The Secret Spots Most Tourists Miss (But Shouldn't) in New York City

While many tourists come to New York to see the top sights and monuments, what really gets people excited once they arrive are the secrets, the hidden gems that take a bit of researching, peering around corners, and sneaking through unmarked doors to find. New York is full of these — if you keep an eye open for hints of history and mystery.

Most of these clandestine spots are found only on foot. So step off your tour bus, get off the beaten path, and discover a different kind of New York City.

You never know what (or who) is around the corner in New York City. (Photo: Jeff Dobbins)

1. Cemeteries where you would least expect them — You may not know it, but there are graveyards right in the middle of some of Manhattan’s most populated neighborhoods. The First Shearith Israel Graveyard in Chinatown on St. James Place belongs to the nation’s oldest Jewish congregation, which also has graveyards between brownstones on West 11^th Street and across from Trader Joe’s on 21^st Street & Sixth Avenue.

The East Village has two Gothic graveyards: New York Marble Cemetery on Bowery and New York City Marble Cemetery on East Second Street and First Avenue. Both contain underground vaults, and the one on First Avenue originally held President James Monroe when he died in New York, until he was subsequently moved to Richmond, Va.

In Washington Heights, Trinity Cemetery has sprawling hilly grounds with leafy trees reminiscent of Père Lachaise in Paris. Among its ancient tombstones and mausoleums are 19^th-century celebrities like James Audubon, Clement Clark Moore (author of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas), and Charles Dickens’ son. Ed Koch had a tombstone placed there years before his recent passing.

2. Mews with views — “Mews” is a British term meaning an area of stables and small carriage houses, and in New York they date to the 19^th century or earlier. These were frequently converted into swanky apartments due to their secluded alleys in desirable areas. Explore the publicly accessible Washington Mews off Fifth Avenue just north of Washington Square, one of New York’s largest collections of Greek Revivals, and once artist studios used by Gaston Lachaise, Paul Manship, and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. The adjacent MacDougal Alley off MacDougal Street was once inhabited by Jackson Pollock, and nearby Patchin Place on West 10^th Street features New York’s last functioning gas lamp. Sniffen Court, between Lexington and Third Avenue, was the shooting location for The Doors’ Strange Days album cover in 1967.

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We promise this spot will inspire you. (Photo: Jeff Dobbins)

3. Salmagundi Club — Since 1871 this historic Greenwich Village mansion has been the private gathering place of renowned artists like William Merritt Chase, Howard Pyle, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and Louis Comfort Tiffany, making it one of the oldest art organizations in the United States. Located at 47 Fifth Avenue, the Victorian club is filled with works and personal effects of great American artists. Its galleries, exhibits, lectures, art classes, painting demonstrations, and art auctions are open to the public. Visit next month during the American Masters exhibit, and you’ll have the opportunity to buy art from 40 of North America’s preeminent artists.

4. Irish Hunger Memorial — Located at the end of Vesey Street in Battery Park City and overlooking the Hudson River, this memorial is a 19^th-century Irish cottage, complete with stones, earth, and vegetation shipped all the way from western Ireland to commemorate An Gorta Mor (“The Great Hunger”). The famine led to a million Irish deaths in the mid-19^th century and caused many Irish to seek new lives in the United States.

A ballroom fit for a ship. (Photo: Jeff Dobbins)

5. Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons — A nondescript building on West 23rd Street is the city’s Grand Masonic Lodge. It includes several floors of ceremonial meeting rooms, each with a different theme. The ballroom of the Titanic inspired the lodge’s grand ballroom. The lodge is open for tours that share the history, philosophy, and practices of the mysterious Masons.

6. Bohemian New York — Describing itself as “a secret hide-out for grownups,” this Tokyo import boasts some of the most authentic Japanese cuisine in the city, along with an intriguing reservation process. Even if you find the phone number for this elusive restaurant, simply calling won’t do. You’ll need a reference, which will be checked; however, first-timers can email the restaurant for an introduction that might lead to a reservation. Then navigate your way to a NoHo butcher shop at 57 Great Jones Street, where you’ll be ushered through a back corridor to the restaurant. Dine on the six-course tasting menu by chef Kiyo Shinoki (restaurant also serves à la carte) in a modernist space once owned by Andy Warhol and where Jean-Michel Basquiat kept his studio.

7. Morris-Jumel Mansion — A beautifully preserved 18^th-century mansion in Hamilton Heights that served as George Washington’s headquarters during the Revolutionary War. You can tour the restored period rooms or attend one of the mansion’s many cultural events. Across the street is Sylvan Terrace, a cobblestone lane (and another mew), lined by uniform 19^th-century wooden houses. It was recently a set location for Boardwalk Empire.

Related: A Savvy Tourist’s Guide to the Real New York City

8. Go underneath the New York Public Library — This landmark was once the site of Croton Reservoir, a 4-acre aboveground reservoir located at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, and a favorite spot for strolls for the likes of Edgar Allan Poe. Though it was torn down in the late 19^th century, few people are aware that sections of the reservoir can still be found beneath the monumental library. Follow the marble staircase in the South Court to the library’s basement lecture hall, and you’ll find the well-preserved stone walls of the reservoir running across from the stairs to the foundation of the hall.

Not the inside of your average museum (Photo: Walks of New York)

9. Museum at Eldridge Street — The Eldridge Street Synagogue, once one of the greatest synagogues in New York, was virtually abandoned after the Great Depression. The building underwent a 20-year, $18.5 million restoration process, reopening as a museum in December 2007. Many New Yorkers are yet unaware of the sheer grandeur and beauty inside this 19^th-century Herter Brothers masterpiece, now home to the Museum at Eldridge Street. Though the museum is still an active Orthodox synagogue, it’s open to the public and visitors can hear the story of its deterioration and rebirth as a center of Jewish culture on guided hourly visits from local historians.

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The Hell’s Kitchen Farm Project cultivates plants and vegetables in kiddie pools on a rooftop. (Photo: Hell’s Kitchen Farm Project)

10. Rooftop Farms — The city has several elevated farms with incredible views. Brooklyn’s Eagle Street Rooftop Farm on 44 Eagle Street in Greenpoint is a 6,000-square-foot organic vegetable garden that hosts a seasonal farmers’ market. There’s also the Hell’s Kitchen Farm Project, the Whole Foods Rooftop Greenhouse in Gowanus, Brooklyn, and Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farms, which operates the city’s largest bee yard and a weekly market. All welcome visitors and have volunteer programs, classes in urban farming, private tours, or fresh produce for sale.

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Jeff Dobbins and Stephen Oddo represent sightseeing tour company Walks of New York. They offer a variety of walking tours in various New York hot spots, including the Lower East Side, Financial District, Chelsea’s High Line, Midtown, and the Met Museum. They also offer a Greenwich Village food tour in collaboration with chef Mario Batali.