Activities & Events

Spoil Your Inner Bookworm

The Strand: 828 Broadway | (212) 473-1452

It’s no surprise that a city with 50+ different neighborhoods and infinitely more individualized agendas would also be home to an endearing book shop collective. There is a rhyme for every reader in this land of literary havens, their cognoscenti a remaining vestige of pride in service.

With its miles of books, the East Village’s Strand is New York’s best known book destination with good reason. There’s nothing quite like wandering through its cavernous aisles of controlled chaos, all the while chuckling at the well-placed staff recommendations and cheeky literary quotes. It’s impossible to leave here empty-handed.

McNally Jackson: 52 Prince Street | (212) 274-1160

By contrast, Nolita mainstay McNally Jackson is thoughtfully curated by local luminary Sarah Jackson. Her consideration shines at this bi-level shop, and if you happen to be in town for one of her in-store author conversations, go – they’re often unforgettable.

Three Lives & Company: 154 W. 10th Street | (212) 741-2069

Strolling the wonderful West Village is never a tough sell, but it’s even more appealing with the promise of a visit to Three Lives & Company, a sure thing when on a ‘need a great new book’ mission. With minimal signage and a legion of erudite staffers who’d run circles around your college lit TA, this is a true bibliophile’s treat.

Book Culture: 450 Columbus Avenue | (212) 595-1962

The Upper West Side holds an especial place in our hearts, so it naturally holds that Book Culture does too. Bright and inviting, it wears its academic pedigree well (the original location is Columbia-adjacent), and is friendly and infinitely browsable.

Kitchen Arts & Letters: 1435 Lexington Avenue | (212) 876-5550

Kitchen Arts & Letters is the kind of popular little niche that’s worth planning your day around. Their website claims it’s hard to beat a visit to the store and how true that is – anyone who claims to be a fan of the culinary genre will find their next collector’s item or go-to gastro idea here. The world’s hungriest master chefs rely regularly on the shop, but we too loved trolling the tomes, our literary appetites piqued until we meet again.

Get A Culture Shot

The Upper East Side is synonymous with many things, but for us, it will forever be an aesthete’s paradise. Home to some of the world’s greatest museums, shops and tree-lined streets, it provides an ideal kind of sensory refueling.

The Frick Collection: 1 E. 70th Street | (212) 288-0700

Our latest trip to the splendid Frick featured Don Quixote, a worthy exhibit for a place that so clearly reveres the romantic. And the peaceful Garden Court with its playful frog-accented fountain is a gateway to a more meditative state of mind.

Creel and Gow: 131 E. 70th Street | (212) 327-4281

A visit to Creel and Gow is the ideal post-Frick companion, its ‘Edith Wharton on Safari’ vibe a cool mini-departure. Filled with coral pieces, assorted taxidermy and a vast variety of rare curios, this former townhouse stable promises to fuel plenty of future decor dreams.

Fortified by your interiors snack, you’ll next want to hit the streets and see the UES as it’s meant to be seen: on foot. The area is an old money stronghold and the site of some of the world’s most stunning (and most expensive) real estate. Sights of note include Jackie O’s 5th Avenue beauty and The Metropolitan Club, and it’s fun to try and catch a glimpse of the area’s Edenic rooftop gardens. The Friends of the Upper East Side Historic District does a wonderful job of cataloging the neighborhood’s many landmarks and factoids, synthesizing them into a walking tour.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1000 5th Avenue | (212) 535-7710

Though it’s certainly a foregone conclusion that a trip to The Met is an absolute essential, we’d be remiss in leaving such a beloved destination off of our list. If you have time for nothing else, a quick communion with the European painters or the Costume Institute’s exhibitions will always prove to be worthwhile expenditures of your time.

The Great Lawn in Central Park | 79th Street Transverse

From The Met, you’ll find yourself at an ideal fork in the road for a Central Park visit. Far removed from Midtown’s more touristy access points, this is your quieter entrée to the city’s purest sanctum. Take a blanket to The Great Lawn and bask in the glow of the day’s restorative ventures.

Get To Know Thy Farmer

630 Bedford Road, Tarrytown | (914) 366-9600

When you think of true culinary innovators, those chefs who push the boundaries of our food imaginations and by extension, the industry at large, Dan Barber stands out as a peerless leader. A passionate purist on a relentless quest for a better way, he rouses interest and admiration for his meticulously built Blue Hill empire. Sign your own permission slip for a field trip out to Pocantico Hills and the Blue Hill Farm, a place where all Barber’s philosophies, talents and passions coalesce into an experiential billet-doux. Feed off of the staff’s infectious energy at The Grain Bar while you wait in line for a farm fresh latte and try to narrow your enormous baked goods wish list. Then wander the pristine grounds and visit Stone Barns Center Farm for a peek at their agricultural innovation (and cute farm animals). The Market offers a methodical selection of “in good company” picks and is a great info source for all things Blue Hill. Finally, Blue Hill at Stone Barns‘ seasonal tasting menu is a feast of epic proportions, and is a splurge to be experienced at least once in a lifetime.

Make A Grand Entrance

A hotel lobby can be a beautiful thing, enveloping weary travelers in a warm and civilized embrace. There tends to be a lot of emphasis on the next big thing, but the great hotel lobbies of New York City are hallowed homages to a bygone era, large in scale, varied in design and symbolic of welcome. Just because you can only stay in one place doesn’t mean you can’t get a broader feel for the city’s first class hotel scene, or enjoy cocktails or an afternoon tea in their storied lounges. A few favorites: