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

Want to get out of the city this fall? You're in luck: Classic Harbor Line offers scenic fall foliage sails aboard gorgeous vintage vessels with a front-row seat to the changing of the seasons stretching from the Hudson River to the Palisades. Cruises run multiple times a week from October 3 through November 15.

These elegant 1920s-style yachts make the experience extra special, and you'll get to see iconic and picturesque landmarks such as the George Washington Bridge, The Met Cloisters, the Palisades and the Little Red Lighthouse.

Classic Harbor Line offers several more unique options, too, including the Fall Foliage Brunch Cruises on Saturday and Sunday mornings and an Urban Naturalist-narrated tour with expert commentary on the fascinating geology of the Palisades and the Hudson River. There's also the Grand Palisades Fall Foliage Schooner Sail if you're looking to travel largely by wind, with more time to contemplate the beautiful surroundings. Every ticket includes a complimentary beverage.

There’s no spookier way to welcome the Halloween season than to visit BloodManor, the popular 10,000-square-foot haunted house that’s actually deemed too scary for children under 14.

Visitors will confront their deepest fears as they journey through dark, sinister corridors filled with twisted characters and scares at every turn. Incorporating state-of-the-art special effects, BloodManor brings unparalleled realism to the haunting experience thanks to a terrifyingly talented team of trained actors, set designers, makeup artists and more. Expect an unprecedented level of horror and excitement that lasts 30 minutes—or, more likely, 20 minutes as you run screaming. 

BloodManor is open every weekend and some weekdays from October 2 to November 7 at 359 Broadway in downtown Manhattan. General admission starts at $50 per ticket. You can purchase tickets for a timed entry here.

Sunnyside Queens' edible offerings get the attention they deserve at this casual tasting affair. 

Taste of Sunnyside returns for a sixteenth year on Sunday, October 4. From 1 to 7pm, more than 60 restaurants will participate in the door-to-door crawl, showcasing the best of the neighborhood. This annual food feat offers a taste of Latin, Italian, French, Asian and Middle Eastern cuisines, including Cardamom, de Mole Mexican Restaurant and Masa Madre. The lineup also includes plenty of bars and breweries, perfect for a build-your-own bar crawl itinerary. Don't feel like walking the whole way? Participants can hop and off the complimentary event trolley. And when you need a grub break, head to the real party going down on 46th Street under the Sunnyside Arch (between Queens Boulevard and Greenpoint Avenue). Pop by for live entertainment, a local arts fair and loads of family-friendly activities.

Tickets are $58.44, inclusive of fees. There is a special kids rate for children aged 6-12; ages five and under are free. Register here. 

CultureCon transorms Brooklyn's Duggal Greenhouse from an industrial shipyard into a cultural homecoming for Black creatives. It welcomes more than 10,000 attendees across two days to hear from more than 200 speakers, participate in hands-on workshops, attend a career fair and check out immersive activations. Event organizers call it "the nation's leading gathering for creatives of color."

This year's speakers are still to be announced, but the theme for 2026 is "Museum of Us," celebrates Black creativity as the art it has always been.

This year's event is on October 3 and 4; attendees must be 18 or older. Single-day admission tickets cost $129, and weekend tickets cost $239. VIP tickets cost $649. Discounts are available for students and those who sign up in groups. Digital passes (for those who can't make it in person) are available for $19. The festival is part of CultureCon Week, which runs September 28–October 1, followed by a kickoff party October 2.

Sofy Gallery in Chelsea opens a new group exhibit, The Weight of Normal Things, on October 1, joining painters Susan P. Martin and Patrick Earl Barnes with photographer Mara Clemente for a meditation on beauty hiding in plain sight. Curated by Luca Cantore D’Amore, the exhibition considers everyday people, places and gestures through three distinct forms of attention. Martin’s paintings blur self-portraiture and landscape, Barnes shows quietly charged urban scenes and Clemente's photographs bring the intimacy. The show kicks off the gallery’s 2026/'27 season and runs through October 24. Admission is free, with an opening reception from 6 to 9pm on October 1.

Every Friday in October from 7 to 10pm, intimate cocktail den Foxtail (231 Hudson St.) will feel a little more seasonal. The lounge is hosting a Spooky Movie Month series in the Living Room at Arlo SoHo, where guests will settle in for an evening of horror classics and themed, discounted, film-inspired menu specials. For those who love a combo meal, there's a $19 "spooky deal" that includes a sandwich, chips and a cookie. No ticket is needed, but there is a two-item minimum per attendee. Seating is first-come, first-served, so get there early to claim your spot. The film lineup consists of The Lost Boys (Oct. 2), Donnie Darko (Oct. 9), Hereditary (Oct. 16), The Craft (Oct. 23) and The Shining (Oct. 30).

You have a few more weeks to take a fresh look at one of America’s most complicated artistic chroniclers with Thomas Hart Benton: A Picture of America in Its Entirety. It's the first solo exhibition of the artist’s work in New York in more than 10 years. Spanning five decades of Benton’s career, the free Schoelkopf Gallery exhibition brings together major paintings, rarely seen works and studies for his celebrated murals, offering a sweeping look at his depictions of American life, labor, politics, race, industry and popular culture. The show also goes Hollywood, with two studies made for the 1955 Burt Lancaster film The Kentuckian, an original movie poster and a later Beam’s Choice bottle featuring Benton’s artwork. Coinciding with Schoelkopf Gallery’s 25th anniversary and the United States Semiquincentennial, the exhibition runs through October 16.

Rare works by French master Pierre Soulages are coming to the Upper East Side in a new exhibition at the Lévy Gorvy Dayan gallery (19 E. 64th St.). Organized with the artist’s widow, the show features more than 20 paintings on paper, including works drawn directly from Soulages’s estate that have never been exhibited publicly. Spanning decades of work, the exhibition explores a medium he prized for its immediacy and unforgiving nature, using walnut stain, gouache, ink and improvised tools to experiment with light, texture and transparency. 

Forget space—the ocean is the final frontier. And see why as you dive hundreds of feet beneath the ocean’s surface without leaving Chelsea at Twilight Zone: Hidden Wonders of the Ocean, opening September 19 at ARTECHOUSE NYC (439 W. 15th St.). Created in collaboration with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the immersive exhibition uses real deep-ocean footage, biological research, sound, interactivity and ocean technology to explore the mysterious “twilight zone,” a rarely seen region where creatures produce their own light and billions of animals migrate each night. The experience highlights the deep sea’s role in ocean health and carbon movement while bringing its otherworldly ecosystems to life on a massive scale. 

Oktoberfestivities have kicked off at bars and beer halls all across New York City. Grab your beer stein, rev up your appetite and head on over to one of the many celebrations that are already underway.

Find your weekday, weekend or even weeklong plans on our list of the best Oktoberfest events happening this year.