It’s taken nearly 15 years, but there are finally some new and wonderful reasons to go downtown: about 100 of them — all part of the just-opened Westfield World Trade Center mall.
The focal point of it all is the Oculus, the abstract, dove-in-flight-shaped space that’s a hub of fashion, beauty, lifestyle, technology and food stores. All told, it’s like walking around a very fancy and very new airport — and it’s just a subway hop away, but light-years from your ordinary mall.
Case in point: The Aldo Connected Store offers a mobile app that lets consumers check its inventory of shoes and request sizes for a faster shopping experience — ideal for any millennial’s attention span.
But shoppers aren’t the only ones whose eyes are on the Oculus. “We want to be where the action and excitement is, and Westfield World Trade Center is just that,” says Carole Silverman, the Americas CEO of French cult beauty brand Caudalie.
British luxury leather-goods brand Smythson is settling into its new Manhattan outpost, offering a collection of New York City-themed notebooks, with covers that include “Manhattanite” and “So Nice They Named It Twice.”
Here’s a look at what else we like at the new mall.
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SWEETEST SPOT
Kristy Leibowitz Sugarfina will have you acting like a kid in a literal candy store. How good are the Whispering Angel rosé-infused gummies? Let’s just say they’re the only sweet treat we know that has its own wait list.
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FAB FOOD
Kristy Leibowitz 
AP Photo/Mark Lennihan Eataly’s second NYC location has something its older sibling in Flatiron doesn’t — the Juice Bar, where Eataly USA executive chef Alex Pilas puts the squeeze on fruits and veggies to make a rainbow of smoothies. Need something more substantial? Guest bakers will make different breads from around the world in Eataly’s wood-fired ovens. Or try the market’s mozzarella bar, or grab some fresh pasta, truffles and balsamic vinegar to go. Or treat yourself right there, at Osteria della Pace, a restaurant offering Southern Italian delights such as spaghettoni ai tre pomodori (that’s three different tomatoes, two of them Italian).
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SENSATIONAL SNIFFS
Penhaligon’s offers a free, 45-minute session in fragrance profiling, with an in-house expert determining what your true scent should be.
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BEST SELFIE PLACE
Kristy Leibowitz Try the corridor with the 19-screen digital network flashing images of NYC (and some ads). You can even take a selfie video to catch more than just one moment.
