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New York Stock Exchange
Although Wall Street is the widely recognised symbol for US capitalism, the world's best-known stock exchange (NYSE) is actually right here on Broad Street. Before it closed to the public due to stepped-up security measures, more than 700,000 visitors a year passed behind the portentous Romanesque facade to see where about a billion shares change hands daily.
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New York Transit Museum
Occupying an old subway station built in 1936 (and out of service since 1946), this museum takes on 100-plus years of getting around the Big Apple. Kids love the models of old subway cars, bus drivers' seats, and the chronological display of turnstiles from the late 19th century. Best is the downstairs area, on the platform, where everyone can climb aboard 13 original subway and elevated-train cars dating from the 1904.
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New York University
In 1831 Albert Gallatin (buried in Trinity Church cemetery), Secretary of Treasury under President Thomas Jefferson, founded an intimate center of higher learning open to all students, regardless of race or class. Now it's a mammoth urban campus filled with 50,000 students. Check out the main buildings around Washington Sq Park.
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New-York Historical Society
As the antiquated, hyphenated name implies, the New-York Historical Society is the city's oldest museum, founded in 1804 to preserve the city's historical and cultural artifacts. It was New York's only public art museum until the Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in the late 1800s. Though it's often overlooked, it shouldn't be, as its collection is as quirky and fascinating as NYC itself. It often hosts unique special exhibits
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Participant Inc
Part gallery, part performance art space, Participant Inc uses its second floor for all sorts of innovative fun. Opened in 2002 by founder Lia Gangitano, it's stayed afloat even as many other galleries disappear. It has a rotating roster of international artists, but also makes a point of showcasing LES-based work.
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Paul Kasmin
Expect the unexpected at Paul Kasmin. After all, the gallery does represent the legendary Frank Stella. All media are accepted here - collages, paintings, photography, sculptures and more. Shows at this gallery are wide-ranging, expansive, and thought-provoking.
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Peter Blum Gallery
Peter Blum has three galleries spread around town, but his flagship location is at Wooster St, where he's shown Korean artist Kim Sooja and her inspired bedspreads, as well as woodcuts, paintings and photography.
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Pierogi 2000
An early arrival to Williamsburg, Pierogi 2000 has made a name for itself by handling a rotating roster of 800 artists in its front room, as well as letting people don white gloves and flip through drawings and other artist renderings. The back room is a community center/meeting space for cultural gatherings.
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Pierpont Morgan Library
This library, recently reopened after beautiful, extensive renovations, is part of the 45-room mansion owned by steel magnate JP Morgan. His collection features a phenomenal array of manuscripts, tapestries and books (with no fewer than three Gutenberg Bibles), a study filled with Italian Renaissance artwork, a marble rotunda and the three-tiered East Room main library. The rotating art exhibitions here are really topnotch.
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Prospect Park
Not quite as famous as the iconic Central Park, this lush green oasis is considered an equal masterpiece from designers Olmsted and Vaux. Its 585 acres contain the gorgeous Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, numerous lakes, bike paths, meadows and running routes. The soaring arched entrance at Grand Army Plaza, not far from the Brooklyn Museum and next to the Brooklyn Public Library, is one of the borough's most celebrated sights.
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Radio City Music Hall
This 6000-seat Art Deco movie palace had its interior declared a protected landmark and is looking fine, thanks to extensive restoration. The velvet seats and furnishings have been returned to the exact state they were in when the building opened in 1932, and even the toilets are elegant at the Showplace of the Nation .
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Riverside Church
Built by the Rockefeller family in 1930, this Gothic beauty overlooks the Hudson River. In good weather you can climb to the observation deck for expansive river views. There are frequent high-quality events such as concerts and lectures held here, many with an activist, multiculti, queer-friendly, anti-war bent.
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Riverside Park
A great place to stroll, bike, run or simply gaze at the sun as it sets over the Hudson River, this skinny, lively greenspace is lined with cherry trees that blossom into puffs of pink in the spring. The park features an inspiring statue of Eleanor Roosevelt at its south entrance and a flower garden at about 94th St - a riot of colour in balmy months.
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Rockefeller Center
Built in the 1930s during the height of the Great Depression, the 22-acre center gave jobs to 70,000 workers over nine years and was the first project to combine retail, entertainment and office space in what is often referred to as a 'city within a city.' The biggest news here as of late has been the late-2005 reopening of the long-shuttered Top of the Rock observation deck, which affords stunning views of the city.
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Roebling Hall
It's been around for seven years and done a lot to advance Brooklyn's art world in that time through installation, photography, painting, video and film. Roebling makes a point of bringing foreign artists here (and vice versa); it's presently hosting 19 artists from 10 countries.
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Rubin Museum of Art
One of the newest museums in the city, the Rubin, opened in 2004. It's the first museum in the Western world dedicating itself to art of the Himalayas and surrounding regions. Impressive collections include embroidered textiles from China, metal sculptures from Tibet, Pakistani stone sculptures, intricate Bhutanese paintings and ritual objects and dance masks from various Tibetan regions, spanning from the 2nd to 19th centuries.
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Russian & Turkish Baths
Since 1892, this is the spa for anyone who wants to get naked (or not) and romp in steam baths, an ice-cold pool, a sauna and on the sundeck. All-day access includes the use of lockers, robes, towels and slippers. Extras such as Dead Sea salt scrubs are available, and the blintzes and borscht at the Russian cafe will boost your blissed-out spirit even more.
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Sarah D Roosevelt Park
On weekends this long and thin park gets taken over by local basketball buffs looking to shoot hoops, a far cry from its former use as a drug hangout. Reclaimed by local residents, it's now a big part of community life, especially the playground and water fountains toward the back.
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Schomburg Center For Research In Black Culture
The nation's largest collection of documents, rare books, recordings and photographs relating to the African American experience resides at this center near W 135th St. Arthur Schomburg, born in Puerto Rico, started gathering works on black history during the early 20th century while becoming active in the movements for civil rights and Puerto Rican independence. Lectures and concerts are regularly held in the theater here.
Read more about Schomburg Center For Research In Black Culture
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Schroeder Romero
Focusing on emerging and mid-career artists whose works address socio-political themes, gallery director Lisa Schroeder has curated some of the most talked-about shows in recent years, including one chronicling an artists transition from male to female and 'Proof of Mary,' featuring gravestone art.
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Sheridan Square
Not much more than a few park benches and some trees bounded by an old-fashioned wrought-iron gate, Sheridan Sq's location - the heart of gay Greenwich Village - means it's witnessed every rally, demonstration and uprising that contributed to the gay rights movement. It also holds two sets of slender white statues - one male and one female couple, holding hands and talking. Known as Gay Liberation, they are a tribute to the normalcy of gay life.
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Solomon R Guggenheim Museum
The Guggenheim is one of Manhattan's premier museums, and as much for its white ribbon cylindrical design as its fabulous displays of art. Dedicated to showcasing the avant-garde, the curving walls hold plenty of Piet Mondrians, Wassily Kandisky and more.
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South St Seaport
Galleries, an antique printing shop, a children's centre, a maritime crafts centre and historic ships offer a glimpse of the seaport's history and a survey of the world's great ocean liners. Just south of Pier 17 stands a group of tall-masted sailing vessels, including the Peking, Wavertree, Pioneer, Ambrose and Helen McAllister.
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Spencer Brownstone Gallery
After cutting his teeth as a private dealer, Spencer Brownstone opened his own space on Wooster St and never looked back. Dedicated to up-and-coming US and European artists, this gallery shows installations, photography, paintings, sculptures and videos.
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St Mark's In The Bowery
Still a working Episcopal church, St Mark's was built in 1799 on farm land owned by Dutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant - he's buried in the crypt below. Sunday services are a big draw, but St Mark's is also revered for its cultural contributions. Regular poetry readings (Poetry Project; 212-674-0910) and dance events (Danspace; 212-674-8194) culminate every New Year's Day in a 24-hour nonstop orgy of poetry, song and performance.
