Best pizza in NY. Be prepared to wait. Check to see if they are shut down by the health department or tax collectors before going. Get the square pie with pepperoni and hot peppers.

I had been living in Brooklyn Heights for some time and Long Island Restaurant has been closed for as long as I could remember. Then one day, the sign was lit up and not long after the new owners had resurrected the spot with the promise to the previous owners the name and sign never changes. Order "A Martini" from the menu. It's divine. As are the french fries. They're double fried.

While the current trend in noodles may well be ramen, this bafflingly-named Japanese restaurant just ten minutes from my apartment specialises in udon. Unless you are my friend Diego Zambrano it will probably take you several visits to get through all the things you need to try on the menu - the gyoza are otherworldly, the sushi 'tacos' clever enough without being silly. New York has thousands of awful Japanese places; this is not one of them. It's super nice to come in on a Sunday night and eat at the bar next to curmudgeonly old guys barking at each other in Japanese.

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

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.