It’s hard to find time to sneak out of the city for a weekend getaway. But even when you can’t escape the city, there are still some places where you can bypass wifi and make a quick escape from the bustle and grind.
Here are some of our favorite wifi free places to hang in New York City:
MCNALLY JACKSON SOHO, 52 Prince Street, New York NY
Open Monday -Saturday, 10 AM – 10 PM; Sun. 10 AM – 9 PM
Tucked away in SoHo, this local bookstore provides hours of inspirational wandering with well-curated titles and a tiny cafe to boot. We recommend snagging a seat early on the weekends, and while the fold-down single seat tables are small they provide space for everything you need and nothing you don’t. McNally Jackson is legendary for its selection and its staunch wifi-free policy.
JEFFERSON MARKET GARDEN, 14 Greenwich Avenue, New York NY
Open April through October, Tuesday – Sunday, 9 AM to Dusk
Just south of the Jefferson Market Branch of the New York Public Library, this small private garden is the perfect place to be transported to another world. With its winding paths and diversity of local flora, the park is an oasis in the heart of the Village. Come here and reap the benefits of nature in New York City.
CLOCKWORK BAR, 21 Essex Street, New York NY
Open Monday – Sunday, 11 AM – 4 AM
When work’s around the corner but you want to feel a thousand miles away, duck into Clockwork, a grungy dive on the border of the Lower East Side and Chinatown. Follow the narrow bar to the back and enjoy all day drink specials in a graffiti-covered back room that can make it feel like midnight at any time of day.
CAFÉ GRUMPY PARK CHELSEA, 224 West 20th Street, New York NY
Open Monday –Friday., 7 AM – 8 PM; Saturday, 7:30 AM – 8 PM; Sunday, 7:30 AM – 7:30 PM
In keeping with its curmudgeonly name, this specialty coffee chain has rejected wifi and has a strict no laptop policy at the majority of locations, including Park Slope, Lower East Side, Fashion District, Grand Central Terminal, and Nolita. But by far the prettiest places for a breather is its tree-lined Chelsea location, where you can relax on a cute patio.
NEW YORK CITY TRANSIT MUSEUM, 99 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn NY
Open Tuesday – Friday, 10 AM – 4 PM; Saturday + Sunday, 11 AM – 5 PM
While most of the city’s museums have given in to the wifi trend, not this underground homage to the world ’s largest rapid transit system, which is housed in a decommissioned subway station. Extra points for lacking consistent cell service, meaning you can explore the city’s old subway cars truly free from interruption.
In need of a more definite escape? Check out our NYC Outpost, featuring wifi free cabins just two hours outside of the city.