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A woman sits at a high tea service.
Photograph: Courtesy Evan Sung / Baccarat Hotel New York

The best things to do in the winter in NYC

The weather outside might be freezing, but the best things to do in winter in NYC will keep you cheery.

Rossilynne Skena Culgan
Ian Kumamoto
Written by
Rossilynne Skena Culgan
Contributor
Ian Kumamoto
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New York City doesn't shut down in the winter, thank you very much! Instead, we're just turning up the heat on all there is to do here. There are plenty of incredible things to do all season long during the coldest time of year, including great museum exhibits and winter pop-ups. For something a bit more snuggly, check out the free fireplaces to cozy up by in NYC or lounge inside a sauna at one of the best spas. Don’t forget that New York is absolutely gorgeous in winter, so bundle up and go out to admire all the snow-covered trees at the best NYC parks or check out some outdoor public art.

RECOMMENDED: The best things to do outside this winter in NYC
RECOMMENDED: The best New York attractions

Best things to do in the winter

  • Restaurants
  • Tea rooms

Treat yourself like royalty at one of NYC’s best spots for afternoon tea, complete with fancy sandwiches, decadent scones, lavish surroundings and a caffeine jolt. From the elegant Grand Salon at the Baccarat Hotel to the park views at Mandarin Oriental, these special tea services will make you cozy on the rainiest or coldest day.

  • Music
  • Music

Forget the gown, tux, and fancy shoes. For this new concert series at Carnegie Hall, stretchy pants, cozy sweaters, and comfy footwear is welcomed. 

The iconic venue is hosting five intimate concerts this winter that combine elements of mindfulness and meditation with world-class musical performances. These hour-long Well-Being Concerts cost between $15-$30 and run through April.

During the show, audience members are encouraged to get comfortable while reclining on floor mats and cushions. A host will share prompts, lead breathing exercises, and ask guests to share thoughts and reflections with their fellow audience members. Guest may even be encouraged to sing.

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  • Theater
  • Theater & Performance

"Hey sister, go sister, soul sister, go sister," there's a spicy new Moulin Rouge pop-up that's definitely worth going to. 

Moulin Rouge! The Musical has taken over the rooftop at M Social Hotel in Times Square with a Broadway karaoke experience this winter. Decked out in red decor and lit with chandeliers, this pop-up promises to heat up the colder days and makes an especially fun night out for Valentine's dates. Find the venue at 51st and Broadway, with the pop-up available through at least February 2024. 

If you need a little liquid courage to belt it out, there’s a themed drink menu, including The Rouge, Baby!, a twist on a rum punch, and The Sparkling Diamond, a take on a French martini.

Be sure to make a reservation to attend. Reservations can be made for an hour and 15 minutes, bookable on OpenTable. Tickets cost $50/person and include one complimentary themed cocktail.

  • Things to do
  • Events & Festivals

Just in time for Valentine's Day, Pink Pier is back at Pier 15 with over-the-top decor, photo opps, and themed food—all perfectly pink. Watermark, the 10,000-square-foot outdoor bar and restaurant along the East River, has been transformed into this pink paradise. 

Whether you're celebrating the season with a Valentine, a gal-entine, a pal-entine, or just your fabulous self, Pink Pier makes for a fun spot to go out. Tickets are on sale here.

The experience promises a romantic dining destination. You’ll enter through a floral hallway that sets the stage for what’s ahead. Pink and red flowers abound, twinkly lights illuminate the space, and heart installations make for excellent photo backdrops. Ribbons, bows, and garlands fill every spare space for the ultimate coquette aesthetic. 

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  • Things to do

At Sip & Stitch, create your very own custom handbag with the guidance of purse pro Anthony Luciano. As a longtime handbag artistan and a fashion expert, Luciano will share tips and tricks for making a handbag that's perfect for your personal style. 

The lively workshops are held in Luciano’s Garment District studio, which is packed with vintage ephemera, beautiful decor, and plenty of purses to spark your inspiration. The class begins with a chance to pick a leather color and texture of your choosing—just nothing boring, as Luciano admonishes. Once that’s sorted, he’ll guide you through each step of the process, from cutting to gluing to making final touches. While the workshop is called Sip & Stitch, there’s technically no “stitching” involved, so don’t be intimidated. Even if you’re not a crafty person, Luciano and his team will make sure you leave with a handbag you’re proud to carry. 

Several workshops fall under the Sip & Stitch umbrella, from a classic handbag to a unisex option. Prices range from $175 to $275, with adult beverages and snacks provided at the higher price point. The team plays pop and disco tunes in the background, making a fun and fashionable night for all.

  • Things to do
  • Markets and fairs

The Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park has returned in all its holiday glory. On the grounds, you can peruse more than 180 shopping and food kiosks—all at one of the best NYC parks. Expect loads of handmade, unique and New York City-specific gifts for your family and friends. Work up an appetite at the 17,000-square-foot ice-skating rink and then fill up at the rinkside pop-up restaurant called The Lodge for festive cocktails and hearty food.

The experience will be open through March 3, 2024.

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  • Art
  • Art

A refreshing new fashion exhibit at The Met hands the mic to pioneering women designers who dress women of all shapes and sizes. The exhibition shows how female designers have reclaimed the body—and are reclaiming the message in fashion.

"Women Dressing Women" showcases 80 garments by 70 makers, from couture gowns by well-known designers like Donna Karan to political garments by Katharine Hamnett to plus-size outfits by Ester Manas. The exhibition, curated by The Costume Institute, is on view at the Upper East Side museum through March 3, 2024, included with museum admission. It highlights rare pieces from the collection, many of which are on view at The Met for the first time. 

The exhibition explores the subject through four sections: anonymity, visibility, agency, and absence/omission. Focusing on the period between the early 1900s and today, the collection offers a snapshot of fashion history and fashion trends. 

  • Things to do
  • Events & Festivals

Two New York City hotels are offering outdoor spa experiences this winter—The William Vale in Brooklyn and The Rockaway Hotel + Spa in Queens, so grab your swimwear and make a reservation. 

At The William Vale, enjoy the views while indulging in some much-needed stress relief. Bask in the heat of a barrel sauna with panoramic skyline views or soak in a cedar hot tub under the stars—or both! The experience makes for a special solo trip or a romantic date night. 

At The Rockaway Hotel, enjoy a resort-style escape not too far from Manhattan. For the winter, the hotel has transformed its patio area into a winter pool house with cedar saunas and cozy decor. Plus, the outdoor pool is open for a refreshing plunge. After your dip, you can slip into a buttery robe and relax with tabletop games.

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  • Restaurants
  • Drinking

Season after season, Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge sprinkles its special blend of hospitality pixie dust to transform its venue into an immersive spectacle. This winter is no different as the Garment District bar presents the saccharine Pink Winter Lodge: Neon Frost Edition.

Expect pink decor everywhere, plus a themed menu with pink drinks and pink sweet treats. Make a reservation here; walk-ins are welcome as well. 

No matter the weather—yes, even if snow is in the forecast—Magic Hour makes for a fun destination, as it offers an indoor and outdoor rooftop with a retractable roof.

  • Theater
  • Theater & Performance

From amazing costumes to Broadway history to fun photo opps, this long-awaited new museum is a must-see for theater buffs.  

You can expect the new museum to highlight over 500 individual productions from the 1700s all the way to the present. 

Among the standout offerings will also be a special exhibit dubbed "The Making of a Broadway Show," which honors the on- and off-stage community that helps bring plays and musicals to life multiple times a week. 

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  • Art
  • Art

Inside a venue dating back 100 years into the past, a new art show explores a question of the future: How can human creativity and artificial intelligence coexist?

ARTECHOUSE, located inside an old boiler room at Chelsea Market, has debuted its latest digital art exhibition, “World of AI·magination;" tickets are on sale here starting at $21/person. To create the exhibition, ARTECHOUSE Studio developed original visual elements with generative AI systems. Designers hope to inspire visitors to consider AI as a "creative associate rather than a mere tool for innovation." 

World of AI·magination centers around a 20-minute cinematic experience with six scenes. One scene, called the Library of Magical Portals, features colossal books brimming with dreams and algorithms. Another scene called Symphony of Illusions constantly morphs, while the Infinite Maze immerses visitors into multiple parallels.

  • Art
  • Art

When Komal Shah starting collecting art more than a decade ago, she noticed something startling: "The art world does not treat women artists equally" compared to male artists. 

She decided to do something about that by founding the Shah Garg Foundation with her husband, Gaurav Garg. The organization champions artwork by women and seeks to remedy the imbalances facing marginalized artists. Nearly 100 pieces of art from their collection are now on view in a powerful and diverse show called "Making Their Mark: Art by Women in the Shah Garg Collection" in Chelsea (548 West 22nd Street). It's free to visit through March 23, 2024; hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 11am-6pm.

The expansive exhibition fills two stories with stunning works by artists including Firelei Báez, Cecily Brown, Judy Chicago, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Mary Weatherford, Anicka Yi, and many others. The show features paintings, drawings, textile works, sculptures and mixed media pieces by significant artists from the last eight decades. 

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  • Art
  • Art

One less reason to be gloomy this winter: The free and vibrant Ana María Hernando exhibition at Madison Square Park, which features giant waterfall and cloud-like sculptures that'll make you feel like you’re in a tropical island somewhere in the Studio Ghibli universe. 

"To Let the Sky Know/Dejar que el cielo sepa," is hard to miss: Spread across three of Madison Square Park's lawns and hovering over the snow, the aim of Hernando's public project is to foster feelings of hope, growth, and fluidity — admittedly, three things that feel pretty hard to come by during our frigid winters. It's on view until March 17, 2024.

  • Sports and fitness
  • Sports & Fitness

Carreau Club, the nation’s first pétanque bar, has added an indoor location to its ranks with more space to get your game on while sipping a drink.

The indoor venue at Brooklyn's Industry City makes for great night out with a full bar, craft beer, wine and cocktails, plus a small deli counter. For the uninitiated, pétanque (pronounced puh-TONK) is a bocce-ball style French boules sport gaining popularity in the U.S., starting here in NYC. 

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  • Art
  • Art

The vibrant, ornate stained glass windows inside Manhattan's historic churches always create a dazzling spectacle. But now, a new long-term art display inspired by those rich colors has unfurled inside the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Morningside Heights—the world's largest Gothic cathedral

Titled "Divine Pathways," the monumental art installation is made up of more than 1,100 lengths of blue, red and gold fabric. Each ribbon measures 75 feet in length (approximately seven stories high). Combined, they are almost 16 miles long—that's longer than the island of Manhattan!  

St. John the Divine is open daily for self-guided sightseeing tours with a $15/adult admission fee; timed tickets are recommended. "Divine Pathways" will be on view through June 2024. 

  • Things to do
  • Midtown West

This "crazy mini-golf course" and entertainment complex straight from London offers three nine-hole golf courses across 23,000 square feet under 20-foot-high ceilings. For those new to the game, "crazy golf" is a British spin on mini-golf, but it's for a 21-and-over audience since craft cocktails are served by caddies on the course. In addition to the cocktails, the course offers a little more edge — think wild routes, obstacles, windmills and more.

At Swingers NoMad, expect six cocktail bars with signature classic cocktails from London and D.C., as well as 12 cocktails created specifically for NYC, private rooms you can rent, an opulent clubhouse and four gourmet street food vendors—Sauce Pizzeria, Miznon, Fonda and Mah Ze Dahr Bakery.

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  • Things to do
  • Weird & Wonderful

Get your game on at a board game cafe near Union Square.

Filled with 500 games, Hex & Co.'s latest location is now open just south of Union Square at 801 Broadway (Broadway and East 11th in Greenwich Village) and ready for gamers of all fandoms. 

This is the third location for Hex & Co., joining fellow board game cafes in the Upper West Side and Upper East Side. It also joins sister stores The Uncommons in Greenwich Village and The Brooklyn Strategist in Carroll Gardens.

The new cafe is the first with a true private room, perfect for parties of all kinds. Visitors can choose from more than 500 games on the venue's massive game wall, everything from Taboo and Risk to Catan and Ticket to Ride. 

  • Sports and fitness
  • Sports & Fitness

Wild Captives, the nation’s first female- and LGBTQ-owned archery studio, is now open. It's a place where everyone can "be their own superhero." The studio in Brooklyn’s Industry City offers empowering and fun hour-long introduction to archery classes every weekend for $45/person. 

Each intro class includes a chance to learn about different parts of the bow and safety requirements. After the lesson, each participant gets a chance to shoot the bow trying to pop a balloon pinned onto the bullseye. Intro-to-archery classes are available each Friday, Saturday and Sunday, bookable online for anyone over age 12.

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  • Art
  • Art

The energy in INTER_ feels more like a meditation retreat than a typical gallery—and that’s by design. 

The experiential, multi-sensory museum in Soho invites visitors into a heightened state of contemplative awareness through a sound bath, light installations and aspects of meditation all combined with interactive digital art. 

Here's a sneak peek inside the museum — and if you want to check it out yourselfTime Out readers get a discount on tickets with code TIMEOUT15.

  • Things to do

Hope for snow, and if the flakes actually fall, pretend your a kid again and go sledding! Some of the best NYC parks (in all five boroughs) offer great hills for thrill seekers. After having a playful day throwing snowball fights and sliding down those slippery slopes until you become a snowperson, take us up on our recommendations for watering holes where you can grab a drink and warm up afterward.

There are many great bars with fireplaces in the city that will do the trick, but if you want the real post-sledding beverage, check out our list of the best hot chocolate in the city.

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  • Things to do

Ice skating in NYC is one of the city’s most beloved seasonal traditions. While some skating rinks are open year-round, ice skating in the winter — especially around the holidays — is a special treat that will warm your soul with the spirit of the season. The iconic rink at Rockefeller Center and the Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park are bursting with holiday cheer (and fab food and drinks), while low-key rinks offer a more chill experience. 

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  • Things to do
  • Midtown West

You'll want to spend a couple of hours inside the NYPL to see every item of its collection within "The Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library’s Treasures." The artifacts on view span 4,000 years of history and includes a wide range of history-making pieces, including the only surviving letter from Christoper Columbus announcing his "discovery" of the Americas to King Ferdinand’s court and the first Gutenberg Bible brought over to the Americas...just wow! 

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  • Theater
  • Circuses & magic
  • Midtown EastOpen run

Steve Cohen, billed as the Millionaires’ Magician, conjures high-class parlor magic in the marble-columned Madison Room at the swank Lotte New York Palace. Audiences must dress to be impressed (cocktail attire is required); tickets start at $125, with an option to pay more for meet-and-greet time and extra tricks with Cohen after the show.

But if you've come to see a classic-style magic act, you get what you pay for. Sporting a tuxedo and bright rust hair, the magician delivers routines that he has buffed to a patent-leather gleam: In addition to his signature act—"Think-a-Drink," involving a kettle that pours liquids by request—highlights include a lulu of levitation trick and a card-trick finale that leaves you feeling like, well, a million bucks.

  • Art
  • Art

If scrolling through social media to see pictures of cute dogs and hilarious cats is a favorite pastime of yours, then this new exhibit at Fotografiska is a must-see. Titled "Best in Show," the exhibition explores the role of furry and feathered friends in our culture through more than 100 incredible photographs. 

Photos show dogs in a variety of situations, like getting baths, posing, partying, shaking their heads and even dressing up in fancy “cones of shame.” Cats, rats, bunnies, birds, reptiles, turtles and fish get their moment in the spotlight, too, at this exhibition on view in the Flatiron District through January 2024. 

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  • Things to do
  • City Life

Majestic, incredible elephants are getting the spotlight in a new exhibit at The American Museum of Natural History. "The Secret World of Elephants" showcases both modern and ancient elephants, offering visitors a chance to see a full-scale model of a woolly mammoth, learn about what elephants eat, touch an elephant's tooth, listen to elephant calls and more.

The exhibition is now open in the museum’s LeFrak Family Gallery. An additional ticket is required to visit the exhibit; museum members can visit for free.

  • Things to do
  • Weird & Wonderful

The House of Cannabis (a.k.a. THC NYC) is a new weed museum in Soho. While the museum boasts plenty of mind-bending multi-sensory bells and whistles, it also showcases art, highlights science and confronts the social justice issues baked into cannabis prosecution.

Don't miss: The Euphorium, a massive spinning record you can sit or lay on while listening to music, from The Doors to Santana. With the room's impressive light show and hazy vibes, it's like a merry-go-round for adults.  

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  • Things to do

Whether you dig football or not, the big game is, if anything, an ace excuse to gorge and get sloppy. And if football isn’t really your jam, there’s always the Puppy Bowl, a televised gaggle of adorable doggies in a mock stadium. Who are we kidding? We’re mostly here for the puppies.

  • Sports and fitness
  • Sports & Fitness

If you've always dreamed of going to the Super Bowl but haven't found a good way to get there, the Paley Center for Media is now bringing the Super Bowl to the middle of Manhattan. Its latest exhibit, "Beyond the Big Game," includes a hefty collection of 57 team rings, uniforms from past Super Bowls, and Katy Perry's iconic halftime show outfit.

Sure, it's not the actual Super Bowl, but let's be really serious for a second: It's the closest thing many New Yorkers are going to get to experiencing the big game anytime soon.

If you're not the biggest football fan, don't stress — there's also an entire section that celebrates the best Super Bowl commercials, so those who are creatively and artistically inclined can also stay busy.

The exhibit will run Wednesday-Sunday from 12pm-6pm until March 3. Tickets can be bought in advance online and prices range from free for children to $20 for adults.  

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