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Photograph: Courtesy of Uptown Night Market

The best things to do in NYC this week

The best things to do in NYC this week include Governors Ball, Tribeca Festival, the Uptown Night Market, the Vegan Night Market, the kickoff to BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn, and a PowerPoint comedy show.

Rossilynne Skena Culgan
Shaye Weaver
Written by
Rossilynne Skena Culgan
Contributor
Shaye Weaver
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If you’re looking for the best things to do in NYC this week, or even for today, there are tons of fun options, including Governors Ball, Tribeca Festival, the Uptown Night Market, the Vegan Night Market, the kickoff to BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn, a PowerPoint comedy show and awesome free events in NYC! For more ideas, scroll down to see this week's best things to do in NYC.

RECOMMENDED: Full list of the best things to do in New York

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  • Nightlife
  • DUMBO

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Best things to do in NYC this week

  • Music

Lizzo, ODESZA and Kendrick Lamar will headline the 2023 Governors Ball Music Festival, which will be held in a new location this year at Flushing Meadows Corona Park. 

The show runs Friday, June 9 through Sunday, June 11, at Flushing Meadows Corona Park.  

More than 60 artists will perform across the weekend including Lizzo, ODESZA, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Uzi Vert, HAIM, Diplo, Lil Baby, Lil Nas X, Giveon, Sofi Tukker, Pusha T and lots more. Here's the full lineup. Set times are now available in the festival app. 

  • Movies
  • Movies

You want to be the first to see a big-buzz movie? Sit in on conversations between A-listers? Attend live performances, bring the kids, try out new immersive experiences? At Tribeca Festival, you don’t need to know anyone, pull any strings, or get on any lists to spot stars and sneak peeks. 

The program is so broad that a few years ago organizers dropped the word "Film" from the title altogether; it’s now officially the Tribeca Festival. But cinema still remains the event’s centerpiece, with literally hundreds of compelling titles on tap.

The 2023 Tribeca Festival runs from June 7-18. Tickets are available at www.tribecafilm.com

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  • Restaurants
  • Eating

The massive foodie fest at Uptown Night Market is back in Harlem, running monthly into the fall. Expect more than 60 food, beverage and merch vendors focusing on a majority of local minority-owned businesses.

The free-to-attend outdoor event series runs on the second Thursday of the month through October (that’s June 8, July 13, August 10, September 14 and October 12. Find the all-ages event at 133rd and 12th Avenue in West Harlem.

Food options available for purchase include Perros Locos' gourmet Mexican-style hot dogs; Tacos El Guero's traditional taco flavors; Patok by Rach's sweet, salty, and sour Filipino essence; Treat YourSelf Jerk's spicy offerings; Nadas' take on Colombian empanadas; La Braza’s popular shish kebabs and La Victoria's fun pineapple dishes.

  • Things to do
  • Festivals
  • Central Park

This new night market celebrates all things vegan. The Vegan Night Market coming to Central Park this summer will be the city's first night market celebrating plant-powered eats.

You'll get the chance to taste vegan foods from a variety of local vendors while listening to live music in a crowd of like-minded folks. Whether you're a seasoned vegan or curious about trying some plant-based meals, all are welcome.

Find the Vegan Night Market at Wollman Rink in Central Park from 4-10pm every Tuesday from June 6 to October 10. It's free to enter. The market's hosted by MHG Events, who also run the Uptown, Brooklyn and Bronx Night Markets.

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  • Music

You can set your watch by how reliably awesome the annual BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival is. Unlike SummerStage, which spreads out across the five boroughs, all BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! shows, most of which are free, take place at the beautiful bandshell in Prospect Park

This year's performers include Corinne Bailey Rae, Taj Mahal, The Wallflowers, The Head & The Heart, JOE, Kelela, Liv.e, Ali Sethi and many more. Programming runs June 7-August 24.

  • Art
  • Art

More awe-inspiring public art is coming to Manhattan in an installation that makes viewers re-envision what sculpture is and can be. 

On Tuesday, June 6, “PRANK” will debut in City Hall Park in Manhattan’s Financial District. Presented by the Public Art Fund, this collection is the late British artist Phyllida Barlow’s final series of large-scale freestanding sculptures. The free, public exhibit will showcase seven new steel and fiberglass sculptures, the artist’s first series of outdoor sculptures made from long-lasting materials. 

“PRANK” will be open from 7am - midnight daily and run through November 26.

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  • Music
  • Music

You've never been to a venue like this.

A new mid-air concert hall that holds 250 people is opening at The Shed, and it's truly an architectural wonder. With music curated by Carl Craig, Yaeji, Steve Reich, and The xx, plus upcoming performances by Madame Gandhi, yunè pinku, UNIIQU3, and Igor Levit, guests will party like they're inside a disco ball, with 3D sound and light experiences that transcend what experiencing live music can be. 

The 65-foot-diameter spherical concert hall is suspended in midair in The Shed’s 115-foot-tall McCourt space.

Sonic Sphere runs June 9 through July 7. All tickets to Sonic Sphere are general admission and available at theshed.org

  • Theater
  • Theater & Performance

The public park, which can be found floating at Pier 55 off the west side's Hudson River Park, will host DJ sets, drag bingo, dance parties, spoken word and live jazz, all held at the park's scenic stage.

Some of the talents joining Little Island's summer event calendar are Saturday Night Live cast member James Austin Johnson, Tony Award winner Tonya PinkinsGrammy winners Joshua Henry and J Hoard, Emmy nominee and Joe's Pub favorite Shaina Taub, and many more.

No tickets or timed entry reservations are required to attend any of the events this summer. See the full lineup at Little Island's website. The fun starts this week on June 7.

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  • Art
  • Art

You might notice Rockefeller Center looking a little different come summer. That's because the landmark will play host to a special exhibition spotlighting Korean art through June and July, the biggest piece of which—literally—will be a large-scale charcoal sculpture towering at 21 feet in the outdoor plaza. 

Running at Rock Center from Thursday, June 8 through Wednesday, July 26, the exhibition is titled "Origin, Emergence, Return" and is presented by the Busan-based Johyun Gallery, the gallery's first-ever exhibition outside of Korea. Throughout, modern and contemporary Korean art, including more than 70 works from the likes of Park Seo Bo, Lee Bae and Jin Meyerson, will be on view at the Rink Level Gallery, exploring three generations of Korean art from the 20th century to the present.

  • Art
  • Art

Nearly every artist has their fixation, and for two years, Vincent Van Gogh was possessed with the challenge of capturing the cypress trees that surrounded him in France toward the end of his life.

You’ll be able to see this glorious obsession firsthand at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s major summer exhibit, “Van Gogh’s Cypresses,” which runs through August 27.

And it is history in the making as it is the first exhibition to focus on the artist’s cypress trees, reuniting some of his most iconic paintings, including “Wheat Field with Cypresses” and “The Starry Night” and other rarely lent works.

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  • Things to do
  • City Life

A major new exhibit by the Museum of the City of New York titled "This Is New York: 100 Years of the City in Art and Pop Culture" explores NYC through the lenses of visual art, television, film, music, theater, literature and fashion. The exhibition, which celebrates the museum's centennial, is now open in Manhattan. Here's a sneak peek at what you'll see in this landmark show. 

The exhibition highlights more than 400 objects through several sections. The first, called “Tempo of the City,” spotlights the joys and struggles on the streets and subways of NYC. The next, called “Destination NYC,” focuses on iconic and hidden places from parks to rooftops to nightclubs. Next, the exhibit moves to a peaceful room called “At Home in New York” featuring depictions of home life in books and films. Finally, take a seat for “You Are Here,” a compilation of more than 400 film scenes about New York City stitched together to create a stirring narrative that’ll make you smile and laugh. 

"This Is New York: 100 Years of the City in Art and Pop Culture" runs through June 21, 2024 at the Museum of the City of New York in East Harlem. Admission is $20/adult (you can opt for pay-what-you-wish admission if you buy tickets in person at the museum).

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  • Comedy

Hear the best new inventions from local comedians at this new comedy show called "Ha! or Nah!: A Joke Lab." It's hosted at Capish?! Club at Lunella in Little Italy, where comedy nights are known for a heartwarming tone with a bit of sass.

The show on Thursday, June 8 is led by Lauren LoGiudice with Bonnie Q, Jeremy Pinsley, Jeff Quintana, Maddie McLennon, Mike Bramante, and Natalie Fill. Get there early for the pre-show mingle.

  • Comedy

Promising a night where you can "let loose, laugh your ass off and even learn a few things," The Boss Bitch Comedy Show will kick off your weekend a little early with some jokes. This monthly show at The Comedy Shop features some of the city's best femme-identifying, LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC comics.

For the Thursday, June 8 show, Rachel Green will host alongside the comedic stylings of Subhah Agarwal, Carolyn Bergier, David Morton, Sara Shipley, Val Bodurtha and Evan Zelnick with headliner Kirsten O'Brien. Extra special for this month: The show's celebrating its second birthday! 

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  • Comedy

Spend some quality time at a comedy show aptly called Quality Time. This montly standup show is hosted by Justin Catchens (UCB, Vulture) and Bill Schaefer (UCB, Vulture) every second Friday of the month.

This month, the show is on Friday, June 9 in Brooklyn with Zach Zimmerman (The New Yorker, Timeout NY), Brittany Carney (Comedy Central, HBO Max), Carmen Lagala (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert), Jake Cornell (Edinburgh Fringe), Chike Robinson (New York Comedy Festival Comic to Watch 2022) and Marcela Onyango (Feel the News).

Laughter's even better when it's for a good cause. Laugh out loud at "Golden Garden Takeout: A Super Fun, Super Azn Benefit Comedy Show" on Thursday, June 8 in Brooklyn. Your ticket will help raise create production funds for the creation of "Golden Garden Takeout," an AAPI, women-led short film written by Maggie Wong. 

The comedy show will be hosted by Ann Chun and headlined by Sabrina Wu, along with Wilfred Padua, Lakshmi Kopparam, Sarah Harvard, Ben X. Kim, and Dylan Adler.

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Listen deeply as four contemporary composers take inspiration from the sketches of Ludwig van Beethoven's music to create a completely new four-movement quartet. 

New Parnassus, a classical music group in NYC, partnered with the Morgan Library to give four composers access to the Morgan's original Beethoven manuscript sketches. Then, the composers wrote new string quartets based on the sketches. Hear the premiere on Wednesday, June 7 at the Morgan.

New Parnassus will perform the new work along with the original String Quartet No. 11, creating a musical dialogue between Beethoven and contemporary composers. Composers include Raven Chacon, Laura Kaminsky, Ben Kutner, and Shara Nova.

Hear from actor Elliot Page as he shares about his new memoir, Pageboy. He'll speak with host Raquel Willis during this June 6 event at The Town Hall in Manhattan.

Just as the hit film "Juno" was about to premiere, Page found himself "on the precipice of discovering himself as a queer person, as a trans person. Getting closer to his desires, his dreams, himself, without the repression he’d carried for so long."

Hear about that experience and more at the event and in the book. All event tickets come with a signed copy of the book. 

 

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  • Art
  • Art

Remember when NASA published those first images from the Webb telescope and blew everyone's minds? 

Well, now you can admire never-before-seen visuals captured by the James Webb Space Telescope in this new immersive art experience at ARTECHOUSE in Chelsea. “Beyond the Light” opens on June 2 and runs all summer with adult general admission starting at $25. 

Described as "an artistic exploration of our unseen universe," Beyond the Light centers on a 25-minute cinematic audio-visual interpretation of how humans have experienced light over time. The show's presented in the highest-resolution projection technology available, making it a true feast for the senses. You'll get to see newly analyzed galactical data captured by the James Webb Space Telescope.  

  • Art
  • Art

Gardens tend to attract the most attention when they’re in full bloom, fragrant and colorful. They don’t garner much adoration when they’re dormant or decaying. But all of these cycles are an important part of life, as artist Ebony G. Patterson explores in a powerful new exhibition at New York Botanical Garden. 

Iridescent vulture sculptures, glass re-creations of extinct plants and collages inspired by gardening books are now on view as part of her exhibit titled "... things come to thrive ... in the shedding ... in the molting ..." It's on view through Sunday, September 17.

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  • Things to do
  • Events & Festivals

Summer nights, after work or a day out, will once again be alive with music and dance thanks to Bryant Park Picnic Performances presented by Bank of America.

Starting in June, the Picnic Performances will bring the best of NYC to the stage, including the New York City Opera, Jalopy Theatre, Carnegie Hall, the Classical Theatre of Harlem and the American Symphony Orchestra.

This week's lineup:

  • June 1 — New York City Opera: La Bohème at 7pm
  • June 2 — Jazzmobile: Steve Oquendo Latin Jazz Orchestra at 7pm 
  • Music
  • Music

The Blue Note Jazz Festival runs through June 27, offering New Yorkers a chance to catch several performances at some of the best venues in the city. This monthlong series kicks off with Grace Jones’s performance, sure to be a highlight of summer 2023.

Here's a look at this week's festival calendar:

  • Talib Kweli and The Whiskey Boys: Blue Note on June 5-7
  • Lettuce & Friends: Blue Note on June 8-11
  • Manhattan Transfer: Sony Hall on June 9
  • Cortex: Sony Hall on June 10
  • Chucho Valdés & Paquito D’Rivera: Town Hall on June 10
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  • Theater
  • Theater & Performance

The Times Square Alliance is back with its summer program, TSQ Live, New York City’s biggest free performance series and its largest open-air public programming funding the arts.

All events are free, for all ages and open to the public. Here's the schedule for this week:

  • Tuesday, June 6, 5pm: DJ Sets with Rash Bar (Broadway & 43rd St)

  • Wednesday, June 7, 6pm: Dance with New York Live Arts | /Time: Study III by Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company (Broadway & 43rd St)

  • Thursday, June 8, 5pm: Live Music with Jazz at Lincoln Center | Miki Yamanaka (Broadway & 46th St)
  • Friday, June 9, 5pm: Live Music with Carnegie Hall | Gregorio Uribe (Broadway & 46th St)
  • Theater

The Sixth Fest, a climate change fringe festival, is named after the sixth mass extinction event currently underway. This festival brings together poetry, panels, pageants and protests. All are encouraged to bring their own activities as well.

The festival runs June 1 - 11 in venues across the city. Events include Just Us, a new play on climate change; a variety show; climate change conversations; and a one-woman play about the co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement.

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  • Things to do
  • City Life

The 1960s-themed TWA Hotel rooftop pool is now opens for the season. You can add it onto your trip to JFK Airport or just go for the day. Accessible by public transit, the pool sells passes, so you can take a pool-centric trip to the airport that is very low-stress (no TSA check or boarding pass required). 

The rooftop pool offers views of flights taking off, and it just debuted a new Endless Summer theme. Reservations are suggested for non-hotel guests. Visiting the pool costs $50 for adults and $20 for children up to age 12. The price includes admission to the pool and 10,000-square-foot observation deck for an hour and 45 minutes, towels, and seating for dining at The Pool Bar.

  • Art
  • Art

For more than 50 years, El Museo del Barrio has been curating a complex and culturally diverse collection. Now, for the first time in more than two decades, the museum will present its most ambitious presentation of that permanent collection with 500 artworks, including more than 100 new acquisitions. 

The exhibition called "Something Beautiful: Reframing La Colección" is now open and will remain on view through March 10, 2024 with different pieces rotating in and out. El Museo del Barrio, located in the city's East Harlem neighborhood known as "El Barrio," is the nation's leading Latinx and Latin American cultural institution. 

See it at at El Museo del Barrio in Manhattan's East Harlem neighborhood. Adult admission is $9.

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  • Art
  • Art

A dazzling new exhibition called "Tiffany in Color" is now open at Macklowe Gallery in Midtown East. It's free to view through the end of June. 

The exhibition focuses on color, dividing the lamps into color-coded sections titled "Gold Ruby," "Inspiration in Jade" and more across two levels of the gallery. It's the first time Macklowe Gallery has displayed this rare gathering of museum-quality Tiffany lamps, all of which are available for purchase. The gallery houses the world's largest collection of authenticated Tiffany lamps.

See the show for free at Macklowe Gallery, 445 Park Avenue (Park Avenue and East 57th Street), through June 30. The gallery's open Monday-Friday 10:30am-5:30pm.

  • Things to do
  • Weird & Wonderful

A flighty new experience is now open at The Bronx Zoo!

You’ll have the chance to visit Budgie Landing, a new immersive experience that lets you commune with 1,000 boisterous birds known as budgerigars or “budgies.”

The new experience, which is part of zoo admission, surrounds you by these small, talkative parrots that get to fly freely through the exhibit. Inside, you can feed seeds to the birds from a handheld stick. The budgies that accept your offering will no doubt be an unforgettable up-close interaction, the zoo says.

Tickets are $5 per person in addition to Bronx Zoo admission. A Budgie Landing ticket includes one seed stick for guests to have the opportunity to feed (if the birds choose to eat). It’ll be open through October.

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  • Things to do
  • City Life

Muggles, take note: You won’t need to travel through Platform 9¾ to get to Hogwarts. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is right here in New York City for a limited time.

The touring show, “Harry Potter: The Exhibition,” is now open in Herald Square, and it’s going transport you. Through the use of dramatic lighting, set design, interactive technology and even scent, the exhibit will make you feel like you are actually there—in Hagrid’s hut, in potions class, dining in the Great Hall, learning how to fight the dark arts, fighting the Battle of Hogwarts and more.

Tickets are on sale now through October and start at $29 for adults. 

  • Things to do
  • Events & Festivals

New York's newest botanic garden is slated to open 1,131 feet in the air this season.

Sky Bloom,” a new immersive floral experience taking over Edge's skydeck opens on Wednesday, May 24, and runs through September 4. Located on the 100th floor of 30 Hudson Yards, Edge is the highest outdoor sky deck in the Western Hemisphere, known for its outdoor viewing area with a glass floor, angled glass walls and transparent staircase up to the 101st floor. 

The skyline views are impressive from this height, and Edge is getting more decorative with changing arrangements throughout the summer created by Ivie Joy Flowers. Visitors will step into a cloud of flowers of all shapes, sizes and colors including garden roses, ranunculus, poppies, and wisteria, all while taking in unparalleled views. 

Tickets to Edge start at $33 for adults with New York City residency and $35 for visitors. 

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  • Art
  • Art

The Garment District Alliance's latest in its ongoing series of public art exhibits is showcasing "Kibbitz & Nosh: When We All Met at Dubrow’s Cafeteria." The collection is a tribute to New York's historic diners (and consistent pastime of gossiping and snacking), by lifelong Brooklynite and photographer Marcia Bricker Halperin.

The installation is part of the Garment District Space for Public Art program, which showcases artists in unusual locations and has produced more than 200 installations, exhibits, and performances over the past 18 years. Located inside the Kaufman Arcade building on 139 West 35th Street, the free exhibit is accessible to the public through August 31.
  • Art
  • Art

A new exhibit will appreciate and examine the artistry of Taylor Swift's artistic oeuvre. 

“Taylor Swift: Storyteller,” a career-spanning look at the artistic reinventions of the 12-time GRAMMY Award-winning artist (and proud New Yorker!), is now open at The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) through September 4, 2023. Tickets cost $25/person.

The exhibit will include iconic costumes, such as the cheerleader and ballerina ensembles from the 2014 music video for “Shake It Off,” the red wedding dress and bellhop uniform from “I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault),” which featured Miles Teller and was directed by Blake Lively in 2021; and the sparkling ensemble from 2022’s “Bejeweled,” directed by Taylor Swift.  

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  • Art
  • Art

Anyone can walk through this towering new sculpture in Brooklyn Bridge Park that shouts in all caps: “LAND.” But anyone cannot walk through certain lands, especially at border crossings. That juxtaposition comes into stark relief at this recently installed 30-foot sculpture that simultaneously evokes Pop Art and questions the legacy of colonization. 

Nicholas Galanin's "In every language there is Land / En cada lengua hay una Tierra" is now on view at the Empire Fulton Ferry Lawn in Brooklyn Bridge Park through fall 2023.

  • Art
  • Art

A vibrant new sculpture called “Old Tree” is now on view at the Highline. 

Find it over the intersection of 10th Avenue and 30th Street, claiming residency through Fall 2024. Created by Zurich-based artist Pamela Rosenkranz, the vivid sculpture is the third High Line Plinth commission, which changes every 18 months.

The pink and red “Old Tree” sculpture stretches 25 feet into the sky. It's shaped like a realistic tree but constructed completely from man-made materials. 

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  • Music
  • Music

The Daddy Rabbit jazz speakeasy shows are the epitome of cool, and there are several coming up that you won't want to miss.

Musician extraordinaire Misha Piatigorsky launched Daddy Rabbit with much secrecy, but we can tell you the upcoming show dates: 

— June 16: Hilary Kole and trumpeter Tatum Greenblatt
— June 30: French vocalist Camille Gomez-Väez with drummer Rudy Royston 

Upon walking in, patrons sit around the musicians, who take up residence smack-dab in the middle of the room surrounding a beautiful grand piano. A musical experience to remember indeed. Grab tickets here.

  • Shopping
  • Shopping & Style

After three years, beloved retailer Century 21 is now open again in Lower Manhattan. 

With 100,000 square feet spread across four floors, this store at 22 Cortland Street is a shopper's paradise. The newly reopened flagship sits in the exact same location as its predecessor, right across from the World Trade Center. Pre-pandemic, the Lower Manhattan store welcomed 12,000-15,000 shoppers every single day looking to score discount designer products. 

Brands include Fendi, Chloe, Kenzo, Givenchy, Halston, Cult Gaia, Kensie, Ecco, Vince, Camper, Kappa, Obey, Hugo Boss, Fila, Moschino, Michael Kors and more. Plus, there's a spotlight on emerging and New York-based designers including Blank, Suburban Riot, GREATS, N. Philanthropy and DH New York. The list of designers changes frequently.

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  • Things to do
  • City Life

The hot pink, beachy California Malibu Barbie Cafe will serve up all-day brunch dishes including Pacific Paradise Pancakes, West Coast Wave Wedge Salad, a California Dreamin’ Club Sandwich and an Anything is Possible Sundae—a menu created by Master Chef semi-finalist Becky Brown.

Inside the 1970s Malibu time capsule, you’ll be able to step into and take photos in a life-size Barbie box and enjoy the vibrant, vibe-y photogenic playground.

The Malibu Barbie Cafe will run through September 15, 2023. Fans can join the waitlist right now to be notified when tickets go on sale. 

  • Art
  • Art

Did you know Keith Haring collaborated with a New Yorker named Angel Ortiz? The duo combined their signature styles to create murals, sculptures, train paintings and art on other found objects in the early 1980s. Now, Ortiz will debut new work in a Soho gallery show this month. 

Ortiz's latest work, called LAII: ODE 2 NYC showcases his love for his hometown. The solo show will run at Chase Contemporary in Soho (413 W. Broadway) through June 18, 2023.

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  • Art
  • Art

Step into Yayoi Kusama's vibrant, polka-dotted immersive world at this major new gallery show in Chelsea. The exhibition, "I Spend Each Day Embracing Flowers," features vivid new paintings, massive new sculptures and a dazzling new infinity room from the mega-popular Japanese artist. 

The show's on view at David Zwirner on West 19th Street through July 21 (exact hours and details here). You can see it for free, just be prepared to wait in line. 

"I Spend Each Day Embracing Flowers," which stretches across 519, 525 and 533 West 19th Street, is divided into four sections. Two sections feature sculptures, another highlights paintings and the final area houses the beloved infinity room.

  • Things to do
  • Events & Festivals

One of the best things to do when perched high above the city is take in a movie, and Rooftop Films is back for the season with a fresh slate of independent films screened across all five boroughs.

Running from Thursday, May 25 through Thursday, August 24 with more than 45 events, Rooftop Films' 27th annual Summer Series will include some high-profile titles, including the New York premiere of Eva Longoria’s directorial debut Flamin’ Hot, the New York premiere of Bill Pohlad’s Dreamin’ Wild starring Casey Affleck and Zooey Deschanel, Prime Month programming including Netflix’s WHAM! documentary, and free community events like a screening of Sacha Jenkins’ Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues, shown in the backyard of the Louis Armstrong House Museum in Corona, Queens.

Check out the full 2023 outdoor screenings calendar, as well as ticket information, at Rooftop Films' website

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  • Movies
  • Movies

Looking for an elevated movie-going experience? This summer, you can watch classic movies like Casablanca, Clueless and Goodfellas on a Manhattan rooftop while sipping wine and snacking on vegan popcorn. 

Rooftop Cinema Club in midtown is back this summer with an impressive slate of movies.

No matter which movie you pick, the city's skyline serves as a stunning backdrop, as the cinema's located on the Skylawn rooftop of the Embassy Suites Hotel on West 37th Street. But don't worry about background noise because each guest gets their own wireless headphones.

  • Restaurants
  • Drinking

Union Square is about to get even more fun this summer.

Popular Lower Manhattan brewery Torch & Crown will bring its beloved brews to Union Square this summer with a seasonal location starting on May 11 and running through November.

Torch & Crown will set up shop in the historic Union Square Pavilion with a variety of hand-crafted drafts. A few stand-outs on the menu will include Almost Famous, a smooth, bright, aromatic hazy IPA packed with peach and grapefruit notes, and Share House, an easy-drinking crisp ale made for summertime.

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  • Art
  • Art

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 available on weekends and a few weekdays now through August. 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.  

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  • Art
  • Art

See more than 100 works by Andy Warhol for a landmark gallery show in the East Village called "Thirty Are Better Than One." The show, which spans the entirety of Warhol's career, is on view through July 31 on East Sixth Street with adult admission priced at $20. See the show for just $5 on Thursday evenings from 4-6pm.

While the show includes some of Warhol's most iconic pieces (a Campbell's soup can and a Marilyn), it also highlights lesser-known works. For example, there's a pastel-hued folding screen called "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" that Warhol made for a Tiffany's window in 1954, along with early illustrations he made in the 1950s using gold leaf, copper and ink. 

  • Art
  • Art

In a dazzling tribute to couture fashion, 200 pieces by Karl Lagerfeld, from flouncy floral dresses to menswear-inspired suits, have transformed the Met's Tisch Galleries into a runway. The Costume Institute’s new exhibition, "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty" showcases the late designer's working methods, especially his skills in sketching. 

The exhibit is on view through July 16. 

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  • Things to do
  • Events & Festivals

After nearly a decade of planning, designing and building, the massive new wing at the American Museum of Natural History is welcoming visitors at last. The architecturally stunning, 230,000-square-foot Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation is now open.

Scientific wonders—including a butterfly vivarium, an insectarium and a 360-degree immersive experience—fill every inch of the space. 

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  • Art
  • Painting

You may not know the name J.C. Leyendecker, but his artwork shaped American visual culture in the early 1900s. As a preeminent illustrator and commercial artist, Leyendecker created captivating advertisements and countless covers for the Saturday Evening Post.

"As a queer artist whose illustrations for a mainstream audience often had unspoken queer undertones, his work is especially revealing for what it says about the cultural attitudes towards homosexuality of the period," the New-York Historical Society wrote. The Historical Society will display the artist's works this spring.

You'll see 19 of the artist’s original oil paintings, from magazine covers to roadside billboards. His aesthetic influence extended to Norman Rockwell, his colleague and eventual successor as the Post’s premier illustrator. 

"Under Cover: J. C. Leyendecker and American Masculinity" is on view through August 13.

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  • Art
  • Art

Artist Lauren Halsey transformed images of lowriders, men in durags, DJs and spaceships into modern-day hieroglyphs to create a massive new rooftop installation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Drawing on inspiration from Egyptian architecture and her Los Angeles neighborhood, Halsey reimagined an ancient language with a fresh, 21st-century take. 

Titled "the eastside of south central los angeles hieroglyph prototype architecture (I)," The Roof Garden Commission: Lauren Halsey is on view through October 22 on The Met's rooftop. The Cantor Roof Garden Bar will open on May 18.

  • Things to do
  • Midtown West

The Bard is getting the spotlight in the Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library’s Treasures right now. All six of the library's copies of William Shakespeare’s First Folio (Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies) are on display in honor of the 400th anniversary of its publication this year. 

You can see the works now through October 1 as part of the library’s fascinating Treasures exhibition, which is packed with literary and cultural gems. 

The First Folio is regarded by many as the most important book in the history of English literature. 

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  • Sports and fitness
  • Yoga & Pilates

Wake up with the sun for a morning yoga class with Chelsea Piers Fitness has you covered.

Head to the Maker's Room at Chelsea Market for a free 7am all-levels vinyasa flow class every Thursday morning. Just be sure to bring your own yoga mat and towel and register in advance. It'll be a good way to embrace the vinyasa flow all throughout your day. Programming runs through Labor Day.

  • Things to do
  • Events & Festivals

Regency era London is taking over Manhattan this summer during a Bridgerton-themed immersive extravaganza. You're invited to "The Queen's Ball: A Bridgerton Experience," a multifaceted event narrated by the one and only Lady Whistledown.

You'll get to interact with characters, explore immersive vignettes, sip themed cocktails, buy some exclusive merch, revel in a dance and acrobatics show and take a whole lot of photos.

The experience, which lasts about 90 minutes, runs through the summer at Mediapro Manhattan Studio at 508 West 37th Street by 10th Avenue in Hudson Yards. Tickets start at $49 per person.

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  • Things to do
  • Events & Festivals

In honor of Earth Day, One World Observatory has transformed into a lush green indoor landscape all about sustainability. 

Atop the nation’s highest skyscraper, this installation takes “going green” to soaring new heights. “The Urban Oasis” at One World Observatory is now open and runs through May 31. This verdant indoor landscape is designed to educate visitors on the sustainability efforts of One World Trade Center as well as city-wide efforts to help build a greener New York. 

If you've never been to One World Observatory, it's the only observatory experience in Lower Manhattan, and the views are truly extraordinary. Standard admission costs $44; get tickets here.

  • Art
  • Art

The first exhibit to focus on Georgia O'Keeffe's drawings is now open at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Set up on the museum's third-floor south galleries, "Georgia O'Keeffe: To See Takes Time," will stay on view through August 12, 2023.

Featuring more than 120 works from 85 lenders, this sprawling show is the first to reunite O'Keeffe's works on paper made in series. It's also the first time MoMA has featured her work since 1946; at that time, the exhibition was the museum's first retrospective of a woman artist. 

"Georgia O’Keeffe: To See Takes Time" explores why the late artist worked in a series format and helps viewers understand the artist in a new way.

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  • Things to do
  • City Life

Flipper's Roller Boogie Palace is back at Rockefeller Center through October. 

The rink offers smooth ride with plenty of space to get around other skaters. Being able to glide by Prometheus and in front of spectators visiting Rockefeller Center is quite a thrill. Before Flipper’s first opened last year, the last time anyone roller-skated here was in 1940!

Tickets start at just over $20 for a one-hour rink time.

  • Things to do
  • Weird & Wonderful

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.

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  • Things to do
  • City Life

The Standard, High Line's Roller Rink is back with a retro 1960s motif. 

It will feature a nice seating area, where you will be able to bask in the sun. Also on the docket: weekly programs and events catered to kids and adults alike, including silent skate nights, disco parties, burlesque and drag shows, plus age-specific skating hours. 

But the piece de resistance will undoubtedly be the wearable drink pouches that skaters will be allowed to don around their necks in order to sip on some top-notch cocktails hands-free while cruising around the rink. Now that sounds like a good time! 

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  • Art
  • Greenpoint

Yoko Ono, Miles Greenberg and Louise Bourgeouis metaphorically join forces within the confines of the free, private museum Faurschou New York in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, where their works will be on display through September 17 as part of the "Embrace the World from Within" exhibit.

According to an official press release, the show "revolves around physical and metaphorical aspects of the embrace: from embrace as the merging together of bodies to embrace as an act of acceptance and shelter or by contrast as claustrophobic smothering." 

Patrons will get to peruse through three different galleries, each one dedicated to one of the artists and focusing on works of various form—from sculptures to performative acts and more traditional installations.

Read more about each exhibition right here.

  • Things to do
  • Events & Festivals

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. 

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  • Theater
  • Theater & Performance

A new immersive experience taking over the Lower East Side is part walking tour, part theatrical character monologue and an overall commentary on current celebrity worship culture.

A Gaga Guide to the Lower East Side runs through June. The experience, which is about 75 minutes long and covers approximately 14 blocks, whisks visitors through the Lower East Side "with an emphasis on the exploits of [the tour guide's] favorite pop star and downtown denizen Lady Gaga."

  • Restaurants

Smorgasburg is the food bazaar spectacular that unofficially announces summer in New York City every year. Founded by Brooklyn Flea’s Eric Demby and Jonathan Butler, the culinary extravaganza typically spotlights about 100 vendors across its locations. Smorg has three spots in 2023, two in Brooklyn (in Williamsburg and Prospect Park) and one at the World Trade Center. 

The World Trade Center outpost runs on Fridays; Williamsburg on Saturdays; and Prospect Park on Sundays.

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  • Things to do
  • City Life

The popular Luna Park in Coney Island is officially open for the season—a sign that summer is, finally, near! For now, the amusement park will welcome guests every weekend through Memorial Day, then it’ll be open daily for the season. 

As usual, New Yorkers will get to experience thrilling rides, including two new ones that made their debut last summer.

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  • Things to do

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.

  • Museums

Likely every New Yorker knows the FDNY’s reputation for bravery and heroics, but the story of the colonial FDNY hasn’t gotten much attention. A new exhibit at the New York City Fire Museum will change that by showcasing the important work of firefighters centuries ago. 

“Colonial Firefighting & the American Revolution” presents the untold story of a group of volunteers that stood between New York and disaster during years of rampant arson, wars for North America and the American Revolution. At the exhibit, you’ll get to step into past New Yorkers’ shoes while exploring multimedia presentations, checking out original artwork and even seeing the first fire engines. 

"We are excited to work with such incredible partners to present this multi-month exhibition about the earliest days of firefighting in Colonial America," Jennifer Brown, executive director of the New York City Fire Museum, said in a press release. "Fire history buffs and general audiences alike are sure to be intrigued as they learn more about this fascinating piece of New York history."

The exhibit's on view through August 13 at the Fire Museum in Manhattan.

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  • Art
  • Painting

A new exhibit at The Rubin Museum of Art opening this spring will explore the concept of death and the afterlife through the art of Tibetan Buddhism and Christianity. See 58 object spanning 12 centuries in this new show. 

"Death Is Not the End" features prints, oil paintings, bone ornaments, thangka paintings, sculptures, illuminated manuscripts, and ritual objects, inviting "contemplation on the universal human condition of impermanence and the desire to continue to exist," as the museum described.

The exhibition focuses on three major themes: The Human Condition, or the shared understanding of our mortality in this world; States In-Between, or the concepts of limbo, purgatory, and bardo; and (After)life, focusing on resurrection, ideas of transformation, and heaven.

"Death Is Not the End" is on view through January 14, 2024.

  • Art
  • Photography

What does home look like? A new photography exhibit at Museum of the City of New York explores the concept of how we live now. 

"New York Now: Home - A Photography Triennial" features the work of 33 contemporary photographers. Their images range from social documentary to conceptual, examining the way homes cross geographic borders, how homes are havens of safety for some but not all, and the fact that homes are chosen as much as they are inherited. Works also explore the experience of the home made within the human body.

This is the first in an ongoing photography exhibition series, which will occur every three years as a way to document different themes and issues of the contemporary city. 

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  • Art
  • Art

The red Solo cup: A symbol of beer pong, parties, hyperconsumerism, America. The ubiquitous humble plastic cup is now cast in bronze in front of Rockefeller Center, crushed as if it endured a stomp from a frat bro's Nikes. 

The artwork is a part of an exhibit by artist Paula Crown called “Solo Together,” which alludes to the human urge to transfer energy onto inanimate objects and the environmental impacts of single-use plastic. You can see this new piece of free public art through May 21 near Rockefeller Center’s Channel Gardens.

  • Art
  • Art

The combination of a black beret, black leather jacket, black pants, black shoes and exposed weaponry formed the military-style uniform for the Black Panther Party in the late 1960s, and that look became an enduring symbol that lives on today. A new exhibit at Poster House explores how the Black Panther Party powerfully branded its work through clothing, posters and newspapers. 

The show, “Black Power to Black People: Branding the Black Panther Party,” is now on view at the museum in Chelsea through September 10 featuring 37 works dating from 1932 to 1980. You’ll see heroic images of party members, printed materials like The Black Panther newspaper, political campaign posters and powerful photographs by artists including Emory Douglas, Dorothy Hayes and Danny Lyon.

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  • Theater
  • Musicals
  • Midtown WestOpen run

The steady stream of Stephen Sondheim revivals continues as the estimable Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford headline the latest Broadway incarnation of Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s 1979 killer-cannibal musical. Directed by Hamilton's Thomas Kail, the production uses Jonathan Tunick's original 26-piece orchestrations to do justice to the show's razor-sharp score; the large cast includes Ruthie Ann Miles, Jordan Fisher, Maria Bilbao, Jamie Jackson and Stranger Things kiddo Gaten Matarazzo. 

  • Art
  • Photography

Photographer Berenice Abbott captured New York in small, black-and-white images, 266 of which will be showcased in a fascinating exhibit at The Met this spring. The museum describes it as a "kind of photographic sketchbook" of her adventures throughout the city documenting skyscrapers, bridges, elevated trains and neighborhood life.

"It's one of the unique treasures of The Met. It has never been fully exhibited, not been fully conserved, or published in its entirety—until now," Met Director Max Hollein said. 

The photographer had intended on making just a short trip to New York City, but when she arrived, she was entranced. Abbott is quoted as saying, "When I saw New York again, and stood in the dirty slush, I felt that here was the thing I had been wanting to do all my life."

"Berenice Abbott’s New York Album, 1929" will be on view from March 2-September 4, 2023.

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  • Art

A collection of 15 prints by renowned artist Kara Walker explores the brutality of slavery and highlights the omission of African American narratives from historical texts that emerged following the Civil War. 

The exhibit, titled "Kara Walker: Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated)," responds to the two-volume anthology "Harper's Pictorial History of the Great Rebellion," which was first published in 1866. To create the prints, Walker enlarged illustrations from Harper’s and overlaid them with large, stenciled figures. In addition to looking back at this history, the work also urges visitors to consider the continuing legacy of racial stereotyping and violence. 

The exhibit is on view now through June 11, 2023 at The New-York Historical Society on the Upper West Side. The Historical Society added additional context to the work with images, objects, and documents from its collections.

  • Art
  • Art

More than 200 languages are spoken in New York City, and this new art installation at the Dumbo Archway plays audio clips of each one.

"Anchorage, Babel in Reverse" aims to bring New Yorkers and visitors together with language as a unifying force. This work of public art is on view in Brooklyn through April. 

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  • Art
  • Art

The Met's kicking off 2023 with an exhibit of life-size photomurals by Richard Avedon. Celebrating the centennial of the artist's birth in 1923, the show presents a selection of the photographer's innovative group portraits. The exhibit focuses on Avedon's creativity between 1969 and 1971 when he experimented with sense of scale to create monumental photomurals. Some of his work even chronicled the era's most well-known figures, including Andy Warhol.

The show runs through November 1, 2023. 

  • Art
  • Art

Statues of nine men from history and religion perch atop the courthouse near Madison Square Park. Now, for the first time, the representation of a woman has joined their noble rooftop plinths. 

"Havah…to breathe, air, life," an exhibition by artist Shahzia Sikander focusing on themes of justice, has brought stunning golden sculptures to Madison Square Park and the nearby courthouse at 27 Madison Avenue (officially called the Courthouse of the Appellate Division, First Department of the Supreme Court of the State of New York). The statues will be on view through June 4, 2023. 

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  • Things to do
  • City Life

Spas are thrilling new neighborhood additions no matter what, but an urban bathhouse and wellness club focusing on treatments originating from all over the world is likely to bring a whole new level of excitement to any city area.

That's exactly what World Spa, the new 50,000-square-foot space opening at 1571 McDonald Avenue in Brooklyn is promising to achieve. As its name implies, the destination is bringing a slew of authentic spa experiences from all around the world smack-dab in the middle of Brooklyn. 

  • Theater
  • Theater & Performance

From amazing costumes to Broadway history to fun photo opps, this long-awaited new museum is a must-see for theater buffs.  

You can expect the new museum to highlight over 500 individual productions from the 1700s all the way to the present. 

Among the standout offerings will also be a special exhibit dubbed "The Making of a Broadway Show," which honors the on- and off-stage community that helps bring plays and musicals to life multiple times a week. 

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  • Art

When you appreciate the greenspaces around NYC, do you ever stop to think about the people who make those spaces so enjoyable? Artist Fanny Allié hopes you do, and her new sculpture exhibition called Shadows brings those park workers to the forefront.

The mixed-media artist created 10 colorful sculptures inspired by the workers who maintain Bella Abzug Park (542 W 36th St.). To create the sculptures, Allié spent time with each person and asked them to pose in a manner that reflected themselves. She captured their poses on film, drew their outlines and translated them into steel silhouettes. Each worker chose their sculpture’s color.

Head to the park to see the sculptures sometime before September 2023.

  • Sports and fitness
  • Sports & Fitness

With indoor and outdoor options, Carreau Club, the nation’s first pétanque bar, offers a fun spot to get your game on while sipping a drink.

For the uninitiated, pétanque (pronounced puh-TONK) is a bocce-ball style French boules sport gaining popularity in the U.S., starting here in NYC.

Carreau Club operates primarily as a walk-in pétanque club and reservations are not required. But you can book a court in advance for a single party or multiple courts for larger groups. Reservations cost $50/court/hour.

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  • Art
  • Art

The energy in INTER_, Manhattan’s newest art experience, feels more like a meditation retreat than a typical gallery—and that’s by design. 

The experiential, multi-sensory museum which opens in Soho on November 2, invites visitors into a heightened state of contemplative awareness through a sound bath, light installations and aspects of meditation all combined with interactive digital art. 

Here's a sneak peek inside the museum — and if you want to check it out yourselfTime Out readers get a discount on tickets with code TIMEOUT15.

  • Shopping
  • Sample sales

New York City is a shopping mecca, and not just because some of the world’s most prominent brands operate brick-and-mortar shops here. 

In an effort to help you on your quest to a fuller closet without having to spend all your savings on it, we hereby compile a constantly updated list of the best sample sales in NYC this week. You'll always be in-the-know when it comes to discounted clothing and furniture.

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  • Theater
  • Circuses & magic

AirOtic Soiree is bringing the heat to Hell's Kitchen with a 21+ cabaret-style performane showcasing incredible aerial acrobatics in a titillating, sensual style. The show takes audiences through an intense story of love, passion, sexuality and eroticism through an immersive circus and cabaret experience including extravagant costumes, seductive choreography and circus artistry. 

During the show, dine on dinner and decadent dessert towers curated by celebrity chef Saul Montiel. Before and after the performance, cocktails will be available for purchase.

See it at HK Hall, a historic venue with striking decor in the heart of Hell’s Kitchen, with performances through 2023. 

  • Art
  • Art

The New York Public Library dug through its expansive and centuries-spanning archive to stage an impressive free exhibition filled with cultural artifacts. "The Polonsky Exhibition of New York Public Library’s Treasures" spans 4,000 years of history and includes a wide range of history-making pieces, including the only surviving letter from Christoper Columbus announcing his “discovery” of the Americas to King Ferdinand’s court and the first Gutenberg Bible brought over to the Americas.

New treasures were just added to the exhibit this fall, including a signed, first edition copy of "Passing" by Nella Larsen, a selection of manuscript pages from "The Waste Land" by T.S. Eliot, and a miniature early 19th-century Qur’an, produced in Turkey.

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  • Restaurants
  • Drinking

The immersive experience trend continues strong with Wonderland Dreams, a newly announced interactive wine bar loosely inspired by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The cultural offering is scheduled to debut in midtown Manhattan at 529 Fifth Avenue by 44th Street running through late April 2023.

The venue, which boasts 20 different rooms filled with eye-catching sights, sounds pretty remarkable. The 26,000-square-foot space has been hand-painted, there's a living art gallery that quite literally puts visitors inside a picture frame, a secret rose garden and giant playing cards.

Tickets for Wonderland Dreams are available for purchase now right here.

  • Art
  • Art

A hefty, both in form and in function, new piece of art is new on view on on Governors Island.

"Moving Chains," by Charles Gaines, is a giant, 110-foot-tall kinetic sculpture featuring sturdy chains that rotate overhead. The monument "addresses the reality of systemic racism in the United States of America through embodied and visual experience and provides critical historical context on our extraordinary political division today."

The new project is the island's largest public art commission to date and you can see it through June 2023. It's presented in partnership with Times Square Arts.

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  • Things to do

Head back in time at the Fraunces Tavern Museum to explore how George Washington became a pop culture icon over the years. Our first president's persona has been showcased in comics, pop culture, and other appearances alongside figures like Superman and Captain America. Dig into those depictions through the new exhibition "Cloaked Crusader: George Washington in Comics and Pop Culture."

  • Nightlife
  • Nightlife

Have some fun this week and go check out Gamehaus, a giant new arcade and beer hall just opened in Long Island City. This 5,000-square-foot multifunctional space features a dozen large-screen TVs, classic video games and loads of beers.

Classice arcade games include Atari Pong, Ms. Pacman, Jurassic Park, Pop-a-Shot and Skee Ball.

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  • Things to do
  • Weird & Wonderful

Part visual splendor, part olfactory wonder and part ooey-gooey sensory fun, Sloomoo Institute’s slime museum has reopened after a renovation. This captivating playground welcomes all ages to its home in SoHo—or “SooHoo,” in Sloomoo parlance (see what we did there?).

The original Sloomoo experience began as a pop-up in 2019 intended for a six-month run, but it was so popular that it stayed open for two years. After a brief closure, the immersive experience is now reopening with a brand new look. 

While Sloomoo is a highly Instagrammable experience, the founders hope you’ll spend some time away from your phone and immersed in the moment during your 90-minute visit to truly have the slime of your life.

Here are five things not to miss on your visit.

  • Art
  • Battery Park City

A new exhibition at the Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, "Survivors: Faces of Life after the Holocaust," features 75 close-up portraits of Holocaust survivors photographed by award-winning photographer Martin Schoeller. 

The images showcase Schoeller's signature style, with the subjects gazing intensely at the viewer, revealing the struggles, pains and resilience that have defined them throughout the years. 

Each photo is paired with a biography and the exhibition will also feature behind-the-scenes video footage documenting the actual shots, which were taken at Yad Vashem, Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust.

The exhibit is on display in the museum's rotunda on the third floor, which was just recently named after Holocaust survivor Rita Lowenstein, through June 18, 2023.

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  • Things to do
  • City Life

Swingers NoMad, a "crazy mini-golf course" and entertainment complex straight from London, offers three nine-hole golf courses across 23,000 square feet under 20-foot-high ceilings.

"Crazy golf" is a British spin on mini-golf, but it's for a 21-and-over audience since craft cocktails are served by caddies on the course. Take your pick from six cocktail bars with signature classic cocktails, as well as 12 cocktails created specifically for Swingers NoMad. Plus, you can rent private rooms, check out an opulent clubhouse and enjoy four gourmet street food vendors—Sauce Pizzeria, Miznon, Fonda and Mah Ze Dahr Bakery.

For the holiday season, Swingers is offering a fun twist on the festivities: Spin a Naughty-or-Nice Prize Wheel to decide whether you're ordering the "Naughty" Sex on the Green shot or the "Nice" Festive Dessert. In addition to the game, there's also seasonal decor and even more holiday drinks.

Ambush Comedy
Photograph: John Cafaro

94. Ambush Comedy

Join Josh Johnson (Comedy Central's The Daily Show), Lucas Connolly (Comedy Central), and Brittany Cardwell (Drule, New York Comedy Fest) for stacked lineups of top comics from NYC and beyond every Wednesday at 7:30pm. 

Plus you can enjoy free beer from 7:30 to 8pm and there's a pizza raffle if you RSVP. What's not to love? Show up to Two Boots Williamsburg for the show.

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  • Art
  • Sculpture
  • Upper East Side

Stand next to a new 18-foot-tall patinated bronze sculpture called Ancestor at the southeast entrance to Central Park. The colossal artwork depicts a universal mother figure linking our cultural and personal pasts and futures. Adorned with the heads of her 23 children that extend from her body, she embodies multiculturalism, pluralism, and interconnectedness. They manifest a sense of belonging and celebrate the mother as a keeper of wisdom and the eternal source of creation and refuge.

Ancestor is by New Delhi and London-based artist Bharti Kher, and the exhibition is presented by the Public Art Fund. See Ancestor for free at Doris C. Freedman Plaza through August 27, 2023. 

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  • Art
  • East Harlem

"Food in New York: Bigger Than the Plate" at the Museum of the City of New York explores the relationship between New Yorkers and food, using the venue's back terrace as an exhibition space for the first time. 

“Behind every tempting package of processed food at the corner bodega; every carton of fresh berries from a street cart; and every enticing restaurant meal lies an intricate, massive and changing network of relationships,” reads an official press release about the indoor/outdoor show, which is slated to officially open on September 16 and run through the fall of 2023.

Visitors will get to browse through over 20 works by contemporary artists and designers that were tasked with using their respective crafts to come up with solutions to key global and local food-related challenges.

  • Restaurants
  • Eating

Artshack Cafe offers everything on its menu on ceramic pieces made in-house. What’s more, according to an official statement by the cafe, patrons are asked to “help reduce waste by bringing their own cups.” Looking for a coffee to-go? Expect it served in a ceramic to-go cup. The cafe is part of Artshack Brooklyn, a community-based ceramics studio that offers both free and subsidized programming for adults and children alike. In addition to not using single-use products, standout features of the Bed-Stuy cafe at 1129 Bedford Avenue by Monroe Street include an anti-racism library and a number of chairs shaped like bunnies that will make anyone’s selected orders from chef Silvia Barban’s menu taste that much better.

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  • Things to do
  • City Life

Brooklyn vinyl lovers are in luck because the Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Library has just opened a Vinyl Lending Library to its cardholders, giving them access to 400 albums spanning genres (hip-hop, pop, classical, country, show tunes and more) that they can listen to on-site as well as borrow for up to three weeks. You just need your library card. Listening stations can be found on the first floor. 

  • Art
  • Art

ArtsDistrict Brooklyn, also referred to as AD/BK, is a new immersive arts venue in Greenpoint at 25 Franklin Street. To celebrate the opening of the venue, sure to become part and parcel of New York's larger devotion to all things experiential, AD/BK is hosting the U.S. premiere of Limitless AI, a 70-minute show that first debuted at the Atelier des Lumières museum in Paris. 

Two other shows will be mounted on premise simultaneously: Flight and Séance. Both created by London-based company Darkfield, the two immersive, audio experiences will be presented in complete darkness inside customized 40-foot shipping containers. How cool?

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Subterranean Date Night at The Django
Photograph: courtesy of The Django

101. Subterranean Date Night at The Django

Descend into The Django (l2 6th Avenue, The Roxy Hotel, Cellar Level) and you’ll feel like you’ve entered another world. The subterranean jazz club, with its vaulted ceilings and exposed brick walls, was modeled after the boîtes of Paris. The venue consists of two cocktail bars, an open dining space, and a stage for live performances with a state-of-the-art sound system. The Django offers a full dinner menu and handcrafted cocktails, all partnered with a brilliant entertainment lineup. Check out the schedule here.

Looking for more things to do?

  • Things to do

Fall in NYC is everything you could hope for in a season. First, the city gets delightfully spooky for Halloween. With thrilling Halloween events and Halloween festivals happening in every borough, it’s easy to get in the spirit of things! Aside from pumpkins and funky costumes though, you can keep the autumn excitement going by leaf peeping around the city, warming up with whiskey, parades, virtual parties and so much more. Autumn in NYC is tough to match!

  • Things to do

'Tis the season to get spooky! But beyond the best Halloween events, but there are also plenty of other awesome NYC events in October 2020. Use our events calendar to plan the quintessential month for leaf peeping and spotting fall foliage, pumpkin picking and more things to do in fall.

Kick off fall with some epic cultural events, you don't want to miss happening like Open House New York, Oktoberfest and new haunted pop-up drive throughs.

 

RECOMMENDED: Full NYC events calendar for 2020

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  • Things to do

2020 has been scary enough, but we're throwing the spookiness into high gear for Halloween this month. Typically, October is filled with costumed parties, jump scares at haunted houses, corn mazes and parades, but this year will be a little different. For one, the Village Halloween Parade is canceled, and it's likely most of the city's regularly scheduled scary haunts will be as well given the current pandemic. That being said, there are still quite a few things still taking place, and with Halloween (finally) taking place on a Saturday, it'll be easier to celebrate. Don't bother breaking out your sewing kit, New York's greatest Halloween stores have plenty of options to make you look really spooky. Make sure to check out our NYC events in October too for even more activities to finish off the month in killer spirits. 

RECOMMENDED: Full guide to Halloween in NYC

  • Things to do

Want to know what’s happening in New York today, this weekend or in the coming months? Use our NYC events calendar 2020 as your guide to find the best things to do in the fall, winter and spring. Major events to look forward to this time of year include The Village Halloween Parade, Oktoberfest and the best places to see fall foliage in the city. Ready to unleash your inner culture vulture? Peep our top picks for the best art shows and concerts this year. All you need to do is buy the tickets!

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