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.

Hop off the free Staten Island Ferry and head up Victory Boulevard and Bay Street for banana-leaf lamprais, bowl-shaped coconut hoppers, and fiery black pork curries.

For the price of a single subway swipe (or completely free), you can trade fluorescent tunnel platforms for open-air upper decks, 17th-century harbor forts, and Staten Island’s cliffside parks.