5 Hidden Gems New York

Why it made the list: The most underrated ride in New York, an aerial cable car that glides beside the Queensboro Bridge, lifting you high over the East River with a sweeping Midtown skyline view. It costs a single subway fare, takes about four minutes, and at dusk when the city lights up it's one of the best cheap thrills in town.

Why it made the list: Turn a corner in Midtown and hear a real 25-foot waterfall, a tiny pocket park whose rushing water hides all the street noise. It's free, it's tucked mid-block, and it's the most surprising quiet in the busiest part of the city.

Why it made the list: A tiny New England fishing village that happens to be in the Bronx, one main street of seafood shacks, sailboats and clapboard houses, a mile and a half long and a world away from Manhattan. Nobody believes it's still New York City.

Why it made the list: A full acre of public park hidden above the streets of the Financial District, up an unmarked escalator between two office towers on Water Street, and suddenly there's a lawn, a boardwalk and a view down the East River to the bridges. Almost nobody who works below it knows it's there.

Why it made the list: Outside the Grand Central Oyster Bar is a low tiled archway with a bizarre acoustic secret: stand at one corner, have a friend stand at the diagonal corner facing the wall, and you can whisper to each other clearly across the busy hall. It's free, it's hidden in plain sight, and it delights everyone who tries it.