Offering 20% off on current “indie bestsellers” (and 10% off picks from their well-read staff), you can still get a good deal while supporting one of the city’s last independent bookstores. They also carry an impressive selection of magazines and literary journals that you can flip through in their café. McNally’s event calendar is packed with appearances and readings by authors like Zadie Smith and Chris Kraus, but they're perhaps best known for their in-store printing press and self-publishing services.

Nestled in the Adirondack Mountains, Saranac Lake is a small town that thrives on the tourism of nature. Drawing in visitors from all around the world this high peaks jewel is a quiet, beautiful threshold to New York's untouched wilderness. The view is best enjoyed from a boat.

One of the only things I enjoy about taking the subway these days is seeing the defaced ads on the L train. Whether it's random chance, high schoolers or street artists the result is always good.

A museum and sculpture garden in the Long Island City section of Queens, New York City, designed and created by the Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Noguchi.

Manhattan's Chinatown is my second favorite neighborhood next to Fort Greene. It's full of people, odors, bars, clubs, cafes, and restaurants. There's always something going on here.