A new artificial island park where all New Yorkers and visitors can experience nature and art in a unique urban oasis on the Hudson River. The park features a lush, seasonal, landscape with rolling hills, winding pathways and dazzling views coupled with programming that includes music, dance, theater, poetry, comedy and arts workshops for all ages.

Easing in the park, the city facing you and traffic honking its way over the Brooklyn Bridge. Best enjoyed on a late-summer afternoon/night.

You can't say you've seen NYC until you've seen it from a boat. Hop on the ferry from anywhere to anywhere and you'll see what I mean. Not only will you see excellent old buildings and factories--the inner workings of the old industrial city--but you'll head out under working bridges and see the skyscrapers in all their towering glory. And once you've done it, do it again, at night.

The smell when you step in says it all.

Dia:Beacon is a short train ride from the city in a former Nabisco box printing factory. This art foundation has 240,000 square feet of art from the 1960s to the present. Dia features the work of Sol LeWitt, Imi Knoebel, Andy Warhol, Dan Flavin, Agnes Martin, On Kawara, Bruce Nauman, and many others. I love going during the summer to enjoy the gardens surronding the building.