New Zealand rapper David Dallas is one of the Kiwi visitors enjoying the fare at the Dub Pie Shop in New York.

Head to Upper Manhattan for a real taste of New York, writes Charlotte McDonald-Gibson.

Take a look behind the scenes look at the Fall 2013 NY Fashion Week.

More than 2,700 dogs of 187 breed and varieties have been on display at 137th the annual canine competition. Two new breeds, the Russell terrier and the Treeing Walker coonhound, will be introduced in the contest. It has been the biggest entry in 15 years and the award pets' owners are waiting for is The Best in Show, which will be announced later today.

The tireless 71-year-old designer, best known for punky prom dresses and a lot of pink, introduced her fall collection as a theatrical exercise video for the Style Network program Betsey and Lulu, which follows the lives of Johnson and her daughter. It was a catwalk of energetic, giggly models in active wear chatting on mobile phones as they waved to attendees, then an exercise routine led by the designer that included running in place, yoga and pull-ups. Rows of pink yoga mats were strewn on the runway, each accompanied by a pair of high-top sneakers, towels and wine bottles. The collection, named BJ Kicks A, veered from the high school dance party looks that she has championed for decades, running toward a junior high school gym class with a lot of cheek. It was an explosion of neon pink and yellow, animal prints and plaids on mini dresses worn over leggings, a veritable visual feast piled over one another.

The designer’s fall collection was themed around glam rock. From pink jumpsuits to blue halter dresses, her message was clear: ‘life’s a party!’ Isabel Wilkinson reports.

Any model will tell you: It's hard to walk down a catwalk. Especially when you're an actual cat. Designer Tracy Reese's autumn-winter show had a guest model, of the feline variety. The cat was supposed to be walked on a leash, but was a bit frightened, the designer explained backstage, and had to be cradled in the model's arms for its one trip down the catwalk. Er, runway. The cat may have been timid, but Reese's designs were the opposite - full of mixed prints and bold colours, like the floral-printed neoprene frock in pink, orange and black that accompanied the cat-bearing model.

Minkoff named her colours after planets and other spacey things. A winter white was "Saturn'' and used for a leather motocross jacket. The colour caramel became "eclipse'' for a leather duffel coat. Minkoff put a twist on the colour-blocking trend that has been around now a few seasons by mixing chunks of different textures instead of contrasting hues. Minkoff's soft-line exaggerated shoulder, instead of the aggressive ones that were so popular on the runways a few years ago (and in the 1980s), also turned up elsewhere.

Designer Felipe Oliveira Baptista presented his Menswear and Womenswear collection. The focus was on colour-blocking and mixing of materials and textures in a similar sense. For example a fabric and leather-like garment might have leather-like sleeves, hips, pocket trim and lower legs.

The room was packed for Max and Lubov Azria of BCBG Max Azria, whose silk print dresses, magnificent furs, and over-sized jackets were full of exoticism. The designers said they drew inspiration from "the beautiful history inlaid within the architecture of Istanbul and the eclectic style of the Gypsies of Southern Europe."

Romantic as it sounds, some people in New York weren't hoping for a white Christmas. The tenants of our building have endured 14 days without hot water or heating. We blame Raoul.

If you're keen for a shopping fix overseas this holiday season here are the best streets around the world to fill up the suitcase with goodies.

New York police officer Lawrence DePrimo was celebrated in print and on TV last week for an act of kindness.

Given that so many hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers had more pressing concerns, perhaps that's why the election barely registered in New York City.

The normally bustling New York resembles a ghost town as hundreds of thousands of people flee from Hurricane Sandy, according to expat Kiwis living there.

Biking around New York takes Rob McFarland off-trail and into less-seen neighbourhoods.

On the same plaza where models had strutted the runways just days earlier, it seemed like New York Fashion Week had been a mere prelude to NYCB's glittery fall gala. The evening's star was legendary designer Valentino, and the focus was on clothes, onstage and off.

The Big Apple has myriad temptations for time away from Fashion Week events.