Pier 17

Formerly a shopping center, this large pier off South Street Seaport has been redeveloped for dining and entertainment, with several upmarket restaurants and a rooftop bar and outdoor concert venue. The best reason to visit, however, is the expansive Riverdeck, which offers built-in wooden loungers right on the water, where you can revel in grand views of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, Governors Island and Brooklyn on the opposite shore, as ferries cheerily ply their routes to and fro.