My favourite spot in New York is on Roosevelt Island, which you might call one of NYC’s well-kept secrets. It’s a narrow spit of land right in the middle of the East River, between Manhattan and Long Island. Back in the day, it was a lively, happening place, which simultaneously housed a prison, a smallpox hospital, and a Lunatic Asylum (that’s what it was actually called!). Now, it’s a boring residential neighbourhood, where moms with strollers roam numerous parks and the waterfront walk, which goes along the whole of the island’s perimeter. On the Manhattan-facing side of the island, there is this little wooden boardwalk called Eleanor’s Pier. The nearby Starbucks is using it as its patio area. So the pier is dotted with tables and chairs, making it, in my humble opinion, the best place in NYC to sit down and sip your coffee. You get to enjoy the Manhattan skyline and the intricate steel laces of the Queensboro Bridge, the most beautiful of all New York bridges, if you ask me. It gets especially magical in the dark, when the city lights reflect in the water of the East River. I used to spend quite a bit of time at that spot, because I lived on the island, just a couple of blocks away from here. Some of the pictures I’ve taken in between the sips are collected in this gallery.
