There’s a new baguette in town, outstanding and a relative bargain. Chef Eric Ripert and his friend Pierre-Antoine Raberin have opened a new French fast-casual that serves pastries, soups, salads and sandwiches in a bright airy space with a window bar overlooking the street it shares with Le Bernardin and Aldo Sohm Wine Bar.

Like classic brasseries, the room—on the ground floor of the Art Deco International Building—is simultaneously casual and glamorous, with huge windows, high ceilings, a cast-iron bar, jewel tones and chic banquettes. As for the food, it’s caught the attention of critics and might break the bank, but the leeks vinaigrette alone are worth it.

At this pristine little storefront cafe, which bakes its own bread, sandwiches—like a $12 croque monsieur and a $9 country paté with cornichon on baguette—are served to eat in (at a cluster of tables in back) or to take away.

A long, skinny old-school Cuban joint that is all flavor and no fuss. Empanadas are $2.50. Roast chicken with two sides costs $13.

Formerly an Irish place to which Midtowners defaulted for after-work drinks, it’s now a fashionable townhouse boîte where bankers celebrate with $190 seafood platters, art buyers drown their out-bid sorrows over rye-based Night Trains ($21), and well-heeled tourists jockey for position, above the hustle of Sixth Avenue. Book a table on the upper level for a quiet, civilized, low-lit evening plucked from a bygone era.

Daniel Boulud’s latest restaurant, on the second floor of the new One Vanderbilt tower, is a handsome place with moody recessed lighting, a living tropical grove and a French-leaning menu focused on seafood. Pop in for a Martini and caviar at the east-facing bar and gaze out over 42nd Street where it meets Grand Central Terminal and its cast-iron bridge to Park Avenue, a rare glimpse of metropolitan beauty in the concrete jungle.

Elbow in with the coffee snobs at three locations in the bustling West 30s; write home about the chocolate chip cookies.

On the great people-watching drag of 57th Street, this gleaming emporium carries deluxe labels and houses a nail salon, a Drybar, and—amusingly—a cocktail bar in the lower level shoe department, by the UGGs and Birkenstocks.

Swells and dames have flocked to this shop for many years, for cashmere overcoats, tweed jackets, garden party dresses and velvet slip-ons. A storefront sample-sale store just across the avenue offers a revolving inventory of drastically reduced odds, overflow and one-offs.

This Mallorcan family-owned shoemaker has traded in cordovan oxfords and boots since 1866. Its first retail space in the U.S. opened in a chic little atelier around the corner from the Yale Club in 2017.

Renovated and reopened in 2019, the MoMA added 40,000 square feet of gallery space to exhibit its vast collection and mount its blockbuster shows. Timed tickets are $25, but street-level galleries on the expanded ground floor and the lower-level museum shop are free and open to all.

The sculpture garden at the MoMA is well known for its Matisses and Picassos, but duck into Amster Yard at 211 - 215 East 49th Street and you’ll have a shaded little enclave that dates to 1870 to yourself. Designed by Hideo Sasaki in 1971, Greenacre Park at 217 East 51St has a 25-foot high waterfall. And the multi-level atrium garden at The Ford Foundation, 320 East 43rd St, is a tropical oasis made up of 40 species of tree, vine, and shrub, not far from the United Nations.

The art-and-antique auction house’s Rockefeller Center flagship is open to the public, with previews displayed in exhibit rooms and a calendar of live auctions—spectacles worthy of Broadway—throughout the year. The triple-height entranceway on 49th Street with a mural by Sol LeWitt is just the beginning.

The highlight of this Times Square attraction is a flight simulation that gives a bird’s-eye view over New York City. In under 10 minutes, you “fly” by the Statue of Liberty, over marathon runners, down into the subway, alongside the Brooklyn Bridge and among Fourth of July fireworks, and feel ever so slightly dizzy as you come in for a landing.

Immortalized in literature and saved from destruction in the 1970s by Jackie Kennedy Onassis (among others), the Beaux-Arts behemoth is bustling again with commuters, tourists, shoppers and architecture buffs. The Municipal Arts Society of New York offers periodic guided tours, but, really, it’s a marvel to just wander around in.

In August, the recherché hotel brand opened its second “vertical resort” (the first is in Tokyo), transforming Fifth Avenue’s landmarked, gilded Crown Building into an 83-suite hotel, with residences and an exclusive Aman Club (initiation fee: $200,000). Jean-Michel Gathy designed the interiors with soaring ceilings and lighting to flatter the most seasoned among us. The spa is equipped with a 65-foot swimming pool, two restaurants and topped with a garden terrace.

A good jumping-off point on a gritty stretch of West 38th Street, this informal hotel is loaded with small but efficiently designed rooms. Book one on an upper floor with a greenery-festooned terrace for a cinematographer’s view of Manhattan. The place is already showing a bit of wear, but attentive staff and a relaxed vibe forgive the odd ding.

The Wall Street Journal isn't compensated by listed retailers. Hours, pricing and business type are not provided by the Journal.