Things to do on a Sunday in New York

Somewhere between the commuter crush and the celestial ceiling, Grand Central Terminal is about to get unexpectedly romantic. On Friday, February 13, the landmark station will host its first-ever speed dating event, “One Stop to Love: Speed Dating” at Grand Central, running from 5–7pm inside the historic Biltmore Room. The timing alone couldn't be better: Friday the 13th, Valentine’s-adjacent and staged in a space that once literally existed to manage public displays of affection.

Speed dating is the RSVP-only portion of the evening, featuring two 40-minute rounds with just 16 participants per round. Attendees will enjoy free wine and small bites, with hosting duties handled by photographer and digital media expert Jacques Morel and music by Luna Rosa. It’s a short, structured window to meet a few strangers with no pressure and no marathon small talk.

The rest of the evening, however, is designed to spill well beyond the dating pool. From 3–7pm, the Biltmore Room will also host a Valentine’s Day Market that’s open to the public with no registration required. The lineup includes live poetry, DJ sets, pop-up performances (including a Broadway teaser) and vendors ranging from Jacques Torres Chocolate and Doughnut Plant to Murray’s Cheese, Jet Set Candy, Lovepop, Shake Shack and Damselfly Flowers.

The Orchid Show at The New York Botanical Garden exhibits thousands of species of beautiful blossoming orchids, making it one of the best NYC events in February and one of the best things to do in the Bronx. NYBG’s orchid show has been running for more than two decades and has only gotten better year after year.

The Orchid Show this year will explore the connection between natural flora and the concrete jungle "in a dazzling reimagining of the Big Apple, from stoops and slice shops to the subway itself."

NYBG’s Orchid show runs from February 7 through April 26, 2026 at the New York Botanical Garden (2900 Southern Blvd, Bronx) inside the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory.

Emily Brontë’s only published novel has always been utterly batshit, and director Emerald Fennell’s take on the gothic ‘romance’ of Wuthering Heights follows suit, as peculiarly cold as it is visually decadent. The destructive aspect of Cathy and Heathcliff’s obsessive love is front and centre, yet it’s hard to care about Margot Robbie’s bratty Catherine Earnshaw – who seems too old to be acting this teenage – and Jacob Elordi’s boring, one-note Heathcliff. In the book he is ‘wild’ and deeply charismatic. In the film, he is… tall? 

In the book,there's much unconsummated yearning, but Fennell – who infamously made Barry Keogan stick his dick in a freshly dug grave in Saltburn – gets the pair romping with impunity. This is, naturally, after Cathy experiences her sexual awakening while spying on household servants having a kinky stable-based encounter. But despite all this shagging, Wuthering Heights is not even Fennell’s horniest film. It’s hard to care about such unsympathetic characters – Cathy and Heathcliff behave abominably – making any moments of intended emotional or erotic impact fall flat.

Wuthering Heights was never written as a traditional romance, rather a tale of obsession, revenge, bitterness and betrayal. Still, it helps if you're made to care about its doomed lovers.

In cinemas worldwide Fri Feb 13.

The holiday may be over but winter is very much still doing its thing in New York—and Bryant Park is leaning into it. One of the park’s most popular cold-weather diversions—iceless curling—is officially returning in February, and this time it’s dropping the reservations and price tag entirely.

After several seasons as the reservation-only Curling Café, Bryant Park is rebooting the experience as a free, first-come, first-served activity focused purely on the game. There are now no bookings, no food-and-drink minimums and no pressure to linger longer than your competitive spirit allows.

From February 6 through February 26, 2026, iceless curling lanes will pop up just east of the skating rink as part of Bank of America Winter Village. The lanes will be open daily from 11 am to 7 pm, welcoming anyone who wants to try their hand at sliding stones toward the bullseye, Olympic-level finesse not required.

What's the best time of year? Christmas season? Maybe. The coming of fall? Perhaps. Pancake Month? Yes—this one gives us reason to celebrate. 

February marks the return of Pancake Month at Clinton St. Baking Company. The classic Americana restaurant and bakery on the Lower East Side will be griddling up pancakes of all kinds, doling out exciting flavors each week. Snag a table and sink your fork into inspiring creations such as the triple berry pancakes with rapberries, blueberries and strawberries accompanied with a meyer lemon curd (February 4-6), an apple pie variety ladled with caramelized apples with a cider glaze (February 9-11) and cinnamon roll pancakes with a cinnamon brown butter streusel, vanilla cream cheese glaze and a few shakes of cinammon sugar (February 18-20). As if that wasn't enough, the eatery is whipping up wild-card flavors on the weekends. 

And if you aren't in Manhattan, you can swing over to their Brooklyn location in Time Out New York, Brooklyn. The market locale is running its own line-up of specials, including key lime coconut pancakes with key lime curd (February 9-13) and raspberry chocolate chunk with a raspberry-caramel sauce (February 16-20).  

‘What you are about to see is something you’ve never seen before,’ we're promised at the start of Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie. That may be true for some of us, but not for all: Nirvanna the Band the Show was actually a culty and beloved Canadian sitcom based on an early aughts web series – which has now, as advertised, been turned into a full-length movie.

Totally confused? Lean all the way in. There is little logic to be found in this cheerfully bananas mockumentary from Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol, who have been playing the fictional Matt and Jay for nearly two decades. Their latest misadventure, deftly directed by Johnson and hilariously scripted by both, should by all rights break the world.

Like the series and sitcom, the movie follows two clueless friends determined to book a gig at Toronto’s famed Rivoli music club. Unfortunately, they don’t have a manager, an agent or much of a setlist. What they do possess, besides a band name that causes infinite confusion, is a refusal to flag in the face of eternal rejection. Matt and Jay don’t spend much time on actual music, but they’re fully committed to hatching schemes. These run the spectrum from painfully misguided (parachute into a stadium, impress thousands of potential fans) to utterly insane (build a time machine, travel to the past, secure a booking for the future).

In US theaters Fri Feb 13.

Don't expect Bryant Park to virtually shut down once the holidays are over—at least not this year. Post New Year's, the park is shifting into full-on winter Olympics mode as Bank of America Winter Village becomes a hub for Winter Olympics–inspired fun.

Bumper cars on ice return from January 9 through February 28, letting visitors bump, spin and slide across the rink in 10-minute sessions that feel more like a carnival ride than a traditional skate (plus you're already seated, so no embarrassing tumbles).

From Thor and Hulk to (basically) McCauley and Hanna. The reunion of two of Marvel’s mightiest heroes, Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo, as a meticulous but troubled thief and the schlebby, Columbo-alike detective on his case across LA evokes unenviable Heat comparisons. They’re overblown but not outrageous. 

Crime 101 doesn’t have quite the operatic sweep of Michael Mann’s 1995 crime masterpiece or its army of supporting characters, but it’s a serious and satisfying throwback to the golden days of the crime thriller, full of crackling dialogue, noirish LA locations and adrenalised car chases, all briskly overseen by talented British writer-director Bart Layton (The Imposter).

The title, of course, has a double meaning: Hemsworth’s hangdog jewel thief Mike Davis has a simple code – he’s courteous, avoids violence and his back story is a blank – and targets marks along LA’s 101 freeway. The road, which runs along the Pacific coast, represents something spiritual for Mike, who carries scars from a former life in the city. His spartan oceanside apartment offers more common ground with De Niro’s thief in Heat. When he falls out with his growly fence and mentor (Nick Nolte), who replaces him with Barry Keoghan’s loose-cannon biker, the stakes ramp up. Mike needs to pull off one last job. Ruffalo’s detective and his loyal but wary partner (Corey Hawkins) are hot on his heels. You know the drill.

In cinemas worldwide now.

The Union Square Partnership (USP) is graciously adding some light and liveliness to the darkest time of the year with its new interactive art installation, "Patterned Behavior" by MASARY Studios, on view every evening (dusk to 10pm) from now through Tuesday, February 17. 

Located at Union Square Park’s North Plaza and Pavilion on 17th Street between Broadway and Park Avenue South, “Patterned Behavior” acts like an urban musical instrument, using architecture as a structure to “play” with sound production. Each evening’s illumination is shaped by the thousands of pedestrians that pass through Union Square every day, turning the footsteps and rhythms of passersby into a dynamic audio-visual composition with infrared sensors triggering synchronized light displays that depict how people come together in the area.

If you ever lost an afternoon chasing ghosts, the Paley Museum has your next field trip lined up. The midtown mainstay is celebrating one of gaming’s most beloved icons with a new exhibit, “45 Years of PAC-MAN,” opening Friday, January 16 and running through May 31.

The show traces how a simple yellow circle dreamed up in Japan in 1980 by designer Toru Iwatani grew into a global pop-culture heavyweight. From early arcade cabinets to living room consoles and far beyond, PAC-MAN redefined what video games could be, while still welcoming in first-time players.

At the exhibition, visitors can jump straight into the action with classic Pixel Bash arcade cabinets, competitive rounds of PAC-MAN Battle Royale Chompionship and newer titles like PAC-MAN WORLD 2 Re-PAC. There’s also a chance to tackle what the museum bills as the world’s largest PAC-MAN.