The best things to do in NYC this week

What's better than a walking tour of New York City? A free walking tour of New York City—and more than 200 of them will be available May 2-4 as part of Jane's Walk NYC festival hosted by the Municipal Art Society.

This beloved annual event, named after famed activist Jane Jacobs, invites New Yorkers to lead walks that celebrate urban life, culture, hidden gems, street art and more. Any New Yorker can lead a walk—and anyone can attend. 

One of the best live music venues in the city has announced its summer concerts schedule. Here's what's coming to the Rooftop at Pier 17 this May:

May 1 and 2 – Elderbrook
May 7 – Trivium & Bullet For My Valentine
May 13 – Peter Cat Recording Co.
May 15 – Amyl and The Sniffers
May 22 & 23 – Peach Pit & Briston Maroney
May 24 – Dance Gavin Dance
May 28 – Mayday Parade
May 30 – JET
May 31 – Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals

You can purchase tickets here or in-person at at the AXS Box Office at Pier 17.

Rooftop Cinema Club takes movie-going to a whole new level—literally. This rooftop film series at a midtown skyscraper offers stunning views and an impressive lineup of films. 

In addition to the movie magic, the venue also offers movie snacks, a full bar and cute photo opps. This season features movies that will appeal to ‘90s kids, a Grease sing-along, Pride films, Wine Wednesdays and lots more when the 2025 calendar opens in May. Here’s the full list of what’s coming to Rooftop Cinema Club’s big screen.

The foxtrot, lindy hop, salsa, hustle and vogue all have roots in New York City, whether they were born here, shaped here or popularized in the city’s clubs. A new exhibit at Museum of the City of New York turns the museum into a dance floor as it digs into the fascinating history and important role of these dances and more.

“Urban Stomp: Dreams & Defiance on the Dance Floor” celebrates 200 years of social dance in New York City. It highlights the city’s dance floors as sites for connection, creativity and joyful rebellion. You’ll get to see everything from 1800s-era ball gowns to Louis Armstrong’s trumpet to Celia Cruz’s shoes to Big Daddy Kane’s outfits. Plus, digital screens throughout the exhibition offer dance lessons—and it’s nearly impossible not to move your body when the music starts.

Grab your dancing shoes, and go see it now through February 22, 2026 in East Harlem.

An iconic artwork by the elusive street artist Banksy is now on display in Lower Manhattan, and you've got until May 21 to go see it. 

The 7,500-pound piece, titled "Battle to Survive a Broken Heart," features a bandaged heart-shaped balloon. Banksy created the artwork during 2013 in Brooklyn's Red Hook neighborhood. It's the only known piece that the enigmatic artist came back and retouched. Find it in the The Winter Garden at Brookfield Place at 230 Vesey Street. 

Purple orchids, white lilies, brown magnolia leaves, blue delphiniums and more have been transformed into magnificent floral creations depicting the sumptuous clothing of television series Downton Abbey. More than a dozen local florists exercised their creativity to create these impressive floral mannequins as part of a new Fleurs de Villes exhibition at Hudson Yards. 

Even if you're not a fan of the TV show, this free exhibition is definitely worth seeing while it's on view through May 4. Each display is made of fresh flowers and botanicals. As Fleurs de Villes co-founder Karen Marshall says, "This is perishable art. Perishable art is must-see art."

It would be nearly impossible (or at, the very least, incredibly time-consuming) to try to visit all of the restaurants in the Lower East Side. Luckily, Taste of the Lower East Side is bringing all of our favorites together in one place, and they are doing it all for charity.

On April 30, over 40 of the neighborhood's best restaurants, bars and small businesses are coming together to serve the best food and drinks in town. Pile up a plate with bites and drinks from Au Za'atar, Birria Landia, Clinton St. Baking Co., Hen House NYC, Nowon, Nudibranch and The Ten Bells, to name a few.

It is all going down at the Metropolitan Pavilion (125 West 18th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues). VIP tickets (priced at $600) gain you early access to the event at 5:30pm, plus open bar, while general admission ticketholders ($300) can arrive at 6pm. Proceeds from the event will benefit Grand St. Settlement, a nonprofit that has served youth, families and seniors since 1916 with essential services in community centers across the Lower East Side, Brooklyn and the Bronx. Since 2000, Taste of the Lower East Side has raised over $5 million to support the cause. 

So show your support and purchase your tickets now!

After a sold-out first year, the Paragon Sports comedy festival hosted by Underground Overground is back from Wednesday, April 30 through Friday, May 2. Taking over New York’s oldest sports-good store after normal business hours, the three-night event will see 12 shows across three separate floors featuring some of the best comics in NYC—and, as usual, you won’t know exactly who is performing until the performance itself. (To give you an idea, last year’s proceedings featured famous funnymen like Chris Distefano and Saturday Night Live breakout Marcello Hernández.)

Along with the comedy sets, tickets will get you unlimited drinks thanks to Gran Coramino, free after-show burgers courtesy Shake Shack, as well as mini games and competitions to win cash prizes and giveaways. (Hint hint: come wearing your best sports jersey!)

This massive festival offers more than 30 events throughout Greenwich Village and brings together an all-star lineup of literary luminaries from across the globe—as well as some home-grown ones—to contemplate change, international politics and the value of free speech.

This year's event runs from Wednesday, April 30 through Saturday, May 4. Highlights this year include Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Pulitzer Prize-winner Jennifer Egan, both of whom will be participating in the festival's opening night convening The PEN and the State: The Role of Novelists in Times of Crisis, as well as events ranging from the fun and free (ArtLords Public Mural Day, the return of the House of Speakeasy Bookmobile) to the more serious, with panels exploring gender discrimination in fiction and media erasure in authoritarian times (the latter featuring the great public intellectual M. Gessen). 

For a full list of events, visit pen.org/festival.

The largest NYC-themed trivia game is back at the Queens Museum. On Friday, May 2, the top dogs of NYC knowledge will gather at the Flushing Meadows Corona Park institution for an intense battle of wits. They'll use with The Panorama of the City of New York—a scale model of the five boroughs created for the-1965 New York World’s Fair—as their massive game board.

Teams of Panorama Pros (experts) and Panorama Challengers (amateurs) will get quizzed on topics ranging from "(Mom and) Pop Culture" to "Mobile Homes" to "Union Houses" and other areas of urban history and local lore. The winning Pro team will have their name etched on the Panorama Challenge Trophy housed at the Queens Museum.

To celebrete the release of Morbid Anatomy Founder and Creative Director Joanna Ebenstein’s new book Memento Mori: The Art of Contemplating Death to Live a Better Life, Memento Mori Fest will host a weekend of talks, performances, parties, cemetery tours, rare book viewings, and other experiences all revolving around the theme of memento mori—Latin for "remember you will die."

From Friday, May 2 to Sunday, May 4, the fest will partner with two great NYCcultural institutions—ARAS (Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism) and The Green-Wood Cemetery—for the programming lineup. Along with events like film screenings, pop-up libraries and writer panels, attendees can enjoy special themed flash tattoos at White Ghost Studios, personalized Memento Mori portraits at Rusty Zimmerman Studio, death-themed board games at Brooklyn Game Night and more.

Bryant Park is hosting a slate of dance parties to keep our spirits (and heartbeats) up all spring. Every Wednesday from April 30 to May 15, you'll find dance classes happening near Bryant Park's iconic fountain starting at 6pm, followed by dance parties from 7pm till 8:30pm.

Hosted by dance curator and producer Talia Castro-Pozo, this year's dance series will feature music from all over the world, including salsa, Motown and more. The best part? There's no reservation needed, and walk-ups are welcome. 

An art showcase “born with the challenge to launch independent artists and showcase the careers and achievements of already affirmed creative minds,” Clio Art Fair is back from May 1-4 and May 8-11. Each week will feature a completely new roster of 35+ international artists—all without any exclusive NYC gallery representation, including Luis A. Gutierrez, Julia Rivera, Hera Kim and more. The show is meant to offer collectors, curators, and the public a fresh and diverse experience whether they go during week one or week two.

This year’s proceedings will also include “Behave As If God Exists,” a special performance project exploring “inclusivism, spiritual, social, and existential themes through live actions and interventions” by emerging and mid-career artists, a curated segment that will unfold across both weekends.

The pun, that most democratic of jokes: At its best, it’s sublimely satisfying to the reptilian part of our brains that loves easy comedy. At its worst, it produces a groan so gut-deep, it’s almost as good as a belly laugh. The form is mined for all it’s worth at this monthly tournament, hosted by Rodney Dangerfield impersonator Fred Firestone and his daughter, Jo.

A fixture on the NYC comedy landscape for more than a decade, this show at Littlefield in Brooklyn is like a rap battle, only much nerdier. Hear pun pros face-off in the All-Star Tournament of Pun Champions where punsters deliver two-minute pun-stand-up routines, after only two minutes of preparation.

Here's the lineup of 2025 shows: April 30, July 9, September 3, and October 29. 

Juilliard is going all out for its annual Earth Month celebrations with five free public performances that honor the planet and show how our humanity is inextricably linked to the environment.

Juilliard’s on-campus multidisciplinary student group, the Green Club, is once again collaborating with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts for their annual multi-genre free Earth Day concert at the David Rubenstein Atrium. There will also be a free public dance workshop outdoors at Hearst Plaza in collaboration with the Redhawk Native American Arts Council and Juilliard Dance. Along with free performances and concerts from student groups like the Juilliard Fiddle Club, the Earth Day programming will include a clothing swap and other green initiatives.

Events run from Wednesday, April 16 to Wednesday, April 30; see the full two-week schedule here. 

What better way to celebrate the natural beauty of New York’s waterways than by getting out on the water? Set sail this Earth Day and beyond with Classic Harbor Line’s Climate Change eco-cruise series, which will be narrated by local expert Doug Fox and will circumnavigate Manhattan in a custom-crafted, 1920s-style yacht.

Leaving from Chelsea’s Pier 62, the 2.75-hour tour will give you a panoramic and thought-provoking view of the city’s growing sustainability efforts, including eco-conscious architecture springing up citywide to reduce NYC’s carbon footprint, renewable energy sources, elevated shoreline parks and neighborhoods, and fortified transportation infrastructure. Your ticket will include one beverage (beer, wine, or soft drink) or one half-price cocktail. Plus, there's a curated snack menu available on board.

Tours run through November 7.

If Da Vinci had the technology we do today, what would he have created?

That’s the question being asked at Mercer Labs’ newest exhibit, “Maestros and the Machines,” opening April 24, featuring sound by Timbaland. The exhibit investigates: what could’ve been created if past artists, musicians and geniuses had technology as we know it today.

The new exhibit, which showcases an immersive atmosphere with cutting-edge digital tools, soundscapes and more, is conceived and directed by artist and Mercer Labs founder Roy Nachum. (You might recognize Nachum’s name because he designed Rihanna’s Anti album cover.)

Sure, you can learn about the American Revolution in history books. Or you can experience it in real life—in the actual place where history was made—during this upcoming exhibit at Fraunces Tavern Museum in Lower Manhattan. 

The museum is set to debut “Path to Liberty: The Emergence of a Nation” in honor of America’s 250th anniversary. The exhibit opens on April 22, 2025 inside Fraunces Tavern, a historic building that served as a meeting place for the Sons of Liberty, hosted Washington's farewell to his officers and even was hit by a cannonball during the Revolutionary War. 

As part of the nation's semiquincentennial (a.k.a. 250th) celebrations, Fraunces' exhibition will offer a chronological, multi-year experience telling the history of the American Revolution from 1775 to 1783, with a distinctive focus on what occurred in New York State and the surrounding areas.

Not even Charli xcx could have predicted the massive success of Brat last year, when she sold out Madison Square Garden on her joint tour with Troye Sivan. Now she's coming to Brooklyn for four consecutive nights from April 30 to May 4—this time by herself—for any of us who might have missed her the go around. The impact of Brat will likely be felt in the music industry for years to come, and we're excited to catch Charli perform our favorite songs in her post-Grammys glow.

Get ready to shop 'til you drop because Urbanspace is about to unveil its largest, longest market ever. More than 175 local vendors will showcase their handcrafted products, including art, jewelry, food, and more, in Bryant Park this spring as part of the Makers Market by Urbanspace. 

The pop-up market runs on weekends through June 1; the market will be open on Fridays-Sundays from 11am-7pm, as well as Memorial Day, Monday, May 26. Expect to find new vendors—including sellers of eco-friendly personal care products, handcrafted mosaic art, and chic home decor—along with longtime favorites.

If you're a diehard fan of seeing Tom Cruise hanging dangerously off of a cliff or out of a helicopter or from the side of a skyscraper, this is the museum exhibit for you.

Now through December 14, Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI) in Astoria is celebrating the pop-culture phenomenon that is the Mission: Impossible film franchise with Mission: Impossible—Story and Spectacle, an exhibition that immerses visitors in the remarkable stunts and key dramatic moments of the decade-spanning series. Sections of the exhibition will be devoted to each film in the series, spotlighting each title's mind-boggling stuntwork and action sequences as well as behind-the-scenes content of how it all came together onscreen. 

Running through April 30, the New York Public Library’s World Literature & Arts Festival will bring together trailblazers from diverse disciplines and backgrounds to celebrate storytelling—through books, performances, culinary traditions, and beyond—while shining a spotlight on NYC’s vibrant communities.

Among the lineup of free events and programs is a panel highlighting Latinx luminaries like Pulitzer Prize-winning artist Medar de la Cruz, Irma Bohorquez-Geisler and Patricia Cazorla, Libby Paloma; an ice cream social to celebrate Pooja Bavishi's latest work Malai Cookbook; an evening of poetry readings and conversation with poets Ashna Ali and Amatan Noor and more.

Even if you don't know how to play music, it’s practically impossible not to reach out and strum or pluck the strings when an instrument appears in front of you—or at the very least, expect that a musician will appear to play it. That’s what makes these new abstract artworks by Jennie C. Jones so mind-bending. 

Three massive instrument sculptures now sit on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s rooftop in Jones’ latest work titled “Ensemble.” But only one of the instruments makes sound when it’s activated by the wind. The other two don’t make sound at all, even though they’re capable of doing so. That's exactly the point. Instead, their potential for sound and the tension between dormancy and activation is where they hold power. Go see these cool sculptures on the Met’s gorgeous rooftop through October 19.

This will be the last roof garden commission for at least five years as the museum will soon embark on construction of its new modern and contemporary art annex, the Oscar L. Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Wing. When it opens in 2030, it will house the Met’s collection of 20th- and 21st-century art. The rooftop commission is expected to be back in 2030 as well.

NYCB leaps back to Lincoln Center with a six-week slate that includes multiple dances by two of the great choreographers of the 20th century, company cofounders George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, including Balanchine's Vienna Waltzes at the Spring Gala on May 8. Among the other offerings in the varied season are the live premiere of Kyle Abraham's When We Fell; recent works by Christopher Wheeldon, Justin Peck, Alexei Ratmasky and Caili Quan; older pieces by Peck, Ratmansky and the late Lynne Taylor-Corbett; a program of work set to music by Maurice Ravel, comprising four pieces that premiered 50 years ago at the company's first Ravel Festival (May 14–24); and, for the final stretch, Balanchine's full-length forest romp A Midsummer Night's Dream (May 27–June 1). Visit the City Ballet website for a full schedule of events.

New York City Ballet's current roster of principal dancers includes Tyler Angle, Gilbert Bolden III, Chun Wai Chan, Adrian Danchig-Waring, Megan Fairchild, Jovani Furlan, Emilie Gerrity, Joseph Gordon, Anthony Huxley, Isabella LaFreniere, Sara Mearns, Roman Mejia, Mira Nadon, Tiler Peck, Unity Phelan, Taylor Stanley, Daniel Ulbricht, Andrew Veyette, Emma Von Enck, Peter Walker and Indiana Woodward. Veyette departs the company in a farewell performance on May 25.

Written by up-and-coming playwright Onyi Okoli, one-act comedy Trynna Be A Playa But Don’t Know How To Play The Game is taking us back to the hilariously messy world of early-2000s college dating, complete with AIM away messages and Sidekick flip phones. Set in the early-aughts “where college life was still like A Different World and dating was a little like Two Can Play That Game,” the show centers on four freshmen students as they navigate their new lives at university, and the new romantic entanglements that pop up along the way.

Trynna Be A Playa will premiere at Dixon Place in the Bowery for a three-day run with six performances, from Thursday, May 1 to Saturday May 3, with seatings at 7pm and 9pm.

After a five-year closure, the Frick Collection is now open once again inside its historic Gilded Age mansion at 1 East 70th Street by Fifth Avenue.

Visitors will get to experience even more of the museum's extensive collection by stepping inside restored spaces on the first floor while also walking around a new roster of galleries on the mansion's second floor, open to the public for the very first time.

The second floor used to be the Frick family’s private living quarters, but later became staff meeting rooms and administrative offices. So yes, you’ll be able to walk into the original bedroom of Henry Clay Frick.

Portraits of American First Ladies typically don't tell us much about the personality of the person. Maybe we can see a steely determination in her eyes or get a sense of her style, but we don’t learn much about who she is. Amy Sherald’s portrait of Michelle Obama changed all of that by focusing on the essence of the subject.

You can now see this iconic portrait and many other renowned works by Sherald in a new exhibit at the Whitney Museum of American Art located in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. The exhibition, titled “Amy Sherald: American Sublime” is now open through August 10, 2025. With nearly 50 paintings, it’s the most comprehensive exhibition of the American artist’s work, which includes a portrait of Breonna Taylor, as well as paintings that center everyday Black Americans. 

Midtown’s Garment District has been home to creativity and invention for decades and, now it’s home to a massive metal sculpture that seems to be “growing” out of the cement.

Titled “New York Roots,” the installation by Steve Tobin is the Garment District Alliance’s latest public exhibit on the Broadway plazas between 39th and 40th Streets and 40th and 41st Streets. It involves seven sculptures that invite you to weave in and out of their roots and “reflect on relationships, families and communities coming together for a shared purpose—just as roots intertwine to strengthen a tree,” the Alliance said in an official press release. See it through February 2026.

BTS member and Korean pop star Jung Kook, who was the first K-pop soloist to chart seven different songs on the Billboard Hot 100, has unveiled a new exhibition in NYC.

The immersive exhibition, “GOLDEN: The Moments,” celebrates Jung Kook’s solo career, his creative process, achievements and the emotions that shaped Golden, his first solo album, now through May 11 at 30 Wall Street. 

Step into the vibrant world of Lorenzo Homar, a pioneering printmaker, poster designer, calligrapher, painter, illustrator, caricaturist, and theatrical set designer. Homar's poster work is the subject of an exhibit at Poster House titled "Puerto Rico in Print: The Posters of Lorenzo Homar" on view through September 7, 2025. 

Es-pranza Humphrey, assistant curator of collections at Poster House, describes Homar as "the father of the Puerto Rican poster." Homar was active from the 1950s through the 1990s, and few artists equal his impact and influence as a teacher of poster design and printmaking in Latin America.

In the exhibition, you'll see the artist's use of non-traditional colors at complements and the way he plays with silk-screening, typography, and calligraphy. The exhibition showcases the breadth of Homar's work, featuring posters for jazz performances, ballet shows, jazz concerts, and political causes. 

Smorgasburg, the food bazaar spectacular, is back with dozens of great local vendors across three locations. Smorgasburg WTC runs on Fridays; Williamsburg is on Saturdays; and Prospect Park is on Sundays. Each location is open weekly through October. 

For its 15th year of outdoor food and fun, Smorgasburg will showcase more than 70 vendors. The food festival will be filled with fragrant Ethiopian stews, Hawaii-style street comforts, explosive pani puri, potato puff poutine and lots more.

Grab your paddles, pickeball fans, because the popular sport is back in Central Park all spring and summer long. CityPickle is now open at the park's Wollman Rink through the early fall. 

This is the third season for pickleball on 14 courts in the center of Manhattan—the largest pickleball offering in the Northeast. This tennis/ping-pong/badminton hybrid has become the country's fastest-growing sport, with more than 130,000 New Yorkers flocking to Wollman Rink's courts in past years. All skill levels are welcome for court rentals, clinics, open play, and private events from 8am to 9pm daily. Plus, expect summer camps, events, and special free programming. 

Ahead of The Handmaid’s Tale finale, The Paley Museum in midtown is hosting an immersive exhibit featuring the costumes, artifacts and props from the Emmy Award-winning show. See it through Sunday, June 8.

At the Paley Museum, “The Legacy of The Handmaid’s Tale: June’s Evolution from Handmaid to Rebel” will put you face-to-face with its costumes, including June's iconic red handmaid’s dress, cloak and white winged bonnet and Serena Joy Waterford’s haunting teal dress, as well as costumes worn by other pivotal characters. You’ll also get to see Commander Waterford’s Scrabble board, Nichole’s doll from Nick, June’s Boston map and June’s terrifying Handmaid muzzle.

Josefina López's 1990 play, about a Latina teenager torn between her family's garment factory and her college dreams, has already been the basis of the 2002 film that introduced the world to America Fererra.

Now playwrights Lisa Loomer (Living Out) and Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde) adapt it into a musical with music and lyrics by Joy Huerta (of the Mexican pop duo Jesse & Joy) and Benjamin Velez. Following a warmly received 2023 premiere at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the show is moving to Broadway under the guiding eye of director-choreographer Sergio Trujillo (Ain't Too Proud).

If you’re a beer enthusiast or eager to discover new brews, this is the perfect opportunity—starting at 6pm, the Market's Local Corner will be open to enjoy sips from local craft breweries.

In honor of Earth Day, Brooklyn Art Haus is presenting a lineup of prominent visual artists whose works powerfully respond to the climate crisis.

"The Human Layer" exhibition highlights artists such as Ross Carvill, Max Gordon, Julia Forrest, Nia, Tslil Tsemet and Lei Tyebie, whose pieces react to "evolving landscapes, high moments of social activism, and the relocation of humans, as an attempt to expand and shift perceptions of the onlooker," per the gallery. Along with taking in these evocative works, viewers are welcomed to participate in the exhibition by "adding their own wisdom and illustrations to form their own collective response."

The show runs through May 29.

Get a double dose of Spanish flavor every week with Flamenco Tuesdays at Socarrat, a free and immersive live performance offered exclusively to guests dining at the Nolita restaurant.

Every Tuesday night, with performances from 7-10pm, the venue transforms into a vibrant Spanish tablao, with soulful flamenco guitar and expressive dance routines all while you're tucking into traditional Spanish plates, from classic tapas to hearty paellas. It'll feel like you've been transported straight to Andalusia, without the hassle of getting yourself to LaGuardia. 

A couple of years ago, the New York Public Library purchased the late Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne’s archive, announcing that, once processed, the collection would be available to anyone with a library card at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on Fifth Avenue.

The time has finally come—the library has made the archive, comprised of a total of 336 boxes, publicly available. 

The collection includes a ton of artifacts, including notes and typescripts from Didion's interviews to Dunne’s correspondence with Brandon Teena’s murderer, a relationship that led to a famous piece in the New Yorker that was then adapted into the Oscar-winning film Boys Don't Cry, starring Hilary Swank.

Learn how to make a drink that'll impress your friends and loved ones from one of Time Out Market New York's expert bartenders. 

Join us on Mondays at the Market's Local Corner, where mixologist Johnathan Williams will guide you through creating the perfect drink for any event. The evening, from 7 to 8:30pm, includes complimentary charcuterie to enjoy along with your drinks as well as a chance to mix and mingle.

Grab your ticket now—space is limited to just 15 spots per session.

It's hard to imagine now in our globalized world, but many of the young American soldiers who headed onto massive ships like the USS Intrepid during World War II had never even seen the ocean before. They’d soon be navigating the Pacific, launching planes off of aircraft carriers and battling Axis enemies. 

Now, the stories of those military members are on display in a new permanent exhibit at the Intrepid Museum, the historic aircraft carrier docked along the Hudson River in Hell’s Kitchen, which served from 1943 to 1974. The new 10,000-square-foot exhibit includes 50 never-before-seen artifacts, crew member oral histories, videos and photos showcasing the ship's history.

Plus, you’ll get to see the museum’s newest WWII aircraft acquisition, a legendary fighter-bomber called the FG-1D Corsair. Planes just like it often flew off of Intrepid’s flight deck during the war.

Tucked away on Bridge Street in an old factory basement, this two-story playscape for kids and adults contains ample room for fun, including laser tag, mini-bowling and arcade games.

Laser tag games are comprised of three 10-15-minute matches, where you bob and weave around rustic columns and obstacles Area 53 has set up. Across an hour-and-a-half, you and your friends will be giggling and screaming as you "shoot" each other's guns to gain points. It's not for the faint of heart—running to avoid lasers is a workout, but a super fun one. Checking out its "After Dark" laser tag and mini-bowling for those 18+ on Thursday nights.

Area 53's mini-bowling allows for up to six people to knock down pins across 25 minutes and its arcade has traditional games, from basketball shooting games to racing games and claw machines. 

Watermark's Pink Pier has been given a cherry blossom-themed makeover. Celebrate all things pink and all things spring at the Spring Fling Cherry Blossom Festival at Watermark Pink Pier now through the end of April. 

For the first time, the 10,000-square-foot outdoor bar and restaurant at Pier 15 in NYC's Seaport District has been transformed into a breathtaking (and very Instagrammable) cherry blossom wonderland. Expect lush pink blooms, vibrant floral installations, and sweeping views of the Brooklyn skyline, along with themed food and drinks. Prices range from $13-$550, with some ticket prices including food.

The Spring Fling Cherry Blossom Festival is presented in partnership with Bucketlisters. 

Running through May 11, Caspar David Friedrich: The Soul of Nature is the first comprehensive exhibition dedicated to the German Romantic artist held in the United States. Thanks to unprecedented loans from more than 30 lenders in Europe and North America, the exhibition features more than 75 works by Friedrich, spanning oil paintings, finished drawings, and working sketches from every phase of the artist’s career.

"Friedrich's art evokes a watershed moment in the development of human understanding of the natural world," said Alison Hokanson, the exhibition's curator. 

Blast off to another planet at INTER's new insterstellar experience. Inside this Soho space, expect to see more than 10 immersive exhibits using light, sound and digital projection to transport you to another galaxy.

Walk through a mirrored hallway with moving light, then find yourself on an alien terrain. Stroll through a tunnel of bioluminescent flowers, bounce around in a netted space called “The Vortex,” and get swallowed by a black hole in an infinity mirrored room. All of it is certainly fodder for your Instagram feed.

But it’s not just about looking around. INTER asks you to … interact. There are multiple generative art installations that react in real-time, like donning a space suit in the interstellar research lab and forming new constellations via motion-tracking technology.

George Clooney makes his Broadway debut in a stage adaptation of his 2005 film portrait of the storied CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow, who helped turned the tide against McCarthyism in the 1950s.

In the Oscar-nominated movie version—which Clooney directed and co-wrote, like the play, with Grant Heslov—he played Murrow's colleague Fred Friendly; this time around, he steps into the lead role originated by David Strathairn. David Cromer (The Band's Visit), one of the theater world's most reliably intelligent and insightful directors, directs the world premiere. 

The nuclear industry can be a complicated topic to understand, but a new exhibit at Poster House in the Flatiron District will help. "Fallout: Atoms for War & Peace" explores the global development of the nuclear industry through poster art that promoted and protested its use through the second half of the twentieth century. 

In a series of 60 posters, the exhibit digs into how scientists around the world developed the nuclear bomb and nuclear power stations following World War II. It also looks at how the development of nuclear energy led to the threat of nuclear war and—later—the development of harnessing nuclear energy for peace as an inexpensive electricity source.

It's on view through September 7, 2025.  

Get ready for an electrifying night every Wednesday with the renowned Soul in the Horn, which will host “Soul Records Laboratory" at Time Out Market.

This weekly music series will feature hot and up-and-coming DJs who'll spin jams so you can dance all night with views of the NYC skyline, enjoy specialty cocktails by Grey Goose and eat good food.

The spectacularly designed stage prequel to Stranger Things expands the universe of the popular Netflix show with an original story set in the late 1950s. The play depicts the early years of central series characters including Joyce Maldonaldo, Jim Hopper, Bob Newby and Dr. Martin Brenner; playwright Kate Trefry, a longtime staff writer for the TV version, has devised the story with series creators Matt and Ross Duffer and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child playwright Jack Thorne.

The West End production, directed by Billy Elliot's Stephen Daldry with Justin Martin, earned many glowing notices; Louis McCartney reprises his star performance, buttressed by Yanks including Alex Breaux, T.R. Knight and Gabrielle Nevaeh. 

Two cherished Broadway leading ladies, Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga, are among the performers in this revue of songs by the peerless showtunesmith Stephen Sondheim, whose popularity has only grown since his death in 2021. Peters and Salonga were also in the show when it debuted in London in 2023; for the U.S. premiere at Manhattan Theatre Club, directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne (Swan Lake), they are flanked by several of their West End costars (Gavin Lee, Bonnie Langford, Jeremy Secomb, Jason Pennycooke) and a few new additions, such as Kate Jennings Grant and the priceless Beth Leavel. 

While her ertswhile Succession brother Kieran Culkin gets down and dirty in Glengarry Glen Ross a few streets away, Sarah Snook takes a walk on the Wilde side in a solo adaptation of Oscar W.'s fanciful Victorian gothic novel about the ultimate demon twink.

Snook plays more than 25 characters in a production helmed by adapter-director Kip Williams; her performance in the West End, which our London critic called "astonishing", earned her a 2024 Olivier Award.

Now on view at the Museum of Sex, Long Island Girl: The Superrealism of Carole Feuerman is a series of early sculptures by New York-based artist Carole Feuerman that have never before been publicly exhibited in the US.

Feuerman's superrrealist works from the 1970s and '80s are an evocative exploration of "sexuality and female interiority as a celebration of the human experience, emphasizing agency and empowerment." The exhibition includes more than 30 sculptures from the pioneering artist, as well as a re-creation of a studio corner offering a behind-the-scenes look at Feuerman's process, which includes manipulating industrial materials like vinyl and painted resins to achieve astonishingly lifelike effects. 

Caryl Churchill (Cloud Nine) is among the finest, strangest and most wonderful playwrights in the English language, so it's always a treat to get something new from her.

This time it's a quartet of mostly short experimental works that debuted to acclaim at London's Royal Court Theatre in 2019 and 2021: Glass, about a girl made of, you guessed it, glass; Kill, a monologue for the bloodstained Gods of Olympus; What If If Only, in which a grieving man receives a strange visitation; and the longest piece, Imp, in which an elderly woman threatens to unleash a magical spirit in a bottle. Churchill's frequent collaborator James Macdonald (Escaped Alone) directs.

On the heels of his Tony-winning performance in last season's Merrily We Roll Along, Broadway sweetie Jonathan Groff returns to star as pop and nightclub star Bobby Darin, who peaked in the late 1950s with such hits as "Dream Lover," "Beyond the Sea" and "Mack the Knife." Alex Timbers (Moulin Rouge!) directs an immersive production at Circle in the Square, with a cast that features Michele Pawk, John Treacy Egan and Caesar Samayoa. The hits are strung together through an original book by Warren Leight (Side Man) and comic essayist Isaac Oliver (Intimacy Idiot).

Journey back in time to April 15, 1874 in Paris, when Impressionist painters began creating their groundbreaking work. Through the art and science of virtual reality, you can now join them as they break away from traditional academic painting, focusing instead on capturing light, color and atmosphere in new ways.

Titled "Tonight with the Impressionists: Paris 1874," this VR exhibition will take you back to the streets of 19th-century Paris to meet the artists behind the paintings and experience key moments in the Impressionist movement. Meet Monet, Renoir, Morisot, Degas, and others as they depict everyday life and outdoor scenes with spontaneous brushstrokes and vibrant colors. Expect to spend about 45 minutes fully immersed in their world thanks to your VR headset.

The exhibition was created by Excurio in collaboration with the renowned Musée d’Orsay in Paris. See it at Eclipso, located at 555 West 57th Street. Tickets range in price from $30-$44 depending on the date. 

One of the most visited historical sites in Europe, the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, has opened an exhibition in New York for the first time. Find it at the Center for Jewish History in the Flatiron District through April 30, 2025.

New Yorkers can now walk through a full-scale re-creation of the rooms where Anne Frank, her parents Otto and Edith, her sister Margot, the Van Pels family and Fritz Pfeffer (all Jews) spent two years in hiding from the Nazis during World War II. Inside the re-created annex itself, every object displayed in glass cases is original—things that Anne, her family and fellow hideout Jews touched and used daily, alongside exact replicas of other items.

Brace yourself for a deeply emotional experience.

Having taken the U.K. by storm in productions about the country, culminating in a well-received foray into the West End, this scrappy musical comedy about a wacky real-life British spy operation in World War II now invades New York City. The entire original company of five re-ups for the Broadway production: co-authors David Cumming, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts—who wrote the show with Felix Hagan, their comrade in the comedy troupe SpitLip—as well as Claire-Marie Hall and Olivier Award winner Jak Malone. Robert Hastie directs the military mayhem. 

He’s worked with Liza Minnelli, Kylie Minogue and just about every downtown act in NYC. Now composer, pianist and performer Lance Horne hosts his own wild night of singing, drinking and dancing, strip-teasing and bad behavior at the East Village nightlife hub Club Cumming. Expect advanced show-tune geekery and appearances by Broadway stars looking to get down by the piano. Plan to sleep in on Tuesday.

The notion of robots discovering love—in a world where nothing lasts forever, including their own obsolescent technologies—could easily fall into preciousness or tweedom. Instead, it is utterly enchanting. As staged by Michael Arden (Parade), Maybe Happy Ending is an adorable and bittersweet exploration of what it is to be human, cleverly channeled through characters who are only just learning what that entails.

It was only a matter of time until Flaco, NYC's fallen owl king, became the subject of his very own exhibit. The beloved Eurasian eagle-owl used to fly around the city after escaping from the zoo, until he passed away about a year ago. 

"The Year of Flaco," a new exhibit at The New-York Historical, is scheduled to run through June 6. Featuring photos and videos "documenting Flaco's flight and his new life in the city, along with letters, drawings and objects left at a memorial beneath Flaco’s favorite oak tree following his death one year ago," the program will also examine "the dangers faced by birds in urban environments, legislation inspired by Flaco's legacy and practical steps for creating a safer city for wildlife."

Some 4,500 years ago, ancient Egyptians built the Great Pyramid of Giza—the greatest pyramid the world had ever seen. Sure, you can read about this incredible civilization in history books, but you can now walk through their pyramid without ever leaving New York City. A new virtual reality experience called Horizon of Khufu offers a chance to travel miles away and back in time. 

You'll get a chance to wander around the pyramid, then look in awe at the intricate tombs of Pharaoh Khufu and the majestic Giza Necropolis. Eventually, you'll board a ship for a journey across the Nile, attend a mummification ceremony, and experience the somber occasion of King Khufu's final rites.

Movie magnets Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal star in Shakespeare's fast-paced tragedy of jealousy and misplaced trust, in which a villain preys on the insecurities of a Moorish war hero married to a Florentine woman.

The busy Kenny Leon (Our Town) directs the play's first Broadway revival in more than 40 years, which is sure to be a highly coveted ticket (or at least extremely expensive one). The principal cast also includes Molly Osborne as Desdemona, Andrew Burnap as Cassio, Kimber Elayne Sprawl as Emilia and Anthony Michael Lopez as the hapless Roderigo. 

Want to feel like you can practically defy gravity? You can do just that at Lush Spa with their Wicked-themed book-a-bath experience. 

In partnership with Universal Studios, the Upper East Side spa is completely decked out with Wicked vibes. There's vivid green and glimmering gold decor, including taper candles and even wallpaper that says Oz. During the bath, you’ll get to enjoy a pink-and-green bath bomb, a soap shaped like the Emerald City, and a cleanser picked for your skin type. Instrumental versions of the Wicked soundtrack will play while you relax in the tub. 

It's bookable now for $75 with appointments through late 2025.

Depending on what you learned in high school history class, you might be surprised to discover that Brooklyn—an area firmly in the northern Union states—actually has significant ties to slavery. A new exhibit coming to the borough digs into that painful history.

Titled "Trace/s: Family History Research and the Legacy of Slavery in Brooklyn," the exhibit is now open at the Center for Brooklyn History. While there are few firsthand testimonies from enslaved people in Brooklyn, the exhibit offers clues to what they endured. It also sheds light on the often-overlooked narratives of enslaved individuals in Kings County and the generational legacies of inequality. The exhibit is free to visit through August 30 in the center's Fransioli Gallery.

Expect to see archival documents, rare personal accounts from enslaved Brooklynites and artwork that helps visitors visualize this period in Brooklyn's development. The exhibit also delves into genealogy and celebrates the work of family historians, researchers, and artists who trace their roots through this difficult past.

ARTECHOUSE, the immersive art experience in Chelsea, typically features the work of a single artist exploring a single topic, such as Afrofuturism, AI·magination and outer space. But for their new installation, ARTECHOUSE has turned over the venue to dozens of emerging artists for a wide-ranging, year-long art extravaganza.

Titled “Submerge,” the show will feature more than 100 artists over the course of 2025. The work of artists from across the globe will rotate every four months amid an open call for submissions. Expect to see everything from 3D animation to AI innovation to multimedia storytelling—anything that takes creativity out of the confines of computer screens and onto an IRL canvas. Submerge is open to all ages through December 31 with tickets starting at $23.85. 

How is she? Ever since it was confirmed that Audra McDonald would star in the latest revival of Gypsy, Broadway fans have speculated about how Audra would be as Mama Rose—or, more nervously, whether Audra could be Mama Rose, the implacable stage mother who sacrifices everything to make her two daughters into stars. So let’s get that question out of the way up front. How is Audra as Rose? She’s a revelation. 

So, too, is the rest of George C. Wolfe’s deeply intelligent and beautifully mounted production, which comes as a happy surprise.

A Complete Unknown, the much talked-about Bob Dylan origin story starring Timothée Chalamet, is officially out in theaters. New Yorkers have a chance to experience the film in a unique way on a movie sites walking tour currently offered by On Locations Tours.

"This immersive walking tour takes you through the real-life locations featured in A Complete Unknown, showcasing the places where Bob Dylan’s journey from a budding songwriter to a cultural icon unfolded," reads an official description of the activity.

Tickets for the experience, which costs $40 per adult, are currently available right here.

The Roundabout teams up with "Escape" artist Rupert Holmes (The Mystery of Edwin Drood) for a boldly jazzy adaptation of The Pirates of Penzance, the best-known show by the Victorian operetta masters W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan: a romp that bustles with sweet-hearted pirates, bumbling cops and pretty young lasses, now reset in New Orleans.

Scott Ellis directs a power cast that includes, on the outlaw side, Ramin Karimloo as the Pirate King, Nicholas Barasch as his naive apprentice and RuPaul's Drag Race champion Jinkx Monsoon as the slatternly Ruth; and, on the side of the law, the justly beloved David Hyde Pierce as the Major General, Samantha Williams as his fetching daughter and Preston Truman Boyd as the Sergeant of Police.

On Location Tours and GetYourGuide has a new NYC guided tour for Swift fans. Led by “ultimate Swiftie” Hannah Kulawiak, it encompasses 13 spots, including Housing Works, Washington Square Park and Electric Lady Studios, the Greenwich Village recording studio commissioned by rock legend Jimi Hendrix.

When it first started in 2018, Raw Like Sushi was a way for sushi chef/DJ Fresh Rollman to combine his passion for music with his culinary expertise. These biweekly events have combined sushi with slinking grooves across New York. You can attend one at Manhattan’s Studio 151 on Monday nights or each Thursday at The Last Call in Williamsburg.

If you’re not into sushi, this might not be the night for you, but the Williamsburg bar also offers chili cheese fries and chicken wings on sushi and vinyl nights. Plus, on a lucky night, you might run into legends like Anderson .Paak or Statik Selektah. Between the variety of options to nosh on and beats booming throughout the night, you can’t miss Raw Like Sushi. 

In the 1950 film masterpiece Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood glamour is a dead-end street. Stalled there with no one coming to find her—except perhaps to use her car—is Norma Desmond: a former silent-screen goddess who is now all but forgotten. Secluded and deluded, she haunts her own house and plots her grand return to the pictures; blinded by the spotlight in her mind, she is unaware that what she imagines to be a hungry audience out there in the dark is really just the dark.

If Netflix’s Squid Game is one of your favorite shows, you’ll want to try your hand at some of the challenges at Squid Game: The Experience here in NYC.

Set within Manhattan Mall (100 West 33rd Street by Sixth Avenue), you get into teams of up to 24 people each to complete challenges across 60 minutes, including those that appeared on the TV show (yes, you’ll get to try your hand at the iconic Red Light Green Light) plus a number of brand-new ones built specifically for the experience. Once done playing, you can enjoy a night market offering a variety of Korean and international sweet and savory foods, plus drinks.

On October 27, 1904, New Yorkers dressed in their finest clothing and hosted dinner parties to celebrate the big news of the year. After four years of messy, sometimes controversial construction, a subway had opened in New York City. Officials didn't know if people would show up for its debut, but more than 100,000 people descended beneath the ground that evening to traverse the system's 9 miles and 28 stations. The next day, a Sunday, more than 1 million people showed up on the subway's first full open day. 

It may not seem like a big deal to us now, but the subway was revolutionary—and it still is. A fascinating new exhibit at the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn digs into the history and the future of our underground rail system. Titled "The Subway Is...," the exhibition brings together artifacts, photos, multimedia installations, old advertisements, train models and more to tell the story of our city's subway system. 

As the Revolutionary War came to a close, British Loyalists and soldiers evacuated the colonies in droves. But the evacuation was more complicated for Black Loyalists, some of whom joined the British cause in response to offers of freedom. 

In 1783, the new government formed a special committee to review the eligibility of some Black Loyalists to evacuate with the British Army, and that committee met at Fraunces Tavern in Lower Manhattan. A new permanent exhibit at the Fraunces Tavern Museum explores this important moment in history. 

The exhibition first opened last year, and officials are now moving it to a larger permanent gallery within the museum. The new space will offer a chance to include recent new discoveries of significant information concerning the identities of individuals participating in the Birch Trials and their inclusion in the Book of Negroes.

The clothes we put on our bodies every day don't just keep us warm or covered or in fashion. They also say something. Clothing conveys meaning—sometimes in direct ways like "I'm mourning" and sometimes in indirect ways like "screw the status quo." 

A new exhibit titled "Real Clothes, Real Lives: 200 Years of What Women Wore" at the New-York Historical Society digs into how clothing has played a crucial role in the lives of everyday women. The exhibit, on view through June 22, 2025, explores how women have influenced, adapted and defied societal expectations through clothing. See a wide array of women's clothing, from a Depression-era house dress to a psychedelic micro mini to an Abercrombie & Fitch wool suit from 1917. Unlike most other women's fashion exhibitions, there's not a ball gown in sight, and that's exactly what makes this show so special. 

Heading to Madison Square Garden to watch the Knicks play is an iconic night out in NYC. The basketball team made the playoffs recently in the 2020-21 season led by forward Julius Randle and RJ Barrett. 

Catch them at MSG now!

Need some writing inspo? Gather with fellow writers for this unique writing prompt series that takes place every Tuesday in the back of Pete’s Candy Store.

The event kicks off with a guest lecturer who reads a piece of literature meant to inspire and serve as a springboard for writers. Everyone has 30-45 minutes to write and can share what they come up with if they want to. 

The free event meets at 5pm every Tuesday.

You may just miss Hell’s Kitchen’s latest lounge. Tucked away off 52nd Street and 8th Avenue, you’ll find a red light and a blue door marked with red graffiti of a martini and a piano. Once the light flicks on, duck inside to find the city’s latest piano bar and supper club. Follow the red light to So & So’s Piano Bar. A part of the Romer Hell’s Kitchen hotel, the piano bar and supper club is an ideal escape for locals and theater industry vets alike. Illuminated by stunning marquee lights, the stage will host up-and-coming local acts alongside Broadway legends, and has already been graced by Darren Criss and Noah Cyrus.

Start your weekend off right at Time Out Market New York’s stunning rooftop! Friday Night Vibes gets the party going on the fifth floor at 7pm with tunes from DJ Stretch (on the first and third Friday of every month) and DJ Price Is Right (on the second and fourth Friday).

Dance the night away with specialty cocktails from the Market’s awesome bar and grab bites from one of two dozen kitchens including, Jacob’s Pickles, Bark Barbecue and Wayla. Enjoy it all to the incredible views of the East River, the NYC skyline and the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. 

The Only Murders in the Building Escape Game, created by Hulu and The Escape Game, is now open in NYC.

The escape room will be inspired by season four of the comedy series. Just like the comedic crew trying to solve mysteries on the screen, escape room participants will try to solve a mystery as well. Prepare for hidden bookcase doorways, secret passageways and immersive elements that reflect key aspects of the show’s characters and storylines.

During this hour-long experience, you’ll need to use problem-solving skills to uncover the latest secrets of the Arconia’s residents. Expect to interact with familiar props and discover Easter eggs from the show.

The legendary Shirley Chisholm is deservedly getting a major museum presentation courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York and the Shirley Chisholm Project at Brooklyn College. Running through July 20, 2025, Changing the Face of Democracy: Shirley Chisholm at 100 will delve into the life and legacy of the native New Yorker and barrier-breaking politician, who was the first Black woman elected to Congress and the first woman to run for president on a major party ticket.

Marking the centennial of the late Chisholm’s birth, her first major exhibition will take over the museum's second-floor North Gallery and tell the multi-dimensional story of the American icon in three sections—Brooklyn Life, Political Career, and Legacy—using historical artifacts, photographs, archival footage, and art pieces.

It's finally sweater weather—and there are no better places to go shopping than the best sample sales in NYC, where you can snag quality pieces for a fraction of their original prices.

Buy trendy shoes, top-notch clothes and beautiful furniture at a deep discount at the best sample sales in NYC this week.

This museum serves as a love letter to the enigmatic street artist known only as Banksy. The Lower Manhattan venue features the largest collection of Banksy’s life-sized murals and artwork in the world. 

After passing through an industrial door, you'll see a city of walls a.k.a. Banksy's ideal canvas. By its nature, street art is impermanent, but this museum offers a long-term space for the ephemeral. Many of the re-creations at the museum no longer exist on the street. Expect to see more than 160 works on display in this celebration of the artist.

Just a programming note: The production at the museum is unauthorized and unaffiliated with the artist.

If you’re on Foodie-Tok, chances are that you’ve come across a video of The Lavaux, a romantic Swiss restaurant and wine bar in the West Village that has some of the best Swiss cheese offerings in the city. But recently, it’s gone viral on TikTok for its “Secret Message Party,” where they encourage strangers to send each other anonymous notes on Tuesday nights.

The note-passing party is the baby of general manager Christian Stemmer, who got the idea two years ago while traveling through his native Switzerland and ate at a restaurant where people were sending notes to other tables. He decided that something like that would probably do very well in New York, where most of us are starved for deeper human connection. “New Yorkers are all about new experiences,” Stemmer tells Time Out. 

Every Monday at 7:30pm in the Parkside Lounge on East Houston Street, the NYC Talent Show highlights unconventional talent from the worlds of comedy, music, dance, spoken word, and more. Audience members are also welcome to show their talent if they choose to participate, creating an environment that feels truly dynamic and collaborative. Tickets are $45 with a 60% off early bird discount if you buy prior to midnight the Friday before the event with the promo code PHILOPYGUS.

At Sip & Stitch, create your very own custom handbag with the guidance of purse pro Anthony Luciano. As a longtime handbag artisan 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.

If you're looking for some good laughs in Bushwick while sticking to a budget, then your best bet is to head to Starr Bar's free stand up comedy shows every Wednesday at 10pm. Hosts James Donlon, Aditya Mayya, and Paddy DeFino will showcase new sets of comedians every week with no cover charge, drink minimum or ticket fee. 

There's a reason Chamber Magic has remained a staple in NYC's magic scene for more than two decades: It dazzles, show after show, with tricks that'll still leave you awestruck days later. 

The charming 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. 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. 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.

Support up-and-coming sketch comedians as they perform a medley of new sketches at this show at The PIT. The show's called "BoogieManja: A Sketch Comedy Collective" and it promises an hour of sketch comedy that changes every show. 

BoogieManja performs on most Wednesdays. Performers include Nothing Bagel, Both Hands, The Right Stuff, Attainable Crush, EZ Pass, and Cliff Hanger.

Head to a beloved West Village music shop for a banging musical comedy blowout every Friday night. This variety show mixes music, comedy, and characters with appearances by Stephen Sihelnik (NY Comedy Festival), Natan Badalov (Adult Swim), Alexander Payne (Netflix), and surprise guests.

Fun fact: The event's set in New York's oldest continually-run music and record store, Music Inn World Instruments. It's been in operation since 1958 and has been heavily featured in the first two seasons of "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel."

Show up early, save a seat and BYOB: You're in for a party.

Beneath the cobblestone streets of the Seaport, secrets hid underground for decades—until now, that is. A new walking tour led by the South Street Seaport Museum unearths the neighborhood's freaky and fascinating facts.

The museum's "Sinister Secrets of the Seaport" whisks visitors back in time for a 90-minute walking tour full of true crime tales about theft, organized crime, murder and even pirates. Tours are available for $30-$40/adult. Whether you're a true crime buff or you're just always in the Halloween spirit, these tours make for a memorable afternoon in a historic neighborhood. 

The tour takes on the scandalous, dubious and sinister tales lurking throughout this historic district. While many stories come from the area's crime heyday in the 1800s, some stories stretch back to the 1790s and others up to the 1990s. It's grim subject matter, of course, but it's delivered in a lighthearted way. You'll never see the Seaport in the same way again.

Beautiful, buoyant, beguiling bubbles are back at the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) in Queens. The beloved bubbles exhibit, which has been closed for five years, will return bigger, better and bubblier than ever.

The Big Bubble Experiment encourages kids of all ages to experiment and discover through the joy of playing with bubbles. That includes blowing, stretching, popping and looking closely to see what happens at each move. 

The exhibit features 10 stations, each one with different tools and methods for exploring bubble solution.

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.

Eighty years ago, as World War II raged on, Danish citizens worked together to ferry 7,000 Jewish people to safety, keeping them out of concentration camps. 

Now, New York City’s Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust is commemorating that anniversary, known as one of the most effective examples of mass resistance in modern history. "Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark," the museum’s first exhibition developed for elementary-age students, is now open.

The exhibit focuses on themes of separation, bravery and resilience to help children ages 9+ reflect on the dangers of prejudice and on their own potential for courageous collective action. 

Running every Monday since 2014—which might make it the longest-running bar show in Brooklyn, but don’t quote them (except we just did)—Lobby Comedy brings together a curated and very funny lineup of international and national touring comedians as well as up-and-coming local acts.

Co-hosted by real-life BFFs and stand-up comics Matt Pavich and Dan Davies, the weekly series is currently held at Williamsburg’s Freehold bar. Grab a booth or a cozy armchair, enjoy the espresso martini that comes with every $10 ticket (and considering that espresso martinis alone are well worth more than $10, consider it a very good deal!) and sit back for 90 minutes of fresh comedy.

"All you have to do is show-up and laugh your *** off," organizers promise. 

On a typical visit to the Museum of Modern Art, crowds surround the most precious paintings, and it can be tough to squeeze your way in for a photo, let alone to admire the artwork’s brushstrokes. But now, thanks to these new exclusive tours by GetYourGuide, you can get in before the museum opens for a guided tour of amazing artwork. 

The new MoMA Before Hours Tour with Art Expert is now available. Tickets are on sale here for $99/person. Few New York City experiences compare to the absolute thrill of gazing at famed works of art uninterrupted for as long as you like.  

Many museums start with some kind of orientation, like a map or remarks from a docent. But not The House of Cannabis (a.k.a. THC NYC), the new weed museum now open in Soho. Instead, this museum starts, quite fittingly, with a trippy “Disorientation Room.”

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. The museum, the first of its kind at this scale, packs every inch of its four-story, 25,000-square-foot space at 427 Broadway with fascinating facts and delightful immersive experiences fit to entertain both tokers and non-smokers alike. Tickets ($45/adult) are on sale now.

Find your latest read at The Free Black Women’s Library, a new free library in Brooklyn's Bed-Stuy neighborhood, which also serves as a social art project, a reading room, a co-working space and a community gathering center. The library "celebrates the brilliance, diversity and imagination of Black women and Black non-binary authors." All 5,000 books in the library's collection are written by Black women and non-binary authors.

Here's how it works: Anybody can visit the space to read, work or hang out. If you want to take a book home, simply bring a book written by a Black woman or Black non-binary author, and you can trade. Whether you decide to bring the book back after you're done reading or keep it for your collection is up to you.

The library is currently open four days per week (Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday) at 226 Marcus Garvey Boulevard. In addition to offering a space to read or work, the library has also hosts a book club, art shows and workshops on topics like writing, drawing, poetry, painting and sewing. All are welcome. 

New York City is full of free outdoor art that you don't even have to go to a museum to see. Sculptures, murals and photographs can be found in its parks, sidewalks and on its buildings! 

An outdoor artwalk makes for a perfect fall activity, and there's no shortage of art to check out right now. Best of all, it costs you nothing to pay a visit.

The name really says it all: Make bonsai in a bar! These teeny tiny trees are the definition of "happy little trees." 

The pros from Bonsai Bar will teach you the fundamental skills and techniques behind the art of bonsai while you sip your drink and have some fun with your friends. The teachers will also help you as you pot, prune and design your very own bonsai tree. 

Bonsai Bar events pop up all over the city at locations like Brooklyn Brewery, the Bronx Brewery and SingleCut Beersmiths Queens Taproom.

The sun will come out—eventually! Our guide to spring in NYC details flower shows, outdoor fests and cultural musts.

Want to know what’s happening in New York today, this weekend or in the coming months? Use our NYC events calendar for 2025 as your guide to find the best things to do around town.