If you can't find something good to eat in New York then you must have arrived by coffin. I'm a foodie. Italian, Jewish, Indian, Chinese, African, Korean — it's all here. Bubby's in Tribeca is my favourite breakfast place and watering hole, a classic neighbourhood hangout. I'll go in and chat with a friend or listen to a tape.
Originally, I'm from Brighton Beach in Brooklyn and went to school in Coney Island. If any area deserves landmark status, it's Coney Island. There's a great event there once a year, the Mermaid Day Parade. My wife and I were its king and queen two years ago, and Lou Reed was the king of the parade last year. It's a beautiful event to welcome in the change of season — there's a ritual down by the sea, marching bands, girls twirling batons, amazing costumes.
There's the Coney Island museum which has relics of its past life, and then there's Nathan's — the best hotdogs in the world. And of course there's the amusement rides. You must go on the Cyclone, the mechanical parachute jump. I went on it when I was 10 or 11, but only once! Any visitor must go on the Wonder Wheel, similar to the London Eye but it has a group of sliding cars which rush down as the ride progresses. Nathan's and these rides were my backyard when I was a boy.
I now live in Tribeca in downtown Manhattan. One visit that is a must is New York theatre. We have wonderful Broadway, off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway theatre and I can promise anyone a good time as long as they ask knowledgeable people what to see. Not just what is popular but what is remarkable.
New York is a garden of artistic delights. That buzz of culture here kept me from moving to Hollywood. You can feel it as you walk around the streets, but the key is to ask people who know. You can't just get off the plane and find Shangri-La — you have to work to get to there.
Art doesn't stand still in New York. I've been to every museum. MOMA (the Museum of Modern Art) will knock you out. The Cloisters is another incredible place to visit. The first time I saw it, I couldn't believe that such a place existed in New York. The architecture here is, of course, amazing. A favourite building of mine is the home near here of Barry Diller's businesses, designed by Frank Gehry.
Getting outdoors, try the promenade that runs all around the Hudson River from Battery Park — you can jog, sunbathe, bicycle.
I like the neighbourhoody parts of New York. I like to be able to sit out on a stoop (the steps outside terraced houses). I have a stoop where I live now and I do sit on it. Being recognised doesn't bother me. We are Stoop people in Brooklyn...with a capital S. People in Brooklyn say that Heaven looks down from the Brooklyn Bridge. We have an ego that beats anything in Hollywood.
Harvey Keitel's latest film, Little Fockers, is out now.
