This is a pro tip, but also a summer tip, take the ferry from Lower Manhattan to Rockaway and spent the day. The beach is great and the area is impossible to gasp that it's 30 min from Manhattan (without traffic) - Eat as many tacos you can, cause it's the best in the state of New York!

Now in its tenth year, the Division Street restaurant has proven its staying power in a city of amazing eateries. Bacaro’s wine bar and small plates (“cichetti”) are modeled after the “bacaros” of Venice—workingmen’s pubs that serve snacks and small glasses of wine.

The Future Perfect is my favorite place to shop for furniture / interiors, or pick up a small gift for a friend. They have a perfect mix of beautiful and strange objects, some of my favorites include the Animal Butt Magnets, Shrigley Salt & Petter Shakers, and the Bank in the form of a Pig.

I have been watching this house deteriorating and transforming for years. I shot this last summer and was completely captivated with how many shades of luminous green vines had taken it over. If you want to see this house you better go quickly---it is supposed to be demolished by March 1 2012.

Housing European Romanesque and Gothic collections, the building itself sits high on a hill offering far reaching views over the Hudson River and Upper Manhattan. A place to bookmark for after the Spring equinox when you can ramble amongst the fragrant herb gardens of Fort Tryon Park and drink in the air of the season.