The best things to do in NYC this week

One of the hottest events of the summer is the aptly named MoMA PS1 Warm Up, and it's back for 2025 with an impressive lineup. This party turns the museum's courtyard into a dancefloor with DJ sets and live performances on six Friday evenings in July and August.

Every year since 1998, the summer-long music festival at this Long Island City art museum explores how music can be a work of art, and this year is no exception. Think Ballroom icons, spoken word artists, dystopian Darkwave producers, and techno legends. The lineup features innovators in electronic music and celebrates new sounds from New York City and around the world. A few can't-miss names include MikeQ, John Glacier, Sarz, OK Williams, Special Request, and DJ Stingray 313; here's the full lineup. 

Tickets cost $25-$30 for general admission.

The Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) is hosting its annual Gallery Walk right before most spaces shut down for August. The free event features some of New York’s best galleries staying open past their usual closing hours for some sunset art strolling and artist programming crafted especially for the evening. Typically only a Chelsea affair, this year’s Gallery Walk will also expand to include Tribeca spots for the first time.

Fifty-eight galleries—the most ever for this event—will stay open late on Wednesday, July 16, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., with Van Leeuwen and Morgenstern’s Finest Ice Cream trucks doling out free scoops in both neighborhoods during the gallery walks.

Check out the full lineup of special events and other Gallery Walk 2025 programming here.

Step into the memories of iconic football player Lionel Messi—literally. The famous digital artist Refik Anadol has teamed up with Messi and the non-profit UNICEF to create his latest work, "Living Memory: Messi-A Goal in Life," a fully immersive experience showcasing the moment of Messi's (and football's) most iconic moment—his header in the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final. 

The exhibit is presented through a Christie's sale that will be open for bidding July 8 to 22, with the free immersive experience at Christie's New York in Rockefeller Center July 12 to 22. Tickets are available on-site at Christie's each day, while supplies last.

This unprecedented artwork from Anadol isn't simply a visual experience, but a multi-sensory memory for the audience and Messi.

EdFest, a new theater festival debuting this year, will provide New York audiences the chance to take in a series of one-night-only preview performances before they head across the pond to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

For the uninitiated, the best way to describe the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the world’s largest performing arts event taking place each August, is: all performance, all the time, always, everywhere.

Taking place from Monday, July 14 through Sunday, July 20, EdFest will mount a dazzlingly different twelve shows (out of 25 applicants), ranging from Fulbright-awarded drag to searing explorations of family history. Tickets and more information are available on The Tank’s website.

Your Wednesday night plans are set for the month: this July, Manhattan West will host Summer Sounds, an outdoor (and free!) concert series held on the Plaza, for four consecutive Wednesday evenings from July 9 through 30.

"Summer Sounds is a celebration of everything we believe in at Manhattan West—the power of art to bring people together and create unforgettable shared moments," said Courtney Whitelocke, Vice President of Arts & Events at Manhattan West. That means a lineup of top-tier musicians and DJs tied together by a shared heritage in New York’s retro-soul movement, including Los Hacheros, Rogê, Thee Heart Tones, Mickey Pérez and Binky Griptite.

You already know about Summer Fridays—now get to know Summer Mondays. Yes, Classic Harbor Line is working to brighten up that first workday of the week with its Tides & Tapas Sunset Sail series, running on Monday sunsets from July 14 through September 29 this summer.

Departing from Chelsea Piers, set sail aboard the Schooner America 2.0. for a scenic two-hour cruise around the New York Harbor, during which you'll enjoy a tapas-style tasting menu featuring caviar, smoked trout, ahi tuna, seared scallops and delightful accoutrements. Tickets are priced as $126 per person (for one beverage alongside the tapas menu) or $148 per person to include a pairing flight of three wines.

JAPAN CUTS—the largest Japanese film festival in North America—is back from through July 20 at Japan Society. 

See major premieres or check out their other 30+ films across 11 days. If you like seeing major blockbuster films, supporting up-and-coming filmmakers, weeping over indie films, or checking out documentaries (or anime, experimental and short films, or restorations, they really do have it all), browse their lineup and secure yourself a ticket before it’s too late.

Among the festival’s lineup is a special screening of Yasuhiro Aoki's ChaO in collaboration with GKIDS and the presentation of the 2025 CUT ABOVE Award to Kiyoshi Kurosawa. And don't miss the North American Premiere of A Girl Named Ann, the U.S. Premiere of She Taught Me Serendipity, along with a special appearance from Japan Academy Film Prize Best Actress Winner, Yuumi Kawai. 

Even those cinemagoers who have grumbled about the preponderance of superhero origin stories might feel a touch of remorse watching writer-director James Gunn’s puckish and political (but wildly overstuffed) blockbuster skip merrily past all the basics of DC’s most righteous figure.

For Gunn, who has injected superhero movies with a winningly irreverence since his R-rated indie Super, ridding the DCEU of its bombast and self-seriousness is a step in right direction. Whether, like his alien hero, he can arrest the march of time and reinvigorate this tired genre is another matter.

See it in theaters now.

Your dog is super, of course. But is your dog extra Super, like Krypto in the new Superman movie? 

Now's the chance to find out, as a Superdog Look-Alike Contest is coming to NYC on Friday July 18 at 2pm in Manhattan West Plaza (385 9th Ave in New York City). Dog parents are invited to bring their furry friends of all breeds and sizes to compete for a $1,000 cash prize; register to participate here. "Whether your pup is a dead ringer for Krypto or just bursts with superhero spirit, this is your chance to show the world the true power of pets," the event organizers at Pumpkin Pet Insurance said in a press release. 

This tail-wagging celebration will honor the most iconic pup in the DC Universe with some solid prizes. Two lucky dogs will earn top honors: one crowned Best Krypto Lookalike and one recognized as the Most Unique, Unlike-Krypto contestant. Each one will will $1,000, plus a $2,500 donation to the Angel Fund at a veterinary clinic of each winner's choice.

We'll never turn down an opportunity to watch a movie under the stars, especially when it's free and open to the public. You'll enjoy exactly that with the Bond With Brooklyn Movie Series coming to Prospect Heights this July, sponsored by TF Cornerstone.

The first-come, first-served screening series will run for four weeks, from July 7 through 28, on the central lawn between 595 Dean St and 645 Dean St. Among the crowd-pleasing titles is Amanda Bynes comedy She's the Man, animated favorite The Iron Giant, cult classic Ghost World and spy farce Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, with each title beginning at sunset.

Don't miss out on the return of renowned Austrian artist Gustav Klimt in a new captivating exhibit this summer, Gustav Klimt: The Immersive Experience. From July 15 until August 31, the Hall Des Lumières in Lower Manhattan will host a rare opportunity to step inside of Gustav Klimt's legendary work brought to life through music, color and intricate visuals.

The show is one-hour long, and tickets start at $29, with an opportunity to buy a family pack for $78, or reduced rates of $19 per ticket for youth, senior, veterans, or those with disabilities. Guests are welcomed daily from 11am to 5pm, except for Mondays.

"This space breathes new life into Klimt's masterpieces, surrounding visitors with history, light, and the bold spirit of artistic revolution," per Harley Hendrix, managing director of Hall des Lumières.

Want to learn how to feel yourself? (In the figurative sense, obvs.) Join Miss Bloom—a.k.a. Niki Davis-Fainbloom, a Canadian-born, New York-based sex educator, writer and coach—for an interactive workshop that will help you own your confidence—in bed, on the streets, and everywhere in between.

Taking over The Rose (160 West 25th Street) on Monday, July 14, the self-assured session will guide you through bold, playful activities designed to unlock your sexual confidence, help you explore your desires without shame, and practice speaking about them with ease and power. Stick around after the workshop to put your new skills to the test and get your flirt on!

Treat your ears to some free music at Battery Park City every Thursday evening this July. The Battery Park City's River & Blues Concert Series is a celebrated NYC summer tradition celebrating Global and American folk, roots and blues music. Expect to hear renowned artists on the cutting-edge of the jazz and blues scene.

Picturesque Rockefeller Park serves as the an idyllic venue with breathtaking views of Hudson River sunsets, picnic-friendly fairgrounds and refreshing waterfront breezes.

Here's the lineup:

• July 17, Amythyst Kiah: On her latest release Still + Bright, Amythyst Kiah’s storytelling is merged with a twist on rootsy alt-rock, exploring the struggle and joy of self-discovery.

• July 24, Afro Latin Jazz Alliance: The award-winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra led by Arturo O’Farrill has enamored international audiences with its dynamic performances featuring the music of jazz legends and new compositions from the Latin music scene.

• July 31, Lady Blackbird: Harnessing a mighty voice and fabulous regalia, Lady Blackbird effortlessly portrays heart-rending yearning in her jazz-soul sets.

Calling all Francophiles! Matthew Rosenstein, a.k.a. "a bagel who dreamed of being a croissant, will be performing a one-man cabaret show about his descent into the world of France. His story chronicles seeing Le Mis for the first time on Broadway, learning the language, making fake phone calls to Air France as a teenager, and eventually making the move to Paris.

Rosenstein will be joined with a four-piece band and backup singers as he shares the lessons and hard truths he learned on his journey to becoming authentically French. Don't miss out on seeing his show, "Make Me French," at the Laurie Beechman Theatre on Bastille Day, Monday July 14. Doors open at 5:30pm. 

Head to Dumbo for live music and interactive art at this weekly summer series on Thursday evenings starting at 6pm. Live at the Archway features a headlining concert, plus an art exhibit on the Art Wall, where anyone can contribute to a collaborative piece—all totally free. While it's free to attend, you can buy drinks and food from pop-up vendors.

If the weather is iffy, don't worry: the event takes place under the cover of the Manhattan Bridge and goes on rain or shine.

Here's the full schedule:

Pizza Party Alert. Blackbird Presents: The F&F Pizza Sessions is throwing the ultimate pizza party all summer long.

Hosted by acclaimed chefs Frank Castronovo and Frank Falcinelli of F&F Pizzeria, the summer-long pizza party will feature US and international talent all trained in the art of sauce and dough. Kicking it off on May 20, the winner of Food Network television series "Food Network Star" and owner of Gabagool Shop, Christian Petroni will be cooking in the kitchen with Mark Iacono of neighboring Carroll Gardens eatery, Lucali. For the evening, F&F's back garden will be transformed into a pizza enthusiast’s dream, featuring an epic lineup of pies alongside specials straight from the restaurant, from salads to their signature arancini. Cocktails, wine and beer are also included. 

Looking to plan your summer? Here's the full lineup:

• May 20: Christian Petroni (Gabagool Shop) and Mark Iacono (Lucali)
• June 9: Carola and Victoria Santoro (Ti Amo Pizzeria) and Chris Bianco (Pizzeria Bianco) 
• July 15: Frank Pinello (Best Pizza) and Ryan Gray (Elena)
• August 19: Dan Richer (Razza) and Marc Vetri (Pizzeria Salvy)

Tickets are $175 and include food and drinks. Reserve yours here. 

Only people in the know go to these secret jazz speakeasy shows, but don't worry, we're about to let you in on the secret. These underground live jazz performances called Daddy Rabbit are the epitome of cool.

Musician extraordinaire Misha Piatigorsky launched Daddy Rabbit a few years ago, and the series has gained a well-earned following. Audiences are delighted by the immersive musical experience; you won't just be tapping your toes, you'll even be singing along with incredible performers from across the globe. It all makes for a memorable, only-in-NYC experience.

Grab a ticket here for upcoming shows at LOULOU in Chelsea. Here's the lineup:

— Friday, July 18: Featuring Benny Benack III
— Friday, August 1: Featuring Steve Nelson and Rudy Royston
— Friday, August 29: Daddy Rabbit featuring Jackie Ribas 

Grab your gals and celebrate a Girl's Night Out with a comedy night showcasing the best and funniest parts of female friendship. On Friday, July 18 at Caveat, head to We Just Find It Funny, hosted by Kat Smith, Chika Ekemezie and Emmy Wilson. The show also features games and segments with Amber Singletary, Julia Desmond, Olivia Carter, Christina Brown, Tessa Belle and Lauren Davis.

"We've got the funniest guests in the city to guide us through the perfect GNO," organizers say. Yaaas please.

To commemorate 20 years of Atlantic Termial, the downtown mall plaza is putting on a slew of brand-new weekly programs — all free and open to the public! The new series “Terminal 20: Summer on Track” welcomes all to join in. Here's what's on tap:

— Wellness Wednesdays with Diva Dance now through August 20. Be sure to register for this one in advance, as space is limited.
— Summer Sunset Salsa Series on Thursdays, turning the plaza into an open-air dance floor with lessons for all levels through August 21.
— Summer Saturdays on July 12 and September 13 for families looking to give kids time to explore water play, crafts, games, and even giveaways. RSVPs are recommended.

For full event details and registration links, visit the Atlantic Terminal website.

Break out those cowboy boots because Molly & June's Honky Tonk is taking over the legendary music venue SOB's in the West Village every Monday night this July.

Dinner and drinks are available all night, along with a Southern cocktail happy hour special, line dancing lessons, cowboy hat giveaways, and live country music from Shotgun Shack Band with other surprise guests. Each week features a different line dance, designed for dancers of all experience levels.

Every event begins at 6pm, with free entry from 6-6:30pm with an RSVP. Or you can grab an all-access pass to get into every single week's activities for $30.

Billy Joel has one of the most iconic discographies of any artist in the modern era, and at 75 years old, he's still going strong. This year, the icon from Long Island is taking the stage with Rod Stewart at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx on July 18; the MetLife Stadium with Stevie Nicks on August 8; and then Citi Field with Sting on August 21. 

Tyler, the Creator has lived many lives, and his latest album Chromakopia examines the artist's point of perspective on potential past timelines. Narrated by his mother Bonita Smith, the project is conceptual yet cohesive and is widely considered to be one of the best albums to come out of 2024. Lucky for New Yorkers, we'll be seeing a lot of Tyler in 2025: First in June, when he'll take on the stage at Gov Ball. But if you want the full Chromakopia experience, head to his solo concerts at Madison Square Garden on July 14 and 15, or the Barclays Center on July 27 and 28. 

The three piles of garbage in your kitchen waiting to be taken out might make you think you're The Trash King, but the real Trash King is waiting to be crowned at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in the East Village on Friday, July 18. 

Hosted by Josh Nasser and Jared Bronen, The Trash King is a night of previously un-useable bits that just might turn out to be treasure. In this head-to-head competition, trashy ends up on top. 

Don’t bother with Orlando. Coney Island is its very own magical kingdom, setting off free, sensational fireworks every Friday night all summer long. Grab a frank and get yourself a comfortable spot on the boardwalk to celebrate the end of the work-week every week.

Friday Night Fireworks run every Friday now through Labor Day. Fireworks begin at approximately 9:45pm and typically launch from the beach at West 12th Street, providing a breathtaking backdrop to the iconic boardwalk and amusement parks.

Viola's Room, an immersive theatrical experience, has kicked off an 18-week Off Broadway engagement at the Shed through October 19. Consider it the successor to the wildly popular Sleep No More, which closed this winter.

The new production was conceived and directed by Punchdrunk founder Felix Barrett, who was also responsible for the success of Sleep No More. In a nod to the rising popularity of celebrity-led theater offerings, award winning actress Helena Bonham Carter will narrate the entire piece, "an audio-driven adventure that reimagines Barry Pain's 1901 gothic short story The Moon-Slave for a modern audience," according to Playbill.

Tickets for Viola's Room start at $49 and are available here.

For its latest blockbuster exhibit, The Paley Museum is catching up with Ray (Ray Romano), Debra (Patricia Heaton), Frank (Peter Boyle), Marie (Doris Roberts) and the whole Barone clan. 30 Years of Everybody Loves Raymond: A Behind-the-Scenes Tribute is bringing the Emmy-winning, nine-season CBS sitcom to life via cast costumes, props and artifacts, rare footage and behind-the-scenes photographs pulled straight from the set of the beloved comedy series.

Running through Sunday, September 7 at The Paley Museum in midtown Manhattan, the immersive exhibit lets visitors snap a photo at the Barones' iconic kitchen table, settle in on Ray and Debra's famous couch and more.

Learn about local wildlife and riverfront history at this three-hour eco tour with Classic Harbor Line. Join host and renowned urban naturalist Gabriel Willow aboard a yacht (either the Manhattan or Manhattan II) on Sundays and Mondays this summer as your travel up the East River to the historic North and South Brother Islands, which are prime nesting areas for black-crowned night herons, snowy and great Egrets, double-crested cormorants and more.

Your guide will help you spot birds (and the occasional harbor seal!) and give context to the landscape and historical background of these little known islands. Tickets include a reserved window seat, complimentary beverage and gourmet sandwich; full bar and other food items are also available for purchase. 

To relaunch its summer exhibition program, Japan Society will present Susumu Shingu’s first solo institutional show in the United States this spring, highlighting the acclaimed “Sculptor of the Wind’s” works in various sizes, including the artist’s site-specific projects in New York. Spanning five decades across art, design, and architecture, the exhibit will showcase Shingu’s abstract organic shapes, which recall insects, birds, and plants, as well as installations that respond to Japan Society’s architecture and invite audiences into meditative encounters.

Find the exhibit at Japan Society in Midtown East through August 10.

Watermark—the 10,000-square-foot bar and restaurant in the Seaport—has gone tropical for summer. Colorful umbrellas, towering palm trees, and surf-inspired decorations have taken over the outdoor terrace, making the space feel more like Saint Lucia than the Seaport. Keep an eye out for the playful presence of flamingos for a photo opp. Twinkling overhead lights will keep the party going even after the sun sets.

The menu offers a tropical twist as well with oysters, crispy coconut shrimp, lobster rolls and more. As for drinks, there's a long list of boozy beverages served pouches—like the Kiwi West, BeachSide Bourbon, and Suavemente. If margaritas are more your style, there are a bunch of options, including the "mega fishbowl." Or if shots are your thing, there's a whole list of options called "The Shot Clinic."

As always, Watermark at Pier 15 is known for its views of the Lower Manhattan skyline and the Brooklyn Bridge. If you squint, you can pretend the East River is the ocean instead. 

Make a reservation in advance here.

Streeeetch out with Prospect Park Yoga, a new open-air yoga studio bringing high-quality, professional classes to all corners of Prospect Park through October. Launched this spring, PPY offers daily, outdoor yoga classes throughout Prospect Park with "the belief that New Yorkers need more reasons to inhabit public space and be outside."

Classes run in areas near to the park's main entrances, making yoga accessible for New Yorkers on all sides of the park. You can buy a single class, a class package, or a monthly membership for classes this summer and fall.

Register in advance here.

The Brooklyn Museum has gotten a major dose of calm. Visitors can now enter a Tibetan Buddhist shrine room with ritual horns, butter lamps and the hum of chanting monks, courtesy of a long-term loan from the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art.

The Rubin Museum Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room, one of the institution’s most beloved installations, will be on view inside the Brooklyn Museum’s Arts of Asia galleries as part of a six-year collaboration between the two museums. Entry is included with general admission, which the museum offers on a pay-what-you-wish basis. 

'Tis the season for outdoor movies. Free movie nights are a classic way to spend a summer evening in NYC, and there's no more iconic spot than Bryant Park. 

Bryant Park's big screen will light up for Paramount+ summer nights in Midtown. Here's the July lineup:

July 7: Good Will Hunting 
July 14: Interstellar 
July 21: Ghost 
July 28: Pulp Fiction

Let internet boyfriend Pedro Pascal be your guide on a tour of the universe. The famous actor is the narrator for a new space show at the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium titled Encounters in the Milky Way. 

Encounters in the Milky Way takes a 20-minute voyage through outer space with stunning visualizations of dazzling stars, constellations and planets. Stirring music complements Pascal's narration, and you'll even feel your seats move as if you could blast off to space yourself. 

Anybody who has taken a high school English class is likely familiar with the name Jane Austen, but that wasn't the case when Austen was alive. Instead, she published her works—even the famed Pride and Prejudice—anonymously. It wasn't until after her death in 1817 that Austen's name became famous as one of the great English novelists. 

That interesting legacy, as well as much more Austen lore, is part of a new exhibition at The Morgan Library & Museum titled "A Lively Mind: Jane Austen at 250." It features first-edition copies of her novels, corresponding artworks, personal letters, historical documents and artifacts from Jane Austen's House in Chawton, England. This major exhibition celebrating Austen's 250th birthday is now open through September 14, 2025.

Your Friday commute through Times Square might get a little... spinny this summer.

That’s because SPIN Midtown, the legendary ping pong social club known for mixing paddles with party vibes, is setting up shop right in the center of the city, offering free outdoor ping pong every Friday from 4 to 7 pm all summer long. And yes, everything’s included: paddles, balls, tables, and a neon-soaked, skyscraper-lined backdrop that’s hard to beat.

The pop-up takes place smack in the middle of the Times Square pedestrian plaza, between 46th and 50th Streets, transforming the tourist crossroads into a full-on ping pong playground. The weekly series runs through Friday, August 29.

After a four-year renovation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art has reopened its galleries dedicated to the arts of Africa, the Ancient Americas and Oceania. These historic galleries, housed within the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, are packed with 1,800 artworks spanning five continents and hundreds of cultures. 

Inside the galleries, you’ll find several objects on view for the first time, including new acquisitions of contemporary African works and new commissions by Indigenous artists for the Oceania galleries. Also don’t miss a gallery dedicated to light-sensitive ancient Andean textiles, which is the first of its kind in the United States. 

Each year, SummerStage is one of the most anticipated free events of the summer, bringing dozens of free, outdoor concerts across different parks to sun-starved New Yorkers all summer through October.

To celebrate its 39th year, the festival is focusing on diversity and will showcase a mix of established and emerging artists and DJs playing an array of genres that include jazz, hip-hop, indie-rock, salsa, reggae, Afrobeats, soul, pop, global, contemporary dance and more.

Highlights include Soccer Mommy, Marcus Miller, Morgan Freeman's Symphonic Blues Experience, Rilo Kiley, The Met Opera, James Blunt, Chris Tomlin and The Roots. Here's the full lineup.

New York’s ultimate open-air yoga studio is back. Bryant Park just announced the return of its wildly popular free yoga series, with sessions running through September 17. Now in its 22nd year, the beloved al fresco fitness tradition has grown from a few mats on the lawn to one of the city’s largest and most consistent community workout programs, often drawing more than 1,000 yogis per class. Led by over 30 of the region’s top instructors, each session offers a fresh flow, welcoming all skill levels and ages.

Classes take place twice a week: Tuesdays at 10am on the Upper Terrace and Wednesdays at 6pm on the Lawn. Registration is required (and spots go fast), so snag yours early and don't forget to BYO mat and water. Mats are not provided, and trust us, you don’t want to be the one practicing on bare concrete while your neighbor nails a headstand.

If you’ve ever walked down a Harlem block or past Fulton Street and thought, “Damn, that’s a look,” you already understand the heart of “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute’s razor-sharp spring exhibition that puts the precision, politics and poetry of Black menswear on full, unapologetic display.

The exhibition is more than a fashion retrospective: it’s a sensory experience that feels like stepping into someone’s memory, someone’s vision, someone’s mirror.

"Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" is now on view at The Met Fifth Avenue through October 26.

While most art exhibits in New York City keep you at a distance, the Museum of Modern Art invites you to get closer at its new Hilma af Klint exhibit, “What Stands Behind the Flowers.” 

Swedish artist Hilma af Klint is typically most known for “Paintings for the Temple,” her giant abstract artworks depicting geometric and organic shapes that she attributed to “divine messengers” or spirit guides. This body of work, however, takes its direction from af Klint herself and focuses on the natural world—highly detailed botanical drawing—in which she assigns a spiritual meaning to.

On view for the very first time, these self-studies ask us to attune to the natural world in a new way. See them through September 27. 

Back in the 1970s, there was a common rallying cry at early LGBTQ+ marches: "Out of the closets! Into the streets!" An exhibit at The Hispanic Society Museum & Library borrows that refrain for its title as it brings together 18 photographs by Francisco Alvarado-Juárez that highlight the chaotic and colorful vitality of this first iteration of Pride.

See the exhibition at the Hispanic Society Museum & Library in Washington Heights through August 31, 2025. It's free to visit.

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 month:

July 21 – PRIMUS
July 23 – Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue=
July 24 – Riley Green
July 25 – Drive-By Truckers & Deer Tick
July 28 – Pink Martini featuring China Forbes
July 31 – Guster & The Mountain Goats

You can purchase tickets here or in-person 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. 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.

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,” 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. Find the exhibit 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.

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. 

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.

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.

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, pickleball 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. 

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 Ferrera.

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.

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. 

Blast off to another planet at INTER's new interstellar 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.

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. 

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. 

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 October 31, 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 July 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.

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.

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.

Cole Escola’s Oh, Mary! is not just funny: It is dizzyingly, breathtakingly funny, the kind of funny that ambushes your body into uncontained laughter. Stage comedies have become an endangered species in recent decades, and when they do pop up they tend to be the kind of funny that evokes smirks, chuckles or wry smiles of recognition.

This 80-minute show is a fast and wild joy ride. In this hilariously anachronistic historical burlesque, Escola plays—who else?—Mary Todd Lincoln, in the weeks leading up to her husband’s assassination. Boozy, vicious and miserable, the unstable and outrageously contrary Mary is oblivious to the Civil War and hell-bent on achieving stardom as—what else?—a cabaret singer.

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.

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 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.

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.