This is the view from the Manhattan Bridge of the Fulton Ferry Park, a pretty popular destination being between the Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridges, which still has the old waterfront tobacco warehouses. It’s changed a bit being made more of a “finished” park with a kind of beach etc, and has also been a regular spot for outdoor music shows, one for me being the memorable 7-7-7 Boadrum orchestrated by the Boredoms.

At first, this park felt too arranged and perfect for me but somehow it became my safe place. Going here always picks me up. The piers have a breathtaking view of the downtown Manhattan skyline, The Statue of Liberty, and The Brooklyn Bridge. Undeniably magical. The piers host picnic spots, soccer fields, roller skating, basketball, outdoor gyms, tennis walls, grills for barbeque, and more. I also appreciate how they designed the plantations with so much care and it’s just a lovely space overall for anyone to enjoy.

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.

Bluestockings Cooperative is a community-supported bookstore and activist space.

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