Mekelburg's is equal parts hipster bodega, bar and sandwich haven. I always go for the cheese counter, the babka and the late night fried chicken sandwich, which is hands down one of the best I've had in NY. 

Nothing is more quintessentially New York than a diner. This eatery not only serves excellent, traditional diner fare, but does so in an eclectic environment that mixes Baroque decadence with Midtown grit.

The light in New York City never ceases to inspire. Walking around early on a sunny morning and looking at the rays of light dispersed through the windows of tall buildings makes me want to scream "New York, I love you!" over and over again.

In 1963, the Italian-born sculptor Costantino Nivola filled a playground that covers an entire city block with avant-garde abstractions. In the middle of an Upper Manhattan housing project, there are cuboid cutouts sculpted in cement, a fountain made with two diamond-shaped boulders, concrete play horses, and a sand-casted relief carved high into a wall. In the northeast corner, a matriarchal figure known as “The Nanny” rises from the ground. The artist’s sculptures were built in an era when urban development incorporated art in its effort to uplift communities and express democratic ideals. “A work designed for a public space is less a work of art than a civic act,” Nivola once said. “It concerns the ways in which we live together, and in which we influence each other.”

A stunning place to watch the ocean.