The Slope Survey returns for its 8th installment with Daniella Stromberg, a native New Yorker, born and raised in the West Village and owner of d’mai Urban Spa on Fifth Avenue. Daniella opened the spa in 2004. Working with her team to provide a neighborhood sanctuary has been both a thrilling learning experience and a true honor as well.
What brought you to Park Slope?
I moved back to NYC in 1994. I had been living in Amsterdam and somehow returning to Manhattan just felt wrong. Park Slope was beautiful, progressive, had a great Park and seemed close to “the city” (as we called it then).
What is your most memorable Park Slope moment?
Before opening d’mai, friends and I celebrated my new lease by drinking champagne in the old fish market before construction. It was basically just all cement – a blank canvas filled with possibility.
Describe your community superpower.
Kindness.
If you could change one thing about the neighborhood, what wuld it be?
I wish more of our restaurants stayed open later.
What do you think Park Slope will look like in 10 years?
Things are always changing! It’s so hard to know what this next wave will look like…I imagine even more skyscrapers. To be honest, I find them jarring right now. In 10 years, I think the waterfront and canal restoration will bring the new and old together beautifully.
What are you reading, would you recommend it?
I’m actually re-reading “Me Talk Pretty One Day”, by David Sedaris. I love it just as much as the first 4 or 5 reads.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Full length cashmere bathrobe; I’ve had it for many years and it still looks and feel amazing.
If you couldn’t live in Park Slope or in Brooklyn, where would you go?
Easy—the North Fork of Long Island!
Who is your hero, real or fictional?
I’m blown away by the student activists. They’ve given us hope that our nation really will get through this.
Last Word, What is turning you on these days?
The fact that winter is over and SPRING IS HERE.
