On a sunny, breezy June afternoon, perfect for walking, we visit Manhattan to view artful stitchery, walk the High Line, tour a historic library, and dine in the West Village.
Ryan Lee Gallery
Ambling along Chelsea’s shady side streets, we pass schools and playgrounds, brownstones and renovated commercial spaces. Many of the modern buildings contain so many art galleries that it’s difficult to choose. We head for the Ryan Lee Gallery to catch the Tiffany Chung exhibit before it closes.
Intrigued by the exactness of her hand-stitched works, we are even more impressed by the stories they tell—the interweaving of politics, geography, and climate and their influence on human-migration patterns.
Detail, Tiffany Chung, Global Spice Trade: routes from ancient time to the age of exploration/exploitation, 2024-2025, embroidery on fabric. Courtesy of the artist and Kiang Malingue Gallery, Hong Kong | New York, 55 in x 150 in.
Dia Chelsea
Next we walk a few blocks downtown to Dia Chelsea, the Manhattan branch of the Dia Art Foundation. Founded in New York City in 1974, the organization supports artists who produce large, ambitious works.
At the Chelsea location, we view David Lamelas compositions in electronic and fiberboard, among other formats. “Drawing is the place where I find my ideas,” Lamelas says. “They go from the mind to the paper. Then it could become a film, or a sculpture, or simply remain a drawing.”
Dia Beacon, a sister museum farther north along the Hudson River, houses large modern artworks in an even more expansive space—the former Nabisco box factory. It too is well worth a visit.
David Lamelas: The Machine, installation view, Dia Chelsea, New York, 2026–2027. © David Lamelas. Photo: Bill Jacobson Studio, New York
David Lamelas, El super elástico (The Super Elastic), 1965/2026, acrylic paint on wood fiberboard, exhibition copy. Installation view, Dia Chelsea, New York, 2026–27. © David Lamelas. Photo: Bill Jacobson Studio
High Line
Running right past Dia Chelsea, the High Line provides a glorious, elevated route toward our next destination, the Jefferson Market Library. We stop only for gelato (as good as any in Italy) and to take in the view. The gods conjured this day for humans to stroll between buildings at second-story height past beautifully curated plantings and the occasional sculpture.
View from the High Line of Little Island (built on tulip-shaped concrete stilts) and the Hudson River
Jefferson Market Library
We arrive in the West Village (the last leg by taxi) to visit the renovated Jefferson Market Library. Occupying a prominent corner at 9th Street and Sixth Avenue, the building began life in the 19th century as a fire-watch station, hence the tall tower. The following decades witnessed its transformation into a courthouse, a women’s prison, and finally a branch of the New York Public Library.
The exterior alone is reason enough to visit, but treasures await inside as well. We pass elegant stained glass windows on our way to the basement Reference Room, where we find history displays beneath the arched ceilings.
The library claims to have been in the vanguard of historic preservation. It was saved in 1960 (predating the awful destruction of Penn Station) by neighborhood residents who treasured its tower with four clocks facing in every direction.
Reading Room wallpaper reproduces archival writings from borrowers’ cards and public letters to staff.
Reference Room, arched ceiling basement
Jefferson Market Garden
Adjacent to the library is another neighborhood treasure — the Jefferson Market Garden — open to the public for free (though they do ask for a donation) and a blissful spot to sit for a spell among the plantings and the quiet.
The Commerce Inn
Dinner awaits a short walk away. Rita Sodi and Jody Williams, founders of several acclaimed West Village restaurants like Via Carota, started The Commerce Inn in 2021 as a tribute to old New York with its Shaker décor and simple ingredients. Reviews of the cuisine are somewhat mixed among foodies, but we thoroughly enjoy our meal.
The bar is called a tavern, and the daily specials are written on a blackboard in chalk. Smartly, the restaurant offers some smaller-portioned dishes in the $25 range (such as the delicious softshell crab).
