LOVE FROM BELOW 14TH STREET

After a year of hip downtown restaurants snubbing the Upper East Side in favor of satellites on the Upper West Side (Shake Shack, Magnolia Bakery, Mermaid Inn), we are finally getting some love from below 14th Street. Indie pizza purveyor Two Boots will soon dish out its Cajun-Italian slices to hungry East Siders in the former Mimma"s Pizza space at 1617 Second Ave., at 84th Street. Two Boots is scheduled to open around the first week of November. Another business previously absent from the Upper East Side streetscape, J. Crew, recently opened J. Crew Collection, a more exclusive, upscale version of the brand at 1035 Madison Ave. and 79th Street. The shop will feature smaller batches of limited-edition fashions offered at prices far beyond your typical J. Crew shop, but somewhat below other Madison Avenue luxe retailers like Luca Luca or J. Mendel. Speaking of lower prices, you must check out the Manhattan branch of the Connecticut and Westchester designer consignment chain RoundAbout, at 31 E. 72nd St. and Madison Avenue. The clean, well-organized, L-shaped shop, which opened this past July, is probably the most pleasant place I"ve ever shopped for secondhand Chanel, Phillip Lim, Marc Jacobs and Hermès (some of it wasn"t even secondhand's tags still attached!). Devoid of the typical discount shop downers, like communal dressing rooms and burned-out staffers, Roundabout feels fresh, happy and is full of sartorial splendor at palatable prices. In a retail version of musical chairs, several Upper East Side businesses have traded locations or are slated to do so very soon. Among them is The Source, a toy/party/everything store once located at the southeast corner of Third Avenue and East 80th Street, which was shuttered for several months before reopening across the street at 1414 Third Ave., across from Eli"s. In August, Park City, Utah-based ski store Surefoot traded its spot on 69th Street and Third Avenue for digs at 1438 Third Ave., between 81st and 82nd streets, bringing its custom ski boots, goggles and helmets northward to Yorkville snow bunnies just in time for ski season. Polo Ralph Lauren has opened a temporary store at 1055 Madison Ave. and 80th Street while its location at 888 Madison Ave. gets a facelift. Its renovated flagship is expected to reopen in fall 2009. This month, Crumbs Bakeshop, known for its endless variety of colorful cupcakes, will move a couple of doors up from its current space to a slightly larger storefront at 1379 Third Ave., between 78th and 79th streets. And carnivorous cavern, Leonard"s Seafood & Prime Meats, has just swapped its longtime locale at 1385 Third Ave. for digs at 1437 Second Ave., between 74th and 75th streets. These days, change is definitely the one consistent thing on the Upper East Side's so many new buildings going up, so many tenants moving or swapping shops and many vacant spots soon to be filled. Stay tuned!