Over the hills, under the moon - and off the beaten path

Normally, we never go to rooftop bars in New York. They are often way too posh and bling-bling for our taste. But tonight was our last night in the city after several glorious weeks, and as the evening was lovely and spring-like, we wanted to take our leave with a last look at the Manhattan skyline. The Water Tower rooftop bar was suggested to us by a couple of hipster girls we met on a street in Williamsburg.  We tagged along - and the bar, formed like one of the iconic New York water towers and sitting on top of the fashionable Williamsburg Hotel, turned out to be fantastic.  When it opened in 2019, it was supposed to be a super-exclusive, reservation-only place that branded itself with $150 cocktails and $500 caviar tastings. That was before Covid hit. Today, the bar is still exactly as lovely situated as on its opening night, but the expensive suits and ultra-high stilettos are gone. Now the motto is 'Drink with a local' and the Water Tower has turned into a very fun, youn...

An apartment filled with a thick layer of black soil. A floor filled with exactly 500 highly polished brass rods - and a house filled with a continuing woooosh-sound, which has played for almost 30 years. What do these places all have in common?  Earth Room, Broken Kilometer, and Dream House are all some of the cool and unusual places you find in New York City if you look closely. During the last weeks, we located or revisited so many quirky spots, which you rarely read about in guide books, that we decided to place our findings on a map.  In this way, friends, who come to visit New York City, can see suggestions for experiences, which might be a bit secret or at least off the beaten track. (P utting them out here might eventually make them not so sectet anymore, but, well - 'that's life!') See the bottom of this post for  how to use our map ---------------  o - o --------------- Our weeks in NYC are almost over, and here are some photos that didn't make...