10 Hidden Gems In New York City

The High Line may be popular with tourists, but just one block away from that famous elevated park stretches a lesser known five mile long recreational space known as Hudson River Park, which has transformed the city over the past ten years. Covering 550 acres (400 of which are on the water) and running from Battery Park at Manhattan's southern edge to 59th St in Midtown, Hudson River Park is Manhattan's playful, leafy back garden. Welcome yourself to New York on the riverside path which presents a great spot for cycling, running, strolling, stopping for a picnic or sitting and soaking up the best of the city views.

Story lovers can enjoy a word-filled, wine-fuelled night at the Housing Works; a New York City based non-profit fighting HIV/AIDS and homelessness. With multiple locations dotted around the city dedicated to healing and creating community, Housing Works have thrift stores selling pre-loved items, and have a bookshop come cafe with open mic nights, literary readings and trivia. Some of my favourite nights here are the Moth StorySLAM stroytelling events, with 100% of venue proceeds benefiting the homeless living with HIV/AIDS. The Soho Bookstore Cafe resembles an Ivy League library with its spiral staircases, mahogany balconies, and rows of books. Seeking unique things to do in New York at night? At the Bookstore Cafe, you can expect a fun night of fascinating histories, curious imaginations, books, hot drinks, snacks and booze. All are welcome.

A fascinating New York hidden bar, buried deep underground in the heart of New York City’s financial district is an old bank vault built in 1904. Ingeniously transformed into a Swiss bar and restaurant, Trinity Place Vault Bar is both rustic and elegant. Sip on a cocktail or two in a fascinating place of history. Once, the vault was so large and heavy that it had to be sailed down the Hudson River and then transported on special railway tracks from Battery Park to where it currently sits. If you’re seeking a secure place for a drink in the city, you can’t go wrong here as each steel door weighs a colossal 35 tons and is five inches thick. Interestingly, 115 Broadway, the building in which the bank vault sits under, is one of the original twin towers of New York City. Decorated in gothic style with gargoyles, dragons, eagles, stained glasses and ribbed ceilings in the lobby, the experience is not to be missed for anyone looking for NYC’s best kept secrets.

If food experiences are your thing, don’t miss trying these classic French breads, artful cakes and cookies from a bakery hidden behind a generic office-building façade. The adaptive-space charm of Burrow sees a petite glass-fronted patisserie in the back of the lobby of a 20th-century tea factory, now home to digital-media companies and the Brooklyn Bridge Fencing Club. Looking for on the go brunch? Try any of the take-out breakfast items and eat like a New Yorker: quiche, blueberry muffins, blue cheese pecan or orange chocolate scones, almond croissants, salmon cake or granola. If you’re passing by in the afternoon, pick up one of 12 kinds of freshly baked cookies, a slice of Gateau Basque or the yummy hazelnut cake.

Head to Greenwich Village; epicenter of the city's 1960s counterculture movement. Walk along the tree-lined streets, by the rainbow flags (this is known as one of the LGBTQ+ friendly neighbourhoods), past popular cafes, bars, restaurants, hidden jazz clubs and off-Broadway theaters. Then check out NYC hidden gem Cure Thrift Shop; a lovely thrift store with finds for clothing, shoes, furniture, books and more. It's fun just to go inside and have a look around. The store has a good mix of costume pieces and more wearable styles; exactly what you’d want from a good East Village thrift shop.

Leave the land of large and experience an interactive world of miniatures as you travel through a tiny land of some of the globe's most famous landmarks in one place. Travel bugs can easily satisfy their wanderlust here in Manhattan with the indoor 49,000-square-foot, $40 million display. Home to scale models of structures, cities and landscapes from the Brooklyn Bridge and the Eiffel Tower to the pyramids of Egypt and China's Forbidden City, along with the Taj Mahal, Abbey Road, Mecca, Niagara Falls and Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer statue, Gulliver's Gate is a unique and playful interpretation of the real world in miniature, inspired by the places we live, work, play, and dream about. Watch professional model-makers and engineers build and expand the exhibit. Enjoy a weird and wonderful NYC museum.

Like something from a preppy dream, the Honorable William Wall is a two-story barge moored just north of Ellis Island, which operates as a floating bar from May through October, and is a great spot to buy a drink, have a picnic and enjoy the views. Head off the beaten path to Manhattan Yacht Club's floating clubhouse in the harbor; the“Willy Wall” as it’s affectionately known. Aside from the unbeatable, scenic views of the famous Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings, you can enjoy watching sailboat races up close.

Resting on the southern tip of Roosevelt Island in the center of the East River are the ruins of an ivy-covered Gothic Revival building, also known as the Renwick Hospital. Once known as the Roosevelt Island Smallpox Hospital, the architectural hidden gem was the top center for smallpox treatment in NYC until the 1950s when the building was forced to close. In 1975, the Landmarks Preservation Commission took interest in the decrepit structure and declared it a city landmark. Now, reinforced walls are being constructed to prevent it from totally crumbling and falling apart, although some of the outer walls and the foundation still stand today. While restoration of the hospital is underway, get off the beaten path and on an unusual adventure to catch the beautiful structure in its naturally-aged state before transformation begins again.