When I first moved to New York, enamoured by its parks and museums and design firms and restaurants and bars, I never imagined that there could be much more to its geography than that. How wrong I was. My first drive across the George Washington Bridge was jaw-dropping - the cliffs of New Jersey are astonishingly tall, covered in a dense thicket of trees. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. Drive up 87 to the Catskills or the Adirondacks and you'll witness the Hudson River winding its way through spectacular scenery and unforgiving seasons. Now I can't get enough; just two hours up the road, it's like the city never existed. Perfect recuperation after a long week.

This is the view from the Manhattan Bridge of the Fulton Ferry Park, a pretty popular destination being between the Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridges, which still has the old waterfront tobacco warehouses. It’s changed a bit being made more of a “finished” park with a kind of beach etc, and has also been a regular spot for outdoor music shows, one for me being the memorable 7-7-7 Boadrum orchestrated by the Boredoms.

Everybody loves pizza, and Roberta's is hands down the best Pizza's in New York. I love going here on the weekends, visit MoMa PS1, go watch graffiti - studio visits as long as it ends or starts with a Pizza 

All the pretty green things you need to lush out your apartment.

If you're far up in Greenpoint and need caffeine + snack, Bakeri is my spot (I say "bake-ery", others say "bach-ery"—I still vote the former). Known for their baked goods—both savory and sweet—it's the perfect spot for a coffee meeting, small breakfast, or a solo book read. There's one large communal table in the center, plus a few two-tops and decent counter space—one of the rare cafes with enough room that it's rarely packed (except saturday!).