101 things to do in the spring in New York City 2013
Warm weather is back, along with your will to go outdoors and explore NYC. Lucky for you, we've rounded up the best things to do in the spring.
Fri Mar 1 2013
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Photograph: Syd London
101 things to do in the spring in New York City 2013
31. Wear a bonnet at the Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival
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101 things to do in the spring in New York City 2013
32. Beg Jenny Slate and Gabe Liedman to stay at the Big Terrific Fifth Anniversary
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Photograph: Courtesy of The Armory Show
101 things to do in the spring in New York City 2013
33. Join the crush at the Armory Show
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101 things to do in the spring in New York City 2013
34. See Stevie Nicks & Co.
Pictured: Fleetwood Mac
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Photograph: Michael Alexander
101 things to do in the spring in New York City 2013
35. Then salute Stevie Nicks at Night of a Thousand Stevies
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Photograph: Jeff Morgan
101 things to do in the spring in New York City 2013
36. Hear new stories from Etgar Keret and Gary Shteyngart, pictured
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101 things to do in the spring in New York City 2013
37. Meander around Manhattan on the Great Saunter
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Photograph: Paul B. Goode
101 things to do in the spring in New York City 2013
38. See Paul Taylor Dance Company's old classics and future classics
Pictured: 3 Epitaphs
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Photograph: Courtesy New York Cares
101 things to do in the spring in New York City 2013
39. Become a nicer New Yorker and volunteer for New York Cares Day Spring
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Photograph: Jessica Lin
101 things to do in the spring in New York City 2013
40. See things another way in Madison Square Park with "Topsy-Turvy: A Camera Obscura Installation"
Wear a bonnet at the Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival
- Critics choice
- Free
Sunday best gets new meaning during this annual procession, wherein participants show off elaborately constructed hats—we’re talking noggin-toppers shaped like the NYC skyline or the Coney Island Cyclone, not just a boring old fedora. The tradition started in the mid-1800s, when high-society ladies would promenade in their Easter finery after church, and has since evolved into a showcase for chapeau artistry.
- Fifth Ave from 49th to 57th Sts
- Sun Mar 31
Beg Jenny Slate and Gabe Liedman to stay at the Big Terrific Fifth Anniversary
- Price band: 2/4
- Critics choice
Though Jenny Slate and Gabe Liedman have moved to L.A., Big Terrific cohost Max Silvestri happily welcomes them back for this stand-up celebration. There's no lineup announced as of yet, but expect the trio to bring along some of the best up-and-comers around as they perform their own bits.
- Music Hall of Williamsburg 66 North 6th St, between Kent and Wythe Aves
- Fri Mar 15
Join the crush at the Armory Show
- Price band: 3/4
- Critics choice
Fair season, the art world’s version of March Madness, is led by the Armory Show, divided into Modern and Contemporary sections. There are fewer exhibitors this year—210, down from 2012’s 228, prompting whispers of irrelevance—but the fair still has the cachet of its name, borrowed from the 1913 Armory Show that blew New York’s collective mind and exposed Gotham’s upright citizenry to the wild work of the European and American avant-garde (the subject of “Decenter: An Exhibition on the Centenary of the 1913 Armory Show” at Abrons Arts Center through April 7). Perhaps in the hope of recapturing some of that event’s electricity, this year’s Armory Show is dedicated to the centennial of the first one.
- Piers 92/94 711 Twelfth Ave, between W 55th St and the West Side Hwy, 10019
- Until Sun Mar 10
See Stevie Nicks & Co.
- Price band: 3/4
- Critics choice
Over the past few years, the indie-rock sphere woke up to the potent bittersweetness summoned by the Lindsey Buckingham–Stevie Nicks tandem. Expect cathartic scream-alongs this spring, as the pair joins veteran members Mick Fleetwood and John McVie on a jaunt supporting a new deluxe reissue of Rumours.
- Nikon at Jones Beach Theater Jones Beach
- Sat Jun 22
Then salute Stevie Nicks at Night of a Thousand Stevies
- Price band: 2/4
- Critics choice
The annual Nicksfest is back for round 23 (!), with Stevie wanna-bes from all over the world descending upon NYC like a flock of white-winged, wig-wearing doves. (Or like "a magnet to the sea," as Nicks sings on "Crystal.") Chi Chi Valenti, Hattie Hathaway and Editrix Abby serve as the “enchantresses of ceremony,” and Craig Spencer, Johnny Dynell and VJ Trey play the between-act tunes. The massive lineup of performers includes the Ho-Hos, Heather Litteer, Vangeline Theater, Machine Dazzle, Kat Mon Dieu, Poison Eve and Darlinda Just Darlinda. Here’s the dress code, boiled down to its basics: "Stevie Nicks realness, all eras."
- Highline Ballroom 431 W 16th St, between Ninth and Tenth Aves
- Fri May 3
Hear new stories from Etgar Keret and Gary Shteyngart
- Price band: 2/4
- Critics choice
Two satirists, one Israeli and one Russian, join forces for an evening of new stories read by well-known actors. Keret has made some strides in the U.S. the past few years, landing his loopy, fantastical short neofables in The New Yorker and a great 2012 collection titled Suddenly, a Knock on the Door. Super Sad True Love Story, the most recent novel from Shteyngart (Absurdistan, The Russian Debutante’s Handbook), taps into the insecurity and longing of a middle-aged man, even while charting a dystopic near-future.
- Symphony Space 2537 Broadway, At 95th St
- Until Wed Apr 17
Meander around Manhattan on the Great Saunter
- Price band: 2/4
- Critics choice
Not all walks are created equal, and this annual 32-mile trek around the circumference of Manhattan is a standout for sure. The entire jaunt takes about 12 hours, and along the way you'll pass through 20 parks, see dozens of landmarks and make friends with your fellow striders. If you complete the circle, reward yourself with a beer back at the starting point, the Porterhouse at Fraunces Tavern.
- The Porterhouse at Fraunces Tavern 58 Pearl St, between Broad and Water Sts, 10004
- Sat May 4
See Paul Taylor Dance Company's old classics and future classics
- Price band: 1/4
- Critics choice
For his company’s second season at the grand Koch Theater after years spent at New York City Center, Taylor revives seven decades of masterworks, such as 3 Epitaphs from 1956, in which faceless performers wear spooky costumes designed by Robert Rauschenberg and dance to early New Orleans jazzl and Esplanade, a 1975 classic set to Bach and inspired by the sight of a girl running to catch a bus—the movement entirely comprised of standing, walking, running, sliding and falling. There are 21 new works as well, including the world premiere of Perpetual Dawn, the choreographer’s 138th dance, and the New York premiere of To Make Crops Grow, set to music by Ferde Grofé. If you like variety, Taylor’s your man. Each of his dances parts the curtain to reveal a bold, new world.
- David H. Koch Theater (at Lincoln Center) 20 Lincoln Center Plaza, at 63rd St
- Until Sun Mar 24
Become a nicer New Yorker
- Price band: 2/4
- Critics choice
Be the change you wish to see and sign up for New York Cares Day Spring, a day of service and benefit to raise money for the nonprofit’s programming, which includes volunteer projects and an annual winter coat drive. Approximately four thousand New Yorkers will help improve ten miles of shoreline and 70 parks in all five boroughs by gardening, painting and repairing fences, fixing nature trails and, yes, paying for the opportunity. If you want a chance to choose where you’ll be working, gather some friends and sign up as a team (of ten to 75 people) by March 22; otherwise you’ll be assigned to a project in the borough of your choice, as long as you register on newyorkcaresday.org by April 12.
- Various locations
- Sat Apr 20
See things another way at "Topsy-Turvy: A Camera Obscura Installation"
- Critics choice
- Free
For this Madison Square Park public-art project Sandra Gibson and Luis Recoder, a collaborative pair of deconstructive filmmakers, go back to the optical beginnings of the medium, installing a walk-in camera obscura on the greensward. Inside this darkened room, viewers will see the surrounding trees and buildings projected upside down; upending the experience of the everyday by making the familiar seem strange.
- Madison Square Park E 23rd St to E 26th St, between Fifth and Madison Aves
- Sat Mar 2 - Sat Apr 6
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