The oldest still-operating restaurant in New York City, still in the family of the original founders. At Christmastime, it's decorated to the nines. Go with a big group: portions are large and the wine flows liberally. Look for the little buttons on the walls: in the old days, the mafia would hang out in the back room, and if diners saw the cops come in, they'd press the buttons so the mafia guys could run out the back.

Webster Hall is a solid venue, and a frequent stop for many great bands on their rise to glory. If you've only got a few nights in the city, chances are a great act will be playing here.

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.

I could include a separate location for every room at the Met. Each visit is a year's worth of Art-absorbing.

Great gallery space in Brooklyn/Bushwick with oftentimes pop-up-exhibitions like the picture above during the opening of @preludeprojects