There’s always something interesting on at The Met, and whether you’ve lived in New York all your life or are visiting for the very first time, you’re guaranteed to see something you haven’t before.

In 1963, the Italian-born sculptor Costantino Nivola filled a playground that covers an entire city block with avant-garde abstractions. In the middle of an Upper Manhattan housing project, there are cuboid cutouts sculpted in cement, a fountain made with two diamond-shaped boulders, concrete play horses, and a sand-casted relief carved high into a wall. In the northeast corner, a matriarchal figure known as “The Nanny” rises from the ground. The artist’s sculptures were built in an era when urban development incorporated art in its effort to uplift communities and express democratic ideals. “A work designed for a public space is less a work of art than a civic act,” Nivola once said. “It concerns the ways in which we live together, and in which we influence each other.”

Growing up in a small town surrounded by nature, life in the city becomes difficult sometimes. Prospect park is a great place to take a deep breath and refresh. Seeing the horizon there eases my mind.

Warm winter holiday vibes all year long, especially during the holidays. A hint of the old NYC where one could be a functioning alcoholic by day and artist by night. Proper characters here, the lore is deep.

A legendary basketball court in the West Village that is a popular destination for basketball aficionados, deflated hoop-dreamers, and gawking tourists.