A running list, in the order they came to mind, of favorite restaurants:
Coco Pazzo, La Esquina, Raoul's, Chin Chin, Rosa Mexicano (East Side), Orsay, E.A.T., Pastis, Balthazar, Matsuri, Ye Waverly Inn, Francisco's Centro Vasco, Indochine, El Teddy's, Cafe Cluny, Carlyle Hotel (Bemelman's Bar), P.J. Clarke's, Serafina, La Lunchonette, Cafe Boulud, Freeman's, Sant Ambroeus, Rickshaw Dumpling, Shake Shack, Blue Smoke, Bar Pitti, Kelley & Ping, Nobu and Nobu Next Door, Odeon.
[more]Kate & Andy Spade
Stuyvesant Town
Stuyvesant Town, large brick buildings that run from 14th to 20th Streets, from First Avenue to Avenue C, are a mess of functional residences that were originally built in 1943 to house returning veterans of the Second World War and their families. They have gone on to house middle-income New Yorkers in 8,757 apartments. Stuyvesant Town and its sibling Peter Cooper comprise eighty acres that house more than 25,000 residents--and were sold on October 18, 2006 to Tishman Speyer for $5.4 billion dollars. New Yorkers are aghast that one of the last bastions of affordable housing will soon be converted to yet more luxury rentals. One might read a brief history of Stuyvesant Town on Wikipedia and note that in its creation in 1943, the project displaced 11,000 residents along with their business, schools and churches.