Things to do near the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

The opulent residence that houses a private collection of great masters (from the 14th through the 19th centuries) was originally built for industrialist Henry Clay Frick. The firm of Carrère & Hastings designed the 1914 structure in an 18th-century European style, with a beautiful interior court and reflecting pool. The permanent collections include world-class paintings, sculpture and furniture by the likes of Rembrandt, Vermeer, Renoir and French cabinetmaker Jean-Henri Riesener.  Following its 2020 closure for renovations, the Frick Collection reopened on April 17, 2025 inside its historic Gilded Age mansion. Now, visitors can see the museum's permanent collection inside restored spaces on the first floor while also walking around a new roster of galleries on the mansion's second floor—once the Frick family's private quarters—now open to the public for the very first time. That means you can walk into the original bedroom of Henry Clay Frick! Read more on The Frick's incredible new offerings, including a new 218-seat auditorium, an airy class room, an expanded reception hall, new state-of-the-art conservation studios and the museum’s first-ever cafe.

While the Guggenheim’s collection of modern art works is certainly impressive, it is impossible to separate the museum’s contents from its form with architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s brilliant and controversial design. Opened in 1959 on Fifth Ave across from Central Park, just months after Wright’s death, the concrete inverted ziggernaut (a Babylonian step pyramid), stomped on the expectations and tradition of clean square galleries exemplified and cherished by the neighboring Upper East Side museums, like the nearby Metropolitan Museum. Instead Wright combined his use of geometric shapes and nature, to create a gallery space that presented art along a flowing, winding spiral, much like a nautilus shell, with little in the way of walls to separate artists, ideas or time periods. Best experienced as Wright intended by taking the elevator to the top of the museum and following the gentle slope down, the art is revealed at different angles along the descent and across the open circular rotunda in a way that even the most well known Monet landscape might seem like a revelation. Make sure to take a break from the captivating main exhibit of the season and visit the small rooms off the rotunda to see the permanent collection, which includes works by Picasso, Cezanne, Manet and the largest selection of Kandinsky paintings to be permanently shown in America.

A hidden place within the elegant avenues of New York's Upper East Side is currently in the spotlight. The Lowell Hotel is a serene establishment that is tucked away within a residential block and surrounded by some of the top fashion stores in the world. This 74-room hotel is 17 floors full of creature comforts, refined artwork and posh furnishings, and is consistently named one of the best hotels in the world. The minute you walk into the lobby of the Lowell Hotel you are immediately hit with the smell of fresh orchids and hydrangeas. The enticing scent only gets better with the complimentary hot chocolate and cookies offered to guests while checking in (best way to beat off the New York winter chills). The Italian marble lobby is currently under renovation but is still quite extravagant, with no expense spared by the current owners. This boutique hotel has been decorated by famed interior designer, Michael Smith. He is best known for decorating the Obama’s private residences in the White House and being BFF’s with the family. When you get up to your private residence, be thankful you don’t have to deal with the typical flimsy hotel key card; you actually get an wrought iron key to unlock your oasis. One also may luck out and get one of the few rooms with an actual wood burning fireplace, a rarity in NYC. Just make sure to call down to the front desk to have them light it, while you are lounging in your sitting room, drinking fresh made Keurig coffee and wrapped in your...

On a recent visit to Sushi Noz, I discovered that most conversations at the counter were about other omakases in the city. It felt a bit gauche, almost like speaking about an upcoming date in front of another lover, as my seatmates gleefully rattled through their counter conquests right in front of the chef we came to see. But perhaps I suppose this line of talk is par for the course here: No one happens upon a seat at chef Noz's counter by accident—you're booking reservations far in advance and dropping $550 per head. Yes, Sushi Noz is one of the more expensive counters in the city and has certainly attracted the rich and those who amass omakase experiences like infinity stones. But the flurry around it is founded in a certain kind of truth. You see, every step at Sushi Noz curated by chef Nozomu Abe is careful and deliberate, one that aims to transport you out of New York—even if just for a few hours—and gently guide you through Edo-era Japan. Kimono-clad waitstaff usher you past the blue curtain outside and into an inner sanctuary designed in the spirit of a Kyoto temple, with wooden sliding doors, bamboo slats and pale blond counters carved from 200-year-old hinoki wood sourced from Hokkaido, Noz’s hometown.Chef Noz’s affection for seafood is displayed like theater, with opening players of otsumami, or seasonal small plates, consisting of steamed rock fish paired with a wonderfully gelatinous monk liver that jiggles like silken tofu, and a clam chowder–like take with a...

This elegant addition to the city’s museum scene is devoted entirely to late-19th- and early-20th-century German and Austrian fine and decorative arts. Located in a renovated brick-and-limestone mansion that was built by the architects of the New York Public Library, this brainchild of the late art dealer Serge Sabarsky and cosmetics mogul Ronald S. Lauder has the largest concentration of works by Gustav Klimt (including his iconic Adele Bloch-Bauer I) and Egon Schiele outside Vienna. You’ll also find a bookstore, a chic (and expensive) design shop and the Old World–inspired Café Sabarsky, serving updated Austrian cuisine and ravishing Viennese pastries.

The large black awning nearly extending to the edge of the Park Avenue sidewalk between 61st and 62nd Streets feels very Upper East Side, and that tells you pretty much everything you need to know about the Loews Regency New York.  Guests swan into the lobby an air of confidence distinctive to this side of Central Park. The high ceilings are grand, but stacks of New York’s two major print newspapers hint at this hotels’ popularity among business travelers. However, the location, with Bloomingdales to the east and Central Park to the west, make this an ideal base from which to explore the Upper East Side’s famous high-end shopping, all with the comfort of a luxe and spacious room to rejuvenate you afterwards.  Why stay at the Loews Regency New York? Here, you’ll have the five-star experience in a charming older hotel, which has been hosting guests since it opened way back in 1963. While it’s recently been renovated, the old-timey details bleed through: hallways of all 21 floors are adorned with framed black and white photos of old New York, and strolling along them does evoke the sense that you’ve slipped back into a different era.  As for the contemporary touches, those are most present in the facilities, such as the Julien Farel Restore Salon & Spa or the adjacent Sant Ambroeus Coffee Bar, which serves desserts you've probably never heard of but need to try. What are the rooms like at the Loews Regency New York? The smallest rooms are the 250-square-foot Superior King,...

The Pierre, a Taj Hotel, is everything you want in a classic New York City stay, from sweeping views of Central Park to top-notch service that makes you feel special. This classic, five-star hotel sits right on the southeastern edge of Central Park at Fifth Avenue and 61st Street and is by far the best hotel stay I’ve had in the city. Its understated elegance is felt as soon as you walk into the lobby, which plays host to myriad lavish events throughout the year. Opened in 1930, the 41-story hotel with 189 small dog-friendly rooms and 76 apartments was modeled after Versailles by famed architects Schultze and Weaver (who also designed the Waldorf-Astoria) and boasts neo-Georgian accents, checkered marble floors, incredible ballroom spaces with grand staircases and a rotunda with murals hand-painted by American artist Edward Melcarth in 1976—one of the most romantic rooms I’ve seen in NYC. After my stay here, I can see why it’s been featured in films like First Wives Club, Meet Joe Black and Oceans 8. It’s also hosted luminaries like Coco Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld, Andy Warhol, Hubert de Givenchy, Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, Yves Saint Laurent, Barbra Streisand, Joan Collins (and many UN delegations) over the many decades and you can see them represented in the hotel’s incredible candid photos by Ron Galella that line its main hallway. But where The Pierre really shines is in the details, which make it feel like home. Check-in was a breeze with staff who welcomed me...

Dangling chandeliers, pressed-tin ceilings and a fireplace decorate this Victorian-inspired spot. On weekends, a 25-and-up policy keeps out the young'uns; cozy up with a date on the red velvet couches or chat with pals over rounds of draft beers (Harpoon IPA, Coney Island Lager) and mixed drinks. The vibe: This is the kind of place that feels frozen in time in the best way; red velvet queen anne chairs, fine art hung salon-style, gilded mirrors–it’s like drinking in one of The Met’s period rooms.  The food: House made comfort food; pescatarian and vegetarian friendly.  The drink: There’s beer and wine, but cocktails are the main attraction. Feel fancy and match the decor with a Ruby Slipper: grapefruit vodka, St. Germain, and Prosecco. Time Out tip: There’s no storefront, so it may take you a minute to locate the entrance but trust us: it’s there. There’s no dress code, but keep it classy. Cash only.

Named for a beloved grandmother, Dear Margo’s menu is inspired by foods of the Levant. There’s plenty of new-world cooking on the menu, too: find rib-eye bao buns and pastrami flatbreads among the shareable mezzes, skewers and salads.  The vibe: Already beloved by the neighborhood, the space is airy enough to feel convivial even when it’s packed on a Saturday night. Small dishes encourage sharing across the table, with fresh-baked, pillowy, pocketless laffa bread coming hot out of the oven all night.  The food: Nods to virality, like the 1,000-layer arayes, made with beef and Colorado lamb layered with pita, and the pastrami flatbread with deli mustard and garlic confit, are just as satisfying as the more traditional dishes like hummus, baba ganoush and skewers of kofta.  The drink: Order from the short list of wines by the glass or bottle, or go for the red sangria, made in-house with fresh fruit.  Time Out tip: Stay for the free frozen yogurt, which comes twisted like soft serve and topped with sweet fruit to cut through the dessert's tartness. 

The vibe: Serendipity 3 has been a New York icon since the 1950s, and walking through its doors feels more like stepping into a fantasyland than a restaurant. The Upper East Side flagship is intimate and whimsical, filled with Tiffany-style lamps and mismatched décor that lend it a timeless, slightly eccentric charm, as if you’ve stumbled into a hidden parlor from another era. The newer Times Square location carries that same playful spirit but turns it up a notch—bigger, brighter, and buzzing with theater-district energy, it’s an ideal spot before or after a Broadway show. Despite their differences, both locations share one essential quality: they treat dessert not as an afterthought, but as the main event. The food: The menu here is best described as a mix between traditional diner comfort and a full-blown childhood daydream. Oversized burgers, mile-high sandwiches, and pasta bowls are hearty enough to stand on their own—and yes, there’s even a giant hot dog that feels straight out of a carnival fantasy. But let’s be honest—everyone comes for the sweets, mainly the legendary Frrrozen Hot Chocolate. Ideal for sharing, this Instagram-worthy, towering goblet comes piled high with whipped cream that kids and adults alike can enjoy. Sundaes arrive dripping with toppings, waffles come with a candy-store’s worth of add-ons, and the occasional extravagant creation pushes the limits of imagination. This is dessert as theater, and Serendipity has perfected the performance. The...