At 88 East 111th Street sits Contento, one of the city’s newest restaurant gems. Apart from warm, contemporary décor with black nailhead trim chairs, an exposed brick wall, and the much-raved-about Peruvian-with-an international-sensibility menu—the New York Times, Esquire, The Infatuation, and others, listed it on their “best of” restaurants for 2021—you’ll love Contento because it is one of the few truly inclusive restaurants in the city. Due to spinal cord injuries, two of Contento’s co-founders are paraplegic, and so have created a space where people with disabilities can feel at home. In the 36-seater dining room, higher tabletops and a split-level bar counter form a wide aisle, all of which are designed to comfortably accommodate wheelchairs. Consideration for wheelchair-bound patrons is also reflected in spacious touchless bathrooms with sinks and toilets positioned lower for easier access. Adaptive stainless-steel utensils are available upon request for those with a neurological condition and menus are available both in braille, and with a QR code that can read the menu to a patron with affected sight.

Established over 20 years ago, Parsons' Donghia healthier Materials Library located at The New School, just south of Union Square, was created as an academic resource to help the school’s students, faculty, and NYC’s greater design community choose healthier, more responsible materials. Designers are able to directly interact with the library’s wealth of curated samples–like the versatile Hemp plant used to make everything from textiles to concrete alternatives–that have positive effects on the environment and human health. The end-goal–an introduction and use of more sustainable products. As a part of the Parsons' Healthy Materials Lab, the Library’s materials collection is kept informed by the Lab’s continuous research.

Comfortably nestled between the northeast corner of Central Park and Duke Ellington Circle, perched atop Fifth Avenue’s Museum Mile, is The Africa Center, an institution whose mission is to advance the world’s understanding of Africa and its Diaspora through activities like exhibitions, conferences, performances, screenings, lectures, and diplomatic meetings. Occupying the first three levels of One Museum Mile—a 2018 Robert A.M. Stern mixed-use building— The Center’s interiors and terrace designed by Caples Jefferson Architects, echoes its mission with designated areas for research and public engagement. A multi-purpose atrium with white interiors that reflects the natural light flowing in from multi-windowed park-facing walls, forms at the lobby of the 70,000-square-foot facility. A theater, gallery spaces, dining room, and The Center’s policy institute, occupy the second and third levels. A large, uncovered, west-facing terrace provides spectacular views of Central Park and New York City. The Africa Center is one of the city’s largest publicly accessible, no-cost cultural spaces.

Bronx Native is a retail space devoted to Bronx-themed apparel, art and media that was created to showcase the rich history and culture of the Bronx. Siblings Amaurys and Roselyn Grullon founded the shop to expose the borough's strength, beauty, and ambition and has become an icon of culture and community support. Every wall of the boutique is "taggable", allowing customers to make their mark on the store, and the space is often host to events like Open Mic nights. In addition to their local fame, the shop also has a broader following, leading to partnerships with well-known figures like New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and large companies like Netflix.

Located to the immediate south of Madison Square Park with its salient form and striking presence, the 22-story, triangular-shaped Flatiron Building creates a unique sense of place within the Flatiron District and is one of New York City’s most recognizable buildings. Completed in 1902, the National Historic Landmark was one of the city’s first skyscrapers and the world’s first steel-framed skyscraper. Architects Daniel Burnham and Frederick Dinkelberg designed the building to fit into its unique triangle-like footprint, formed by the intersection of Broadway and Fifth Avenue at 23rd Street. The building’s Beaux-Arts façade starts off with limestone at the base and changes to glazed white terracotta as it rises. Currently, the Flatiron Building is undergoing interior modernization, with design work being done by historic building experts Beyer Blinder Belle. The aim is to achieve LEED Platinum status. Many blockbuster movies have featured the Flatiron Building, including Godzilla and Spiderman.

Since its founding in 1981, Kenny Greenberg's studio Krypton Neon has been an integral part of the Long Island City cultural landscape with its reputation as the undisputed neon studio for Broadway stage productions, Hollywood films, and significant museums and their collections. In addition to creating neon art and working with artists, creative teams, and businesses, Greenberg has exhibited his work in Socrates Sculpture Park, The Hudson River Museum, Flushing Town Hall, and other public venues. The studio space itself offers an eclectic mix of glass blowing work stations, high vacuum processing equipment, vintage and modern neon signs and art, and ongoing works. Visitors can occasionally experience a hands-on neon making workshop within the working neon studio that introduces them to designing, heating and bending glass tubing as a starting point for creating a unique work of light. The studio's convenient location near the Long Island City waterfront lets it draw inspiration from its diverse neighbors, including landscape designers, shop designers, photographers, musicians, sound studios, producers, lighting companies, and galleries, placing it in one of New York's thriving artistic hubs.

Poster House, the country’s first poster museum, recognizes the often overlooked “poster” as art, cultural artifact, information disseminator, and commercial instrument. Poster House aims to improve design literacy among the public using their ever-growing permanent collection, temporary exhibitions, and other educational events. Poster House began operating in 2019 at 119 West 23rd Street. The ten-story building, constructed around 1901 by The National Cloak Company, housed several publishing firms; stationers and mail-order companies; novelty manufacturers; and the now defunct, but previously popular Tekserve, over the years. The museum’s 14,500 square feet of space includes a through-block storefront and a cellar of the same length. The street level space makes use of extant exposed brick, barrel vaults, and cast iron columns and is divided into a café and a thoroughfare from 23rd to 24th Streets on the west side, and galleries to the east.

Occupying a linear storefront space on Spring Street in New York’s Nolita neighborhood, Wayan is an all-day, full-service restaurant led by chef Cedric Vongerichten and his wife, Ochi. Designed by Rockwell Group, the 2,000 square feet space displays a "tropical-meets-downtown vibe" with design elements inspired by Southeast Asia incorporated throughout. The restaurant offers modern Indonesian cuisine with a French flair as an ode to Ochi's Indonesian heritage and Cedric's classic French techniques. The restaurant’s entry façade features oxidized copper glazing, batik screen detailing, and an authentic Indonesian wood service door. Once inside, guests are welcomed by a light and airy space with white-washed brick walls and a wooden ceiling with details such as the batik-patterned coconut shell and glass globe fixtures. Upon entering the rear dining room, guests are welcomed by authentic carved wood pieces from Indonesia with double-sided, daybed-style banquettes with low backs to encourage a more social atmosphere–just the way New Yorkers like it.

With a working mission to grow creative brands with ethical roots, RUX Studios strives to design a better world one company at a time. The studio’s first brand, Stickbulb, is an award-winning lighting brand founded in 2012 that makes lighting systems from wood by locally sourcing material from old water towers, fallen trees, demolished buildings, and sustainably managed forests to build their modular LED fixtures by hand. The studio’s second brand, Gradual, is on a mission to retell the story of time through the creation of objects that shift perspective and widen frames of reference. Designed by the founding studio, the first-ever Stickbulb showroom is located in the booming Long Island City neighborhood. The gallery is part of a 10,000 square foot space with a design studio and production facility all under one roof. The building’s industrial details, textured terracotta walls, and weathered wooden floors have been offset with the brand’s creative, modern LED fixtures. Through breaks in the panels, visitors can glimpse Stickbulb fixtures being assembled, raw lumber being hauled, and hear the occasional rip of a bandsaw.