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One of the art world’s big names has deserted SoHo for a sleek Chelsea gallery where work on show still has a downtown edge and talented newcomers share space with established artists. Occasional intriguing group shows, assembled by independent curators, include sculpture, photography, and painting.

This was the first commercial gallery to open in Chelsea, in a converted garage, in 1994. Marks specializes in showing big-name artists such as Ellsworth Kelly, Willem de Kooning, Lucian Freud, and Brice Marden. There is now a second two-story location in a former knife factory on 24th Street. In this building, new works by painters, photographers, and sculptors are currently being exhibited.

Of the two galleries, the original shows large-scale works, while the second specializes in new work.

On one of the streets of old Chinatown is this cheerful, modern shop best known for dim sum, to be enjoyed on the spot or to go.

The location, a short walk from Lincoln Center, is a big attraction, drawing performers to this long-time standby. The hotel is overdue for refurbishment, but the rooms are comfortable enough and offer kitchenettes. Views from those facing the park are prime.

This trendy SoHo meeting place attracts all manner of sophisticates who dig the mountain lodge decor.

A hit from day one with Hollywood luminaries, the Mercer is housed in an 1890 structure built for John Jacob Astor II, and makes good use of lofty spaces and a voguish, shabby-chic look.

Newly refurbished, this mid-range property offers 722 comfortable rooms and good value suites. Amenities include a fitness center and business facilities.

This 54-story tower, built along the east side of Madison Square in 1909, was the world’s tallest building at that time, an appropriate corporate symbol for the world’s largest insurance company. Designed by Napoleon Le Brun and Sons, the tower follows the form of the campanile in the Piazza San Marco in Venice. Although it was altered in the 1960s, when the entire structure was renovated, the ornate four-faced clock and crowning cupola remain, a familiar landmark on the New York skyline.

It would take weeks to see all the treasures of this museum. It houses one of the greatest collections of the Western world and spans 5,000 years of culture.