Here at Untapped New York, the secrets of New York City are our specialty. For more than fifteen years, we’ve aimed to deliver the city’s most surprising secrets daily. We’ve uncovered the secrets of New York City’s most famous places and revealed places you’ve never heard of. We’ve gone deep into the ordinary infrastructure you might not think about as having secrets and gone inside many of the city’s most off-limits places to share them with you. Here, we’ve compiled 180 of our favorite secrets of New York City, updated from our original list in 2021!

In our Untapped New York on-demand archive, you can find 3 talks with Chief Experience Officer Justin Rivers where he does a deep dive into some of the secrets listed! Become a member today to gain access to the archive of over 300 recordings.

1. There are faces carved into the stones of Coney Island and Brighton Beaches and for decades their origin was unknown

3. The Oreo cookie was invented at the Manhattan Nabisco factory which is now Chelsea Market

Other remnants of Washington can also be found in NYC. At the New York Academy of medicine, there is a pair of his dentures. Federal Hall is home to the Bible used at his inauguration.

6. The Parachute Jump, an iconic landmark of Coney Island, was originally created for the 1939 World’s Fair in Queens and was moved to Brooklyn in 1941

8. NYC’s oldest espresso machine, which used to be powered by coal, can be found inside Cafe Reggio in Greenwich Village

9. Holland Tunnel police used to ride in “catwalk” cars along the edge of the tunnel

10. Mark Twain’s pool cue hangs at the Player’s

12. You can play music with people across the tracks on the other platform at the 34th Street Herald Square subway station with an interactive musical art installation hidden in plain sight

14. You’ll find two 1960s-era rockets at the Hall of Science in Queens

15. There’s a hidden Guastavino tiled dome inside the National Museum of the American Indian.

18. Hamilton Grange, the historic home of Alexander Hamilton, was raised off the ground and moved multiple blocks to a new location. Twice!

The relocation of buildings in New York City isn’t as uncommon as you might think. Theaters in Times Square, buildings at college campuses, and other historic homes have all been moved to more suitable locations. See more buildings that have been moved here!

19. There is an old-timey Wild West-themed candy store in a modern office building entrance in the Financial District

The first two numbers indicate the closest cross street, and the last two numbers indicate which side of the park the lamp is closer to: even numbers mean the east side, and odd numbers mean west. The last two digits also indicate location, with the numbers increasing as you move closer to the center of the park. It’s one of our favorite, little-known secrets of New York City that are hidden in plain sight.

The cavernous vaults, which are located closer to the foot of the bridge, were rented out as storage space holding wine, champagne and liqueurs. We point out where these vaults are on our Tour of the Secrets of the Brooklyn Bridge.

24. There’s a secret train track under the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel that was used by FDR and other U.S. Presidents as a way of getting into and out of the hotel unseen.

Known as Track 61, this mythical track is rarely visited by the public and has become chock full of myths. We debunked a big one that was often cited as a secret of New York City — the train you see above did not belong to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but the former U.S. President did use this siding to get into the hotel.

Sound doubtful? It’s true. A cathedral is defined as a church that is also the seat of a bishop. St. Peter’s in Rome is therefore not a cathedral, so the title goes to St. John the Divine. The church is massive, even though it remains unfinished.

One townhouse is not like the others, and not just because it has all black windows…Another one of our favorite secrets of New York City.

This tiny museum is located on Cortlandt Alley, a popular filming location and secret spot in Chinatown. The freight elevator is jam-packed with items that take you quite some time to peruse. It’s open 24/7, and you can call the phone number on the door to get an exhibition audio guide.

29. There’s a river that runs below the Empire State Building.

31. The United Nations had a hidden apartment for the Secretary General

32. NYC used to have a pneumatic tube mail system that whisked mail underground at 30 MPH.

Check out our latest explorations into the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Arch and the Washington Square Park Arch, two items in our secrets of New York City bucket list.

We’ve bowled here! Here’s a video. Henry Clay Frick commissioned a stylish subterranean bowling alley in 1916, along with a billiards table for playing billiards or pool. This fabulous secret of New York City is not open to the public, but it’s in great working condition. (It’s not the same was the bowling alley in There Will Be Blood, which was filmed in the Greystone Mansion in Los Angeles).

37. Einstein’s eyeballs are stored in a safety deposit box in NYC.

There are so many secrets of the Flatiron Building and Sonny Atis, the superintendent of the landmarked building knows them all. Above, you can see him showing us the former plant that used to power the Flatiron Building. Want to see what it looks like on the roof too? Check out our article going behind the scenes inside the Flatiron Building).

43. The Woolworth Building has direct connections to the subway that have been closed off for decades.

46. Most of New York City’s Art Deco skyscrapers have observatories you can visit.

Inside Prospect Park, there are 2,000 gravestones and buried bodies, many older than the park itself. The 10-acre cemetery is the only private property in the park, owned by the Religious Society of Friends, more commonly known as Quakers. Established in 1849, though it is believed there are graves that date to the 1820s. It’s one of the many secrets of New York City to be found inside Prospect Park alone.

Not visible from street view, the secret gardens at Rockefeller Center provide a respite from the urban jungle. One is an event space and the other is part of an office.

56. Cleopatra’s Needle is the oldest object on public display in New York City from 1443 BC.

This is one of the few abandoned subway stations you can visit (on a tour with the Transit Museum) or by taking the 6 train loop past Brooklyn Bridge (something we do on our subway tour). For many, it’s a favorite secret of New York City and a place on their list to visit.

60. Part of Trinity Church is built from the rubble of WWII in London.

63. JFK Airport has a backup landing strip for the NASA space shuttles.

You can actually adopt a building in this Panorama in the Queens Museum and it gets updated (although The World Trade Center towers have remained). It was recently featured in the Netflix documentary, “Pretend It’s a City” from Martin Scorsese and Fran Lebowitz. You can see this and other fun finds in our tour of the Remnants of the World’s Fairs.

71. NYC has a vast abandoned island called North Brother Island

North Brother Island is one of the most inaccessible and secret places in New York City because it’s now a bird sanctuary, There are remnants of a tuberculosis, former streets, a drug rehabilitation facility, housing for returning WWII vets and more.

This is a popular spot we show on our tour of the Secrets of Grand Central Terminal.

81. NYC’s former subway cars and bridges have become reefs.

These creepy secret spots in New York City are also used for events sometimes, which is your way to get access!

90. Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay used to live in the narrowest home in New York City, at 75 1/2 Bedford Street.

92. New York used to have a hyphen in its name: New-York.

93. New York City has two of the most polluted waterways in America: The Gowanus Canal and Newtown Creek.

102. On top of apartment buildings, you can sometimes find suburban-style homes or beach bungalows.

104. The “Treasures in the Trash Museum,” showcases over 50,000 items a sanitation worker collected over 30 years.

Another one of the great secrets of New York City. This collection is located inside a sanitation facility, only open for special events.

111. The FDR Drive was built from rubble from World War II.

Sometimes the secrets of New York City can be experienced — like viewing a live bronze pouring at the Modern Art Foundry in Queens. In the before times, we used to host tours here.

115. The Alley Pond Giant is the oldest living organism in NYC, at over 450 years old.

119. A huge machine that bore the tunnels for the East Side Access was buried in place under Park Avenue.

121. Riverside Church is the tallest church in North America.

This hidden vineyard sits on top of a building in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Before covid, you could get a drink there, lie in a hammock, catch a movie, and more. This secret of New York City was also featured in our book Secret Brooklyn.

123. All official distances from New York City are measured from Columbus Circle.

124. Dozens of New York City sculptures are all modeled after one person: Audrey Munson.

126. There are documents signed by Hamilton and Burr on the upper floors of New York’s Surrogate Courthouse.

127. The Hudson River is not technically a river, it’s an estuary.

128. A plan for Marine Park won the Silver medal at the Olympics, when it had a town planning category.

149. The Algonquin Hotel has a $10,000 martini.

We’ve been tracking these eagles down one at time. The secrets of New York change too — two of these eagles disappeared last year.

There are many secrets of New York on Staten Island and this Frank Lloyd Wright house is one of them!

The New York Earth Room, Walter De Maria, 1977. Photo by Samantha Schnell.

165. The smallest park in NYC can’t even fit any people in it.

This is another one of the secrets of New York right in Brooklyn. The impressive monument is dedicated to the 11,500 men and women who died as prisoners of war during the American Revolution, many of whose remains are buried in this monument.

Conitnuing explore the secrets of New York City by joining our upcoming virtual take with Untapped New York’s Chief Experience Officer Justin Rivers!