Chelsea

Chelsea is where New York put its contemporary art and then built a park on an old freight line above it. The galleries came from SoHo in the 1990s, took the cheap warehouse space west of Tenth Avenue, and stayed. Walking into them is free, nobody will bother you, and Thursday evenings are when the openings happen.

The green space is the reason most people come. The High Line runs a mile and a half along the old elevated railway, planted to look like the wild growth that took over the tracks after the trains stopped. Go early or at sunset, because the middle of a summer afternoon is shoulder to shoulder. At the southern end, Little Island sits on concrete tulips in the Hudson, free, with a small amphitheater and real hills. Below that, Hudson River Park runs down the whole waterfront, and Chelsea Waterside Park has the playground.

Chelsea Market fills an old Nabisco factory where the Oreo was invented, and it is crowded for good reason. Eat there, or walk two blocks inland where the prices drop.

The Whitney sits at the bottom of the High Line in the Meatpacking District, with outdoor terraces stacked over the river, and it is free on Friday evenings from 5 to 10pm, though you still need a ticket.