Chinatown

There’s an energy to Chinatown’s streets—densely packed with dim sum restaurants, exotic groceries, tea parlors and jewelry stores galore—not found elsewhere in the city. This predominantly Asian neighborhood is increasingly home to 20-somethings new to New York who jostle for sidewalk space with multi-generational locals running errands and tourists in search of faux luxury goods. Columbus Park is a favorite weekend gathering spot for mah-jongg games, tai-chi, or pick-up games of soccer or basketball, and Doyers Street has become a fashionable destination thanks to top notch cocktails at Apotheke, and Chinese Tuxedo, a swish restaurant in a former opera house.