After 7 years in NYC, I’ve been to a lot of places and seen a lot of things; most have been great, but some are definitely better than others. Recognizing that in a city like NYC there is always going to be 100 things I have missed, here is my NYC Top 5 list:
Tourist Attractions
- Walking the Brooklyn Bridge
- The Whitney Museum (and the High Line)
- Visiting Liberty Island
- Smorgasburg
- Running/cycling through Central Park
- Shoutout to all Broadway shows
Parks
- Central Park (duh)
- Brooklyn Bridge Park
- Fort Greene Park
- Inwood Hill Park
- Bryant Park
- Shoutout to Washington Square Park, which is more concrete than greenery but full of amazing people
Outdoor Bars
- Westlight (rooftop of the William Vale hotel – Williamsburg)
- Brooklyn Barge Bar (Greenpoint)
- Bar 65 (at the top of the Rockefeller – same view as Top of the Rock)
- the Frying Pan (Chelsea)
- 1 Rooftop Bar (DUMBO)
- Special shoutout to drinking on the roofdeck of the East River Ferry
Sitdown Restaurants
- Bistro Petit (Williamsburg – $$)
- Annicka (Greenpoint – $$)
- Cosme (Flatiron – $$$)
- Birds of a Feather (Williamsburg – $$)
- Nix (Washington Square Park – $$$)
- Special shoutout to Marlow & Sons, an all day cafe that punches above its weight (Williamsburg – $)
Quick-bite Restaurants
- Superiority Burger (East Village – $)
- Vanessa’s Dumplings (Lower East Side – $)
- Daily Provisions (just north of Union Square – $)
- Bagelsmith (Williamsburg – $)
- Delaney Chicken (Urbanspace, Midtown East – $)
- Shoutout to Xian Famous Foods
Pizza
- Pugsley Pizza (Fordham)
- Williamsburg Pizza (Williamsburg)
- Full Moon Pizzeria (Fordham)
- Roberta’s (Bushwick)
- L’Industrie (Williamsburg)
- Special shoutout to Tony & Tina’s Pizzeria (Fordham) – NYC’s most underrated slice
- Second special shoutout to Emmy Squared (Williamsburg), which didn’t feel right including as “Detroit” style pizza, but is delicious :)
Coffee Roasters
- Parlor Coffee
- Cafe Grumpy
- Toby’s Estate
- Devocion
- Birch Coffee
- Shoutout to George Howell as my favorite coffee roaster overall, but Boston-based
Breweries
- Other Half (Gowanus)
- King’s County Brewer’s Collective (Bushwick)
- Grimm Artisanal Ales (East Williamsburg)
- Sixpoint Brewery (Red Hook)
- Greenpoint Beer and Ales (Greenpoint)
- Special mention to Bronx Brewery/Brooklyn Brewery, which introduced me to good craft beer and are great breweries, but didn’t quite make the cut.
- Extra special mention to the Bronx Beer Hall, the OG craft beer bar of my heart.
Daytime Activities
- Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club (Gowanus)
- Board games at Berg’n (Crown Heights)
- Cycling the Hudson River Parkway
- People watching in Washington Square Park
- Watching Manchester United at Smithfield Hall NYC (Flatiron)
- Shoutout to all boozy brunches
Nighttime Activities
- Comedy at Upright Citizen’s Brigade
- Jazz at Blue Note / Jazz Standard / Smalls
- Cocktails at Please Don’t Tell
- Dancing to a band at Pianos or Baby’s All Right
- Getting in the jacuzzi at Le Bain
- Shoutout to House of Yes – I haven’t been clubbing there but have heard ridiculous stories
Ross Rambles 