Grand Central is big and beautiful and it also periodically hosts free cultural events - poets at typewriters custom-composing poems on demand - or Alvin Ailey dancers performing in Artist, Nick Cave's horse suits!

This is my go-to spot in my neighborhood. The food is fantastic. They have an ever changing selection of beers and the staff is friendly, attentive and down to earth. Love this place.

Good vibes bar with some of the best food-next-to-your-drink in the city.

This is probably my favorite restaurant in Manhattan, it's Spanish Tapas but like you never had it before. You can literally order any dish from the menu, everything is amazing. Tip, it tends to get busy - so head in and sign up for a table, then go around the corner to their bar Jamón only challenge is that you might stay there all night.

The jetties along Rockaway Beach are one of my regular destinations when I can get out there. I grew up in a Coast Guard family and spent a fair amount of time around the ocean and surfing. I still like to get in the water and this is the first Atlantic-exposed beach on Long Island as you start to get out of the city. When it comes to the environment, constructions like these can be contentious things but they also make for a series of interesting surf spots. Its got a lot of New York metro qualities you might expect including the Subway making its stops a couple of blocks back from the water.