The Vessel at the Hudson Yards real estate development complex in New York. Photo / Getty Images
The Vessel at the Hudson Yards real estate development complex in New York. Photo / Getty Images
1. VESSEL (TKA)
If you're a budding Instagram influencer, this is the perfect place for you. Vessel (TKA) is a public structure, part of huge Hudson Yards redevelopment project - a huge new real estate development in Chelsea.
The 16-storey interactive artwork consists of 154 flights of stairs, 2500 stepsand 80 landings, with no other purpose than to offer visitors a place to climb and look out over the city ... and pose for that all-important selfie.
Entry is free, but you need to secure a ticket - either book online up to two weeks in advance, or queue up at Hudson Yards on the day of your visit and you'll be allocated a time-slot.
Its name is still a work-in-progress - TKA stands for Temporarily Known As - and visitors have the chance to nominate a permanent name for the structure. Suggestions so far include Hive, Vase, Acorn and Shawarma, the latter because some say it looks a little like a block of kebab meat.
Rooms at the TWA Hotel have a 60s retro vibe and views of the JFK tarmac. Photo / Supplied
2. TWA HOTEL
The plane nerds among us will already have this one on their wishlists - the chance to stay in a former airport building, without having to make like Tom Hanks in The Terminal.
The TWA Flight Center first opened in 1962 at what would become John F Kennedy International Airport, designed for Trans World Airlines by Finnish neo-futuristic architect Eero Saarinen.
The terminal was closed in 2001 after TWA went out of business but the building was saved from demolition in 2005 when the National Park Service added it to the National Register of Historic Places.
The TWA Hotel, a converted airport terminal at New York's JFK airport. Photo / Supplied
Now, after a three-year renovation, the TWA Flight Center is reopening as the TWA Hotel, with 512 guest rooms, 3700sq m of meeting space and a 900sq m observation deck with great views of the departing and arriving planes at JFK.
There's an onsite cocktail bar in a converted TWA plane nicknamed Connie (a Lockheed Constellation L-1649 Starliner, for the plane-spotters), as well as restaurants, a fitness centre, an aviation history museum and a rooftop swimming pool.
It is set to open on May 15, and a stay here is definitely required on your next New York holiday.
Brooklyn's new Domino Park, 6 acres of public space in Williamsburg, New York. Photo / Supplied
3. DOMINO PARK
These days, no trip to New York is complete with a visit to Brooklyn's uber-hip neighbourhood, Williamsburg. The entire borough has undergone huge gentrification and regeneration over recent years and you'll find myriad dining, drinking, shopping and entertainment options.
There's also Domino Park, a 2ha public space along the East River, built on the site of a former sugar refinery. The development opens up this stretch of waterfront to the public for the first time in more than 160 years.
The park features an elevated walkway, a playground, fountains, a manmade beach complete with volleyball courts, an off-leash dog run, a fitness field, bocce court and tacqueria.
It also offers great views of Lower Manhattan, and is the perfect spot for a summer day in the big city.
