New York

Rob Barber (multi-instrumentalist):

The Cloisters in Fall.
You get off the A train and walk into the park at the foot of a creepy rocky hill. You wind your way up through Autumn leaves crunching under foot, totally forgetting you are in NYC. After a surprising incline (for the city, at least) you hit a cobblestone road, and you are almost feeling out of breath a bit. You reach the eerie building that houses the Met's annex of art and architecture of medieval Europe. Transported chapels and crypts and gardens on a cliff overlooking the Hudson, where the cliffs of New Jersey across the way were long ago purchased by the Rockefeller family to make sure they stayed pristine and undeveloped.

The E. 5th St. community garden, between Avenues B and C.
Perfect spot for strolling to after Sunday brunch. Really magical and tightly laid out paths where all the greenery brushes your face and legs as you wiggle through it. Lots of rad little nooks to sit. A really bomb-ass treehouse-feeling fort (not actually built in a tree, but seems like it when you are in it) tops it off. I'm a little sad that Little Cakes Gallery is no longer across the street, but am stoked for Hanna and Dave's new country living situation.

Lan Cafe, 342 E 6th St, Btwn 1st & 2nd Ave.
The most AMAZING vegetarian Vietnamese food and honestly, this is one of my favorite veg restaurants, period. Pretty much every dish of the region's cuisine is represented here, with the fake shrimp papaya salad being a stand-out must-have. All served and prepared by the most gentle people ever!















Mary Pearson (vocalist)

The Ottendorfer branch of New York Public Library.
It's right by St. Mark's on 2nd Ave., and it's so pretty. Even though it doesn't have the biggest selection of books, you can have any NYPL books delivered to any branch. Also this is by far the best place to pee in the neighborhood! Very nice bathrooms!

Alabaster Bookshop on 4th Ave. and E. 12th St.
My favorite used book shop in the city; piles of books everywhere, prices written in pencil on the first pages of the books, a ladder to reach upper shelf books, a shy feline resident, and a well-read staff. It always kind of smells like tacos too. The books in the front window are amazing, and I'm not quite sure how they stay open with Strand just around the corner.

The Manhattan Friends Meeting House at E. 15th and Rutherford Place.
There's nothing like experiencing an hour of silence in a busy neighborhood in Manhattan. The room is very sunny and trees are visible out the window, and if it weren't for the occasional 9/11 conspiracy talk (attendees can speak whatever is on their minds), you might entirely forget you are in the city.