Unique Things To Do In New York City

An Overview of New York City

New York is one of the most vital and influential cities in the world, shaping culture, leading industries and thriving with some of the world’s most relevant financial centers. The iconic features of the city are dominant in popular culture, with the Empire State Building, Central Park, the Statue of Liberty and Time Square being instantly recognizable in media. As one of the most influential and energetic destinations in the modern world, there are dozens of unique things to do in New York City.

Unique Things To Do In New York City

Dream House

Found in Manhattan, Dream House is a sound and light installation, using sine wave drones and unique lighting instruments. The site creates a surreal immersion experience. Tickets can be found online at the Dream House website.

Evolution Nature Store

The Evolution Nature Store is a museum-styled shop designed after a curiosity cabinet. The shop is filled with scientific trinkets, natural-history-related collectibles and pieces of strange jewelry. The shop is usually easily identifiable by the standing skeletons outside and the numerous standing displays within.

5. Beekman Street

Once known as Temple Court, this beautiful red structure is a beautiful building found in the heart of Manhattan’s financial district. The building was the earliest surviving “fireproof” office building of New York’s pre-skyscraper period. Though the building looks beautiful, it’s completely abandoned. The interior is barren of tenants or décor.

Fizzy Chocolate Egg Cream – New York Styled

This is a classic New York drink created with U-bet chocolate syrup, chilled milk and ice-cold seltzer water. The soda was originally almost exclusively sold in New York, primarily Brooklyn. Now, many eateries and cafés throughout the city sell their own versions of the drink.

The High Line

One of the most popular urban walking trails in the city, this elevated, linear park follows the old New York Central Railroad over the city. The High Line passes several artworks, murals, Vessel and the Hudson Yards shopping center.

Pickle Soft Serve

Sold at Lucky Pickle Dumpling Co., noodles and dumplings are the main items on the menu. However, the restaurant’s most unusual treat is a pickle-flavored soft-serve. The actual treat is made with fresh-pressed cucumber juice a a touch of pickle-juice brine. It’s an unusual treat, even by New York standards.

The SeaGlass Carousel

Found in Battery Park at the southern tip of Manhattan, this beautiful, wavery carousel is filled with curving, fish-like shapes. The entire structure gives attendees a sensation of underwater weightlessness. The ride is best seen at night, when the interior is softly lit with undersea colors.

The Elevated Acre

This is a landscaped astroturf lawn space which sits atop on a plaza space between office high rises. The site provides spectacular views of the East River. The area is a popular lounge space with a lawn, small boardwalk, seasonal beer garden and small, carefully-designed garden spaces.

Lexington Candy Shop

Found in Manhattan, the Lexington Candy Shop is the oldest operational family-owned luncheonette in New York City. The shop, which opened in 1925, stays close to an old-fashioned, informal menu with tuna melts, egg creams and malted milkshakes.

MoMath Museum of Mathematics

The National Museum of Mathematics in Manhattan is a strange museum dedicated to the functional application of mathematics through interactive exhibits. The museum makes use of calculations, square-wheeled tricycles and floor projectors to demonstrate math’s effects in everyday life. The museum is primarily targeted towards children and young adults.

The Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory

This is a popular ice-cream shop with a wide variety of flavors, including choices like lychee, almond cookie, red bean, almond cookie, sesame seeds and more.

Wildlife Freedom Foundation

Otherwise known as the Roosevelt Island Cat Sanctuary, this sanctuary managed by the Wildlife Freedom Foundation protects many felines. For generations, the cats lurked around gardens, walls and sidewalks across the item. The island became an official adoption program with an operational shelter. Now, the fenced-in sanctuary cats can be found lounging or stalking through their island home.

Goldbar

This creative cocktail-and-music lounge places a heavy emphasis on its gold theme, with glittering floors, sparkling chandeliers, shining bar stools and a glinting bar. The walls of the venue are especially interesting, created from stacked golden skulls.

Greenacre Park

This is a publically accessible park found in the Turtle Bay Neighborhood of Manhattan. The small park is a quiet pocket of serenity, most notable for it’s lush, 25-foot waterfall which blocks out most nearby traffic sounds.

Vessel

Vessel is a creatively designed piece of compelling architecture, with various levels spiraling upwards and outwards like a geometric tornado. The attraction was built as part of the Hudson Yards Redevelopment projects and guests are able to walk up the various levels for intriguing views.

High Bridge

The High Bridge is the oldest surviving bridge which now serves as a popular and scenic pedestrian walking route. The bridge originally operated as the centerpiece for the Old Croton Aqueduct, which carried water overtop the Harlem River into Manhattan via pipes. The bridge is easily recognizable in older artworks, as it’s a popular subject for artists and painters.

Mysterious Bookshop

While the location of the Mysterious Bookshop is easy to track down in Lower Manhattan, the stories stocked are compelling enigmas. From floor to ceiling, the shop contains new, used and rare titles, all in the genre of mystery, crime fiction and suspense stories.

The Museum of Interesting Things

This by-appointment-only venue is the brainchild of Denny Daniel, a freelance filmmaker who put his vast collection of functional antique devices on display. The museum contains oddities such as butter churns, crystal radios, ancient fire starters and more. The museum project expanded somewhat, now including The Museum of Interesting Things Secret Speakeasy, which allows guests to enjoy snacks and drinks while overlooking interesting, antiquated gadgets and artifacts.

The Sphere

This monumental cast-bronze sculpture once stood between the Twin Towers on the Austin J. Tobin Plaza of the World Trade Center. However, when the towers fell during the September 11th terrorist attack, the Sphere was miraculously left intact. It was removed from the scene, eventually to be returned as a symbol of the events, marking the resilience, strength and depth of emotion New York and America felt.

Tom’s Restaurant

Tom’s Restaurant is a standard coffee shop which has been proudly serving the residents of New York since the 1940s. The family-owned restaurants became a television icon after many recurring appearances on the classic TV sitcom, Seinfeld.

The Sisyphus Stones

One of the stranger features of New York can be found along the Hudson River Greenway in Fort Washington Park. The area is saturated with standing rocks, delicately balanced atop one another resulting in vaguely humanoid shapes. The stones are held together only by gravity, with no mortar or glue involved. The stones, which are made from shards of a metamorphic rock called Manhattan Schist, were originally stacked by Uliks Gryka. The stacked rocks have become a popular and appreciated feature of the area, with locals often stopping to rebuild them when they fall.

The New York Highlights

While anyone can easily find information on the most prominent attractions in New York City, a brief list of the city’s most iconic features is warranted. This includes The Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Ellis Island, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, Times Square, Grand Central Terminal, the Flatiron Building, Washington Square Park, the Chrysler Building, Madison Square Garden, Coney Island and Broadway.

Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum

This military and maritime history museum is an astonishingly extensive display showcasing the USS Intrepid Aircraft Carrier, the USS Growler Cruise Missile Submarine, a Concorde SST, a Lockheed A-12 and the Space Shuttle Enterprise. The museum can be found at Pier 86 on 46th street.

Harry Potter New York

This is an official Harry Potter flagship store found in New York City, filled with an astonishing number of Harry Potter-themed goods, including wands, Hogwarts House attire, Quidditch gear and more. The location also sells food and drinks, including Butterbeer ice cream

Smallpox Memorial Hospital

This hospital once quarantined victims on Blackwell’s Island (now renamed Roosevelt Island) when smallpox stuck New York in the 1900s. The hospital has largely fallen to ruin, with only its ivy-covered façade intact. The walls have been reinforced to prevent further collapse, so visitors can walk around the area, though local legends state the site is haunted by lingering spirits.

Kaatskill Kaleidoscope

Located a couple of hours north from New York City, the Kaatskill Kaleidoscope (also called the Emerson Kaleidoscope), is the largest kaleidoscope in the world. Located in the rustic community of Mount Tremper, the psychedelic walkthrough space is accompanied by strange, pulsing music.

National Museum of the American Indian

This is a large free-entry museum with Native American artworks, preserved tools, anthropological studies and artifacts extending back for over 12,000 years.

Ghostbusters Headquarters

This 1903 firehouse was made famous as the headquarters of the Ghostbuster team during their high-tech fight against supernatural ectoplasmic enemies. The fire station is located at 14 North Moore Street at its intersection with Varick Street in Manhattan.

The City Reliquary

For fans of New York City and it’s enormous impacts across communities, the City Reliquary is a not-for-profit community museum dedicated to tracing the vibrant and diverse history across the five boroughs.

American Museum of Natural History

This excellent museum showcasing dinosaur skeletons, the wonders of the natural world and compelling creature models and specimens can be found near Central Park in Manhattan.

Edge

This is the among the most famous, vertigo-inducing sky-decks in New York City, with vast panoramas of Manhattan. The platform’s unique angles, glass floors, 100-stories high elevation and daunting reach into the sky makes it one of the best views of the city.

SUMMIT One Vanderbilt

This is one of the most unique things to do in New York City. The multi-sensory immersion experience uses vast interiors of reflective walls and dizzying heights to create mind-bending perceptions of a visitor’s immediate space. The use of transparent building materials and strategically-placed reflections makes an illusion of unlimited space, even while ascending the building.

The National Jazz Museum in Harlem

This museum celebrates and preserves the potent influences of jazz in New York City, with a special focus on Harlem.

New York Chinese Scholar’s Garden, Snug Harbor Cultural Center

This is part of the Staten Island Botanical Garden which specifically displays Chinese-cultural features, including buildings, construction techniques, landscape designs and horticulture. The garden was developed by a team of 40 Chinese artists and artisans from Suzhou.

Prospect Park

This urban park space in Brooklyn is a popular space for it’s walking trails and nearby attritions, including the Brooklyn Museum, Grand Army Plaza and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Outdoor concerts are common in Prospect Park during the summer months.

Greenwood Cemetery

This gorgeous cemetary is filled with well-maintained gravestones and beautiful green spaces. The gravesite is a Revolutionary War Historic Site, as the Battle of Long Island was waged in 1776 before the cemetery was built. The site attracts bird watchers, history buffs and cinephiles who may recognize scenes from films such as The Departed (2006), After Life (2009), John Wick (2014) and many more.

SPYSCAPE

This immersive story-telling experience touches on spy-culture in popular media with laser grids, investigation techniques, espionage history and interactive adventures. The museum is targeted at teens and adults, though there are several features younger children will likely enjoy.

Irish Hunger Memorial

This unique stacked-stone memorial sits atop a slanted park which rises slightly above street level. The memorial was built to raise awareness regarding the devestating famine in Ireland between 1845 and 1852.

Museum of Ice Cream

This is a “selfie museum” where visitors can take pictures within exhibits of ice-cream storefronts, giant foods, candy-themed rooms and more.

Salt Marsh Nature Center

This hidden gem found to the East of Coney island is a beautiful combination of wetlands and grasslands. The marsh area protects native wildlife including marine animals and migratory birds. There are two main hiking trails that wind through the quiet wetlands.

City Hall Station

Also known as City Hall Loop, this is a beautiful abandoned subway station from the early 1900s, built with lit pathways and a hanging chandelier. The station was shut down due to it’s proximity to the Brooklyn Bridge Station.

Mmuseumm

This tiny musuem operates out of a former elevator shaft with an additional wing opened nearby. The museum can be seen by looking in through peepholes at the door. The theme of the venue is “Object Journalism” which aligns “overlooked, dismissed, or ignored” items with modern, exotic or antique displays.

Explorers Club Headquarters

Founded in 1904, Explores Club was an amazing scientific exploration club focused on pushing humans to further, yet-untapped corners of the planet. The Club’s headquarters was a 1910 Jacobean revival mansion filled with research archives, books, animals, unique antiques, musuem objects, 5,000 maps and numerous films.

The The Ford Foundation Building’s Hidden Tropical Forest

Hidden inside an 12 story high office building, there exists a tropical greenhouse with giant trees, dwarf shrubs and garden terraces that lead to bright water pools. The building utalizes a pair of giant glass walls, essentially creating a large-scale tropical greenhouse. Real rainfall, collected on the roof, is converted into steam to maintain the artificial habitat. The garden is open to the public Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 6 PM and Saturday from 11 AM to 6 PM.

Tannen’s Magic Shop

This is New York’s oldest operational magic shop, supplying tricks, tools, illusions and props to magicians since 1925.

Dumbo

Dumbo is an enormously popular series of cobblestone streets and refurbished Brooklyn warehouses. The area is known for it’s independent boutiques, classy restaurants and unique eateries. Located near the waterfront, the area has popular building-framed views of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan skyline.

Brooklyn Superhero Supply Store

This creative store sells eccentric equipment and gear needed for anyone planning on starting a career as a crime fighter. With capes, spandex, particle guns and other novelty gear, this space doubles as a children’s learning center.

House of Wax

This is a wildly unusual late-night watering hole decorated with wax-museum features. The anatomical wax collection, which has morbid, grotesquely accurate and outright entertaining models didn’t originate in Brooklyn. Instead, the collection was last seen in 1920s Berlin, eventually surviving two World Wars to arrive in New York.

Amorphic Robot Works- The Robotic Church

Operating in the former Norwegian Seamen’s Church, this building is stuffed with numerous robotic singing sculptures. Most of the robots are built humanoid, but others tower over 15 feet tall. All robots on display are designed to perform a unique task which creates a specific sound, eventually aligning to create a mechanical musical performance.

George Glazer Gallery

Open by appointment only, this fantastic gallery displays an incredible range of maps, prints, globes and navigation techniques.

Graffiti Hall of Fame

This is a outdoor now-officially sanctioned street-art gallery covered in clean, uniquely professional pieces of art.

Bronx Zoo Bug Carousel

An unusual carousel with giant insects, bees, mantises and beetles instead of the usual horses or mammals.

Kingsland Wildflowers

A thriving rooftop meadow space hidden in one of Brooklyn’s heavily industrialized urban neighborhoods. The unique meadow is a habitat for birds, bats and bugs which would otherwise struggle to live on the contaminated banks of the nearby creek.

Read more about unique things to do in New York City and seeing the world by visiting Leftfade Trails Destination Info.

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