Just by sitting on a bench and drinking a coffee in the park, I can be entertained by so many performers and some crazy people.

Coming back from from New Haven, we got off at Grand Central and he took me down one of the concourses to the place with the vaulted ceiling. He stood at one corner and I stood at another and we whispered into the walls, our voices drifting across to each other.

Tucked away on the second floor, it’s easy to forget you’re in the middle of Manhattan. Order the Ika geso (squid legs) and the nankotsu (chicken cartilage), my personal favorites. You might notice people waiting around a nondescript door inside the restaurant; this is actually the entrance to the speakeasy bar Angel’s Share.

This artist-run gallery is a hub of the Brooklyn gallery scene. You'll find Bungee, a celebrated fixture, snoozing comfortably in the office and somehow oblivious to all the surrounding chaos.

Founded and designed by Japanese-American artist Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988), The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum preserves the working atmosphere of the artist's former studio in New York.