The most famous New York City museums are in Manhattan. You've heard about the Met, MoMA, and Whitney, even if you've never been to them. I always said it wasn't fair to our "little" Brooklyn Museum. But then, I discovered it's the city's second-largest museum. It doesn't feel that way, and that's what I like most about it.
At the Brooklyn Museum, there are more than one million works to see. The collection has many famous names (Degas, Monet, van Gogh), but it excels in modern art. The coolest exhibit I've seen so far is Pierre Cardin: Future Fashion. Each display paired the designer's futuristic creations with incredible electronic music from the 70s, 80s, and 90s.
My favorite space is the third-floor court. It has a new glass floor suspended over the original glass, terrazzo, and marble floor from 1893. The court, with a fictional costume exhibit, stars in the opening episode of the Netflix series Pose.
Unlike the museums in Manhattan, the crowd in Brooklyn is a local one. Thanks to institutions like the Brooklyn Museum and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, we no longer have to go into the city for art and culture. These spots make the outer boroughs more liveable than ever, and more worthy of a visit.
Find your way with 301 Insider Tips from our Local Spotters
Patsy’s, famed for its 900°F coal-fired pizza, still thrives in Spanish Harlem, gritty, iconic, and sublime. Thin crust, no tables, just pure NY history.
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"The Old Print Shop" in New York is my hands-down, hands-on museum/gallery of choice. I love mid-twentieth century 'industrial' or 'city' art...
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"Sea & Sea " in NYC is a traditional-looking fish shop with wet, tiled floors, cool air, grated ice on every hand, busy with customers from near and far...
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Come to "Pikine" in NYC to eat shoulder-to-shoulder with Senegalese people!
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"Modern Bread and Bagel" in NYC has surfaced as exemplary, using criteria such as size and texture, seed and salt density. Here are some more top picks...
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"The Dublin House" in NYC has been around since Prohibition and it still is neighborhood-sized. By the end of the night, everyone speaks Irish here...
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"Pain d' Epices" is a French bakery in NYC that makes croissants so flaky & buttery, the only way to avoid the crumbs is to 'put your back to the wind...'
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"Django" in NYC is proof that the city's jazz club world is recovering. I celler/cavern is intimate enough that after performances I walk over to engage...
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"Pastrami Queen" in NYC has if not the best, among the very best pastrami sandwiches in the city. It's the kind of American excess you just can't miss...
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I stumbled across a store about which I had read but never visited—the very inviting and colourful playground of Dawn Harris-Martine), retired teacher, now famous—named Grandma’s Place.
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"Sisters Uptown Bookstore" in NYC is a hidden shop/cultural center w/ an eye-opening trove of books by African diaspora authors. A true neighborhood spot!
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Color World sets up on the corner of 116th and 2nd Avenue, rain or shine. There they serve beef, pork, goat, oxtail, and chicken for $10 a plate.
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301 Insider Tips from our local Spotters
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Escape the Crowd & Travel Slow 🐌
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