We noticed a few things this week.
A few theaters, some roasteries, that cute florist you didn’t know existed, and more cozy spots from the cities we live in.
- Nice but Free
The Rose Main Reading Room at the New York Public Library — 297 Feet of Beaux-Arts Reading Hall, Free Wi-Fi, Free Seat, Open to Anyone Who Walks In
The Rose Main Reading Room: a 1911 Beaux-Arts hall the size of a city block, 52 oak tables, green-shaded brass lamps, ceiling murals, free Wi-Fi, no library card needed, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day except Sunday. The free midtown office most New Yorkers haven't tried.
- Nice but Free
Wave Hill in Riverdale — The 28-Acre Bronx Garden With Free Tuesdays, Free Saturday Mornings, and the Hudson at Eye Level
Wave Hill: 28 acres of Hudson-bluff gardens in Riverdale, the Bronx — free admission all day Tuesday and Saturday mornings before noon. Twain rented next door in 1901. The Palisades view is the cleanest in the city. Forty minutes from Grand Central.
- Nice but Free
The Staten Island Ferry at Sunset — The Free 25-Minute Crossing Past the Statue of Liberty, Whitehall to St. George, Summer 2026
The Staten Island Ferry: free, 25 minutes each way, 70,000 daily passengers, passes within 100 yards of Lady Liberty. The 8 p.m. summer departure crosses the harbor at sunset. The best ten-dollar New York experience that doesn't cost ten dollars.
- Nice but Free
Tate Modern and the Turbine Hall — The 152-Metre Free Cathedral of Contemporary Art on Bankside, London
Tate Modern: free permanent collection, free Turbine Hall commissions, free Level-10 viewing terrace of St Paul's and the City. The most-attended modern art museum in the world, on the Thames, no ticket required for any of the headlines.
- Pull Up a Chair
Keens Steakhouse on West 36th Street — The 1885 Chop House With 90,000 Clay Pipes on the Ceiling and the One Mutton Chop You Came For
Keens, 1885: West 36th Street, gas-lamp era brick townhouse, 90,000 churchwarden pipes on the ceiling, the legendary 26-ounce Mutton Chop. The most preserved nineteenth-century chop house in New York, still serving the dish that built it.
- Pull Up a Chair
Russ & Daughters Cafe on Orchard Street — The Saturday Brunch Built on 112 Years of Smoked Fish
Saturday late morning, 127 Orchard Street, a tin-ceiling room that is the sit-down annex of the appetizing shop the Russ family has run on East Houston since 1914. Order The Classic, ask for an egg cream, stay an hour.
- Pull Up a Chair
Peter Luger on Broadway in Williamsburg — Order the Porterhouse for Two, Bring Cash, Stay Two Hours
139 years under the Williamsburg Bridge, one menu that has barely changed, the porterhouse for two on a sizzling platter and the bacon you ordered to start. The reservation is the hard part — once you are seated, the rest is straightforward.
- Pull Up a Chair
Barney Greengrass on Amsterdam — The Sturgeon King's Sunday Eggs With Nova, Untouched Since 1929
Sunday morning on the Upper West Side, Formica counter, faded 1929 wallpaper, and a plate of scrambled eggs with Nova salmon and onions that has been served the same way for ninety-seven years. Pull up a chair before the 10 a.m. line.
- Pull Up a Chair
The EMP Bar Room — A Three-Michelin-Star Madison Avenue Dinner Without Committing to the Full Tasting Menu
Eleven Madison Park's main room is a four-figure plant-based tasting menu. The Bar Room next door, a la carte and walk-in-friendly, is the same kitchen at a third the spend. Pull up a chair under Cass Gilbert's 1909 ceiling.
- Pull Up a Chair
Sweetings on Queen Victoria Street — The 137-Year-Old City of London Lunch That Closes at 3, Takes No Reservations, and Has Never Served Dinner
Open since 1889 in the City of London. Weekday lunches only. No reservations, no dinner, no website to speak of. The fish pie is the order. The Black Velvet is the chaser. Pull up a stool at the mahogany counter and watch the City eat.
