Billy Noble
25, lives on the Upper East Side and teaches 12- to 14-year-olds in the Bronx
I guess you could safely say I am not your typical New Yorker. Due to the fairly minimal pay I receive as a teacher and the high cost of living in the city, I don't eat out much and take a lunchbox to work. I'm also in the Air Force Reserve, which means getting up around 4am on weekends, so I'm not much of a cocktails guy either.
But that doesn't mean I don't go out. On a free day I head down to the River Walk, which runs along the East River - with a book. I also might visit one of the nearby galleries; one of my favourites is Neue Galerie (East 86th Street and 5th Avenue; neuegalerie.org), which has an amazing collection of German and Austrian expressionist works. I don't buy many clothes, but Brooklyn Industries (four branches in Manhattan; brooklynindustries.com) has stylish clothing at really good prices.
There's a great Indian vegetarian restaurant called Chennai (1st Ave, between East 86th and 87th), and some good spots to grab a cheap pint near where I live. My favourite is the Kinsale Tavern (E 94th and 3rd Ave; kinsale.com). They have more than 20 imported beers on tap and a nightly "pint special" - the food is traditional pub dishes but they're all really good.
When I do "go out" properly, I usually head to Alphabet City in the East Village. I like the Library Bar (E 1st Street and Avenue A) and Motor City Bar (Ludlow and Rivington; motorcitybar.com) - they can both get a bit crowded and noisy but they're really unpretentious and the music at Motor City is always great.
Annabelle's verdict:
The small Neue Galerie was new to me; it has a great collection of works by Klee, Klimt, Schiele and Kandinsky, and you hear New York voices rather than Japanese and British.
It's an easy stroll down to the park by the East River; take a large coffee and a larger pair of sunglasses to hide behind, so you can stare at the coiffed and buffed society ladies walking their pekes and poodles.
Irish pubs are ten a penny in New York, but the Kinsale Tavern is, I suspect, better than most, with its choice of beers. Frankly, anywhere that calls a turkey and ham toasted sandwich a "Hot Sandwich Adventure" is worth a visit in my book. And it is delicious.
The bars in Alphabet City are a touch hardcore for me; venture in only if you're after loud heavy metal, triple vodkas and a spectacular hangover next morning.
Francisca Ovalle
24, lives in the East Village and works for tourist board NYC & Company
Sunday brunch can be like a competitive sport. It's probably the most popular meal of the week, because it's a good excuse to meet up with friends, eat a lot and have a mimosa or two before noon. Most places don't take reservations, so get there early.
Two of my favourite spots are Curly's Vegetarian Lunch (328 East 14th St; curlyslunch.com), which does to-die-for vegan cakes and fake meat options, and Angelica Kitchen (300 East 12th St; angelicakitchen.com), where you can bring your own wine.
The East Village is known for its arty scene and youthful crowd, and for vintage and thrift shopping; I love Cure Thrift Shop (111 East 12th St; curethriftshop.com), which has a great selection of antiques, books and jewellery; No Relation Vintage (204 1st Ave; norelationvintage.com) for design-classic T-shirts and shoes; and Atomic Passion (430 East 9th St), for kooky dresses and accessories. Whole hours can disappear in the Strand Bookstore (828 Broadway and 12th St; strandbooks.com). It's like a cross between a Barnes & Noble megastore, a flea market and a university library.
Music has a huge presence in the East Village; the Sidewalk Bar & Restaurant (94 Avenue A and 6th St; sidewalkmusic.net) serves food in the front while local musicians dish up tunes in the back. Open-mic nights are a free-for-all, and if that gives you a taste for more avant-garde stuff, visit the Bowery Poetry Club (308 Bowery and Houston; bowerypoetry.com), a performance space dedicated to the spoken word which also hosts local bands and musicians.
For cocktails, a favourite is the Beauty Bar (231 East 14th St; beautybar.com), transformed from a 1950s beauty parlour; it offers martini and manicure specials for $10 in the early evening. Speakeasy-style bars are still fashionable: Bourgeois Pig (11 East 7th Street; bourgeoispigny.com) has a Victorian-gothic feel. Restaurants stay open all night; 7A (109 Avenue A and 7th St) does great comfort food.
Annabelle's verdict:
The East Village's low-rise streets are a jumble of thrift stores, stalls, coffee shops and tiny dimly lit bars. Leave your Jimmy Choos at home, slip on some Vans and a hoodie and prepare to drink pints, eat burritos and come home with cheap floral dresses. The Martinis and manicures at the Beauty Bar are both excellent, and the vast plate of nachos at 7A proved the perfect end to an evening.
Ahmed Ibrahim
53, lives in Brooklyn and is a yellow cab driver
I love Sunday brunch and although it's a short ride on the subway from Brooklyn, it's hard to beat Katz Deli in the Lower East Side (205 E Houston St). Most people know it because of "that" scene in When Harry Met Sally, but it is one of the few traditional Jewish delis left in the city. Just around the corner, Essex (120 Essex Street) also does a great brunch.
New Yorkers love to constantly be seeing and doing, cramming everything in, and the museums are full to bursting on Sundays. It's often better to go on a Friday or Saturday night, when they sometimes host great parties; the Brooklyn Art Museum (200 Eastern Parkway; brooklynmuseum.org) stays open till 11pm on the first Saturday of each month, with talks, films and DJs.
For a cheap lunch or supper with friends we'll often go to Cafécito across the river in Alphabet City
(185 Avenue C; cafecitonyc.com) which does fantastic Cuban food, but for a posh dinner out it has to be the Peter Luger Steak House in Brooklyn (178 Broadway; peterluger.com) which has been serving the best steak in the city for over 100 years. For cocktails, I love PDT (113 St Marks Place) - a great speakeasy-style bar, whose entrance is hidden in a phone booth in a hot dog restaurant.
Although Sunday nights are traditionally quiet, there are still places to go; the Upright Citizens Brigade (307 West 26th St; ucbtheatre.com) is a comedy club that charges $5 for great improv comedy.
Annabelle's verdict:
I loved Katz Deli - though it's hard to negotiate the system: order at the counter, take separate tickets to different counters and go and get your food when it's ready. Brooklyn Art Museum is more friendly and accessible than somewhere like the Guggenheim, and includes the Sackler Center for Feminist Art - well worth a look.
If you're a meat-eater, Peter Luger will be heaven; ordering fish (as I did) is missing the point somewhat. Cocktails at PDT is a classic New York experience. Find Crif Dogs (known for its deep-fried frankfurters) go into the old-style phone booth and lift the receiver. A door will open but, ironically for a speakeasy, you'll probably only be allowed in if you've called ahead to reserve a table.
Hesu Coue-Wilson
Lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn. She is a journalist and has two children, Helena, seven, and Clementine, three.
The best place to head for on a Saturday morning is the Brooklyn Farmers' Market at Grand Army Plaza; get ridiculously cheap and fresh oysters from the fish folk who come straight from Montauk with the morning's catch.
Press 195 (195 Fifth Avenue; press195.com) is a great spot for lunch (try the squash with chipotle chilli) and ideal for stoking up before a walk through Prospect Park. Walk far enough and you can find sections that feel lost and bucolic and very different from Central Park, where you can never really forget you are in the middle of a vast city. If you fancy a bike ride, it's a great wheel from Grand Army Plaza to Coney Island.
If I'm heading into Manhattan for lunch, Chinatown is always a good bet; Jing Fong (20 Elizabeth St) looks and sounds like a noisy airport lounge but the food is incredible. After that, head to Papabubble (380a Broome St; papabubble.com); it's a candy store where they pound, stretch and cool the candy in front of your eyes.
There are some lovely small toy-shops in Brooklyn - my favourites are Lulu's Cuts (48 5th Avenue; luluscuts.com) and Area Kids (154 Montague St). When it comes to the evenings, if we have a sitter, Bargemusic off Brooklyn Pier (bargemusic.org) is fantastic - a decommissioned barge on the East River, where you watch and listen to world-class musicians five feet in front of you. For a show, forget Broadway and head to BAM (the Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Avenue; bam.org).
Annabelle's verdict:
The subway from Manhattan to Brooklyn only takes around 20 minutes, but it feels like you're emerging into another country. The streets are lined with brownstones; leafy suburbia meets small-town Americana. Pick up a picnic at Press 195 and head to Prospect Park. Stroll down 5th Avenue, the heart of Park Slope - Brooklyn's most fashionable area - and watch the NY equivalent of yummy mummies wheeling prams in and out of Area Kids. BAM's theatres, cinemas and cafes are a fantastic discovery.
Danny Meyer
50, lives in midtown, and is a restaurateur
I guess for me, inevitably, New York is all about food. I love the foodie neighbourhoods best; the Greenmarket on Union Square, where farmers come with their fresh produce and Bleecker Street between 7th Avenue S and 6th Avenue, where you can buy some of the best bread, cheese and meats in the city. Faicco's Pork Store serves fabulous Italian delicacies.
If I want a proper brunch, I head to Dovetail (103 West 77th St; dovetailnyc.com) for elegant cooking, abundant portions and excellent value. For lunch, I'd have to say Union Square Café; (21 East 16th Street; unionsquarecafe.com) - hands up, I own it. Or try Lombardi's (32 Spring Street; firstpizza.com), New York's first pizzeria. For gifts, I never fail to find something in the MoMA Design Store (11 West 55th Street; momastore.org) or Clio in Soho (92 Thompson St, clio-home.com), for beautiful homewares. On a sunny day I head to Madison Square Park; it's a wonderful place to really feel New York; in the shadow of the Flatiron building and the Metlife Clock Tower. And there are few better places to start an evening than with a cocktail at the Algonquin (59 West 44th St; algonquinhotel.com), once home to Dorothy Parker and her circle. The Gramercy Tavern (42 East 20th Street; gramercytavern.com) is a modern take on a traditional New York tavern. For a really top-notch, elegant dinner out it would have to be Daniel (60 E 65th St; danielnyc.com) - dependably refined, with exciting cuisine and gracious hospitality.
Annabelle's verdict:
This is traditional sightseeing territory, combined with a more authentic NYC. The Greenmarket feels slightly surreal - a farmers' market surrounded by skyscrapers, with trestle-tables laden with different varieties of apples, oddly-named potatoes, cheeses and great bunches of chillis. It's an easy walk from here to Madison Square Park before hopping on the subway for lunch at Lombardi's. Try the chopped clams pizza. Cocktails at the Algonquin don't come cheap (around $12), but it's worth it just to watch New York money getting gently sozzled. Dovetail is a world away from an East Village brunch; sleek and slightly mannered.
