Those belting out show tunes might not realize this piano bar marks the site where Thomas Paine died in 1809.

A Ukrainian church canteen doles out hearty fare in an East Village basement.

The best way to get a sneak peek at the movies.

New York City's only radical feminist independent bookstore.

During the holidays, a vintage subway train whisks New Yorkers back in time.

Established in 1937, the oldest candy shop in New York City boasts a rainbow-colored inventory that would make Willy Wonka envious.

A touching tribute to the "Queen of Soul."

Avoid gangster interaction while window-shopping.

A remnant of the original World Trade Center complex continues to serve as a commuter gateway.

The abandoned coal loading dock is a canvas for unsanctioned art.

This charming colonial alleyway is one of the oldest continuously used residential streets in the U.S.

This elaborate towering structure was once famed for its revolutionary height.

The once highest point in China blends symbolic design with a kick of adrenaline.

An out-of-place slice of France, smack in the middle of Shanghai.

A son-and-daughter meat market, hawked by mom and dad.

The most famous location in China was home to whole dynasties worth of imperial rulers.

The remnants of two World's Fairs are here, complete with a 12-story globe, a mini-Manhattan, and a UFO-shaped pavilion.

The crown jewel of the Queens Museum is a nearly 10,000-square-foot architectural model of the city originally built for the 1964 World's Fair.

During the 19th century, you could pay for violence off a prix fixe menu on this Manhattan street.

Wall Street has a new heroine, a bronze statue of a small but fierce girl.

The oldest house in Manhattan is now a museum that remembers the home's sordid history of scandals, vice-presidents, and ghosts.

No monkeying around, this fountain was really named after the classic sci-fi film.

A drawbridge named for a potentially intersex Polish national who fought alongside George Washington during the American Revolution, and an example of "Pulaski Red".

This outdoor gallery of sculptures along the East River was once a landfill.