The Ear Bar has been in New York longer than any of us. In a city of vacuous fleeting trendy bars the Ear Bar (which is really called the Ear Inn but I've never called it that) is the real deal.

City Island is a seaside town in the Bronx. Known for its fishing, seafood, and main street it is a self-contained working-class haven. The buildings range from late 1800's houses to 1960's storefronts, and you can smell the ocean everywhere on the island. Restaurants and local pubs dot City Island Ave, and even the few empty storefronts stay vibrant. 

Beach approachable by public transportation and can be connected with a visit of MOMA PS1 Art Installation (Katharina Grosse House) Also less crowed than other beaches in NYC.

If you’re looking for this restaurant by reading the words printed on the awnings of Division Street, you’ll need to know Cantonese: “Kiki’s Greek Tavern” is written only in Chinese characters. Olive green doors and stone walls on the eatery’s interior are a better tell, and are touches that suit the Mediterranean cuisine of Kiki’s well. The restaurant’s Greek cuisine is straightforward and delicious, so whether you order seafood, lamb, or salad, you really can’t go wrong.

I'm a huge Japanophile: if there's one other place I'd like to live, it's Tokyo. I must have been there seven or eight times, most recently just after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Anyway, EN is a gem on Hudson Street, serving real Japanese cuisine. It turns out that EN is a chain in Japan; there are a lot of branches making lovely bosky food in cosy neighbourhood locations. But their New York incarnation is grand in scale and ambition, with solid, warm interiors (not unlike if the Whitney were a Japanese restaurant, oddly) - a remarkable hybrid of this city, and the other one that I'd love to live in.