SUPERNYC

High above the yellow cabs and shopping crowds of Manhattan sit a handful of historic sky gardens—from Ralph Hancock’s 1935 Rockefeller Center terraces to a free acre of lawn hidden above a Water Street parking garage.

Start at the towering aerosol murals of Troutman Street, then step inside the former industrial lofts around Morgan Avenue where independent galleries, zine presses, and DIY art spaces thrive.

One free ferry ride across Upper New York Bay leads to one of only two authentic classical outdoor Chinese scholar gardens in the United States, complete with bamboo courtyards, koi ponds, and Taihu rockery.

Ride the N or W train over the Queensboro Bridge into Astoria, where Greek seaside grills and Egyptian hookah cafés sit alongside a world-class film museum and a century-old Czech beer garden.

Surrounding the rocky acropolis of Marcus Garvey Park, Harlem’s Mount Morris Historic District pairs some of America’s finest nineteenth-century architecture with legendary live jazz and soul food.

Framed by the granite towers of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, DUMBO pairs Belgian-block cobblestones and independent bookshops with New York’s most cinematic waterfront park.

The true sound of New York jazz isn’t found in gleaming uptown concert halls; it is forged in low-ceilinged basement rooms around Seventh Avenue South where the upright bass rattles your ribs.

For more than 160 years, the Brooklyn Academy of Music has championed artists who reinvent their mediums—from Philip Glass and Pina Bausch to 35mm indie cinema retrospectives.

Trace the blocks where DJ Kool Herc ignited a global musical revolution in 1973, then explore the free contemporary art museums and Art Deco apartment palaces of the Grand Concourse.