16 Quirky (and Wonderful) New York City Spots

By Adam Guy

I can already sense the controversy: “What do you mean, ‘quirky’?  Is this like hidden gems or secrets or just plain weird stuff you find while wandering the city? The answer is: Yes! I want to share some of those unusual or special or hard-to-find or extraordinary spots in the city that aren’t the Empire State Building or Central Park or New York Stock Exchange… but that make New York City the wonderful and, yes, sometimes quirky city that it is!

There are loads of these kinds of places or points of interest. Their “quirkiness” is entirely in the eye of the beholder. Please enjoy them for what they are and maybe check a few of them out in person while visiting NYC.

1. Greenwich Locksmiths (56 7th Avenue S near Morton Street)

This tiny triangle-shaped store called Greenwich Locksmiths in the West Village. At only 125 square feet, only two people can fit into it. Fortunately, only two need to fit -- father and son Phil and Phil Jr. Mortillaro. Phil Sr. bought the property in 1980 for $20,000. (It was built in 1921 as a tire repair shop.)

Apart from its distinctive size, Greenwich Locksmiths has become famous in the neighborhood for a whimsical metal mosaic that covers the store’s front facade. It is a latticework of approximately 10,000 keys that Mortillaro Sr. completed in 2010. Partially inspired by Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night,” he spent a year creating it — melding each key together, one at a time.

2. Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. (372 5th Avenue between 5th and 6th Streets in Park Slope)

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s YOU! Want to become a superhero, but need all the necessary powers, gears, and accessories to complete your identity? Look no further than the

Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. Here you can “buy” inevitability, find power vests, or get X-ray vision glasses.

The best part is the secret lair in the back of the store where they run 826NYC, a non-profit that teaches young people how to tap into their imaginations through the power of writing. They offer after-school classes and workshops year-round for young children and teens. (I LOVE THIS!)

3. Shinran Shonin Statue (332 Riverside Drive between 105th and 106th Streets)

Located along Riverside Drive in the Upper West Side, you’ll find this impressive figure staring down at you. It’s the SHINRAN SHONIN STATUE outside of the New York Buddhist Church. Prior to this being its home, the Statue stood outside of a temple in Hiroshima, Japan in 1945.

According to the website Atlas Obscura, “the statue stood only 1.5 miles from the center of the atomic blast that decimated 70 percent of the buildings in Hiroshima and took the lives of 150,000 people. Amazingly, the statue emerged from the explosion unscathed, still standing guard at the burning temple.”

4. Mystery Townhouse in Brooklyn Heights (58 Joralemon Street)

What’s with those blacked out windows, that giant steel panel at the bottom, and unwelcoming front door? Well, it’s not a house at all; not anymore at least. Built in 1847 as a private residence, this building is now just a façade. Inside you’ll find an entranceway to get to the 4/5 subway train that runs well beneath the street. The townhouse serves as both ventilator for the subway as well as an access point in the event of an emergency. But you’d never know this as it blends in seamlessly into the neighborhood. Cool, huh?

5. Randel’s Bolt (Somewhere in Central Park. It’s a secret!)

Why is this metal spike sticking out of a rock so amazing? I’m glad you asked.

From 1808 to 1810, John Randel, Jr. placed nearly 1,000 of these metal bolts at various potential intersections in Manhattan - hacking through the unkempt farmland with an ax. The bolts mapped out the plan that would turn Manhattan’s streets and avenue into the “grid” formation it is today. The city plan eventually changed to include Central Park, Most of the bolts were removed during construction. This hidden bolt is one of the only ones that still exists. Good luck finding it among Central Park’s 843 acres. I’ll never tell. (Central Park doesn't like to reveal the location for fear of theft.)

6. Broken Kilometer (393 W Broadway near Spring Street)

What the…? Yes. It’s a room in SoHo with 500 two-meter long brass rods on the floor, and that’s it. This fascinating installation by artist Walter Di Maria was created in 1979. According to the Dia Foundation, the arts organization supporting the work, “each rod is placed such that the spaces between the rods increase by 5mm with each consecutive space, from front to back; the first two rods of each row are placed 80mm apart, the last two rods are placed 580 mm apart.”

It's meaning… maybe it’s about stillness or the military or independence. Di Maria didn’t offer much of an explanation. So, It’s up to you to decide what it means.

7. Freeman’s Alley. (off Rivington Street between Chrystie and Bowery)

Ages ago, this narrow little passageway served as a breadline for the Bowery Mission. The Mission is still nearby, but no longer accessible to the Alley. Today, muralists and graffiti artists use the corridor as a vibrant canvas on which to showcase their artistic talents. There’s fresh works created all the time, so frequent visits are a must.

At the end of Freeman’s Alley sits Freeman’s Restaurant, a delicious eatery specializing in American colonial-style food. Oh, and Taylor Swift dined here for her 34th birthday (2023) before heading out to a nightclub downtown. For the record, I ate there YEARS BEFORE she ever did. Just saying…

8. Fishs Eddy (889 Broadway at 19th Street)

This is one of my favorite New York-y stores. Fishs Eddy, located in the Flatiron District, has been selling mix-and-match dishes and tableware for more than 35 years. The store is eclectic, humorous, charming, and one-of-a-kind. I take visitors here all the time, and everyone loves it. Don't believe me? Ask the dishes. They can sing, they can dance… (You know the song...)

9. Staple Street Bridge (9 Staple Street between Jay and Harrison Streets)

Staple Street Skybridge in Tribeca is one of the last skybridges left in New York City and feels like a secret when you notice it up in the alley-like corridor. Built in 1907, this industrial-

era gem was originally designed to connect two buildings. One building was New York Hospital’s House of Relief on Hudson St., an emergency hospital from 1875-1919, and the other next door on Jay St., which welcomed horse-drawn ambulances and housed the laundry facilities.

Today, the Skybridge is a part of the unusual home connecting a townhouse on one side and a loft condo on the other. The combined properties, including the landmarked skybridge, sold in 2022 for an astounding $24,000,000.

10. Star of David Becomes a Camera Shutter (58-60 Rivington Street between Allen and Eldridge Streets)

The Lower East Side building you see here was once a synagogue for Polish and Romanian Jews during the 1900s. (George and Ira Gershwin worshipped here.) It closed in 1976 due to changing demographics of the neighborhood. The black grilles on the rose window you see once formed a Star of David.

Hale Gurland, an artist and photographer, eventually purchased the building to serve as his creative studio and residence. Gurland made several alterations to the facade, including the rearrangement of the rose window’s Star of David frame into the shutter lens of a camera. One might say it’s a clever way to mark the sign of the times.

11. Museum of Nostalgia (31-27 31st Street and 31st Avenue in Astoria, Queens)

PAC-MAN, FURBY, CASSETTE TAPES, SPEAK & SPELL, GREMLINS, THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL. For those of a certain generation, these names will either give you the “heebie jeebies” or wash you with warm memories. Either way, you can see these items of the past assembled in one place – the MUSEUM OF NOSTALGIA! The Museum of Nostalgia is part museum and toy part store. 

Owners Phebe Taylor and Jeff Zappala have amassed a huge number of collectible toys from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and beyond, filling their Astoria apartment floor-to-ceiling. The duo’s appearance on HGTV show "Cash in the Attic," prompted them to turn their hobby into the business.

At the Museum, you can peruse a curated room of vintage toys and memorabilia. You can also shop for classic collectibles like Care Bears, Monchhichi, and Star Wars figurines, or even play a few games of Ms. Pac-Man on a classic arcade machine. 

12. S’MAC (197 1st Avenue at East 12th Street)

S’MAC is a restaurant in the East Village that only sells macaroni and cheese!! But about 12 different types. They’re all seriously delicious. The one in the photo is the Parisienne. It has creamy brie, roasted figs, roasted shiitake mushrooms, and fresh rosemary. Uh-mazing! S’MAC is a special spot only locals know about. Now you do, too!

13. Transit Museum (99 Schermerhorn Street at Boerum Place)

One of the most fascinating yet overlooked museums in New York is the Transit Museum located in downtown Brooklyn. It houses train cars from the earliest days of the subway to the present, as well as exhibits on how transit evolved in the city. The museum is in a working subway station. Several times a year they offer “nostalgia” rides, where people can traverse the city in the old cars. Riders often dress up for the adventure. 

This may not qualify as “quirky” per se. But it’s unique to NYC for sure, and this is my way of sneaking in a plug for my favorite museum in NYC. (You should visit.)

14. Gramercy Park (13 Gramercy Park South at East 20th Street)

    
    

Why does this well-known NYC park make the list? It’s the LAST PRIVATE PARK in Manhattan and only the residents of the 39 buildings directly surrounding the park can access it. That’s pretty quirky, right? (Yes, some say elitist. Argue later, please.)

Not to make you too jealous, but I got my hands on a key once. It was like holding a golden ticket to the Wonka Factory. To be clear. I only had the key for about 10 minutes. I frolicked inside the park with my friend Jody, who “arranged” the visit thanks to a membership she has at a nearby club and left soon after.

Once a year, on Christmas Eve, they do open to the public for a few hours to let riff raff like me in. But normally it’s a fortress. In fact, you need the key to get both in and out.

15. Pillow Cat Books (328 East 9th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues)

Totes adorbs, right? (Do the kids still say that?) Well, Pillow Cat Books IS adorable. How could a store dedicated to all things animals not be? I’m not talking about veterinary medical books here. Titles include everything from Paddington and Snoopy to Kurt Vonnegut’s Galapagos and George Orwell’s Animal Farm. There are books about fashion animals and imaginary animals. They have photography books of animals, works about cats and elephants and even rats. I only wish they used animal sound effects for when the shop door opened to announce visitors. One for the suggestion box perhaps.

16. Holographic Studios (240 East 26th Street between 2nd & 3rd Avenues)

My friend Jenn and I stumbled upon the Holographic Studios on 26th Street in the Kips Bay neighborhood. It’s a store/museum/studio all about holograms. Apparently, it is the world’s oldest gallery of holography.

It was hard to tell what to make of it when we went in. It felt like we were trapped in 1984. There was a man in a lab coat talking to two people about the science of holograms. Turns out that it was a tour!

What I didn’t understand was that the place was one small room. And they were on an hour long tour?!?! The man in the lab coat – a total New York Character – was Dr. Laser! DR. LASER! They offer hologram production, gifts and art, classes, tours, lecture services, consulting, rentals, laser effects for film and photography, and internships.

We loved it. Loved that we found it. Loved that it exists. Loved how quirky it felt. And yep, we’ll be back, maybe even to take a tour.

These are just 16 quirky NYC spots. This list could have been 65 of them in a heartbeat. That’s what’s great about New York City. I love the Brooklyn Bridge and the High Line and Charging Bull. All of those iconic and historic places are “must see” for sure. But, if you really want to get at the character of this amazing city, be sure to seek out and appreciate some gems like the above.

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Hopefully you’ll want to see some quirky NYC stuff and characters (besides me) on a tour WITH me! I would love to show your family or group some of NYC’s iconic and off-the-beaten path neighborhoods, as well as hidden gems like these. I Know A Guy NYC Tours offers private, personal, and fun adventures around the city. Lots of guests have enjoyed the experience See what they had to say! 

Have any more questions for me?  Ask away! E-mail me at aguy@iknowaguy.nyc or send me a note on Facebook or Instagram.  It’ll actually be ME (not a bot) who responds. I’ve also written a series of other helpful blogs, which may have the answer you're looking for. There’s one about buying Broadway tickets, another about visiting the Statue of Liberty, one about how to use the NYC subway, and many more.

Thanks for reading this blog! If you would like to chat about your upcoming trip and possible tour ideas, please contact me at aguy@iknowaguy.nyc or 404-915-9901 I'm quite friendly!

© All photos by Adam Guy