50 things to do in New York City on a Sunday 2012

Watch free film screenings at the Brooklyn Public Library

• Free

The borough’s flagship library branch presents a free monthly silent film series on Sunday afternoons. Typical offerings include the slapstick antics of Laurel and Hardy and the swashbuckling of Douglas Fairbanks, which is made even more enjoyable by the stirring music of MoMA’s silent-film accompanist, Stuart Oderman. All films are archival quality, projected onto a six-by-eight-foot screen.

Listen to poetry at Cake Shop

• Price band: 1/4

Wordsmiths invade this LES bakery, bar and performance space one Sunday every month.

Scream at Alley Pond Park Adventure Course

Thrill seekers should head to this jewel in the Parks Department‘s crown, a series of obstacles designed for team building and scaring the crap out of you. Live out your Indiana Jones fantasy by scaling a bouldering wall, whizzing down the zip line, balancing on a high wire and getting catapulted from the “Human Swing Shot,” a device that lifts you 45 feet in the air before sending you into free fall.

See ASSSSCAT 3000

• Price band: 1/4
• Critics choice

NYC’s long-form improv royalty (including UCBT and SNL folk) play pickup-game style in this famous long-running show.

Visit BLDG 92

• Rated as: 4/5
• Price band: 1/4
• Critics choice

In November 2011, the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation opened a new visitors’ center at the former shipbuilding complex, offering information on the facility and its connection to the surrounding neighborhoods. The location includes a café, weekend bus tours ($18–$30) and an 8,000-square-foot exhibition space that features the permanent “Brooklyn Navy Yard: Past, Present and Future” exhibit, as well as rotating offerings. A free weekend shuttle departs from Jay St at Willoughby St every 15–20 minutes.

Shop and eat your way through Brooklyn Flea

We're stoked this market has two outdoor locations featuring an eclectic mix of antique, vintage and food vendors. Keep an eye out for Today’s Vintage hatpins and hairsticks ($10–$25) and Anodyne quirky flying-dinosaur necklaces ($125). Stop by Saraz Closet's table to nab a ’90s Betsey Johnson swing skirt ($88) and an ’80s Pucci cropped silk jacket ($220). Foodies, take note: Both locations feature a dizzying array of edibles, from Fine and Raw coconut chunky bonbons ($7) to Porchetta chicory salad with garlic dressing ($6).

See Comedy at KFBK

• Critics choice

The smooth and delightfully understated Hannibal Buress hosts fellow stand-ups.

Check out "ElectriCity: Powering New York’s Rails"

• Price band: 1/4
• Critics choice

Commuters who take the subway for granted got a taste of the system’s complexities after Hurricane Irene, when the MTA revealed that it would take eight hours to power down the system, and another substantial chunk of time to get the trains back up and running. The massive effort to keep mass transit moving is explored in this exhibit, where visitors will learn how subway cars are powered, from the early steps of producing an electric current to the cars finally traveling along the track.