Easing in the park, the city facing you and traffic honking its way over the Brooklyn Bridge. Best enjoyed on a late-summer afternoon/night.

The exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art can speak for themselves, but the Sculpture Garden there is the best backyard in the city.

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.

Corner bodega with the best chopped cheese. It will blow your mind.

Cute and eclectic, The HiHi Room serves a variety of comfort foods with vegetarian options in a chill atmosphere on a bustling street in Brooklyn.