Secret New York - Hidden bars & restaurants

Michelle Young is the founder of Untapped Cities, a web magazine about urban discovery and exploration in New York City and around the world. Michelle holds a B.A. from Harvard in the History of Architecture and a Master of Science in Urban Planning from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, where she is also an Adjunct Professor. As a photographer, Michelle's work has been published in the Wall Street Journal, and exhibited at the Museum of the City of New York and the Venice Biennale. Michelle is also the author of the book Broadway, about the history of the famous street and she is one of the authors of 100 Ways to Make History, published by the New York Public Library. She has been interviewed for The New York Times, Huffington Post Live, and appeared in numerous documentaries. Always looking for the next adventure, Michelle has traveled to over 40 countries, always with an S LR camera in tow, and as a Juilliard-trained cellist, toured around the United States as a cellist in an indie rock band.

Laura Itzkowitz grew up near Boston and lived in Paris and Rome before moving to New York City, though she comes from a long line of (outer borough) New Yorkers. She writes for Travel + Leisure, Fodor's Travel, Refinery29, Saveur, and is an editor at Untapped Cities. She contributed to Fodor's Travel's forthcoming Brooklyn guidebook, writing the guides to her neighbourhood (Greenpoint) and nearby Williamsburg. She holds a Masters of Fine Arts in creative writing and translation from Columbia University's School of the Arts and a B.A. from Smith College. She has been featured as a New York expert blogger in Time Out New York and named one of Hotel Club's Top 20 NYC bloggers. She likes her gin shaken, not stirred, and loves it when a bartender can surprise her with a new cocktail.