Roosevelt Park, where locals congregate to shoot hoops and splash in water fountains, then catch a show or two at August's month-long Fringe NYC festival, which sees more than 200 international theatre groups hit town.

BBC: Summer in the city: New York

Just as iconic a symbol of the area is the hardy population of 150 or so wild horses, who have adapted to be able to go without water for longer periods than domestic horses, surviving for generations on the desert's fringe.

CNN: Ghost towns and wild horses in world's oldest desert