On the street that was the setting for Rembrandt’s Night Watch, this stylish and airy grand café has been a neighbourhood favourite since opening in 1990. Its floor-to-ceiling windows, colourful tiles, warmly hued painting and well-stocked reading table give it a sunny atmosphere ever on a grey day. Come warmer weather, there’s a scramble for riverside tables.

A dark, fairytale wood of ancient oak, hornbeam, wild service, beech, ash, maple and holly. Three species of woodpecker can be seen (and heard), along with goldcrests, sparrows, song thrushes, sparrowhawks, tree creepers and wrens, and an alarming variety of spiders have been recorded.

Although far from an untamed environment, winged creatures love this park. Owls, kestrels and herons all make their home here, along with numerous ducks, visiting geese and a fairly sizeable, albeit very discreet, bat population.

Where once stevedores humped timber from the forests of eastern Europe, now trees grow and butterflies dance in long grass. It would be easy to overlook that this was a working dock until the 1970s were it not for bollards, mooring chains and other elements from the area’s past which have been incorporated into its fabric.

The chaotic jumble of nautical curiosities covering the interior testify to Montero’s early days as the choice for workers off the nearby piers and sailors finding themselves beached on Atlantic Avenue. This has been a neighborhood stalwart since 1947. The grill is long gone, and the bar is best for shot-and-a-beer basics, although you can get a standard cocktail without complaint. It is still a family business, as welcoming and without pretension as a visit to a favorite uncle, and with as many stories to tell.

Ever wonder what Arby’s would be like if they served food that was edible? On Mars? This Sheepshead Bay landmark has been dishing up roast beef sandwiches since 1970 with all the honky-tonk of a gigantic fast food chain, but it’s strictly one-of-a-kind. The seats are just as hard, and the worker’s uniforms as humiliating as any Burger King’s, but the food has none of the plastic 1984-ishness of the multinational competition.