Greenpoint Fall Market

Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Limited-time: Sunday mornings, year-round

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This Sunday greenmarket sets up under the shadow of the old Eberhard Faber pencil factory, now luxury lofts, but the farmstands remain defiantly analog. October brings the last of the heirloom tomatoes alongside the first serious apples and winter squash; grab a cider doughnut from the Red Jacket stand and a bunch of dahlias still holding their summer colors.

Insider tip. The honey vendor on the north end sells comb honey in October—worth the mess.

Hometown Bar-B-Que

Red Hook, Brooklyn

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Billy Durney's smoke temple sits in a former warehouse with picnic tables, a full bar, and the kind of brisket that makes Texans pause. The lamb belly is the sleeper hit—sticky, charred, impossible to eat gracefully. On Sundays the line moves fast and the vibe is loose; bring cash for the a la carte counter or settle in for the full experience.

Insider tip. Order the burnt ends by weight and don't sleep on the jalapeño cheddar grits.

Red Hook Waterfront

Red Hook, Brooklyn

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Walk off lunch along the piers where container ships still dock and the Statue of Liberty floats in the middle distance. The air smells like salt and diesel; seagulls wheel overhead. It's Brooklyn at its most industrial and most beautiful, especially in October light that turns the water silver and the old brick warehouses amber.

Insider tip. Walk south toward Valentino Pier for the best unobstructed harbor views.

Brooklyn Museum

Prospect Heights, Brooklyn

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The city's second-largest museum and its most underestimated, housed in a Beaux-Arts palace with Egyptian galleries that rival the Met's and a third-floor suite of American period rooms you'll have mostly to yourself. The contemporary wing rotates sharp thematic shows; the rooftop sculpture garden catches the late-afternoon sun slanting across Prospect Park.

Insider tip. First Saturdays are famous, but Sunday afternoons are when locals come to think.

Al Di La Trattoria

Park Slope, Brooklyn

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Emiliano Coppa's Venetian trattoria has anchored Fifth Avenue for over two decades without losing a step. The pasta is made in-house daily; the rabbit ragù over pappardelle is a reason to believe in continuity. The dining room hums with couples and families who've been coming since the neighborhood was still scruffy, and the wine list leans natural without making a fuss about it.

Insider tip. No reservations—arrive at opening or expect a wait you can spend next door at the bar.

Clover Club

Cobble Hill, Brooklyn

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Julie Reiner's jewel-box cocktail parlor glows like a Hopper painting on a Sunday night, all dark wood and soft light and the clink of very cold drinks. The namesake Clover Club—gin, raspberry, lemon, egg white—is frothy and tart and worth the pilgrimage, but the bartenders steer you right no matter what you're after. It's the kind of place that makes you want to stay until last call.

Insider tip. Sit at the bar if you can; the back room is pretty but the real show is up front.