Upper East Side, New York City

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Inaugurated in 1991, the Islamic Cultural Center of New York is the city's first purposefully built mosque. The building is very cubic and geometric, and is complete with a minaret, a dome and even faux muqarnas decorations. The design was the work of the well-known Chicago-based firm, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. The firm has been around for decades and is responsible for designing numerous landmark buildings around the world, including Burj Khlifa in Dubai. As the name indicates, the mosque serves as both a mosque and a cultural centre for the Moslem community of New York.

My friend and I were going to the Guggenheim and walked past this cute little cafe called the Heavenly Rest Stop on 5th Avenue. We poked our heads in and decided to stay for a bite to eat because everything looked so yummy! My friend had a quiche (which was exceptional) and I had a chocolate croissant and a cappuccino. We ended up talking to the girl behind the counter for awhile and another traveler (from Sweden) about other things to do in the area. (We actually came back in the late afternoon and enjoyed a glass of wine and some people watching before returning to our hotel) It was the highlight of our day and is one of those places you hope to find when you're traveling to a big city and want to avoid the typical Starbucks or touristy places. If I was greedier, I'd keep it to myself but since I get so many good tips from everybody here, I had to pass it on. Enjoy!

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This stunning, imposing, neo-Romanesque structure could easily be mistaken for a church. In fact, it is the world's largest synagogue, and arguably one of the most beautiful. It is known as Temple Emanu-El and serves the oldest Reform Judaism congregation in New York City. The congregation was founded in 1845 by German Jewish immigrants and grew in importance and size over the years. It moved locations a number of times before constructing the current structure at the prominent position on Fifth Avenue and 65th Street, overlooking Central Park. It was completed in 1929 by the architect Robert Kohn who mixed Romanesque style with Art Déco details in the façade and tower. In early 2011, Temple Emanu-El was in the last stages of a restoration project that brought it back to its original glory.

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this is one of the landmarks in the ritzy park avenue area and is the second most popular church in the manhattan area after St. patrick's Cathedral (the St. Bartholomew Church is Episcopalian while the Saint Patrick's Cathedral is Roman Catholic). Thank you SALT or rather Angelina Jolie for making this church more popular. the church maybe anglican but the design is byzentinian in origin and was declared a historical landmark in New York. It has a huge shop inside offering religous articles and worship symbols and stands out as a contrast to the opulence of the Park Avenue Area. It is allso one of the top wedding spots in manhattan and is visited by other christian denominations and tourists.

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Whoever has never heard of the donald? the donald's trump tower maybe high end and exclusive but only after you enter security at the elevators inside going to the apartments but the rest of the ground floor, the mini-park behind it and the iconic atrium are free to the public UNLESS you Eat or shop in it hehehe. The red marbled tiled and Eight level area atrium with magnificent waterfall inside the Trump Towers is the showpiece of the Donald and the atrium is built as a vertical shopping center, in which visitors are guided along escalators and walkways which lead to balconies that open up to specialty shops that is if you want to buy at them hehehe. What to do here but shop or eat at the Trump Grill and Trump Restaurant at the basement or hang around the Trump Bar in the Ground Level but the prices are sky high!

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want to relax inside the luxe trump towers in fifth avenue for free? then go to the covered mini park just behind the huge atrium inside trump towers where in a cold and damp and rainy weather, is a nice and soothing place to relax again for free like what I did! there are lots of chairs and tables to lounge around and it can be crowded at times but at least if provides a free rest stop while walking in the fifth avenue area and there is an italian juice bar inside this glass covered park too where you can buy italian sodas or juices and some italian light meals to complement your relaxation and rest (a juice costs $ 4 and italian sodas costs $ 3.50). Restrooms are located inside the basement of the atrium just beside this glass covered mini park.

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The Upper East Side area of Manhattan is known as one of the Most Expensive piece of Real Estate in Manhattan that houses along fifth avenue facing central park is one of the most expensive sites in the world and but th nearby Park Avenue (which starts at 32nd street up to the 132nd street in Harlem) takes the cake for the most expensive real estate in all of New York! why? since Park Avenue houses some of the uber luxurious brands like ferrari, maserati, mercedes benz dealerhsips and the Iconic Waldorf Astoria Hotel is in park avenue! plus some of the fortune 500 companies like JPMorgan Chase, UBS , Citigroup, Colgate-Palmolive, and MetLife are there and uber luxury condominiums like 740 Park Avenue are located there!

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Built in 1895, this seemingly out-of-place castle-like structure in upper Madison Avenue was once the Squadron A Armory. After World War II, it fell into disuse and was partly demolished in 1965. What was left was saved by preservationists and the façade overlooking Madison Avenue was incorporated into the construction of a school, which continues to occupy the site to this day.

Named after Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, an early 20th century sculptor and the founder of the museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art focuses on 20th century American art. It contains a very modern collection that sometimes is closer to being odd than modern! The museum building itself is an expression of modern art. It was designed in the 1960s by Marcel Breuer and is quite a contrast to the surrounding older architecture.

Known as the Harry F. Sinclair House, this mansion with Loire Valley château inspirations was built in 1898 as a personal residence for Isaac Fletcher. He assigned the project to the architect Charles P.H. Gilbert, one of the most renowned at the time and responsible for designing over 100 mansions in the city. Upon his death, Fletcher donated the mansion to the Metropolitan Museum of Art which subsequently sold it to Harry Sinclair, whose name is eternalised in the mansion, even though it was later also acquired by the Stuyvesant family. In 1955, the mansion was purchased by William Dzus and donated to the Ukrainian Institute of America which still occupies it to this day. The Institute is a cultural centre to promote Ukrainian arts and literature and holds occasional interesting art exhibitions open to the public. It is worth visiting and paying the small admission fee, if not for an exhibition, then to catch a glimpse of the sumptuous interior. Note that the Harry F. Sinclair House was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1978.