Always amazing installations - great bookstore 

Strand is a castle of books. It claims 2.5 million new and used books, across 18 miles of shelves, cared for by 200 employees—so set aside a couple of hours. Plenty of art books and good prices. Get your healthy huff of that old book smell.

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 tres chic, quite the upper West side suite & puddle scene! The pro tip is sitting in the bar, they have amazing bar snacks, drinks and wine menu is a blast, and I can't think of a better way to end a successful shopping spree then drinks and dinner at Nougatine At Jean-Georges (at the bar)

I like coming down here with friends when the weather permits and drinking on the beach or on the rocks when the tides come in.