Two-room suites are the secret to traveling with kids, and the Chatwal has eight of them, including the Director Suite, a penthouse with mica-flecked marble bathrooms, a full-size dining table, and leather-wrapped furniture that has serious “Mad Men” vibes. Request baby amenities with your stay, and the staff will deliver a tiny tub, a giant rubber ducky, and a baby bath kit from C.O. Bigelow.

Ace Hotels have such a Brooklyn vibe that it’s kind of shocking there wasn’t one in the borough before this location opened in July 2021. Pretend the lobby bar is your exceptionally cool living room and order a Dorothy cocktail, with gin, plum liqueur, and sherry, then head back to your room to put on the exceptionally comfy boxing-style robe and check out the vinyl selection. It’s like you live here!

According to Anthony Bourdain, the Upper West Side standby Barney Greengrass serves “the best breakfast in the universe.” Go for a bagel with scallion cream cheese and paprika-dusted Pacific sable.

This is the largest private mixed-use real estate project in U.S. history, opened in March of 2019. It’s now a fully operational mini-neighborhood of multimillion-dollar condos, tony restaurants, and stores for people who own private jets.

All’Antico Vinaio is the first U.S. outpost of a Florence shop famous for fat, juicy, square sandwiches—real two-handers—stuffed with delicately sliced meats (porchetta, salami, mortadella), rich cheeses, and unusual spreads, like truffle and pistachio creams.

Located in midtown Manhattan, Bryant Park is basically the backyard of the Main Branch of the New York Public Library. In the summertime, the park has weekly Picnic Performances—free dance, opera, music, and plays for people to enjoy while noshing on a takeout dinner. In winter, an ice skating rink offers fun for all ages.

Pebble Bar is a rare New York City spot that is both exactly what it used to be and something entirely new. The bar is a revival of a classic’s classic, a landmark so New York that its reopening attracted Mark Ronson, Jason Sudeikis, and Pete Davidson as investors. Today, it feels like a tastefully appointed private club, with drinks like the Kerouac daiquiri (two kinds of rum, lime, and demerara, served in a delicate Champagne coupe).

From afar, it looks like something out of a Studio Ghibli film—like if you got up close you’d find out it was actually animated. Little Island is small but lives up to its promise, with fairy-tale-worthy glades and meandering stairwells. Stomp on the grid of metal plates called “dance chimes” and take pictures of the skyline.

Fotografiska is a photography museum imported from Sweden that opened at the end of 2019. It’s in the rambling 1890s Church Missions House and is as much a community center as it is a museum. “It’s sort of a 360 experience,” executive director Sophie Wright says. “We have the café where people come and meet in the mornings. We’ve got evening events upstairs. You can have wine here before going to the exhibitions.” The idea is that photography is a living art, and you should enjoy it that way.

At the 2022 James Beard Awards, the judges nominated the New Mexican breakfast burrito joint, Ursula, in Brooklyn as one of the best new restaurants in the country. There may be a line when you arrive at Ursula in Crown Heights, but it will move quickly, and you’ll soon have your hands on chewy burritos, their exteriors toasted to a light crunch, their interiors stuffed with fluffy eggs and hash browns plus bacon and New Mexico’s famous green chile sauce.

The BBG has an exhibition of artsy birdhouses on display. Be sure to check out the birdhouse in the Children’s Garden, designed to look like a corner bodega by Brooklyn artist Olalekan Jeyifous.

A 15-minute subway ride from the Botanic Garden, Threes Brewing sits like an oasis in the cracked concrete of Gowanus, and it’s packed with treats for weary parents: a backyard, bathrooms, cheeseburgers, and beer.