Anyone can tick off the Empire State Building. The trick, say a handful of New York tastemakers interviewed by Elite Traveler, is knowing what to do on trip number two — when the greatest-hits list runs dry.
The consensus: swap queueing for access. Hotel concierges can arrange after-hours private tours of the Met or early admission to blockbusters, and some can go further — The Mark's chief concierge Maria Wittorp once secured a visit to a Brooklyn artist's private atelier that doesn't normally welcome guests. Sotheby's is another smart stop: exhibitions rotate constantly, and a specialist-led preview can be tailored to everything from contemporary art to watches and wine. If you'd rather skip the museums entirely, artist Ashley Longshore swears by wandering Tribeca's galleries — uncrowded, often self-representing artists, plus good design shops — while editor Mark Ellwood points to two massive Walter de Maria installations in Soho: Broken Kilometer on Broadway and the New York Earth Room on Wooster Street.
For the skyline itself, forget the observation decks. A private helicopter flight in autumn lifts you over the Hudson Valley when the foliage turns red and gold, taking in the river and historic estates without burning a day in a car. Closer to sea level, The Mark charters one of the last surviving Herreshoff sailboats — a 70-footer — for two-hour summer loops of New York Harbor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten food or Caviar Kaspia on board.
There are quieter pleasures too. The Russian and Turkish Baths in the East Village have been steaming New Yorkers since 1892 — five sauna and steam rooms, a cold plunge, a roof deck, zero polish, in the best way. Car fans can book time at Cooper Classic Cars in the West Village, part garage, part salon, where a specialist walks you through rare and vintage automobiles. And Governor's Island, a five-minute ferry from the tip of Manhattan, has gone from off-limits military outpost to one of the city's best green spaces — rent a bike, grab a drink, and enjoy what Ellwood calls the best land-based view of the Statue of Liberty anywhere.
Then there's the drinking. Dante, a multi-award-winning bar now with an outpost in Nolita, is famous for a martini that blends gin and vodka. Wild Cherry in the West Village is the pick of bartender Carlos Quirarte — order the Coffee Fizz and a burger — and it sits next to a theatre recently bought by A24, handy for an evening stroll through the neighbourhood's boutiques. In Soho, Champers pairs Palomas and pastries with a small shop of entertaining goodies. Most atmospheric of all: The Campbell, hidden inside Grand Central in the former office of 1920s financier John W. Campbell, complete with Gilded Age interiors and a $300,000 Persian rug — a fitting place to finish a very New York day.
The through-line is access and texture over checklist tourism: private viewings, old bathhouses, ferry-hopping and bartender intel. If you've done the icons, this is the version of the city worth flying back for.