Books are Magic is a great local spot for bookworms. The staff is warm and friendly with regular events happening monthly. 

My favorite restaurant to pop in spontaneously on a weeknight. Get the lamb burger with sardines and a mezcal negroni. It also has my favorite looking bathroom in NYC.

A legendary basketball court in the West Village that is a popular destination for basketball aficionados, deflated hoop-dreamers, and gawking tourists.

For the first time in Manhattan we lived on 14th street – this nice and cozy café around the corner (on 16th) still is our favorite place for delicious breakfast or brunch... Think they have tons of meals on their menu, quite affordable for huge portions.. Plus, good music.

The jetties along Rockaway Beach are one of my regular destinations when I can get out there. I grew up in a Coast Guard family and spent a fair amount of time around the ocean and surfing. I still like to get in the water and this is the first Atlantic-exposed beach on Long Island as you start to get out of the city. When it comes to the environment, constructions like these can be contentious things but they also make for a series of interesting surf spots. Its got a lot of New York metro qualities you might expect including the Subway making its stops a couple of blocks back from the water.