Lose yourself in the winding, wisteria-draped angles of the West Village—where West 4th Street crosses West 10th Street and nineteenth-century horse stables hide behind iron gates.

High above the yellow cabs and shopping crowds of Manhattan sit a handful of historic sky gardens—from Ralph Hancock’s 1935 Rockefeller Center terraces to a free acre of lawn hidden above a Water Street parking garage.

One free ferry ride across Upper New York Bay leads to one of only two authentic classical outdoor Chinese scholar gardens in the United States, complete with bamboo courtyards, koi ponds, and Taihu rockery.

Surrounding the rocky acropolis of Marcus Garvey Park, Harlem’s Mount Morris Historic District pairs some of America’s finest nineteenth-century architecture with legendary live jazz and soul food.