Are people who FaceTime while walking down the street literally insane?

Mayor Bill de Blasio advised New Yorkers to skip seeing the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lighting in person this year and watch it on TV instead. The tree lighting is set for Wednesday, December 2, at 8pm and will be broadcast live on NBC. If you want to see the tree, the mayor and Tishman Speyer urge New Yorkers to view it at rockefellercenter.com from 8 a.m. to midnight every day. The in-person tree lighting will be closed to the public. If you go at a later time, you can access it only by waiting in a virtual line, between 6am and midnight. Guests will have to scan a QR code to see their wait time and receive a text message to return to the entrance, which will be at 49th and 50th Streets at Fifth and Sixth Avenues only. Only groups of four or fewer will only have five minutes to see the tree and then will be escorted out of the area.

Company XIV is back with Nutcracker Rouge, its critically-acclaimed annual sexy holiday spectacular, with eight newly-recorded acts at Théâtre XIV, its current home in Bushwick. The first of these acts, featuring resident opera-singing aerialist, Marcy “Operagaga” Richardson, will premiere on Thanksgiving Day (November 26). Subsequent acts featuring circus, singing and sultry burlesque will be released weekly through New Year’s Eve (December 31). To make the experience come alive for viewers, founder and artistic director Austin McCormick curated an ultra-luxe cocktail kit to accompany the performances shipped directly to patrons at home. The kit includes bespoke cocktail recipes, gold-plated barware, a collection of garnishes and bitters, and 24 premium spirits, liqueurs, champagne and wine. There will be "sensual cocktail lessons" that accompany each act. Furthermore, there is an online shop where you can buy lace masks, pasties, riding-crops and frankincense incense—the signature scent of Théâtre XIV.

Master magician, mentalist and psychic entertainer Michael Gutenplan is performing a special family-friendly, virtual magic and mentalism show. Gutenplan has performed at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, Off-Broadway in his critically-acclaimed one-man show “Extraordinary Deceptions,” in “The Spy Magic Show” in Washington, DC., and at clubs and events across the nation with “The Members Only Show.” It's free to tune in at 8pm on Wednesday. 

The Center for Traditional Music and Dance is launching an online series to highlight the artistry of the city’s leading immigrant performers from around the world, including from Bulgaria, China, Colombia, Gambia, Haiti, Iraq, Japan, Mongolia, Ukraine, and West Africa, among other areas. Specifically, you'll see performances from Afro-Puerto Rican Bomba and Plena dancer and educator Julia Gutiérrez-Rivera (Los Pleneros de la 21 and Redobles de Cultura) and friends in the Bronx; renowned Indian Kuchipudi dancer and dance prodigy Yamini Kalluri of Brooklyn; the storytelling of Japanese dancer Sachiyo Ito in Manhattan; Afro-Colombian musical family of Johanna Castaneda and Ronald Polo in Queens; an intergenerational Sri Lankan Dance Academy of New York on Staten Island, starting on Monday. CTMD will highlight three artists or ensembles each week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Audiences can tune in on those days at 5pm to CTMD’s YouTube channel or Facebook page.

Museum of the City of New York is bringing back one of its most popular items — The Stettheimer Dollhouse, a lavish, highly-detailed dollhouse with rarely seen miniature 20th-century modernist artworks. Carrie Stettheimer, along with her sisters Ettie and Florine and their mother Rosetta, was the host of an influential avant-garde artistic salon in early 20th century New York. The sisters, who were also known as the “Stetties,” weaved together the fashion and style of early 20th century New York in miniature form across 12 rooms, from the Limoges vases in the chintz bedroom to the crystal-trimmed candelabra in the salon. In fact, some of the leading figures of modern art in New York in the 1910s and 1920s, including Marcel Duchamp, Gaston Lachaise, Margaret and William Zorach, and others gifted miniature works for the dollhouse.

Infamous, a solo exhibition by renowned artist Andres Serrano on view at Fotografiska, is a visual exploration of the history of racism in the U.S. via 30 photographs of racist artifacts, including race-based and racist memorabilia. Serrano acquired KKK hoods, consumer products depicting caricatures of Black people, violent documentary photographs, and more, most of which were previously owned and purchased directly from the homes of Americans. Serrano hopes to confront the country’s racist history and have Americans consider racism's influence on culture and society today. The museum will support these conversations through programming, includingwith the National Coalition Against Censorship.

There's a new Curling Café at the park with an iceless curling court. You can try your hand out at curling on a synthetic ice rink, which creates a realistic experience. Just rent a curling lane and accompanying tent for either one to four people or five to eight people on Wednesdays to Fridays: 3:30-9pm, (with extended weekend time slots including Saturdays & Sundays: 1:30pm-9pm). Renting a tent and curling lane ranges from $250 to $475 and comes with a carafe of hot chocolate, finger foods, and brownie pops. Note: All gaming equipment and tents are sanitized between each and every booking, and all customers must wear a face-covering when not seated inside your designated tent.

PS1 is taking an important look at the life of people in prisons and those no longer behind bars through their art that deals with issues of state repression, erasure, and imprisonment, as well as the COVID-19 crisis in U.S. prisons. Installations include Rorschach-like portraits of black Americans who were killed in police-involved shootings, a mural made of 39 prison-issued sheets at 40 feet long and 15 feet tall and more. The exhibition is a powerful exploration of the social and cultural impact of mass incarceration.

The Greens are officially coming back for winter. (Though this time around, they’ll look a lot less green.) The socially distanced dining destination, which made a splash this summer thanks to its Instagram-ready, reservable mini lawns, announced today that it will be transforming into a new experience for the colder months on Pier 17 in the South Street Seaport. With the mini lawns back in storage, the rooftop venue will be installing 28 individual 12’ by 10’ winterized dining cabins. Each cabin will be able to fit up to 10 guests and will be decorated with fun winter décor and amenities including virtual fireplaces, electric heating, cozy banquettes and, of course, jaw-dropping, floor-to-ceiling views of NYC from its prime location on the East River waterfront.