West Broadway and Duane Street

Happy Halloween! (This is the window display in a hair salon, where someone—maybe the stylists?—did some nice cutting on those pumpkins.)

17th Street and Seventh Avenue

I always like to pop into the Rubin Museum of Art when I need a dose of serenity, when I want to escape the rushing around of Chelsea, when I’m tired of the Container Store and Old Navy. I walk into the RMA lobby and listen to the Tibetan music in the background, then browse in the gift shop for books on Buddhism or chunky crystal and metal jewelry. Or have a cup of chai at the uncrowded café. (The museum’s exhibits are always fantastic as well, but not free, so you’d want to devote more than a sliver of your afternoon to visiting.)

Ninth Avenue and 15th Street

Chelsea Market has changed since I was last there, two years ago. All the stores seem to have expanded and revamped (except those that have closed, such as my favorite plant store). But now there’s an outpost of Posman Books stuck in the back and Jacques Torres Chocolate, so I’m not complaining. And I was relieved to see that Buon Italia is pretty much the same as before, so I stocked up on those heavy, 1,000-gram bags of Setaro pasta—but also managed to carry away some thick cherry preserves and truffle oil. Every time, I stretch myself to carry bags just a little bit heavier than I thought possible. Still, unfortunately, I had no room for Amy’s Bread or fresh crabmeat.

Howard Street and Broadway/Fifth Avenue and 29th Street

This lovely, of-the-moment color combo of violet and gray caught my eye in some Soho graffiti one afternoon, and then later in a Midtown building,

At the violet hour, when the eyes and back
Turn upward from the desk, when the human engine waits
Like a taxi throbbing waiting.

[from Eliot's The Wasteland]

32nd Street and Fifth Avenue

Kunjip restaurant, in the middle of Koreatown, is always packed at lunchtime, but that’s all right because the service is fast. As soon as you sit down, there’s an array of marinated vegetables and things to keep you busy while you wait for sizzling tofu stew or kimchi casserole, or, even better, bibimbap (my favorite). Here’s a recipe for it that I like from the New York Times—but without that sizzling stone bowl experience (unless you have more equipment in your kitchen than I do).

Greenwich Street and Murray Street

I know it’s not supposed to be funny, but I always get a kick out of seeing the giant inflatable rat. Better than running into one of the real rats you know are following the same daily grid we are. And if you need to know more, visit the city’s rat information portal. Which also makes me chuckle (the name, not the information).

Broadway and Grand Street

When I lived in London, Muji was one of the stores I knew I’d miss when I left (but it has since opened up in New York). Those cheap, thin notebooks and plastic lotion dispensers and aroma oil diffuser pots and so much more: they’re all available in Soho. (Though the selection in London does seem to be bigger and better. And if you’re in Tokyo, visit the flagship for the full range of “no-brand goods.”)

Seventh Avenue and 25th Street

A ghost sign in Chelsea advertising sewing machines inspires the desire to browse through Urban Outfitters DIY section—where they sell sewing machines but also a lino press and a weaving loom and a photo-tint kit and all sorts of other things that will make you want to make something soon.

Broadway and Barclay Street

New York at night is a different city. The litter is obscured. The traffic seems glamorous. Buildings become beautiful. And now there’s a new nightseeing map (from the Illuminating Engineering Society) for navigating the city in the dark and identifying what’s out there. (This is the Woolworth Building, as seen from Murray Street.)

Fifth Avenue and 8th Street

Otto serves up the kind of thin-crusted, addictive pizza—mushroom and taleggio, clam and garlic, zucca and pancetta—that I can’t stop thinking about. Consider also the nicely edited choice of cheeses served with what have to be homemade chutneys. Think ahead to the olive oil gelato for dessert and suddenly the sometimes several-hours wait to eat here doesn’t seen like such a deterrent. Have a glass of wine at a marble-topped bar table and try not to eat too many servings of Sicilian cauliflower while enjoying the anticipation.

White Street and Franklin Place

A book tossed away or lost in a rush? Maybe part of the BookCrossing project. I don’t know because I didn’t stop to pick it up.

Greenwich Street and Harrison Street

It’s always a pleasure to have dinner at the Harrison, with its mix of American flavors. Black figs with blue cheese. Bacon-wrapped trout with brussels sprouts. Grilled pompano with pineapple and chili relish. When I lived in London, this is the kind of New York restaurant I always wished we had around but could never find. Finish off the evening with a tiny chocolate tart in a salted pretzel crust. And hope the Harrison escapes the fate of its neighbor Chanterelle.

Sixth Avenue and 37th Street

M&J Trimming is a store to fire the imagination and one of my standbys. Its walls are stacked to the ceiling with things like rhinestone buckles and hand-dyed ribbon for wrapping presents and guinea hen feather fringe. You can revamp your wardrobe or your décor. You can leave with a handful of crushed velvet in spruce or Bordeaux.

Broadway and 32nd Street

This is the view from inside the Zipcar office in Midtown. Signing up for the Zipcar system is like having your own car in the city—but only when you need it and without having to worry about paying for gas or insurance or garage space (and you can avoid dealing with alternate-side-of-the-street parking as well). Unfortunately, Zipcars, like regular cars, get flat tires, forcing you to reevaluate your weekend plans and take public transportation instead (the free weekend ferry to Ikea in Red Hook is a nice ride, by the way, past Governors Island and the Statue of Liberty).

Staple Street and Jay Street

Down this road and past the bridge is one of my favorite stores in New York: the Tama Gallery, with always eye-opening art exhibits (currently photographs by Marc Kaczmarek) among the gorgeous (expensive) furniture.

Broadway and 22nd Street

When I left my typewriter (electric) in the trash a few years back, I never thought I’d be nostalgic for it. But I wonder what street corner it’s on now. And would I buy it back? Is an old typewriter really as beautiful as it seems? (Find your own over at myTypewriter.com—or just browse through the author bios that match writer to machine.)

Broadway and Spring Street

The storefront isn’t that eye-catching but step inside the new Swarovski Concept Store in Soho and be dazzled by the long wall full of crystals—beads, buttons, individual stones—that you can browse through at your leisure. Jewelry components are also available, if you want to make your own pieces, after viewing the extravagant creations from other jewelry designers filling the glass cases that make the store feel like a museum. This place is my favorite new find of the season.

18th Street and 10th Avenue

This is Frank Gehry’s IAC Building, as seen from the High Line, which seemed rather peaceful and bucolic when I strolled along it recently, but apparently, this stretch of the city is, at times, the new (old) Times Square.

44th Street and Sixth Avenue

Sushi Zen is a restaurant that feels like a sanctuary near the theater district. Low light and dark wood. A mix of gorgeous ceramics and glass sake cups. I love the small pot of simmered duck stew, the autumnal vegetables in which each vegetable is “prepared individually to perfection w/ Japanese Traditional Cooking Style,” and the towering soft-shell crab roll. The dollops of uni tempura to dip in green tea salt. And then steaming green tea in thick wavy cups.

24th Street and Seventh Avenue

Not exactly Patience and Fortitude in front of this fantastic, packed architectural salvage store called Olde Good Things on 24th Street. Pop inside for door handles and light fixtures and bathtubs and drafting tables. Plus friendly service to help you figure out what odd old fragment you suddenly can't live without.

Wall Street and Broad Street

Although the New York Stock Exchange appears to be closed to visitors forever, crowds still gather in front, among the armed guards, to shoot the flag and façade. The building is “templelike,” according to the new and nicely designed City Walks Architecture pack of walking maps, which offers up a good tour of the area, starting at City Hall and going down to the bottom of the city. Down to “where Manhattan—all of New York for that matter—began. Here lay Nieuw Amsterdam, founded in 1625, the first permanent settlement of Europeans in this area, the first fortifications, the first business district, the first community,” says the AIA Guide to New York City.