40th Street and 50th Avenue (Queens)

Even though the city of Bucharest, back in the day, was known as “little Paris” or “Paris of the East,” this Bucharest Restaurant isn’t exactly what I’d call Parisian inside (brown decor, fake flowers, too-loud live music). The food, however, seems to be authentic (eggplant salad, stuffed cabbage rolls, sausages), and even the kitschy Dracula’s Blood pinot noir was pretty good (that is, I drank more than one glass). Worth a trek if you’re craving Romanian food (but take a look at Anthony Bourdain’s Romanian episode of his No Reservations TV show for a glimpse of what you’re getting into).

Broadway and 22nd Street

Restoration Hardware is selling—until they run out, I suppose—a trove of Chinese rice bowls from 1850 that were recently dredged up from a sunken ship. Each one is different, rough, cheap, and intriguing. (I bought one; I couldn’t resist.)

Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street

Life-sized casts of artist Antony Gormley’s body are currently appearing in an installation around Madison Square Park. Some casts are planted at street level, but the most interesting ones are those scattered on rooftops. “I just hope that people will be stopped in their tracks and look again at where they are and maybe themselves and maybe at the world around them,” said Gormley in this piece in the Times (UK).

27th Street and Sixth Avenue

The Senton Hotel, which I know nothing about, had such a beautifully seedy neon sign out front that I couldn’t resist taking a shot of it before going in, across the street, to the Center for Book Arts (home of excellent classes and exhibitions). Someone at the center then told me that this was the hotel from The Catcher in the Rye. I suppose he meant that this was the model for the fictional Edmont Hotel, but that seems impossible because the Senton has been around only since 1978, according to its website. Still, it was a nice idea that lit up my night.

Charles Street and Hudson Street

This bit of artwork caught my eye on a West Village police station, for which I have a special fondness, because it’s the only police station I’ve ever been in (as a victim, not a criminal). This is the place where I discovered that NYPD Blue wasn’t unrealistic and that you have to write your story on a legal pad (which is my preferred writing material, in any case).

Third Avenue and 9th Street

I am always trying (and failing) to take spectacular photos of the city at night. I wish I could capture it: the pink glow at twilight, the blue electricity, the gray velvet later. But I can’t. Instead I look at these breathtaking images instead. (And night or day, St. Mark’s Bookshop is a good place to browse for interesting books that you never see anywhere else. Plus: they stay open late.)

Houston Street and Mercer Street

In the lobby of the Angelika, waiting in line for City Island (which was a charming, low-key comedy). I am one of those people mentioned in the movie who lives here for years, never realizing City Island exists (and then I visited it).

18th Street and Fifth Avenue

Every time I walk past Academy Records with its old albums out front, I realize that I don’t even buy CDs any more (much less records), and I wonder if my lack of nostalgia is how some people feel about printed books right now. (I still like old music, however.) Check out this ultimate New York playlist, including music from several decades but not, unbelievably, my current favorite, Cat Power’s version of “New York, New York.” (Though it’s hard to argue with this list, and who could live without numbers 2, 3, and 19?)

Chambers Street and West Broadway

Wouldn’t the gilded top of the Municipal Building look lovely on a ring like this? (I’m always looking at architecture as inspiration for jewelry design, but it’s the geometry of those fire escapes that’s more my style.)

45th Street and 12th Avenue

The Intrepid at this angle, on a gray day, is almost perfectly camouflaged into the city’s skyline. (This is the view from the New York Waterway ferry.)

Greenwich Street and Warren Street

Giant green emu eggs at Whole Foods: perfect for St. Patrick’s Day (if you have a crowd that needs a bunch of something scrambled). And Martha Stewart has some ideas about what you can do with those shells later: make Easter decorations.

86th Street and Broadway

Artwork in the 1 train station: dreamy or disturbing? I can’t decide.

Here’s a guide to all the official artwork in various stations. Here’s a guide to graffiti (not just on trains). And here’s a guide to creating your own art (writing) while commuting, in the form of stories from various writers about how they do it. (I never really write on the subway, but I do make notes of things that are too good to pass up. The thin and tiny moleskine notebook is perfect for this.)

Broadway and Fulton Street

One last look at winter (I hope): St. Paul’s Chapel in the snow. This is “Manhattan’s oldest public building in continuous use,” according to its website. (Even 9/11 couldn’t stop it. The World Trade Center used to be right across the street, looming up behind it.)

9th Street and Third Avenue

I had wanted to take a picture of some of the gemlike pieces of sushi during a recent dinner at Hasaki, but by the time the tray of glistening fish (oh, the scallop like opal!) came around, I had forgotten about my camera entirely. There are always some interesting specials to sample (sea urchin and minced edamame, for example, pressed into a ball and served in a broth), but really, it’s the sushi that keeps me coming back here. I think it’s my favorite in New York. (And I wouldn’t even want to tell you about it, except that everyone knows already and there’s always a line out front anyway.)

18th Street and Seventh Avenue

On a calm, sunny, springlike, and lovely day in the city (that is, yesterday), there was this reminder not to get too comfortable, to remember the necessity of difficulty. (Here’s where you can learn to sail in Manhattan.)

Bowery and Broome Street

This handmade sign brightened my day until I noticed the sign below that says “no pictures allowed”—really? why not?—but I was in a cab rather than inside the store, so I think it doesn’t count. (I decided to follow Kant’s motto of enlightenment: “Have courage to use your own understanding.”)

Columbus Circle

Here’s a disputable list of 10 Things Not to Do in New York City. I disagree with about half of their suggestions, especially with the advice to avoid pedicabs. Because one of my best city stories comes from being in a pedicab in the rain at midnight in the theater district: A car pulled up alongside us at a streetlight and the driver rolled down his window and seemed pretty excited to encounter a pedicab in Manhattan. This is the best thing I’ve ever seen, he said. Fantastic, he yelled at us through the rain. The pedicab driver leaned over and asked him: So, where are you from? The Lower East Side! he said.

84th Street and Broadway

Something I learned last week: Edgar Allan Poe used to live on 84th Street (also known as Edgar Allan Poe street), and at his old address, there’s now a café, which has kind of a dark, Parisian vibe and would be nice to duck into for coffee one afternoon when it’s raining on the Upper West Side. I make a note and add it to my files. (“If you wish to forget anything on the spot, make a note that this thing is to be remembered.” —Edgar Allan Poe)

Reade Street and West Broadway

This is one of the lighting fixtures, showcasing Vietnamese portraits, inside Nam restaurant, which has kind of a colonial, tropical feel to my mind. That is, I like it. It’s a place where you can sip a lychee martini while waiting for your crispy chili snapper and sticky rice and not worry about it.

Columbus Circle

“The true New Yorker secretly believes that people living anywhere else have to be, in some sense, kidding.” —John Updike

This is the quote that came to mind when I looked out at this scene from inside the Time Warner Center.

Washington Square Park

Is this sign necessary because now that we consider our dogs more like people than ever, we don’t want to see them jump into the fountains like Scott and Zelda?

Reade Street and Hudson Street

I’ve often thought someone should put up a blog featuring pictures of restaurant bathrooms (you know, the beautiful ones, not the gross ones). This is the flower arrangement inside the bathroom at Marc Forgione, which is a restaurant I discovered this past weekend (courtesy of Blackboard Eats) and fell in love with. The décor is what I call beautiful rustic (exposed brick, wildflowers, candlelight) and the food is in the same mode of lovely. (Here’s what I had, which should give you a good idea of what the place is about: duck confit with gnocchi and vanilla-scented spinach, grilled scallops with blood orange reduction and mashed fennel, lemon beignets and ice cream with sprinkles.)

16th Street and Seventh Avenue

Snowmen popped up all over New York last week, and everyone who walked past this trio (in front of the salon where I was getting my hair cut) stopped for a moment to smile or take a picture of it. (Here’s another nice shot: snowmen in Bryant Park.)