The World's A Stage

Fort Greene’s Brooklyn Academy of Music(651 Fulton St.; 718-636-4100) is a world-renowned performing arts center celebrated for its avant-garde theater, dance, music, and opera performances, and its variety of mainstream and arthouse film screenings. A particular favorite among New York's drama crowd is BAM’s beautifully unfinished Harvey Theater, built in 1904.

Back in Manhattan, The Public Theater (425 Lafayette St.; 212-539-8500) is one of the city’s most fantastic venues with diverse and exciting programming each season. It happens to be the place where Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton first rose to critical acclaim. The multi-award winning Atlantic Theater Company (336 W. 20th St.; 212-691-5919), housed inside a former church, is New York’s top off-Broadway playhouse, having produced more than 150 plays in three decades, including the Tony Award–winning Spring Awakening.

Pre- and post-theater dining is something of a tradition in New York, and 46th Street is home to some of the most storied establishments. All owned by restaurateur, Joe Allen, in a series of three connecting townhouses, each one offers diners a different flair and cuisine, with the opportunity to see some of Broadway’s finest convening over lunch during the restaurant’s quieter moments.

Orso (322 W. 46th St.; 212-489-7212), is popular for rustic Italian fare, while Bar Centrale (324 W. 46th St.; 212-581-3130) draws a chic crowd as much for its atmosphere as its eclectic cuisine. The namesake Joe Allen (326 W. 46th St.; 212-581-6464), known for its juicy hamburger, is infamous for its wall of shame, where Broadway flops are memorialized for all to see in framed posters of each theatrical catastrophe.

You might venture outside of the theater district to Williamsburg for brunch, another of NYC's greatest traditions, where you'll find Sunday in Brooklyn(348 Wythe Ave.; 347-222-6722). Your order? The Sunday, Bloody Sunday, a take on the classic hair-of-the-dog cocktail that replaces vodka with smoky mezcal and spicy sambal. The pastrami black cod is to die for.

Time is fleeting—and so is each new installation at Rachel Shechtman’s Chelsea concept shop, Story (144 10th Ave.; 212-242-4853).

With the point of view of a magazine, rotating presentations like a gallery, and selling things like a store, it is a sort of concept shop retail experience that changes every three to eight weeks with a new theme, or, ahem, story behind it. In preparation for each new iteration, Story's creative buyers curate an unconventional product assortment with pieces by of-the-moment retailers and designers corresponding to each new theme.

During the December, 2016 “Home For The Holidays” story, Shechtman and her team created a shop full of surprises, from cheeky travel accessories and gadgets, to decorative objects like handwoven sisal and sweetgrass baskets from All Across Africa, quirky tree ornaments from The Stranded Stich, and Iris Apfel's personal jewelry collection. There’s no telling what you might find during your visit.

When in need of a good workout, there’s no better place than Chelsea Piers (23rd St. & Hudson River Park; 212-336-6666), a massive recreational complex overlooking the Hudson River with endless opportunities for wellness. Within the 1.2-million-square-foot facility visitors will find a health club and spa, salon, a gymnastics center, two basketball courts, indoor soccer fields, batting cages, as well as a driving range, rock climbing wall, bowling center, two ice rinks, and dance studios. Take your pick.
For outdoor running with water views, head to the West Side Highway running path. One of Binder’s favorite routes is a bracing eight- or nine-mile loop along lower Manhattan that starts at 14th Street, and heads south to Battery Park, under the Brooklyn Bridge, and all the way up the other side of the city along the East River back to 14th Street.

The legendary Three Lives & Co. (154 W. 10th St.; 212-741-2069) in Greenwich Village is one of the few remaining independent booksellers in New York City. Founded in 1978, and named after a book written by Gertrude Stein, it is a gathering place for authors, readers, and inquisitive minds to read, commune over literary masterpieces, and discuss the issues of the day. The somewhat opaque organization of titles is part of owner, Toby Cox’s strategy to encourage conversation and solicit recommendations from the bookshop’s knowledgeable staff.
If you’re looking for a larger variety of reading material, head east, to The Strand (828 Broadway, at 12th St.; 212-473-1452) for its 18 winding miles of books. Filled with 2.5 million volumes, there’s something for every type of reader on the Strand's shelves, whether that's hard-to-come-by editions of James Joyce’s Ulysses illustrated by Henri Matisse, autographed first editions, or the latest titles at the top of The New York Times Bestseller’s List.