I'm a huge Japanophile: if there's one other place I'd like to live, it's Tokyo. I must have been there seven or eight times, most recently just after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Anyway, EN is a gem on Hudson Street, serving real Japanese cuisine. It turns out that EN is a chain in Japan; there are a lot of branches making lovely bosky food in cosy neighbourhood locations. But their New York incarnation is grand in scale and ambition, with solid, warm interiors (not unlike if the Whitney were a Japanese restaurant, oddly) - a remarkable hybrid of this city, and the other one that I'd love to live in.

This botanical garden is massive. If you like to be surrounded by foliage, bring a picnic on a nice day.

Brooklyn tattoo shop specializing in American traditional style work. Everyone is super nice and cool.

Simply, the best ice cream in New York.

The permanent piece called "Meeting" at MoMA PS1 is an etherial experience of light and color and quiet. Sit and look through the cutout in the ceiling and watch the light change both outside and in. You can't tell what you're looking at until maybe a bird flies by.