Time Warner Center

This pair of sleek towers, built for $1.8 billion on the site of the former New York Coliseum, is a highly visible retail center on the edge of Central Park. The seven-floor atrium, which affords grand views of the park from behind its glass facade and features a wonderful collection of Fernando Botero sculptures in its common spaces, is basically a mall, albeit a rarely crowded one. That’s probably because its stores – which include Williams-Sonoma, J Crew, Borders Books and Hugo Boss – can be found in so many other places, NYC and otherwise. The basement’s 59,000-sq-ft Whole Foods organic supermarket, though, now one of several in the city, is frequently a mob scene. The Center is also the home of luxury condos, a Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Equinox Sports Club, Jazz at Lincoln Center and the corporate headquarters of Time Warner, as well as CNN offices and some very pricey eateries. One worthwhile fuel-up stop that won’t break the bank, though, is Bouchon Bakery, on the 3rd floor, where you can linger over cafe fare while gazing out over Central Park and the lovely granite, Beaux Arts Columbus Circle fountain.