Grand Central is big and beautiful and it also periodically hosts free cultural events - poets at typewriters custom-composing poems on demand - or Alvin Ailey dancers performing in Artist, Nick Cave's horse suits!

The Frank Stella's are the best. They are all over the city and they always look amazing. Two of my favorites are the Saatchi and Saatchi lobby (pictured) and the Citi Corp building in Midtown.

Unlike a lot of neighborhoods the sidewalks in this area are often still paved in the original slate slabs. You can see “extra” pieces sometimes chained up outside like this…. Why pour concrete?

Somewhat off the beaten Williamsburg-track, Brooklyn Art Library is nestled on a mostly residential street. It’s home to tens of thousands of artist sketchbooks known as “The Sketchbook Project”. Over 100 countries are represented and their “collection houses books from small communities in Mongolia next to professional illustrators from New York.” You can donate one of your very own! All the sketchbooks have been cataloged for easy searching of their vast shelves, by artist and subject, and visitors are invited to browse what feels much like a hands-on museum. The Art Library also remains one of the few places to find art supplies (while limited) in the neighborhood, and if you’re in the market for a special gift (including books, totes and the cutest retro pennants) for your favorite art-lovin’ bibliophile, you might just get lucky here.

a place to find gems and get lost in a visual research