These days, if you're down around the site of the planned Islamic cultural center and mosque two blocks from Ground Zero, you might find a few protesters. But mostly you'll find a New York neighborhood going about its usual business.

It isn't the average walking tour that asks you to observe silence for 90 minutes straight. Or pick up trash in a small park. Or listen to the rattle and hum of air conditioners while walking down entire city blocks with your eyes closed.

Tucked inside a warehouse on the far west side sits a building inside a building.  It's a private sanctuary for one of the city's artists. 

This fall, it will be razed.

Move over, Beyoncé: Thirteen-year-old Yazmean Lee of Jamaica, Queens, is getting ready to be the biggest leading lady in Hollywood.

Two friends--one an immigrant from Bangladesh, the other a Queens native--find common ground in their love of pretty ladies and a good 5K run. Meet Kanu and Tom of Jackson Heights.

She sports blue clothes and an equally blue 'do, and when she sings the blues she channels the mood of the crowd. Meet Ms. Blu of Chelsea.

Above the shrieks of dancing teenagers and the rumble of passing buses, Manuel Vega played the piano at Fordham Plaza in the Bronx. He's not a concert pianist. He's just a regular guy who happened to see a piano on the sidewalk.

New York is a city of islands, irregular masses of land that straddle rivers, creeks and bays. Yet, other than a minority of folks who regularly ride one of the few ferry systems, we are a culture that is tethered to the land, traveling along subways and roads that pass over and under the water. We admire it from the safety of a vast assortment of waterfront parks—but rarely engage with it directly. And, rarer still, in a watercraft that doesn't have engines.

If art exhibits, outdoor music or car-free bike-riding aren’t enough of a draw, consider visiting Governors Island for a peek at a massive urban redevelopment project.

A clown, a mask-maker for pro-wrestlers, the Hasidic Jew on Conan O'Brien, Stanley Allan Sherman is a modern-day Renaissance man. 

Know Your Neighbor puts the spotlight on the unsung souls living right next door. 

The halls of Stuyvesant High School are home to some of the city's brightest students—and a Korean-American Lady Gaga. Meet 17-year-old Chong No from Bayside, Queens.

Musician Julianna Barwick creates multitiered, otherworldly songs with her voice, a few machines, and Garageband. And it all goes down right in her bedroom in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

Keeping dogs happy is a serious business for Malcolm Smart of Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. With a doggie daycare center, grooming shop and supply store, he has made a love for pups his life's work.

A massive renovation is underway at the United Nations. Luckily for aficionados of mid-century modern design, there is also an elaborate strategy in place to preserve and restore the complex's iconic features, keeping the U.N. looking like it's 1952.

Samuel Menashe of Greenwich Village writes poems. Really short poems.

Your kid's art isn't just good for decorating refrigerators and office cubicles. It's also a glimpse into imagination and the creative process.