Cafe Mogador has been serving modern takes on traditional Moroccan dishes for breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner in the East Village since 1983.

My second-favorite outdoor-place in Manhattan. The abandoned 1.6 km rail tracks running above Chelsea down to the Meatpacking district were turned into an above-ground park. Perfectly nice place for sitting in the sun, reading, relaxing, having lunch in some green spot in the city. Nice views at the Hudson River, New Jersey, the Statue of Liberty (little small from there but still visible) and the architecture around Chelsea.

The best place to see a dramatic sunset is right by Valentino Pier in my neighborhood of Red Hook, Brooklyn. This was right after a storm. It's wild and brilliant and peaceful all at once.

An hour away from NYC, there lies a summer camp on a pristine lake which was abandoned 15 years ago. I cant tell you where this is, but some research can lead you to the right place.

The crown jewel of the Queens Museum is a nearly 10,000-square-foot architectural model of the city originally built for the 1964 World's Fair.