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Leah McSweeney lives in two worlds.
On the one hand, as a cast member of the popular Bravo franchise The Real Housewives of New York City, she's part and parcel of the town's uptown crowd. On the other hand, the 39-year-old is a born-and-bred New Yorker who has exclusively lived downtown and currently resides in the Financial District.
Alas, that's what New York is all about: The mashup of lifestyles and cultures that, at least at first glance, appear to be opposed to one another. And so McSweeney has brought downtown to uptown on the show, just as uptown has made its way to the southern tip of Manhattan, where Casa Cipriani has recently set up shop and where, according to McSweeney, lower Manhattan folks would be most likely to bump into a housewife.
As she gears up for the release of her memoir, Chaos Theory: Finding Meaning in the Madness, One Bad Decision at a Time, on April 5, the star shares with us a few of her favorite spots downtown.
Her favorite restaurant
"The Odeon! I used to live above it when I was pregnant and during the first couple of years of my daughter's life. So I have fond memories of going there. I know the people who work there and the food is always the best. Everything on the menu is good!"
Where she goes to relax
"Trinity Boxing Club. Boxing trainer Martin Snow is king of my life coach slash soul mate, in a way. I like to hang out there and I work out but, sometimes, I just go and sit in the rocking chair and we just talk."
Her go-to coffee shop
"Hungry Ghost Coffee on Church Street. I get a regular coffee with almond milk or a cortado. But I'll usually go for a matcha."
Where she would go to forget she's in New York
"The new spa on Governor's Island. That doesn't look at all like New York to me."
Her favorite ice skating rink
"I grew up going to Wollman Skating Rink and Chelsea Piers. But I also love the rink at Rockefeller Center."
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