Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture: A Harlem Pilgrimage
A reverent pilgrim’s guide to the Schomburg Center in Harlem — founded by bibliophile Arturo Schomburg, holding 11 million items across five research divisions including the James Baldwin and Malcolm X papers. Hours, address, and how to visit.
A-1 Record Shop: Inside the East Village’s Last Great Crate-Digging Institution
Open at 439 East 6th Street since 1996, A-1 Record Shop is the dusty, beloved holdout where DJs and crate-diggers still hunt for breaks in the East Village.
The Cathedral Beneath City Hall: NYC’s Most Beautiful Subway Station Has Been Sealed for 80 Years (and How to See It for Free)
The Old City Hall station opened in 1904 as the subway’s crown jewel and closed in 1945. Here’s how to glimpse its Guastavino arches for free from the 6 train.
Westsider Rare & Used Books: Inside the Narrow Upper West Side Shop That Has Been Selling Strangers Their Next Favorite Novel Since 1971
A tall, narrow, beautifully cluttered used bookstore on Broadway near 80th Street, open seven days a week since 1971. Here is why book people make the pilgrimage.
The Staple Street Skybridge: Tribeca’s Tiny Time Machine and the Forgotten Hospital It Once Served
Tucked above a cobblestone alley in Tribeca, a copper-clad pedestrian bridge from 1907 still floats between two old hospital buildings. Here is the story it tells.
Metrograph: A Cinephile’s Guide to 7 Ludlow Street
A working guide to Metrograph at 7 Ludlow Street: how the room runs, what membership buys, the Commissary, Editions Store, and how to read the calendar with a cinephile’s eye.
Argosy Book Store: Inside New York City’s Oldest Independent Bookshop
Founded in 1925 by Louis Cohen, Argosy Book Store at 116 East 59th Street is New York City’s oldest independent bookshop — six floors of Americana, modern first editions, autographs, and antique maps, still run by the founder’s three daughters and grandson. A literary pilgrim’s complete guide.
Mona’s on Tuesday: The Free, Late-Night Hot Jazz Session That’s Been NYC’s Best-Kept Secret Since 2007
Every Tuesday since 2007, clarinetist Dennis Lichtman and the Mona’s Hot Four have played traditional jazz at a battered East Village dive bar from 9 p.m. until 4 a.m. — no cover, no reservations, no pretense. It’s one of the great free secrets of NYC nightlife.
The Hidden Speakeasy on the 11th Floor of a Grand Central Office Tower: How to Find Highball Ltd.
On the 11th floor of an office tower a block from Grand Central, behind a freight elevator and a small red light on Third Avenue, PDT’s Jeff Bell has opened a hidden bar called Highball Ltd. Here’s how to find it — and why it might be the most interesting new speakeasy in Midtown.
Where to Go After the Credits Roll: A Cinephile’s Guide to NYC’s Late-Night Post-Screening Rooms
The lights come up, the credits scroll — and the cinephile’s real question begins. A pilgrim-grade guide to the in-house bars at Metrograph, the Quad, IFC Center, and the post-screening neighborhoods around Film Forum and the Angelika.