For New York Magazine’s 14th annual “Reasons to Love New York” issue, all the reasons are places — some timeless, some odd, some secret, some soothing, some technically illegal to occupy, but each beloved by the people who chose them. With dispatches from Lin-Manuel Miranda on a really weird street around 191st; Jenna Lyons on Battery Park; Padma Lakshmi on Kalustyan’s; Nick Kroll on the American Museum of Natural History; Jacqueline Woodson on her kitchen; and more.
“Every New Yorker has an idiosyncratic map of the city in her head,” says New York executive features editor Laurie Abraham of the process of carving out a theme for this year’s “Reasons to Love” issue. “We figured if we asked as many people as could we about their favorite places, we’d end up with something that was both a celebration of our city and full of new ideas people could use to explore it.”
The cover image, by Russian artist Dmitry Maximov, attempts to turn a classic movie trope on its head. Inspired by the many movies wherein a monster descends on New York City and attacks it, Maximov decided to take a classic movie monster and infuse it with his own feelings about the city. “That’s why he decided to draw King Kong hugging New York,” says New York photography director Jody Quon. “For his love of New York.”