La Casa de las Velas

Whatever your problem—asthma, no cash, fickle lover, trouble with the law—the Santeria superstore Casa de las Velas (New York's oldest existing botanica, established in 1921) has got a candle to cure it. And if a wick won't do the trick, the emporium's shelves are also packed with helpful herbs, charms, incense, saintly icons and bath preparations. It's one of the last remaining botanicas on fast-gentrifying 116th Street, and the store clerks are friendly, happily “blessing” your purchase for extra potency. But you risk a frosty glare and a finger-wagging “no” if you pull out a camera to snap the grimacing deities that hang from the ceiling.