A non-collecting arts institution that fosters experimentation and dialogue through exhibitions, public programs, and artist residencies.

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.

One of the only things I enjoy about taking the subway these days is seeing the defaced ads on the L train. Whether it's random chance, high schoolers or street artists the result is always good.

A modern natural history museum located in a freight elevator dedicated to its signature curatorial style of "Object Journalism" that draws parallels to the older cabinet of curiosities model.

Spoonbill and Sugartown Booksellers is in a pretty visible spot at 218 Bedford Avenue in the Williamsburg neighborhood. I still can’t help but point it out as one of my favorite places to check out books, especially arts related publications. Needless to say its an easy place to stop by with plenty of things to see in the immediate area.