8. Artists Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe Once Met at Tompkins Square Park

With the release of her debut album Horses, Patti Smith became an iconic figure in New York City’s punk rock scene. Yet, before her rise to fame and the various accolades that came with her craft, Smith was an “unknown” runaway from New Jersey, who moved to New York City in 1967. While working at a book store, she met photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, who is known today for his controversial images, including male and female nudes, and most notably, the underground BDSM scene in the 1960s and 70s. She would meet him again in another instance, before running into him in Tompkins Square Park while on a date with an older writer. In a desperate attempt to end the date, she asked Mapplethorpe to pretend to be her boyfriend, which eventually gave way to a whirlwind romance, inspiring her award-winning memoir Just Kids.