Jaime Brockway

There are plenty of awesome things to do alone in New York, but on the days when you’re desperately missing the Thelma to your Louise, it’s nice to know that there are ways to make friends instantly in the city. Much like the world’s best dating apps, there are Gotham-centric friend-making apps and meet-up groups that match folks up with their future bestie. That’s why we asked our editors to test ’em out and make an attempt to fulfill their #squad goals. The results? Go on—see for yourself!

There are few places to hide in New York City. Every resident lusts for a quiet escape from the ever-bustling metropolis—which is just the reason to stay at the small boutique hotel Walker Hotel Greenwich Village. Occupying a tall sliver of West 13th Street in the West Village, the narrow 18-floor hotel is very well suited to New Yorkers looking for a staycation in one of Manhattan's most popular nabes. From the sidewalk, descend a set of stairs into the intimate lobby (which the hotel calls the Poets Room) filled with comfy couches and small café tables. Just beyond that is Society Cafe, a restaurant with wood-toned decor brightened with teal leather booths and a long skylight. From the kitchen, executive chef Christopher Zabita (Bar Boulud, Marc Forgione) pushes beautifully presented market-to-table dishes, including an appetizer of tender Portuguese octopus, artichokes and crispy crushed potatoes ($18). The coq au vin ravioli special on a recent night was also a standout dish, the house-made squares covered in a garlicky wine sauce with mushrooms, a creative blend of French and Italian cuisines ($18). The one letdown of the evening was the side of broccoli rabe with tahini that arrived unbearably salty ($12). Unfortunately, the service at Society Cafe does not match the food: Order room service (for a slight price increase) and enjoy your meal away from the eager yet poorly trained waitstaff. If you only need basic comforts and plan on spending your time exploring the city

If you want to book a night’s stay outside the realm of a typical boutique hotel, then you might consider Paper Factory Hotel in Long Island City. The spot stands as a beacon of youthful cool in the middle of the industrial ’hood to tempt both local residents and Manhattan visitors alike. The building, a former industrial warehouse, was bought in 2012 and renovated, with much of the original characteristics kept to highlight the structure’s history. The floors remain bare, gray concrete, and each room features oversized windows (which allowed for more natural light for workers of the actual paper factory). The industrial theme continues in the hotel’s choice of wrought-iron bed frames and repurposed wooden furniture but gets a bit of an upgrade with deep, rich brown leather couches in the hallways and velvet armchairs in the rooms. In the lobby, half of a London phone booth protrudes from the floor, and a small café brews local coffee from Queens’ For Five Roasters. Paper Factory’s restaurant, Mundo, is accented by a circular staircase that winds around a central column decked out with hardcover books. Hotel guests and diners can enjoy a well-made Mediterranean-inspired meal in the dimly lit space, including nicely browned pan-seared scallops over polenta and topped with vegetables ($20) and oven-roasted rack of lamb with a huge helping of cabbage confit ($29). Paper Factory offers a much cheaper alternative to hotel stays in Manhattan and yet is equal to them in most ways. W

The Marmara Park Avenue goes above and beyond the standard hotel stay. From the thoughtful, small touches to the design of the apartment-style rooms, the Marmara is a delight, whether you’re after an extended stay or a lavish weekend staycation. While the Marmara does have standard hotel guest rooms, most of its accommodations are full apartments (starting at 397 square feet)—some with wet bars and some with fully equipped kitchens and even washer and dryers — a true luxury for any full-time New Yorker. What’s more, 40 of the Marmara’s rooms come with private terraces.   The Marmara takes special care with the details. Case in point: Nespresso machines and cozy ceramic mugs, along with fridges stocked with free Saratoga sparkling water and Q drinks. And the Marmara’s 55“ LED Smart TVs have more than 78 popular channels, for those nights you feel like vegging out. Each room also has an iPad Air to easily connect to guest services.   The fairy-tale–like lobby welcomes guests with a glass arch entryway, two modern fireplaces, and white and silver decor. The lobby sports a bar with impressive (yet pricey) cocktails ($17–$19) and a small food menu offering limited entrées, like lobster mac and cheese ($20), but a longer list of starters, including a beautiful cheese plate with nuts and fruit ($19).   Definitely bring a swimsuit to the Marmara, no matter the season. The luxurious Wellness Center’s Turkish hammam, or bath, is a sight for sore New York eyes. Picture a room of gleamin

Opened in 2003, the Maritime Hotel was repurposed from a 1960s office tower originally built for the now-defunct National Maritime Union of America. That marine history shows itself throughout, from the blue color scheme to the ship cabin-inspired guest rooms. Upon walking into the Maritime’s lobby, recently redecorated, guests will find a space so low-lit and snug they’ll wish for a rainy or frigid day as an excuse to settle down in the warm, comfortable enclave. Low-seated velvet arm chairs and leather couches sit on plush dark blue carpet, a fireplace glows in the background, and wooden shelves are filled with architecture books and a National Geographic collection dating back to 1965. Through connecting doors from the lobby, guests can glimpse the luminous space of La Sirena, Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich’s most recent restaurant addition to New York in nearly a decade. Patrons have the choice of dining outside on the patio overlooking Ninth Avenue or inside surrounded by marble archways and Portuguese tile floors with a showstopping 38-foot-long Caesarstone quartz bar. Guests can also take meals in their own hotel rooms—though the room menu shows a $3 to $5 markup for some menu items. Casarecce with broccoli rabe, aleppo chili and sesame is $23 on the room menu as opposed to $20 on La Sirena’s menu online, and Lasagne al Pesto e Patate is $30, instead of $25 as on the online menu. (Note: Guests are offered a 20 percent discount on breakfast if they eat in La Sirena and

The Dream Downtown’s first selling point is its obviously spectacular location. Just around the corner from Chelsea Market, a block from the High Line, and a stone’s throw from the Meatpacking District and West Village, this hotel is literally everywhere you want to be. It also doesn’t hurt that it’s ’hood home of Chelsea is a mecca of world-class art galleries. But the highest compliment to give the 12-story Dream Downtown is that to experience the city’s standard of cuisine and nightlife, guests needn’t leave the property. The hotel itself is a weekend affair, young and sceney, with a club atmosphere that resonates throughout the design and decor. The lobby’s high-backed chairs and button-tufted banquette settees are scattered on a lushly carpeted floor before a well-stocked half-moon bar and wall of stacked Tecate and Modelo cans. The ceiling dazzles up-lookers who find themselves peering directly into the 50-foot heated glass-bottom pool of the hotel’s sand-filled “beach” courtyard. The velvet-roped PHD Rooftop Lounge in the north tower draws such big, exclusive crowds that not even hotel guests are guaranteed access. The space boasts gorgeous panoramic views of the skyline, an outdoor landscaped terrace and glass chandeliers, plus resident DJ Big Ben spins every Tuesday, with more music makers playing other nights. Conversely, the mellower Cool Britannia and Gothic-inspired Electronic Room serves craft cocktails and spirits on the hotel’s lower level. If you’re feeling p

Haggard, hungry visitors tired of being jostled in Times Square will welcome a quiet reprieve at Akdeniz, a cozy spot a few blocks north of the hustle and bustle. This second location of the 15-year-old original, which sits a few avenues away on 46th Street, offers the same menu, but with noticeable facelifts in decor and a cozier atmosphere. One long brick wall gives the narrow space warmth, and wine bottles originating from Austria to South Africa to New York State (very affordable with a majority marked at less than $40) are displayed on dark shelves. The real clincher for the space is the back patio, a small outdoor escape with round mosaic-tiled tables and greenery. The menu features a simple, modest take on traditional Mediterranean dishes. A diverse array of appetizers are so reasonably priced, you might fancy making a meal of them. Skip the flavorless, gray-green baba ghanoush ($6.95) and instead order the cheese pastries ($7.50), cigar-shaped phyllo dough stuffed with piping hot feta and dill, begging the comparison to Mediterranean mozzarella sticks. While the vegetarian baby okra ($14.50) renders too singular and largely underwhelming, the nearly footlong whole Mediterranean sea bass ($24, also available deboned and descaled) is sure to delight: Even an amateur will find it easy to dismantle before forking up mouthfuls of the soft and naturally buttery white fish. A very generous helping of perfectly pink lamb chops ($27.95) makes one of the menu’s most expensive d

Yesterday, I joined 32,000 cyclists in the Financial District for Bike New York's 5 Boro Bike Tour, a 40-mile joy ride through New York City’s five boroughs. And never again will I be able to bike so gleefully through the city’s streets (until next year's tour). I managed to score the second of five start waves and took off from Church and Dey Streets at 8:10am on Sunday. Around me, my fellow bikers were in high spirits. The tour is supposed to be fun, not a race, so I saw riders of all ages and skill levels and bikes of all kinds: some souped-up with with “exhaust pipes,” stereos and horns instead of bells. (Signs throughout the ride warned us that blowing those horns would result in a $350 fine, which bikers merrily and loudly ignored.) Several riders were pedaling horizontally on recumbent bikes, while others pumped away on stand-up pedalboard bikes. I was surprised to see a fair amount of tandem bicycles holding couples and parent-child pairs. The tour shot straight up the normally car-packed Sixth Avenue and through Central Park. It was amazing to coast through Soho, Greenwich Village and especially midtown (usually the cycling section of my nightmares) without giving a single thought to cars or traffic lights. Groups of friends wore cutesy, odd helmet attachments, like orange antennas and small doughnut pillows, to easily find each other in the crowd. After cycling through Harlem, we did a quick, short loop through the Bronx before heading back to Manhattan and hitting

Were Aponi and Katherine a friend match made in heaven? We sent these mini New Yorkers on a blind (play)date in the city. Let's find out if they became new BFFs!    THE PLAYDATE: Scrapbook-making session at the Fujifilm Wonder Photo Shop. 176 Fifth Ave (929-239-4262, wonderphotoshop.com)   ABOUT Aponi, 9 (LEFT): Neighborhood: Bedford-Stuyvesant Ideal playdate: Hanging out at somebody’s house or roller-skating ABOUT Katherine, 10 (RIGHT): Neighborhood: Hell’s Kitchen Ideal playdate: Something related to Harry Potter or art   Favorite thing about NYC: APONI: "I have an alarm clock without needing to buy one. There are sounds coming from every which way!" KATHERINE: "We have really good pizza. Claudio’s Pizzeria on 43rd Street and Tenth Avenue has the best."   First Impression: APONI: "I thought she was shy, but she’s outgoing. She’s not afraid to show me her pictures." KATHERINE: "I thought she’d be shy and not talkative, but she’s very friendly. We were talking about our photos."   Best Part: APONI: "It was making the scrapbook. Drawing, stickers—anything with glitter is in my domain." KATHERINE: "Hmm. I really liked designing my scrapbook and getting to meet Aponi today."   Friend Potential: APONI: "Not sure. I haven’t gotten to spend a lot of time with her. Five stars, but I hope it’ll turn into six!" (Playdate Rating: 5/5!) KATHERINE: "I think we both like crafts and we’re both creative. I could hang out with her again!"(Playdate Rating: 5/5!)   Want to get set up? E-mai

Registration for the 40th Five Boro Bike Tour, NYC’s largest organized bike ride and the biggest charitable ride in the U.S., opened today at noon!   RECOMMENDED: The complete bike New York guide   This spring, more than 32,000 riders from around the world will flood New York City on May 7 to wheel through the metropolis’s completely car-free thoroughfares. The 40-mile route, for all ages and skill levels, travels through all five boroughs of the city before ending on Staten Island, where rubber-legged bikers can rejoice at the Finish Festival.   The citywide bike event always sells out, so be sure to grab the coveted $100 standard tickets pronto. VIP tickets are $340, but you get several perks like guaranteed placement in the first start wave, an official commemorative 40th-anniversary TD Five Boro Bike Tour jersey and access to the VIP lounge and a lunch at the Finish Festival. Plus, proceeds fund Bike New York’s free bike education programs, which reached more than 17,000 kids and adults last year.   The ride starts in lower Manhattan at Franklin and Church Streets. Bikers head north through Central Park and up to the Bronx before turning south to ride along the East River. Then cyclists cross into Queens and then Brooklyn, where they shoot over the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway before climbing the totally automobile-free Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and descending into the Finish Festival at Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island.   The Finish Festival features giveaways, food concessi