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.

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...

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.

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.

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...

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...

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,...

There are some NYC hotels that have, over time, become synonymous with the city itself. The Carlyle is one of those New York grand dames that still manages to feel as relevant today as when it first opened in 1930. The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel, (its official name) has a prime location in the center of the elegant Upper East Side. Located a block from Central Park, its central tower can be seen throughout the neighborhood—as intrinsically a part of the upscale area as the flowers of Park Avenue.  A large part of what’s helped maintain this hospitality icon’s relevance has been its charming, idiosyncratic public venues: Bemelmans Bar, Café Carlyle and—more recently—Dowling’s at the Carlyle. During a recent stay, I was most looking forward to being able to drop in to experience these classic New York spots without having to step outside. (Especially since it happened to be downpouring that night.)  With 192 rooms and suites, there is a wide array of options for a night here. We stayed in an Upper East Side Suite which had a separate sleeping area as well as a full kitchen—perfect for those interested in a longer stay. The minimal, Art Deco design felt both modern and timeless. Meanwhile, the full (but quite tiny) kitchen was a useful touch that made our time here feel more like a home away from home than a hotel stay—one of The Carlyle’s superpowers. Another big bonus of a night here is hopping into one of the historic gold-trimmed elevators and soaring up to your throwback...

Back in 1916, Abraham Orwasher opened up a pint-sized bakery in the Upper East Side. It bore his name and was planted in an area once coined as "Little Hungary." There, Orwasher supplied the neighborhood with kosher goods, baking loaves out of coal ovens tucked away in the basement. The bakery became a neighborhood institution, carried forward by three generations. But in 2007, the family sold the bakery to Keith Cohen, who comes from a line of bakers. Fears of changing the bakery for good were quickly assuaged as Cohen continues the legacy of the Orwasher family while introducing artisan breads for the modern-day era. Now three locations sit under the Orwashers umbrella, with the 109-year-old bakery standing strong in the UES. The Orwashers of today continue to sell goods made popular by the founder, including loaves of pumpernickel and rye bread and sourdough bagels. Cohen's influence is clear, as baguettes and whole wheat loaves line the walls behind the counter at the original shop. The pastry window gleams with a mix of worlds as rugelach and black-and-white cookies sit next to sugar-dusted morning buns and croissants that burst open with crunchy pistachio phyllo. 

Founded in Soho in 1996, Marianne Boesky Gallery migrated to Chelsea in 2005, taking up an elegant purpose-built space right next to the High Line. After opening and closing venues on both the Upper and Lower East Side, Boesky re-consolidated her operation at her Chelsea shop, adding an annex—Boesky East—next door. She also operates a space in Aspen, Colorado. Throughout her career, Boesky has exhibited a mix of established, mid-career and emerging artists that includes such high-profile names as Frank Stella and John Waters.