About usPartner with usListen to our podcasts

Roberto's Winds, Inc.

Roberto's Winds, Inc. 1 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West

Roberto's Winds and Jon Baltimore Music Company, Inc. appear to be the two last remnants of the music industry on 46th. Roberto Romeo, a tall, longhaired Italian who immigrated in 1982 to play jazz, remained in New York after finding a job in Saul Fromkin's shop doing saxophone repair work. When Mr. Fromkin retired to Florida in 1989, Roberto took over, gradually expanding the business to its current state: a three-level rehearsal space and music shop, right across the street from where he used to work as an assistant repairman.

When we arrived at Roberto's to take photos one afternoon, we found several artists practicing in the rehearsal spaces, filling the hallways with their music. Roberto explained to us that "This shop remains one of the best places available in Midtown." While, in the 70s and 80s, rehearsal spaces and repair shops were in abundance two blocks north on 48th Street, most have now shuttered. "It was a mixture of aging proprietors, rising rents, and decreasing business," Roberto went on to say.

Roberto's Winds, however, seems to have found a niche and is quite busy, so much so that Roberto has even started to try his hand at building his own saxophones, a series of which he displays proudly near the front of the store. Roberto counts Bill Cosby, Woody Allen, Sonny Rollins and David Murray among his customers, along with numerous other jazz greats.

A highlight of our visit was when Roberto showed us his Selmer Mark VI Room, filled with vintage saxophones from 1954 to 1975 created by Henri Selmer and widely reputed to be one of the greatest models produced. With a variety of altos, tenors, sopranos, and baritones, the room holds many saxophones formerly used by top professionals.

Location
Loading
Sign up to Sidestreet Updates
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 1 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 2 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 3 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 4 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 5 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 6 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 7 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 8 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 25 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 26 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 27 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 28 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 29 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 9 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 10 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 11 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 12 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 13 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 14 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 15 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 16 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 17 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 18 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 19 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 20 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 21 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 22 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 23 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West
Roberto's Winds, Inc. 24 Music and Instruments Studios Theater District Midtown West

More places on 39th Street

Lost Gem
Mark Fisher Fitness class  Fitness Centers and Gyms undefined

Mark Fisher Fitness

It’s not every day you’re greeted at the gym by a man wearing teeny tiny swim trunks and plastic lei. And it’s not a regular gym where the boss arrives for a meeting resplendent in chicken hat. Which stays on for the duration, despite the rising temperatures. But then, Mark Fisher Fitness is not any old gym. In fact, it doesn’t even call itself a gym; it’s an “enchanted ninja clubhouse of glory and dreams”. It’s a place where clients are called ninjas and trainers are called unicorns and where mirrored balls, graffiti and disco lights take the place of the usual utilitarian gym furniture. “We like to keep things colorful, ” said Mark in understatement. “So there are lights. There’s a closet with costumes, so if the trainer feels like dressing up in Victorian era garb or an S& M unicorn, there’s a leash they can wear – whatever feels good. “But one thing that’s also important to us is just taking people where they’re at, so a lot of the ninjas who come here AREN’T insane, ” Mark added. “We say if someone wants to come to a dance party and someone wants to take off their pants and someone wants to cry quietly in a corner because they’re having a really bad day, everything’s perfect, you’re OK wherever you are. ”Mark describes himself as once that “classic skinny, awkward, Martian man, afraid-of-girls guy” who only properly found his place in this world when he started to work out in high school. “I was also a professional actor – which is partly how we’ve become such a fixture in the Broadway community – and throughout my twenties I fell more and more in love with the training. It was like the mistress I slowly left my wife for. ”A few years ago he quit acting completely and committed himself to training fellow New York misfits. “My own experience in the gym, starting as someone who didn’t feel very good about his body and didn’t feel like an athlete, it was very difficult for me, ” Mark said. “We like to say, in the most affectionate way, that the ninjas are like an isle of misfit toys – all manner of humanity, all ages and colors and backgrounds that are generally united in that we all have a feeling of being an outsider at times. I just wanted to celebrate that, and also to provide really good fitness information. I’m a huge fitness nerd, so it’s very important we provide a really good service with results. ”So if you want clear, no-nonsense weight loss and are willing to put in the hours, the intensive six-week Snatched program might be your bag. Alternatively, there are group classes, and semi-private training packages, Mark’s cheaper but just as effective version of a personal training program, where you train with two other ninjas and a dedicated unicorn. Unsurprisingly, many of the gym goers are from the Broadway community. Mark has worked with plenty of performers to get them ready for a specific role (such as a ninja playing a boxer in Kinky Boots) as well as backstage workers. “We train a lot of composers and directors and casting directors – and from their friends it’s trickled out to other professions; people who maybe work in white collar jobs but are a little bit weird, ” Mark shared. “The nature of their life means they perhaps don’t get to be as creative as they’d like so they can come in here and do whatever they want to do. ”The trainers, too, are a colorful bunch, counting among them one of the city’s best known drag queens, a gay porn star, a tattooed graphic artist who was a skate punk in a former life, and a professional clown who, at the last minute in med school, decided he wanted to be a clown not a doctor. “We need people to be really great coaches, but we also need them to be really authentic and comfortable with who they are. And a holistic approach means this crazy fitness family doesn’t just take care of your physical fitness; it offers life coaching workshops, classes on book keeping for financial fitness, advice on time management …“We hope to be a place where people come for general betterment, ” Mark explained. “Fitness is so transforming because you’re able to be more creative and stable and braver with your life. You’re feeling better about yourself, you’re eating well, you’re sleeping – we know your brain is going to work better. Additionally, it’s interesting to see how much of your life you can control. New York can be an isolating town – particularly for performers, who spend a lot of time getting rejected. So there’s a certain power one discovers when you know you can control what you eat and how you look. ”This story was adapted from the W42ST article, "Mark Fisher Fitness — The Gym Where New York’s Misfits Go to Work Out. "

Lost Gem
Offsite 1 Event Planners Event Spaces undefined

Offsite

There are intriguing spaces sprinkled throughout the city that invite corporations to utilize their facilities, but stepping inside Offsite is a unique experience designed specifically for the business meeting clientele. The brainchild of Patrick Everett and Shawn Kessler, they have created a stunning turnkey facility where all day conferences can be held. Companies are invited to bring their employees together for a productive 9am-5pm meeting in the three levels of fully equipped space, which can then be flipped effortlessly into an appropriate venue for an evening event. The rooms are configured so that some forty people are able to sit around one gigantic table or be rearranged into smaller units. Attendees never have to feel confined to one space, as they can move around freely on each floor, dividing up into smaller breakout sessions, when necessary. The rooms are versatile and technology oriented, fully outfitted with AV equipment - as Patrick referred to it, "plug and play. " Endless pens and pads, drinks and snacks, including large jars of enticing candy, are provided throughout the day. The partners have paid attention to every detail, taking into consideration exactly what they believe their clients will require, including a small executive office that allows for a private phone conversation and a myriad of white walls that are actually whiteboards. Offsite works with some of the terrific catering facilities in the area to provide top lunches and dinners for groups, and everything is served on their attractive dishes. While being given a tour, Patrick told me that he had been an event planner. When he discovered that there was something important missing in the corporate world, he found his niche. As he began to imagine the possibilities, he worked diligently on his concept with Shawn. Basically all one has to do is book the space, and the rock star team at Offsite will handle the rest.