion executive who has been working for eShakti since September, I learned how eShakti keeps its customers engaged though personalizing its product and keeping the lines of communication open.  Consider the company’s mission statement:

eShakti wants you to look your personal best. We know that you are beautiful, confident and uniquely classic. At eShakti, we offer distinctive design and unparalleled fit. Many of our styles are evocative of the past with feminine details and dressmaker finishes for today’s modern woman. Our clothes come in a wide array of fabrics and colors in sizes 0 through 26, and our custom capabilities allow you to tailor any item to your specific requirements ensuring you a flattering fit.

Carmella Heverin, eShakti fashion executive

eShakti has a somewhat cult-like following.  Carmella described her company’s customers as especially loyal.  When I asker her why she thought this was, she credited the fashion choices and the ability to customize the product.  eShakti’s clothes vastly range in sizes; Carmella remarked that women come in all shapes and sizes but clothing usually does not.  eShakti is the exception and believes in offering plus and missy size women the same fashion options.  Further, customers have the option to customize the clothes, changing a skirt length or a neckline for example.  Customers may also tweak measurements to suit their proportions.

eShakti maintains an intimate relationship with its customers.  There is a seemingly ongoing dialogue via various forms of social media as well as blogging, emailing, and surveying.  Carmella shared that they once had 300 responses in just one day.  Quite an accomplishment!  eShakti understands the needs of women directly from the source and creates garments that make women across the United States feel beautiful.

With social shopping on the rise, eShakti is staged for a great success.  This month the company will re launch its website with an ad campaign featuring a mix of “real” and “professional” models.  They asked their customers first, of course, and by no surprise, received an immediate reaction.

Check out eShakti at www.eshakti.com.

If you picked a “getting in shape” or “live healthier” type of resolution, we found another local place to check out: Pilates Reforming New York, just .2 miles from OfficeLinks’ Bryant Park location.  First class is free and the second class is ½ price.  You know what that means: no excuses!

What’s Pilates?  Only one of the most popular forms of exercise in the US.  Jennifer Aniston credits her svelte figure to it – as does Madonna, Hugh Grant, Jamie Lee Curits, Kate Winslet, Ashley Greene, Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, and numerous other celebrities.

Developed by Jospeh Pilates, Pilates is a form of exercise that emphasizes the balanced development of the body through core strength, flexibility, and awareness in order to support efficient, graceful movement.

Pilates Reforming New York’s Midtown Studio is located on the south side of West 42nd Street between 6th Avenue and Broadway. Daily class schedule can be viewed by clicking here.

Remember, no excuses – first class is free!

P.S. Let us know what your resolution is – doesn’t have to be health related! – and how it’s going.

We know that not everyone can afford (whether time or money) to enroll in college courses.  However, there is another great local resource available for you to take advantage of: Mid-Manhattan Library.

Mid-Manhattan Library is located less than ½ mile from OfficeLinks’ Grand Central West location and offers a number of free classes to help you gain new skills and improve on the ones you already have.  Some upcoming classes include:

Tuesday, January 17

2:30 pm Teach Yourself Using Online Resources

6:30 pm Getting More out of Cloud Storage

Wednesday, January 18

10:30 am Windows Basics

2:30 pm Visual Resources Online

Thursday, January 19

10:30 am Online Scams and Frauds: How to Protect Yourself

2:30 pm Email Attachments

6:30 pm MS Excel 2

Friday, January 20

10:30 am Teach Yourself: Learn a New Language

Classes are offered on an ongoing basis at Mid-Manhattan Library, so we encourage you to check out their website and get over there to learn something new today!

Mere steps from OfficeLinks’ Chelsea, New York offices, you’ll find the hot chocolate that “changed the hot chocolate landscape” in1990, when it made it’s debut in New York.  Note, I did not say “hot cocoa” – I said, “hot chocolate.”  There is a reason for that.

At City Bakery, located at 3 West 18^th Street, you can sip on decadent treat: hot chocolate made from pure melted chocolate bars, making the word “cocoa” forever obsolete when talking about this cold weather favorite. One sip and I know you’ll be forever changed.

And mark your calendar now: Every February, The City Bakery hosts an Annual Hot Chocolate Festival, a celebration of a menu of hot chocolate flavors such as Banana Peel Hot Chocolate, Vanilla Bean Hot Chocolate, Malted Milk Hot Chocolate, Bourbon Hot Chocolate and Sunken Treasure Hot Chocolate.

City Bakery is part bakery, part cafe, coffee bar and cafeteria, in a two-level space at Union Square, that creates seasonal menus from locally-grown and organic raw materials from the Union Square farmer’s market two blocks away. City Bakery serves world-class breakfast pastry, a salad bar buffet like no other for lunch, soups, sandwiches and specialty pizzas. The bakery is open seven days a week, for breakfast and lunch, late afternoon coffee, chocolate drinks and pastries.

If you haven’t yet experienced real hot chocolate or a Pretzel Croissant, you absolutely must head around the corner a Chelsea gem: The City Bakery.  For more information, click here.

Citi Pond’s 170′ x 100′ rink features free admission ice skating in addition to high quality rental skates, skating shows, special events, and activities. And, starting today, Thursday, December 15, expanded weekday skating hours. From now until Christmas Day (yes – they are open Christmas Day…and New Year’s Day, too!), you can skate from 8 am until Midnight.

Just a block away from OfficeLinks’ Bryant Park location, Citi Pond at Bryant Park is the perfect NYC winter destination. Whether you are looking to skate before going to the office, through the lunch hour, with friends or a date, with happy hour colleagues, for a unique holiday party experience, or for a spin under the stars, Citi Pond is the place to experience NYC in the winter*.

*Citi Pond is open for skating through February 26 and regular hours are posted on their website.

There is still room to grow in New York City – and it’s slowly happening on the West Side of Manhattan.   Immediately following New York’s defeat in its bid to host the 2012 Olympics, the fate of the Hudson Yards was not unclear.  Despite the early uncertainty a new neighborhood is starting to emerge.

Since 2005, residential buildings and new hotels have risen west of Eighth Avenue between 30^th and 43^rd Streets.  And, a boom for office space is on the horizon as well.  Related Companies, a major New York developer, announced plans to build a 51-story office tower, which luxury retailer Coach as the anchor tenant.

Development plans are so ambitious for Hudson Yards the city predicts, over the course of the next 20 years, that stretch of New York real estate could have more office space that Baltimore or Stamford, Conn. – reaching an astounding 24 million square feet of office space for the West Side.

We’ll have to see how the construction of the Far West Side progresses through these uncertain economic times.  Any economic hiccup could derail the lofty goals.

The borders around Manhattan’s central business district continue to expand, leaving businesses with more options regarding office space.  We will be following how the revitalization of this underutilized part of the city pans out.

To show their support for sustainability, landlords have converted some prime real estate space in their buildings into bicycle storage rooms for tenants.  These spaces have emerged at some of the most desirable addresses throughout Manhattan.

At the top of the list is the Empire State Building, which opened an 800-square foot bike room at the base of the building.  The space, which normally could have been rented at a premium, was re-designed to store bikes as part of the building’s $550 million renovation to make it environmentally friendly.

While landlords are losing potential revenue at the ground floor level, they certainly understand they can gain a competitive edge in a market that is focused on green construction.   They have also found that bike storage facilities have become an effective marketing tool for attracting future eco-friendly tenants.

If your building offered a bike room, would you bike to work?

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is typically illuminated from 5:30 a.m. until 11:30 p.m. daily, except on Christmas and New Year’s Eve. On Christmas, the tree is illuminated for 24 hours and on New Year’s Eve the lights are turned off at 9:00 p.m.

Some fun Rockefeller Christmas Tree Facts:

• The Christmas tree that adorns Rockefeller Center is typically a Norway Spruce.
• The minimum requirement is that the tree be 65 feet tall and 35 feet wide, however manager of Rockefeller Center gardens prefers the tree be between 75 and 90 feet tall and proportionally wide.
• Norway Spruce that grow in forests don’t typically reach these proportions, so the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree tends to be one that was ornamentally planted in someone’s front or back yard. There is no compensation offered in exchange for the tree, other than the pride of having donated the tree that appears in Rockefeller Center.
• Over five miles of lights are used to decorate the tree every year.
• Only the lights and the star decorate the tree.
• The tree is recycled and the 3 tons of mulch are donated to the Boy Scouts. The largest portion of the trunk is donated to the U.S. Equestrian team in New Jersey to use as an obstacle jump.

Rockefeller Center is located in the center of the complex of buildings between 47th and 50th Streets and 5th and 7th Avenues, less than 2 miles from the Chelsea OfficeLinks location, less than ½ mi from OfficeLinks’ Grand Central West location, less than ¾ mi from the OfficeLinks Bryant Park, and just over 4 mi from the Wall Street OfficeLinks location.  For more information, see the Rockefeller Center Map.

This is a New York City holiday season tradition that should not be missed!

Tonight, Thursday, November 10, from 6-8 pm, you can join Anishinaabe artist, Ramona Morrow as teaches
participants about dream catchers and how
to create them. You will get to make your own dream catcher and learn the amazing story behind them. Please note that reservations are required and can be made by calling (212) 514-3716. Cost to attend/participate: $25/20 members. Checks and money orders only.

There is a free Beaded Octopus bag making demonstration with Cody Harlo (Seminole/Otoe) on Thursday, November 17, 5-7 pm. Please note: this is not a hands-on workshop.

Thursday, November 17, from 6-8 pm, you can join Coleen Bins (Oneida) as she teaches you how to make traditional
Haudenosaunee cornhusk dolls. This
workshop is appropriate for everyone ages
12 and up. 
 Please note that reservations are required and can be made by calling (212) 514-3716. Cost to attend/participate: $25/20 members. Checks and money orders only.

See what exhibitions are going on right now by clicking here.  The museum is open 10 am – 5 pm daily; Thursdays until 8 pm. Admission to the museum is free.  For more information about this amazing resource in our local community, click here.