This is one of my favorite bars in Manhattan. It has a courtyard in the middle and they only serve a large selection of Belgian beer. It's always dark with red lights so it's like a giant darkroom with everyone developing hangovers instead of film. The courtyard creates a front bar that is open on the weekends, so if you get cornered talking about architecture you can escape over to the front bar and watch people walk down 4th street.

Long afternoon naps rarely happen here, sadly. But I never stop fantasizing.

This is a great park, from free concerts to summer to the Brooklyn flea markets over the weekend or take the ferry across the river. Rain or shine I never get sick of that view.

When I first moved to New York, enamoured by its parks and museums and design firms and restaurants and bars, I never imagined that there could be much more to its geography than that. How wrong I was. My first drive across the George Washington Bridge was jaw-dropping - the cliffs of New Jersey are astonishingly tall, covered in a dense thicket of trees. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. Drive up 87 to the Catskills or the Adirondacks and you'll witness the Hudson River winding its way through spectacular scenery and unforgiving seasons. Now I can't get enough; just two hours up the road, it's like the city never existed. Perfect recuperation after a long week.

My friends, Dee & Ricky, recently opened up their own restaurant at the ripe age of 24 in the Clinton Hill neighborhood. I stop in here every now and then for the roti. Also, there's a really cool (Nigeria-owned) sandwich & smoothie spot next door that is not pictured.