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

A discreet little stairway on St. Nicholas Avenue leads to a quaint and unexpected cobblestone street of 19th century wooden rowhouses.

A New York warehouse filled with an enormous amount of goods saved from the landfills and donated for creative use.

A collaborative art project that transformed a neighborhood in NYC's Queens.

Two New York rooftops are home to the largest rooftop soil farms in the world.

This Bronx apartment building is officially recognized as the birthplace of hip-hop.

The "Skinny House" is made from scrap, salvage, and a neighbor’s kindness.

Home to the infamous "Typhoid Mary" and the worst loss of life in New York's history prior to September 11, 2001.

The crown jewel of the Queens Museum is a nearly 10,000-square-foot architectural model of the city originally built for the 1964 World's Fair.

An easy to overlook storefront hides some of the most authentic and regionally diverse Chinese food in New York.

This enormous Hindu temple in Queens serves incredible dosas in its basement canteen.

This Orthodox Church's exterior is rather unorthodox.

This futuristic airport terminal was abandoned for decades before reopening as a hotel—with a vintage plane of its own parked out back.

The Vatican of the movie industry turned into an actual church.

Read between the lines of the subway map to find the hidden abandoned Civil War fort.

The former estate of the Guggenheims, part of the opulent Gold Coast that inspired the Great Gatsby.

Spies, love letters, and ghost stories have all left their mark on this home-cum-museum.

The oldest living organism in New York City. Maybe.

A long abandoned hospital building on the outskirts of NYC.

The space-age building is home to one of the few remaining rotating restaurants in America, and the only one that inspired a 1980s sitcom.

This stockpile of junked electronic and mechanical gadgets is a favorite among Hollywood prop masters.

Beautiful Victorian buildings from L.A.'s forgotten architectural past.

A free library to stumble across, one of many placed worldwide if you know where to look.

The quiet canyon has a tumultuous history involving a doomsday cult.