kickassNYC

At first a dilapidated mansion that neighborhood kids referred to as “the haunted house,” Akwaaba Mansion was extensively renovated into the glorious 1860s Bed and Breakfast – filled with Afrocentric touches and antiques – that it is today.

Small history museum dedicated to telling the story of grassroots activism in the Lower East Side and efforts to reclaim community spaces that have been taken over by city bureaucracies and corporations.

A collection of bank and vault locks given to the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen by John M. Mossman, who wrote a book called “The Lure of the Lock.” Features 370 locks (many of them 19th century vintage), keys, tools, antebellum curios, rare books, prints, flags, clocks and medals.

Manhattan’s oldest home that has – surprise! – a long and sometimes sordid history that goes something like this – home of British officer, confiscated during Revolutionary War, headquarters for George Washington, tavern, home of wealthy French merchant and his mistress, marriage site of said mistress and Aaron Burr after merchant’s untimely death, death place of mistress, presently museum haunted by mistress and four other ghosts.

An old steakhouse with a “legendary” mutton chop and the largest collection of churchwarden pipes in the world. The pipes that cover its ceiling have been smoked by notable people such as Theodore Roosevelt, Buffalo Bill Cody, Herbert Hoover, Albert Einstein, and Babe Ruth.

A Harlem schoolyard established in 1980 as a gallery for internationally renowned street artists.

In May 1989, Keith Haring created a mural called “Once Upon a Time” in the bathroom of the The Center as part of its “Center Show” that celebrated the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. It was his last major work before his death at 31 years old, from AIDS-related complications, and explores the heyday of gay cruising and bathroom sex before the AIDS crisis. As Keith Haring’s work have sold for millions of dollars, it is very possibly the most valuable bathroom in America.

Located on the third floor of Fantasma Magic Shop, this one-room museum houses the second largest collection of Houdini artifacts in the country.

A tiny rainforest hidden away from the bustling streets of Manhattan inside an office building.