Decades after testing the polio vaccine on unwitting patients, this historic mental hospital sits in ruin.

An artist's cute bronze subway sculptures belie his violent artistic past.

Nondescript elevator doors open to reveal a stunning, surreal world.

An abandoned asylum where patients have been forgotten but their possessions remain.

Unique antiquarian shop specializing in globes, maps, and prints.

One of New York's best collections of pinball is hidden in a secret bar in the back of this laundromat.

A living archive of urban activism and space reclaimed.

This mosaic dedicated to John Lennon was tended for years by a Beatles super-fan.

Behind a bodega is a small museum of relics and ephemera showcasing the history of New York.

Slyly buy a shake in the Parker Meridien lobby.

A WWI fighter plane and turn-of-the-century penny candy shop are among the unexpected features of this Financial District building.

One of the last Jazz Age "Wonder Theaters" in New York City.

First a horse rendering plant, then a 19th century landfill, this beach is full of glass from thousands upon thousands of broken bottles.

This oversize piece of novelty cookware once cooked the largest pancake in the world.

The summit Roosevelt conquered before he descended to become The Chief.

Believe It or Not, Ripley once called this chiseled mountainside “New York’s Mount Rushmore”.

A beautiful collection of architectural ornaments rescued from demolished New York City buildings.

This Art Deco fortress in upstate New York gives Manhattan's vaunted examples of the style a run for their money.

One of the largest festivals of flowers in North America takes place, appropriately, in the Flower City.

This seemingly unremarkable boulder is said to bear the hoofprint of the devil himself.

The site of William McKinley's tragic assassination is only marked by an underwhelming boulder.

The largest guitar store in the world has been visited by some of music's all-time greats passing through upstate New York.

Brooklyn vintners creating world-class wine in a city not known for its vineyards.

This Orthodox Church's exterior is rather unorthodox.