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Trains at NYBG.
Photograph: Courtesy New York Botanical Garden

17 things to do on Black Friday in NYC instead of shopping

Why buy more material stuff when you can put your hard-earned money toward a super-cool, NYC experience instead?

Rossilynne Skena Culgan
Written by
Rossilynne Skena Culgan
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As an epicenter for capitalism, Black Friday in NYC can be intense. All those stores! So many deals! And believe it or not, but people still go out to shop in person.

Instead of spending all your cash in a city where rent takes so much money anyway, we’ve come up with a list of foolproof things to do in NYC that are guaranteed to spark more joy than a cozy sweater. Yes, even if it’s 50 percent off! Trust us—no discounts or deals can compare to the memories you’ll make at these New York attractions and top NYC art museums.

If you’re really itching to go shopping in NYC, we encourage you to resist the urge until Small Business Saturday so you can support the city’s independent shops.

Things to do on Black Friday besides shopping

  • Things to do

Opt outisde and lace up your skates on Black Friday. Ice skating in NYC is one of the city’s most beloved seasonal traditions. 

The iconic rink at Rockefeller Center and the Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park are bursting with holiday cheer (and fab food and drinks), while low-key rinks at NYC parks offer a more chill experience.

  • Things to do
  • Markets and fairs

The Winter Village at Bryant Park has returned in all its holiday glory. On the grounds, you can peruse more than 180 shopping and food kiosks—all at one of the best NYC parks. Expect loads of handmade, unique and New York City-specific gifts for your family and friends. Work up an appetite at the 17,000-square-foot ice-skating rink and then fill up at the rinkside pop-up restaurant called The Lodge for festive cocktails and hearty food.

Don't miss the Small Business Spotlight booth, which features local minority-owned business. 

The Winter Village will be open through March 3, 2024.

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  • Theater
  • Theater & Performance

From amazing costumes to Broadway history to fun photo opps, this long-awaited 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.

  • Things to do
  • City Life

The latest skating destination takes over a pretty iconic local landmark: the Oculus shopping mall inside the World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan.

Starting November 24 through January 2024, folks with a penchant for skating will get to do so beneath the beautiful architecture that defines the legendary structure while also enjoying live musical performances. 

The Winter Whirl roller rink will also host a wide selection of local food and beverage vendors—Eataly! Gansevoort Liberty Market! Épicerie Boulud!—and retail options, making holiday shopping easier.

Tickets, which can be found right here, include a 45-minute skating session and a rental pair of roller skates.

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  • Art
  • Art

Painter Marc Chagall's lusciously vibrant works of art come to life in a new immersive experience at Hall des Lumières. Titled "Chagall, Paris-New York," the exhibition explores the prolific painter who defied labels. 

His works are projected in a larger-than-life scale, taking over walls, ceilings and even the floor of the ornate bank-turned-exhibition hall located in Lower Manhattan. “Chagall, Paris-New York” is now on view through 2024 with adult tickets starting at $30

In addition to his painting, Chagall also embraced theater, costumes, sculpture, ceramics, stained glass, mosaics and collage as part of his multidisciplinary palette. The immersive exhibition highlights all of these art forms, with the stained glass work as an especially dazzling display. His fantastic mythical creatures, circus characters and fable stories dance across the resplendent walls.

To accompany "Chagall, Paris-New York," Hall des Lumières is also presenting "Kandinsky, The Odyssey of Abstraction."

  • Art
  • Art

Following successful runs in Madrid, Milan, Paris and Rome, the Balloon Museum has officially taken over Pier 36 in The Seaport this fall.

Set in and outside of the 80,000-square-foot space, the new cultural destination has unveiled new exhibit titled “Let’s Fly,” scheduled to run through January 14, 2024. 

Visitors are encouraged to interact with the installation, touching and feeling the various pieces exhibited. In terms of actual pieces, you can expect a 4,000-square-foot ball pit, inflatable lava lamps and the sorts of infinity rooms that you'll itch to post about on Instagram.

Tickets for the show are available right here.

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  • Art
  • Art

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

The experiential, multi-sensory museum in Soho 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.

  • Art
  • Art

If you didn't get enough of the sweet aromas during Thanksgiving dinner, this new musuem installation will do the trick.

Many museum-goers simply breeze through this brown room, barely giving a second thought to the unusual-looking walls around them. But if you go, take a moment to pause, to look more closely—and to even smell. Because this room is tiled entirely in chocolate. 

Ed Ruscha, an artist known for his Pop and conceptual works, first created “Chocolate Room” in 1970 as part of the Venice Biennale. He found local chocolate paste and screen printed it onto hundreds of sheets of paper. Then he hung each one like tiles or shingles from floor to ceiling. Ruscha was doing “immersive art” before that was even a buzzword.

In addition to Chocolate Room, don't miss the rest of Ruscha's work presented as part of MoMA's retrospective titled "ED RUSCHA / NOW THEN." The exhibition is the most comprehensive retrospective of the artist's work ever shown. It's on view through January 13, 2024. 

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Tour the New York Botanical Garden
  • Attractions
  • Parks and gardens
  • The Bronx

Ditch the concrete jungle and head into nature at the New York Botanical Garden. The holiday train show is sure to delight kids of all ages. Watch model trains zip around miniature versions of the Statue of Liberty and Rockefeller Center made entirely out of natural materials. After dark, take in the garden’s light show—NYBG GLOW—a 1.5-mile colorful experience with thousands of energy-efficient LED lights and festive installations to ogle. It’s a photo opp, for sure! 

  • Museums
  • Art and design
  • Central Park

Make a post-Thanksgiving trip to the museum your new family tradition. Luckily, most museums open their doors on Friday, and the Met is a great choice for the whole family. There's something for everyone: your dad the history buff, pretentious cousin who insists on reminding everyone she went to art school and little brother who just wants to see the mummies. 

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  • Art
  • Art

You may not know their names, but you definitely know their legacy.

Remarkable Black athletes and coaches, Joe Yancey Jr. and Ted Corbitt helped break the color barrier and revolutionize long-distance running in the United States and across the globe. They shaped the New York City Marathon into what it is today.

A new exhibit at the New-York Historical Society in Manhattan honors their legacies. The exhibit, titled "Running for Civil Rights: The New York Pioneer Club, 1936–1976,” is open through February 25, 2024. It explores how the New York City Marathon grew out of decades of activism for racial justice.

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  • Museums
  • Science and technology
  • Upper West Side

If you have little ones in tow, opt for the family-friendly American Museum of Natural History. Jaws will drop when you enter the rotunda to discover the enormous Barosaurus skeleton replica, and that’s just the beginning. Combat the cold weather inside The Butterfly Vivarium, part of the new Gilder Center addition. 

To celebrate the holiday season, the museum partakes in a decades-old tradition: The 13-foot Origami Holiday Tree.

Still want to get a little holiday shopping done?

  • Shopping

Sometimes “things” won’t cut it for the person who has everything. When themed socks and evergreen-scented candles won’t cut it for gifts this holiday season, consider giving them an experience they can only have in New York City. Giving an experience is certainly more personalized and fulfilling and caters to your loved ones’ interests. You can book a tour that offers behind-the-scenes access to the top New York attractions for your history buff dad or snag tickets to the new Fotografiska museum for your art-loving bestie. Better yet: join them and share the experience together! And if you really can't resist wrapping something up, you can always pick up a few stocking stuffers.

RECOMMENDED: Best Christmas things to do in NYC

  • Shopping

Before you finish your last bite of Thanksgiving Turkey, Black Friday—NYC’s biggest shopping day of the year—will already be in full swing. Sure, some stores will remain closed out of respect for the holiday. But others are offering deals days in advance to offset the shipping delay madness.

If you’re a traditionalist and plan to shop in person the day after Thanksgiving, this list of stores will certainly have the deals and steals you’re jonesing for. For those willing to brave the crowds and the early hours for a shopping bonanza, look to these stores and start planning your route. (Might we suggest hitting the ones near the best coffee shops in NYC first?) If you don’t shop until you drop, check out some of the best things to do in NYC on Black Friday at major New York attractions.

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