Our guide to the best New York attractions is a great place to start whether you’re entertaining out-of-town guests or want to channel your inner tourist.

Westfield World Trade Center Oculus

As the word’s most expensive train station, the Oculus serves the PATH train and 12 subway line, and houses a beautiful mall inside. The structure is a lasting reminder of the attacks of September 11, 2001. It is in line with the sun’s solar angles on each September 11, from 8:46 am, when the first plane struck, until 10:28 am, when the second tower collapsed.

Summit One Vanderbilt

After a trip through a mirrored hallway, visitors go to the 91st floor, 1, 000 feet over the streets. The totally mirrored room called “Air” reflects the sky and city views, making you feel like you’re walking in the sky. 1, 063 feet above Madison Avenue at “Levitation”, you can stand over the street with just glass between you and the ground, which isn’t for the weak heart.

Edge Observation Deck

The highest outdoor observation deck is at Hudson Yards. The building’s outdoor platform takes you 65-feet into the sky making it the highest public balcony in NYC. It features grand views of our city’s skyline. Brave souls can stand on a large, see-through glass floor and wave to passers-by 1,100 feet beneath. There’s a 10,000-square-foot bar, restaurant and event space on the 101st floor.

Little Island

Floating on the Hudson River, the $250 million public park looks dreamy. Aside from all the eye-catching nature, it has a space for year-round performances. Billionaire Barry Diller, who is funding the project, has ensured that 51% of tickets for these performances will either be free or under $30, so you can count on this to be an affordable or free activity.

“Somebody will be beaten up, ” announced May Jordan. Frozen by fear, the students surrounding May silently hoped that her latest victim wasn’t among them. Since May had transferred in, Elliott Elementary became an uncomfortable place. She routinely bullied(欺凌)innocent third graders who were too afraid to defend themselves.

I had managed to go without May’s noticing, but one morning when I showed up for school with a new hairstyle and my friend Jaime said it looked nice, I noticed May’s glare. As she passed me in the cafeteria she said, “Nice braid(发辫). Somebody might cut it off.” And she moved her fingers to imitate a pair of scissors in motion.

The next morning, hearing my story, my mother said, “Don’t be afraid of her, Courtney. I’ll bet she just wants to fit in but just doesn’t know how.”

I rolled her words around in my head. May wasn’t so great at making friends. Maybe underneath all that toughness was a regular fifth grader who simply wanted to be liked. Did I have what it would take to make friends with May? For the first time, my curiosity outweighed my fear.

After lunch, I approached May and invited her to come to my house alter school. “We could walk home together, if you’d like. Maybe watch the Nickelodeon Channel?” I offered. Still, I was proud that I had extended the invitation. Then, something unexpected happened. May smiled and said yes.

I don’t remember what we watched on television, or what my mother prepared for our after-school snack. But I know that it would accelerate a new friendship. May Jordan never bullied me again, and we became good friends. After countless afternoons at my house, I realized that the tall girl was an insecure fifth grader who wanted to be accepted.

A study of adults suggests that the negative effects of alcohol consumption grow stronger with each additional drink, and cutting on the final drink of the evening could greatly improve brain health.

“There is some evidence that one additional drink in a day could have more impact than any of the previous drinks that day. Cutting back on that final drink of the night might have a big effect in terms of brain ageing,” said Dr. Remi Daviet, the study’s first author. The study found that the more a person drinks, the smaller their brain. And the link between alcohol consumption and reductions in brain volume grew stronger if the level of alcohol consumption is greater.

Previous work has shown links between alcohol consumption and brain health. But it was unclear whether moderate levels of drinking had an impact — some had even suggested that light drinking could be beneficial. The NHS recommends not drinking more than 14 units a week on a regular basis, although it states there is no safe level.

The latest study used MRI scans from more than 36,000 adults in the UK Biobank, which allowed the relationship between drinking and brain health to be examined in greater detail. The research showed a negative association between even one drink a day and brain volume. In 50-year-olds, increasing average drinking from one alcohol unit（half a pint of beer）a day to two units was associated with changes in the brain equal to ageing two years. It gets worse the more you drink. It’s believed that alcohol has a negative impact on the brain, leading to the loss of grey matter and the structure of white matter connection being hurt. “Our study doesn’t randomly assign people to drink, this wouldn’t be moral to do,” said Dr. Reagan Wetherill, a co-author.

The authors hope to look at whether drinking one beer a day is better than drinking none during the week and then seven on the weekend.

Norway’s new grand National Museum has kept the critics busy. Karin Hindsbo, the director of the £500 million museum of art, has felt the need to apologise for extensive delays that kept famous works out of public view for years.

Across 13, 000 square metres of exhibition space, there will be 5,000 works on show. Hindsbo says people will be offered choices according to their interests and available time.

“These days, when things tend to move fast, it’s good to provide a space where one can stay for many hours,” she says. “Maybe it is not so bad to get lost in art these days.”

The Norwegian government’s decision in 2013 to combine the collections of four existing museums including the National Gallery has been hotly debated. Hindsbo says the idea is good, in that “people will be able to see the whole history of Norwegian cultural heritage and regional cultural inheritance (遗产)in a global perspective under one roof”, and in conditions that best preserve and show off the pieces.

The range of the National Museum is broad. The second floor is dominated by the visual arts, from 17th century Dutch and Flemish landscapes to Johan Christian Dahl’s 19th-century masterpieces. There’s a Munch Room and a 2, 400-square-metre Light Hall, visible for miles at night thanks to 9, 000 energy-efficient LED lights.

To the critics who complain that the German architects Kleihues have spent a fortune and eight years building “a grey box”, Hindsbo says the point is how the works will be looked after and displayed inside. Built on the site of a railway station, it was designed to mix into its neighbourhood. “This isn’t a tall building. High quality and sustainability is important. All the materials are chosen in a 300-year scope, so nothing should be cast aside in 20 years.”

She is apologetic about the construction delays and the pandemic keeping some of Norway’s finest art out of public view, although works that could be moved have been loaned out over the last year.