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HERE are some of our favorite NYC culture stops. Check back: we're always adding and we're very suggestable.
**National Museum of the American Indian
U.S. Custom House, One Bowling Green
Since 1994, the NMAI in lower Manhattan serves as the Washington, D.C.-based museum's exhibition and education facility in New York City. Permanent and temporary exhibitions, as well as a range of public programs — including music and dance performances, films, and symposia — explore the diversity of indigenous America. 212.514.3700
**Apollo Theater
253 West 125th Street
Since introducing the first Amateur Night contests in 1934, the Apollo Theater has played a major role in the emergence of innovative musical genres. Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, Sammy Davis, Jr., James Brown, Bill Cosby, Gladys Knight, Luther Vandross, D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, and countless others began their road on the Apollo’s stage. 212.531.5300
**Super Tacos
taco truck at 96th and Broadway (6pm to 2am)
This is the closest you're going to get if you're a Californian nostalgic for $2 tacos in a city that generally charges $12 just for guacamole. The horchata at Super Tacos is homemade, and the bistek and chorizo tacos may actually induce obsessive-compulsive behavior. This place even delivers (it's still NYC, after all). 917.837.0866
**Alwan for the Arts
16 Beaver Street, 4th floor
One the most active Arab cultural venues in town, Alwan puts on several shows a week in the financial district, featuring anything from traditional music concerts, to poetry readings and photography exhibits. They also offer educational courses in language and the arts. 646.473.0991
**The Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street
This museum celebrates the city’s cultural diversity through its rich collections, a lively schedule of exhibitions, and an array of programs for adults and children. It's dedicated to fostering an understanding of New York’s evolution from its Native American origins to its present status of one of the world’s largest cities. 212.534.1672
**The Studio Museum
144 West 125th Street
This is a contemporary art museum that focuses on the work of artists of African descent locally, nationally and globally. Through its exhibitions, Artists in Residence program, public programming, permanent collection, archival and research facilities, the musem is committed to serving as a unique resource. 212.864.4500
**Pinkberry
Broadway (between 111th and 112th Streets)
7 West 32nd Street
This Los Angeles Koreatown transplant was founded by Sherry Hwang, who opened the flagship frozen yogurt shop when she was denied permits to open a wine bar. Inspired by the frozen yogurt chains Red Mango and Iceberry in Korea, this small chain specializes in swirls of tart frozen yogurt spruced up with toppings like fresh fruit. 212.695.9637
**Malecon Restaurant
764 Amsterdam Ave. (at 97th Street)
4141 Broadway (at 175th Street)
Established in 1987, this is authentic and way affordable Carribbean fare at its best. You cannot go wrong with an order of plantains, yellow rice, black beans, café con leche and their signature roasted chicken. 212.864.5648 | 212.927.3812
**The Harlem Arts Alliance
290 Lenox Avenue, 2nd Floor
The HAA was created to preserve and present the rich cultural programs that reflect the vast contributions of multi-ethnic and multi-cultural writers, performers, directors, producers, visual artists, designers, choreographer and dancers. 212.410.0030
**Tibet House
22 West 15th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)
Tibet House is dedicated to presenting Tibetan civilization through programs and exhibits, with the hope that visitors will be inspired to join the effort to save it. TH is part of a worldwide network of Tibetan institutions committed to ensuring that the Tibetan spirit never disappears. 212.807.0563
**Sylvia's Restaurant of Harlem
328 Lenox Avenue
Sylvia's has been a family-owned soul food restaurant since 1962, when it could ony feed 35 customers at a time. Today, Sylvia's occupies most of a city block with an impressive seating capacity of 450 loyal patrons. 212.996.0660
**Association of Hispanic Arts
1702 Lexington Avenue, Ground Floor
AHA is a nonprofit arts organization serving the Latino/a arts community. Founded in 1975, AHA was established out of the need to create funding and present opportunities for Latino artists and cultural organizations whose contributions were unrecognized and whose efforts were underserved by mainstream public and private institutions. 212.876.1242
**Asia Society
725 Park Avenue (at 70th Street)
This international organization is dedicated to strengthening relationships and deepening understanding among the peoples of Asia and the U.S. Founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller, III., it reaches audiences around the world through its headquarters in New York and centers in Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Hong Kong, Manila, Melbourne, Mumbai and Shanghai. 212.288.6400
**Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute
408 West 58th Street (Between 9th and 10th Avenue)
The Caribbean Cultural Center was conceived with the vision to create an international organization promoting and linking communities of African descendants wherever those communities are present. 212.307.7420
**El Museo del Barrio
1230 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street
El Museo del Barrio was founded in 1969 by a group of Puerto Rican educators, artists, parents and community activists in East Harlem’s Spanish-speaking El Barrio. Since then, El Museo del Barrio has evolved into New York’s leading Latino cultural institution, having expanded its mission to represent the diversity of art and culture in all of the Caribbean and Latin America. 212.831.7272
**Sigiri Sri Lanka Restaurant
91 First Avenue (between East Fifth and Sixth Streets)
Sigiri is the only restaurant in Manhattan serving Sri Lankan specialties, which is inspired by several different ethnicities. Quite a few periods of colonization are responsible for the exotic cuisine: blending indigenous ingredients and cooking techniques with influences from Indian, Portuguese, Dutch, Malay and a host of other world food traditions. 212.614.9333
**Redhawk Native American Arts Council
726 42nd Street | Brooklyn, NY 11232
Founded in 1994, the Redhawk Indian Arts Council sponsors programs that educate others about indigenous artforms and culture. The council's annual Gateway to the Nations Powwow, a festival that celebrates Native American heritage and attracts some 20,000 people to Gateway National Park in Queens. 718.686.9297
**Harlem Stage
150 Convent Avenue (at West 135th Street)
Harlem Stage fosters the creation and development of new works by performing artists of color; provides a valuable forum for culturally diverse artists, community-based performing arts organizations and regionally-significant arts groups. Harlem Stage institutes important education programs for the metropolitan area. 212 281 9240
**China Institute
125 East 65th Street
Founded in 1926, China Institute is a nonprofit educational and cultural institution that promotes the appreciation of traditional and contemporary Chinese civilization, culture and heritage. CI offers programs and seminars on Chinese visual and performing arts, history, music, philosophy, language and literature. 212.744.8181
**The Kurdish Library | Museum
144 Underhill Avenue (in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn)
In 1981, the first Kurdish Program in the U.S. was established in New York City with the aim of informing Americans of the existence and plight of the Kurdish people — the fourth largest ethnic group in the Middle East. 718.783.7930
**The Hispanic Society of America
Located on Audubon Terrace, Broadway between 155 and 156 Streets
A free museum and reference library for the study of the arts. The Hispanic Society offers free 45-minute tours of the building and collections given by Museum Curators or the Education Department at 2:00 pm on Saturdays.212.926.2234
**Lenox Lounge
288 Lenox Avenue
This historic jazz lounge and its infamous Zebra Room have been significant in the Harlem community since it opened in the late 1930s, serving as the backdrop for many jazz legends. 212.427.0253
**The Noguchi Museum
9-01 33rd Road (at Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City)
Created by Isamu Noguchi, the museum presents a comprehensive collection of the artist's works in stone, metal, wood, and clay, as well as models for public projects, gardens, dance sets and Akari Light sculptures. It houses 13 galleries within a converted factory building, and encircles a garden containing major granite and basalt sculptures. 718.204.7088
**Grand Sichuan International
229 9th Avenue (at 24 Street)
Great cheap food. You can bring your own booze, too. There's just a $5/bottle corking fee! 212.620.5200
**American Indian Community House
11 Broadway, 2nd floor
AICH in a nonprofit serving the health, social service and cultural needs of Native Americans residing in NYC. Founded in 1969 by Native American volunteers, it has grown into a multi-faceted social support agency and cultural center that serves the estimated 27,000 Native Americans in NYC, who represent 72 different tribes. It also supports a gallery dedicated to showing indigenous artwork, as well as a host of educational events and programs. 212.598.0100
**Cave Canem
584 Broadway, Suite 508
Cave Canem is a nonprofit committed to the discovery and cultivation of new voices in African American poetry. Its program has expanded from a summer retreat to include regional workshops, a first book prize, annual anthologies, readings and national events. It strives to build and maintain a family of writers who create, publish, perform, teach, study poetry and support each others' work. 212.941.5720
**Rubin Museum of Art
150 West 17th Street
A cultural and educational institution dedicated to the art of the Himalayas, RMA's mission is to present and preserve the vitality, complexity and historical significance of Himalayan art. Art exhibits, dance performances, spoken word and educational classes are designed to explore Himalayan cultures. 212.620.5000
** Parlor Jazz at Marjorie Eliot's
555 Edgecombe Avenue (at 160th Street),''The Triple Nickel'', Studio 3F
Every Sunday for more than a decade, rain or shine, with no vacations, a jazz concert has taken place in the parlor of Marjorie Eliot's home on what she calls the northern tip of Harlem. Her weekly free concerts in the living room of her apartment are legendary in Harlem and an institution for jazz lovers citywide.
**National Museum of the American Indian
U.S. Custom House, One Bowling Green
Since 1994, the NMAI in lower Manhattan serves as the Washington, D.C.-based museum's exhibition and education facility in New York City. Permanent and temporary exhibitions, as well as a range of public programs — including music and dance performances, films, and symposia — explore the diversity of indigenous America. 212.514.3700
**Apollo Theater
253 West 125th Street
Since introducing the first Amateur Night contests in 1934, the Apollo Theater has played a major role in the emergence of innovative musical genres. Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, Sammy Davis, Jr., James Brown, Bill Cosby, Gladys Knight, Luther Vandross, D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, and countless others began their road on the Apollo’s stage. 212.531.5300
**Super Tacos
taco truck at 96th and Broadway (6pm to 2am)
This is the closest you're going to get if you're a Californian nostalgic for $2 tacos in a city that generally charges $12 just for guacamole. The horchata at Super Tacos is homemade, and the bistek and chorizo tacos may actually induce obsessive-compulsive behavior. This place even delivers (it's still NYC, after all). 917.837.0866
**Alwan for the Arts
16 Beaver Street, 4th floor
One the most active Arab cultural venues in town, Alwan puts on several shows a week in the financial district, featuring anything from traditional music concerts, to poetry readings and photography exhibits. They also offer educational courses in language and the arts. 646.473.0991
**The Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street
This museum celebrates the city’s cultural diversity through its rich collections, a lively schedule of exhibitions, and an array of programs for adults and children. It's dedicated to fostering an understanding of New York’s evolution from its Native American origins to its present status of one of the world’s largest cities. 212.534.1672
**The Studio Museum
144 West 125th Street
This is a contemporary art museum that focuses on the work of artists of African descent locally, nationally and globally. Through its exhibitions, Artists in Residence program, public programming, permanent collection, archival and research facilities, the musem is committed to serving as a unique resource. 212.864.4500
**Pinkberry
Broadway (between 111th and 112th Streets)
7 West 32nd Street
This Los Angeles Koreatown transplant was founded by Sherry Hwang, who opened the flagship frozen yogurt shop when she was denied permits to open a wine bar. Inspired by the frozen yogurt chains Red Mango and Iceberry in Korea, this small chain specializes in swirls of tart frozen yogurt spruced up with toppings like fresh fruit. 212.695.9637
**Malecon Restaurant
764 Amsterdam Ave. (at 97th Street)
4141 Broadway (at 175th Street)
Established in 1987, this is authentic and way affordable Carribbean fare at its best. You cannot go wrong with an order of plantains, yellow rice, black beans, café con leche and their signature roasted chicken. 212.864.5648 | 212.927.3812
**The Harlem Arts Alliance
290 Lenox Avenue, 2nd Floor
The HAA was created to preserve and present the rich cultural programs that reflect the vast contributions of multi-ethnic and multi-cultural writers, performers, directors, producers, visual artists, designers, choreographer and dancers. 212.410.0030
**Tibet House
22 West 15th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)
Tibet House is dedicated to presenting Tibetan civilization through programs and exhibits, with the hope that visitors will be inspired to join the effort to save it. TH is part of a worldwide network of Tibetan institutions committed to ensuring that the Tibetan spirit never disappears. 212.807.0563
**Sylvia's Restaurant of Harlem
328 Lenox Avenue
Sylvia's has been a family-owned soul food restaurant since 1962, when it could ony feed 35 customers at a time. Today, Sylvia's occupies most of a city block with an impressive seating capacity of 450 loyal patrons. 212.996.0660
**Association of Hispanic Arts
1702 Lexington Avenue, Ground Floor
AHA is a nonprofit arts organization serving the Latino/a arts community. Founded in 1975, AHA was established out of the need to create funding and present opportunities for Latino artists and cultural organizations whose contributions were unrecognized and whose efforts were underserved by mainstream public and private institutions. 212.876.1242
**Asia Society
725 Park Avenue (at 70th Street)
This international organization is dedicated to strengthening relationships and deepening understanding among the peoples of Asia and the U.S. Founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller, III., it reaches audiences around the world through its headquarters in New York and centers in Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Hong Kong, Manila, Melbourne, Mumbai and Shanghai. 212.288.6400
**Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute
408 West 58th Street (Between 9th and 10th Avenue)
The Caribbean Cultural Center was conceived with the vision to create an international organization promoting and linking communities of African descendants wherever those communities are present. 212.307.7420
**El Museo del Barrio
1230 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street
El Museo del Barrio was founded in 1969 by a group of Puerto Rican educators, artists, parents and community activists in East Harlem’s Spanish-speaking El Barrio. Since then, El Museo del Barrio has evolved into New York’s leading Latino cultural institution, having expanded its mission to represent the diversity of art and culture in all of the Caribbean and Latin America. 212.831.7272
**Sigiri Sri Lanka Restaurant
91 First Avenue (between East Fifth and Sixth Streets)
Sigiri is the only restaurant in Manhattan serving Sri Lankan specialties, which is inspired by several different ethnicities. Quite a few periods of colonization are responsible for the exotic cuisine: blending indigenous ingredients and cooking techniques with influences from Indian, Portuguese, Dutch, Malay and a host of other world food traditions. 212.614.9333
**Redhawk Native American Arts Council
726 42nd Street | Brooklyn, NY 11232
Founded in 1994, the Redhawk Indian Arts Council sponsors programs that educate others about indigenous artforms and culture. The council's annual Gateway to the Nations Powwow, a festival that celebrates Native American heritage and attracts some 20,000 people to Gateway National Park in Queens. 718.686.9297
**Harlem Stage
150 Convent Avenue (at West 135th Street)
Harlem Stage fosters the creation and development of new works by performing artists of color; provides a valuable forum for culturally diverse artists, community-based performing arts organizations and regionally-significant arts groups. Harlem Stage institutes important education programs for the metropolitan area. 212 281 9240
**China Institute
125 East 65th Street
Founded in 1926, China Institute is a nonprofit educational and cultural institution that promotes the appreciation of traditional and contemporary Chinese civilization, culture and heritage. CI offers programs and seminars on Chinese visual and performing arts, history, music, philosophy, language and literature. 212.744.8181
**The Kurdish Library | Museum
144 Underhill Avenue (in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn)
In 1981, the first Kurdish Program in the U.S. was established in New York City with the aim of informing Americans of the existence and plight of the Kurdish people — the fourth largest ethnic group in the Middle East. 718.783.7930
**The Hispanic Society of America
Located on Audubon Terrace, Broadway between 155 and 156 Streets
A free museum and reference library for the study of the arts. The Hispanic Society offers free 45-minute tours of the building and collections given by Museum Curators or the Education Department at 2:00 pm on Saturdays.212.926.2234
**Lenox Lounge
288 Lenox Avenue
This historic jazz lounge and its infamous Zebra Room have been significant in the Harlem community since it opened in the late 1930s, serving as the backdrop for many jazz legends. 212.427.0253
**The Noguchi Museum
9-01 33rd Road (at Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City)
Created by Isamu Noguchi, the museum presents a comprehensive collection of the artist's works in stone, metal, wood, and clay, as well as models for public projects, gardens, dance sets and Akari Light sculptures. It houses 13 galleries within a converted factory building, and encircles a garden containing major granite and basalt sculptures. 718.204.7088
**Grand Sichuan International
229 9th Avenue (at 24 Street)
Great cheap food. You can bring your own booze, too. There's just a $5/bottle corking fee! 212.620.5200
**American Indian Community House
11 Broadway, 2nd floor
AICH in a nonprofit serving the health, social service and cultural needs of Native Americans residing in NYC. Founded in 1969 by Native American volunteers, it has grown into a multi-faceted social support agency and cultural center that serves the estimated 27,000 Native Americans in NYC, who represent 72 different tribes. It also supports a gallery dedicated to showing indigenous artwork, as well as a host of educational events and programs. 212.598.0100
**Cave Canem
584 Broadway, Suite 508
Cave Canem is a nonprofit committed to the discovery and cultivation of new voices in African American poetry. Its program has expanded from a summer retreat to include regional workshops, a first book prize, annual anthologies, readings and national events. It strives to build and maintain a family of writers who create, publish, perform, teach, study poetry and support each others' work. 212.941.5720
**Rubin Museum of Art
150 West 17th Street
A cultural and educational institution dedicated to the art of the Himalayas, RMA's mission is to present and preserve the vitality, complexity and historical significance of Himalayan art. Art exhibits, dance performances, spoken word and educational classes are designed to explore Himalayan cultures. 212.620.5000
** Parlor Jazz at Marjorie Eliot's
555 Edgecombe Avenue (at 160th Street),''The Triple Nickel'', Studio 3F
Every Sunday for more than a decade, rain or shine, with no vacations, a jazz concert has taken place in the parlor of Marjorie Eliot's home on what she calls the northern tip of Harlem. Her weekly free concerts in the living room of her apartment are legendary in Harlem and an institution for jazz lovers citywide.
