While the current trend in noodles may well be ramen, this bafflingly-named Japanese restaurant just ten minutes from my apartment specialises in udon. Unless you are my friend Diego Zambrano it will probably take you several visits to get through all the things you need to try on the menu - the gyoza are otherworldly, the sushi 'tacos' clever enough without being silly. New York has thousands of awful Japanese places; this is not one of them. It's super nice to come in on a Sunday night and eat at the bar next to curmudgeonly old guys barking at each other in Japanese.

A beautiful and abandoned New York subway station from 1904, complete with chandelier. Take the 6 train heading downtown. When the train makes its final stop at the “Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall” station, passengers are told to exit the train. Stay on the train and duck down so as not to be easily spotted. When the train departs the station, it will pass through the abandoned City Hall Station.

Occasionally I'll look at the Manhattan skyline and wonder what it was like in 1931 when people around the world were saying, "Holy shit, did you hear what they just built in New York?" Just get up there and trip out about humanity. And be sure to keep an eye out for the unmarked locked door guarding a set of stairs leading to a hidden terrace that was originally designed as a fucking docking station for zeppelins.

Neighbourhood bar

This marketplace is home to tons of amazing local restaurants, shops, and vendors— from flowers, meat and cheese, wine, and a food court downstairs. There is definitely something for you here.