Playing and Staying Like a Local in New York City

Brooklyn

• Visit the Brooklyn Museum - The Brooklyn Museum is the city’s second largest and is the permanent home to one of my favorite long-term installations, The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago.

• Visit the New York Transit Museum - A great museum for kids and adults alike, the New York Transit Museum allows you to step into the past and see what the subway has looked like and how it has changed over the past 100 years. See the discontinued subway cars of the past and their advertisements— truly anyone will get a kick out of this.

• Visit the Green-Wood Cemetery - Founded in 1838, Green-Wood is considered one of the first rural cemeteries in the United States. At almost 500 acres, it’s a beautiful park filled with paths, glacial ponds, hills, and Basquiat’s grave. If you go during the fall, you’ll see optimal foliage.

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Dance the Night Away

Brooklyn is home to some of the best nightlife in the city, and there’s truly something for everyone. My favorite dance clubs and bars include:

• Good Room - For electronic/disco music. This is a club, but it’s not your Manhattan club with bottle service and pretentiousness. People come here to dance without a care.

• Nowadays - Taproom by day, dance club by night. In the summer on Sundays, they host an all-ages afternoon dance party with food trucks and excellent tunes.

• House of Yes - Come here to take in one of their shows (Dirty Circus is a must, and +21 only) and stay to tear up their dance floor after. Such an experience that I highly recommend!

Manhattan

• Visit Fotografiska - This photography museum has a stunning restaurant and captivating exhibits that rotate every quarter.

• Have a picnic in Elizabeth Street Garden - Elizabeth Street Garden is the only public green space in the neighborhoods of Little Italy and SoHo, and it’s over 200 years old! Grab a bagel from neighboring Black Seed Bagels and bring it here to soak in the sun and the history of the space.

Queens

• Take a Flushing food tour - I highly recommend taking a Flushing food tour with Culinary Backstreets. Flushing is home to a vibrant, diverse Asian community, and it’s larger than the more famous Chinatown in Manhattan. When you’re in Flushing, you forget altogether that you’re in NYC, and it truly feels like you’re in Asia. I’ve had some of the most interesting and best food of my life here.

• Visit the Queens Night Market - Happening in warmer months on Saturday nights, the Queens Night Market in Flushing Corona Park is filled with over 100 independent food vendors selling anything you can think of, from Nepalese food to Pakistani BBQ rolls. Cash only, but they have ATMs on site.

• Visit MoMa PS1 - Housed in a 19th century historic school building, MoMa PS1 is a museum and cultural center that hosts Warm Up (an electronic outdoor dance party) on select evenings in July and August.

• Thai Diner: The best and most interesting Thai food in the city, in the heart of SoHo.

• Habibi The Restaurant: If you’re staying in Manhattan, this is worth the journey to Bushwick. With excellent Lebanese food, an amazing vibe, and some of the best views of the Manhattan skyline, this restaurant is the perfect pregame before heading to the House of Yes.

• Place Des Fetes: An unassuming, adorable French wine bar in Clinton Hill. Come here to feel like a true Brooklyn Local.

• Leo: Excellent pizza in Williamsburg, but the real star here is the soft serve of the day. With rotating, interesting flavors like cantaloupe and grape, it’s not to be missed. They also make an excellent bagel on the weekend.

• Sushi Noz: I tend to think most omakase experiences are overpriced and overhyped, but this one absolutely blew my mind. Each course is so carefully handcrafted and everything that makes up the interior of the restaurant down to the individual plates and cutlery was hand-sourced from Japan.

• The Nines: This isn’t so much of a local spot, but it’s a great place to come on an evening where you feel like dressing to The Nines (their dress code) and eating fancy things, like caviar baked potatoes, while listening to jazz piano.

• Sailor: A neighborhood French bistro in Fort Greene that does a lovely half roast chicken. Go early to put your name on the list (reservations are hard to come by), and then take a stroll through Fort Greene Park while you wait.

• Dept of Culture: A West African restaurant in Brooklyn that has a lovely tasting menu.