The Best Cocktail Bars in New York City
Twenty bars pouring the best drinks in New York right now, plus a straight answer on whether the hidden-door speakeasy is still worth the hunt.
Neighborhood
Upper East Side.
The Best Independent Bookstores in New York City
Twenty-five shops across four boroughs where the staff picks are sharp, the readings are free and nobody minds if you browse for an hour and buy one paperback.
The Best Jazz Clubs in New York City
From the Village basements where the music was invented to Brooklyn listening rooms with a donation jar, here is where to hear live jazz in New York now.
The 30 Best Novels About New York City
Gilded Age drawing rooms, Harlem tenements, Brooklyn stoops and a Manhattan apartment where a woman tries to sleep for a year. The city, told by the people who wrote it best.
The Best Record Stores in New York City
Eighteen shops worth the subway ride, from Rockefeller Center's two-level Rough Trade to a Ridgewood crate-digger's haven and a jazz specialist tucked into an eighth-floor office.
The Best Thrift Stores in New York City
Charity shops with Upper East Side closets, a Bushwick warehouse priced for students, and the buy-sell-trade counters that turn your old clothes into new ones.
The Best Vintage Stores in New York City
From Orchard Street designer racks to a Bushwick warehouse where the denim never ends, these are the vintage shops worth your Saturday and your rent money.
The Museum and Gallery Shows to See in New York This Fall
Krasner and Pollock at the Met, manga in Brooklyn, Arthur Jafa on the Bowery and a Chelsea season stacked with heavy hitters. Our list for fall 2026.
Free Live Music in New York City, All Year
The big summer stages, the no-cover bars that run every night of the year, and the in-stores and atriums where rising artists play for nothing. Your wallet can stay home.
Free and Pay-What-You-Wish Museum Hours in New York, Verified for 2026
The Met, MoMA, the Whitney and two dozen others can cost you nothing or close to it, if you know the right day, hour and ID to bring.
Where to Hear Writers Read in New York: The Reading Series Worth Your Night
A red room above an East Village bar, a poetry church turning sixty, a Crown Heights bar that books future prize winners. The best readings in the city, most of them free.
