The best things to do in NYC this weekend

May has been a good month for art dealers, artists and art lovers in NYC with more than a dozen art fairs rolling into town. This week, the popular Frieze New York returns to the city this week with a handful of satellite fairs. Click through to see six fairs you'll want to visit during Frieze in NYC.

Be at Wave Hill this weekend (Saturday and Sunday) when it restarts its arts program with three exhibitions in Glyndor Gallery, two exhibitions in Wave Hill House and live dance performances in the garden. It's also the start of Sunset Wednesdays, a long, summer tradition of free music on the garden’s Great Lawn and a season of Sunday afternoon concerts that starts in the fall. Don't miss "Papel Picado Floral Flight," an installation in Wave Hill House by former Wave Hill Winter Workspace artist Blanka Amezkua, pop-up dance pieces performed by Pigeonwing Dance on and around a Persian-style rug outdoors in the gardens (1, 1:30, 2 and 2:30pm on Saturday), and "Water Scarcity: Perpetual Thirst," an exhibition that features projects by artists Tahir Carl Karmali, Cannupa Hanska Luger and Lucy + Jorge Orta, who use a range of approaches to raise awareness of the dire issue of access to clean water resources.

Elements of Style NYC, Eliot Salome-Diaz, and The Dondi White Foundation and Michelle R. White are hosting a Block Party celebration of Biggie's 50th Birthday on Saturday! From 2-7pm, have fun with 10 art-making stations with local artists, a roller-skating by Roller Wave NYC, double dutch by The Dutchess of Ropes, grab some shaved ice by Piragua Kings, dance to DJ sets by Saint James Joy DJs (@djchillchad & @djjovill), DJ Enuff of HOT97/HEAVY HITTERS, a Biggie tribute Song performance and individual performances by A.L. “All Lyrics” and Dazy Lyn and much more.

The people of Downton Abbey have never been relatable, but they’re really pushing it this time. One of them, gifted an unwanted villa (!) on the Riviera (!!), bequeaths it to a great-grandchild who would otherwise grow up without an estate to call her own (the horror!!!). Another welcomes a film crew into her home because their exorbitant fees will pay for a new roof. Those characters who lacked the good sense to be born into money end up in love, at least, and often slightly richer too. It’s an unlikely but pleasant fantasy where good things just happen, the rich are benevolent and the poor all muddle along nicely...

Celebrate AAPI Heritage Month at this one-day-only interactive pop-up day/night market and sensorial experience on Saturday (11am-midnight) that will showcase the rich AAPI cultures that exist across the Asian diaspora, in a safe and inclusive space, entertaining and educating through vibrant activations, all while combating anti-Asian hate. This event will be showcasing the very best of AAPI fashion, food, cocktails, culture, art and entertainment with local vendors such as Nami Nori, Fish Cheeks, Saigon Social, Susanna Chow, Saigon Social, and Private Policy. The art exhibition will feature works by Andrew Kung, and music will be performed by DJ Mei Kwok. The event takes place at Market Line (180 Broome Street).

Spring Uncorked weekend is back at The New York Botanical Garden for wine lovers! All weekend long, you can taste NY state wines, learn about the science behind wine-making, get a preview of the NYBG Farmers Market, enjoy live music, arts and crafts, and lawn games and more. Wine Tastings happen from noon to 4pm and can be enjoyed with a souvenir NYBG wine tumbler. At 1 and 3pm, a vinter from New York’s City Winery, a restaurant and performance space with a fully functioning
winery will give visitors a brief introduction to wine, from vine to glass, including the botany of wine and how each type develops distinct characteristics depending on soil, climate, and grape variety. And the Farmers Market Preview runs from 11am to 5pm.

Think!Chinatown, a non-profit based in Manhattan’s Chinatown, is throwing its first installment of Chinatown Night Market (formerly known as Chinatown Nights), a monthly summer series of art and food at Forsyth Plaza at the Manhattan Bridge. The first one is set for May 20 and will put Asian Pacific Islander vendors on display to showcase their traditional crafts and respective cuisines, including Cambodia Now, Choy Commons, Momo Delight, Pho Master, Twisted Potato, Xiang Mini Cakes, and local Chinatown favorites, Kopitiam and Alimama. The night will also invite artisans to show off their crafts, including paper cutting, sugar painting and braised straw figurines and will include live performances from the Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans, who will put on its 43rd Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Festival, and Soh Daiko, the Japanese drumming ensemble—in honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

Coffee liquor brand Mr Black is seizing the opportunity, officially bringing its iconic Espresso Martini Fest to the United States for the very first time on May 16th through the 22nd. The event originally debuted in Australia back in 2016, setting up shop in London a few years later and now reaching this side of the Atlantic. During the week-long festival, New Yorkers will get to order $12 Espresso Martinis at all types of bars across town. 

Community Day on the Manhattanville campus of Columbia University returns on Saturday with live performances, free food samples from clients of the Columbia-Harlem Small Business Development Center, drawing workshops with the Wallach Art Gallery, and Saturday Science fun, as well as free swag and more. It's free and open to the public at The Forum at Columbia University (601 W. 125th St.).

Buckley is an all-in performer and her grounding presence enables Men’s promise to linger for the first act. She humors her temporary landlord, Geoffrey (Rory Kinnear), an affable country posho whose odd comments are framed as somehow loaded...

The Pregame is a monthly rooftop and art gallery stand-up show that ends with an afterparty! This month, the lineup includes Brittany Carney (Comedy Central), Reggie Edwards (Sirius XM), Nate Meekler (TikTok), Alex Aronson (SNY), Brent Birnbaum (Broadway Comedy Club), Spencer Wright (Greenwich Village Comedy Club), Demetrius Fields (TikTok), Savannah McMenemy (The Sav and Sal Show), and Cody Lewis (Hell Yeah Comedy). It'll be held on Friday, May 20, at 7pm on the rooftop of 112 Stanton Street. All events are 21+. Tickets are $10.

Putting Green, an 18-hole course on a 15,000-square-foot tiered deck on the North Williamsburg riverfront has reopened at the former Con Edison site that now belongs to developer Two Trees. The course aims to serve two purposes—one, to provide a fun time to New Yorkers, and two, to teach them about climate change, green and blue infrastructure, animal habitats, energy, and emissions. Each hole offers up a different scene—hole 1 is "Down the drain," showing how litter and debris get washed down storm drains and into waterways. Hole 2, "Whale Fall Feast," shows what happens when a whale dies and sinks to the bottom of the ocean. Hole 15, is "The Big Oyster" by you guessed it, the Billion Oyster Project. Other holes feature polar bears, a windmill, a cow, and a depiction of sea-level rise. 

North Coast, an NYC hip-hop improv team, is presenting its final show of Anybody!, which breaks down the life of one of history’s most celebrated people in a fully improvised musical in the style of Hamilton, on Saturday at Asylum NYC. Along with our resident beatboxer and some of the best accompanists in New York City, Anybody! is sure to satisfy that hunger for historical hip-hop magic. Tickets are $20 in-person and $10 to livestream.

New Yorkers will get to enjoy more than 260 free (and awesome!) events through November, including sunset salsa lessons, a BBQ festival, fitness classes, science-related programs and tours of the park itself. Add to it all the new giant public rooftop park that will open at Hudson River Park's Pier 57 and you've got yourself a new must-visit summer destination. You can find the entire lineup of free programs right here, but we'd be remiss not to mention some standouts, including the always-popular Dance in HRPK event, which transforms the piers into large-scale dance floors. Bike lessons, live music concerts, yoga and mindfulness classes are also on the docket—completely gratis. It's worth mentioning that three of the park's most popular offerings—the Hudson River Dance Festival, the Blues BBQ Festival and the SUBMERGE Marine Science Festival—are all returning in-person this year.

The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD)'s "Flower Craft" will showcase works of six botanical artists who have been inspired by nature’s "ephemerality and its inimitable palettes" and have interpreted nature in a sculptural form. Each week a new botanical artist will be featured in the Flower Craft gallery as will a curated selection of vessels made in a range of mediums. The exhibition also coincides with MAD’s first-ever "bee residency," two newly installed beehives on the Museum roof. The hives are now homes for "Queen Aileen," named for the founder of MAD, Aileen Osborn Webb, and "Queen Toshiko Takaezu," named for the famed female ceramic artist and dedicated supporter of MAD. Additionally, MAD will be holding flower craft studio classes with artists through May and June and the Museum’s free art-making and discussion workshop will take place on select Thursdays from 4–6 pm in the Flower Craft gallery. A Flower Power Pass may be purchased online and will offer discounted admission to the Museum for $45 (a $108 value) during the run of the exhibition for visitors to experience Flower Craft in its entirety. The Store at MAD will offer fresh bouquets by celebrated New York City florists Anthony Brownie, Kat Flower, Petal, and Julia Testa, as well as floral inspired, handmade products from a global roster of artists. 

The Cube Art Fair, which says it's the world's largest public art fair, is back with the ninth edition of its iconic public art fair, featuring physical and NFT artwork across more than 100 billboards across New York City, including a 15,000-square-foot billboard in Times Square. All the featured artworks will be on view starting May 18 and will run through May 22. Each work is accompanied with QR code that leads viewers to a platform where the artists including Helmut Koller, Brett Ashby, Sophie Raskopf, Jean Marie Ghislain, Rubem Robierb, Chadwick Arcinue, David Szafran, and more, can sell their works.

This summer PDT revisits its al fresco concept with Calle San Marcos, a seasonal pop-up serving agave-forward craft cocktails and hot dog chef collaborations with Crif Dogs (where the original destination is hidden) in honor of PDT's 15th anniversary. Just like last year, the pop-up will take over part of St. Marks Place in the East Village, right outside Crif Dogs, where folks will get to order specialty cocktails concocted by PDT owner Jeff Bell and bartender Victor Lopez. The new imbibing menu is actually inspired by Lopez's hometown of Puebla, in Mexico and the game of loteria (think of it as a Mexican bingo).  Expect creative takes on the classics boasting a slew of Mexican ingredients. 

It's going to be a full summer of concerts on The Rooftop at Pier 17.  The Seaport's summer concert series under the stars will feature more than 60 shows including from artists like Simple Plan, Sum 41, The Offspring, Pusha T, Elvis Costello & The Imposters, Blondie, DEVO, Deftones, The Head and the Heart, Flogging Molly, Bikini Kill, Mayday Parade, Jason Mraz, Rise Against, The Used, Dashboard Confessional, Franz Ferdinand, Jason Isbell and more. This weekend, see James Arthur on the It’ll All Make Sense Tour on Friday and Michaël Brun presents BAYO on Saturday.

The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD)'s "Flower Craft" will showcase works of six botanical artists who have been inspired by nature’s "ephemerality and its inimitable palettes" and have interpreted nature in a sculptural form. Each week a new botanical artist will be featured in the Flower Craft gallery as will a curated selection of vessels made in a range of mediums. The exhibition also coincides with MAD’s first-ever "bee residency," two newly installed beehives on the Museum roof. The hives are now homes for "Queen Aileen," named for the founder of MAD, Aileen Osborn Webb, and "Queen Toshiko Takaezu," named for the famed female ceramic artist and dedicated supporter of MAD. Additionally, MAD will be holding flower craft studio classes with artists through May and June and the Museum’s free art-making and discussion workshop will take place on select Thursdays from 4–6 pm in the Flower Craft gallery. A Flower Power Pass may be purchased online and will offer discounted admission to the Museum for $45 (a $108 value) during the run of the exhibition for visitors to experience Flower Craft in its entirety. The Store at MAD will offer fresh bouquets by celebrated New York City florists Anthony Brownie, Kat Flower, Petal, and Julia Testa, as well as floral inspired, handmade products from a global roster of artists. 

Now in its 29th year, the New York African Film Festival is back with an in-person gathering at Film at Lincoln Center on Thursday, May 12, to "take a look at the past, while capturing the present pulse and looking forward to envisioning a brighter future." Highlights include Gessica Généus’s feature directorial debut Freda, about a family’s in Haiti longing to escape ever-present violence (with a post-screening discussion with Généus will be hosted by CBS journalists Vladimir Duthiers); Tanzanian filmmaker Amil Shivji’s Tug of War about a rebellious young revolutionary who falls for an Indian-Zanzibari girl escaping an arranged marriage; the U.S. premieres of Charles Castella’s Abderrahmane Sissako, un cinéaste à l'Opéra, on the acclaimed director Sissako’s creation of an opera about the history of Africa at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and Ahmed Farah’s Ayaanle, about a Kenyan actor who becomes the most wanted man in Kenya; and the New York premieres of Nganji Mutiri’s Juwaa and French actress-director Aïssa Maïga’s documentary Marcher sur l’eau (Above Water). The festival runs there through May 17, then heads to the Maysles Documentary Center in Harlem from May 19 to 22. It concludes, as always, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music during Dance Africa (under the name Film Africa) from May 27 to June 2 (which includes the Memorial Day weekend).

It seems like this past fall's martini trend is still going strong as TAO Uptown has just debuted its brand new tiny martini flights as part of their happy hour special. From Tuesdays through Fridays between 5pm and 7pm, guests will get to choose from seven different martini variations served in 3 oz. glasses. Each flight includes three different choices. Cute and delicious, if you ask us.

For the month of May only, Off Broadway shows are offering a major discount on tickets. Those who show up to box offices 20 minutes before shows begin between May 9 and May 29 can get $20 tickets as part of the 20at20 promotion. Shows offering this promotion include ¡Americano!, About Love, After Happily Ever After, The Civility of Albert Cashier, André & Dorine, Colorblind, Drunk Shakespeare, Friends! The Musical Parody, Gazillion Bubble Show, H*tler's Tasters, Islander, Katsura Sunshine's Rakugo, Little Girl Blue, Mr. Yunioshi, Our Brother’s Son, Perfect Crime, Romeo & Bernadette, Shake Rattle & Roll Dueling Pianos, Sistas The Musical, STOMP, That Golden Girls Show! A Puppet Parody, The Importance of Being Earnestly LGBTQ+, The Office A Musical Parody, The Play That Goes Wrong, Three Sisters and Vital's Wizard of Oz.

The oldest gallery at the American Museum of Natural History has been completely overhauled into a stunning gallery that showcases the creativity, scholarship and history of the cultures of the Pacific Northwest. Opening to the public on May 13, the Northwest Coast Hall at AMNH has been curated by Peter Whiteley, curator of North American Ethnology at the Museum, and Ḥaa’yuups, Nuu-chah-nulth scholar and cultural historian, who worked with a group of consulting curators from the Coast Salish, Gitxsan, Haida, Haíłzaqv, Kwakwaka’wakw, Nuu-chah-nulth, Nuxalk, Tlingit, and Tsimshian communities. With input from these Northwest Coast cultures, this new gallery illuminates them as vibrant, living communities with thousands of "glorious works of art, spirituality, and ingenuity," the museum says.

The latest entrant to the speakeasy-theme scene opens tonight, Wednesday, May 11, in Times Square, with a couple more conceits on top of that designation: Sex and the 80s. Inside, The Woo Woo aims to evoke that last decade before widespread internet, its surrounding neighborhood of Times Square in those same, pre-Disney days, sex shops and, the reason for the season, speakeasies. These themes are executed with a combination of graffiti that reasonably approximates the style of the time, vintage nude mags and video tapes, rouge neon, throwback punk show posters and the whole password thing. Drinks include odes to the era like the Donkey Kong cocktail and a Prince-inspired tipple with a butterfly pea flower “purple rain” ice cube. They’re also doing a cotton candy-topped cosmo and snacks like sliders and spring rolls. The sex shop elements are ornamental at the moment, but may turn retail in the future. 

TALEA Beer Co, NYC’s first and only female-owned and operated production brewery, just opened a pop-up location at Grand Central (on the corner of Vanderbilt & 45th Street.) The space will be open daily from 4-7:30pm with five different beers on tap, including Weekender Lager, Sun Up Hazy IPA, Double Date Hazy DIPA, Power Couple Hazy DIPA, and Tropicberry Sour IPA, with cans and draft pours available to go. For all the non-beer drinkers, wine and cocktails are also available. Walk-ins are encouraged!

Prepare to take a walk inside your brain when visiting "Life of a Neuron," ARTECHOUSE's latest immersive exhibition opening inside Chelsea Market on May 14. The show, mounted in collaboration with the Society for Neuroscience, took three years to create—and for good reason. Neuroscientists and artists came together to reconstruct a human neuron from the prefrontal cortex, which anchors the exhibit and will help visitors follow the development of an "average" brain from pre-birth to death. That's no small feat.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute is back with part two of this year’s flagship exhibition “In America” with “An Anthology of Fashion,” and the new iteration of the show is an even more expansive look at what has defined American fashion over the years. It is a visually splendid tour through hundreds of years of this country’s history told through clothes designed and worn by its citizens. Building on last year’s spartan, intellectually rigorous presentation of garments categorized by the expression of various themes, this year’s show explodes across most of the American Wing of the museum.

A staple of the Washington, D.C. food scene, Captain Cookie & the Milkman is a superhero-themed cookie and ice cream shop that just opened its first New York location at 741 Broadway, smack-dab in the middle of the New York University campus right by Astor Place. Sweet tooths can expect a rotating menu of homemade cookies, made-to-order ice cream sandwiches and farm-fresh local ice cream and milk at the new venue. Decor-wise, expect a giant illustration of, well, Captain Cookie, to take over an entire wall (yes, he readily resembles Superman). The superhero will watch over you while you revel in a whole lot of cookies—from funfetti to double chocolate, ginger molasses, snickerdoodle and more. We also urge you to try the shop's delicious ice cream sandwiches. 

Stranger Things fans, rejoice! The much talked-about immersive experience based on the Netflix show is officially launching at the Duggal Greenhouse within the Brooklyn Navy Yard on May 7. The destination makes for the ideal immersive experience space. In 2009, Duggal Visual Solutions decided to retrofit and reinvent the at-the-time dilapidated World War II facility. Across its 35,000 square feet, the facility now boasts 70-foot ceilings, glass paneling and waterfront views—basically, the perfect blank canvas to bring the Netflix series to life. 

Food hall and marketplace curator Urbanspace is creating a Makers Market with 85 vendors from the Tri-State region to Bryant Park starting Friday, May 6. The array of vendors will be selling one-of-a-kind handmade items like handcrafted accessories, fine art and unique foods for the first three weekends in May. Vendors will include Hola! I’m Back (stoneware, jewelry and apparel from sustainable, upcycled materials), Otherworld (breakfast mixes including banana chocolate chip pancakes and apple cinnamon pancakes), Wandel (a biscotti-meets-cookie), Belle Threads (whimsical baby clothes), One Million Roses (wire sculptures), Hell’s Kitchen Hot Sauce, Made From Coins and Tibet Tree of Life (healing crystals, chakra stones, Tibetan singing bowls, incense, clothing and more). The market will run Friday-Sunday from May 6-22 from 11am-7pm.

On select Friday nights from April to October, the Intrepid Museum opens its doors for free (tickets are usually $33), allowing visitors can explore the Museum and enjoy free after-hours programming. This month, visitors can head to the Space Shuttle Pavilion for a special presentation from "Astronautica: Voices of Women in Space"—a work of music, voice, and video by women composers that was based on the words of women astronauts and includes videos taken by the astronauts while onboard space shuttles. Museum educators will also be on hand with demonstrations and hands-on activities and local astronomers will be on the flight deck with high-powered telescopes to help visitors navigate the night sky and answer questions about astronomy and stargazing. Guests are welcome to bring their own binoculars or look through the telescopes of the experts. (There will be no access to the Submarine Growler or Concorde during Free Fridays and last entry is 8:30pm). Check the program schedule at intrepidmuseum.org.

After a two-year hiatus, K2 Friday Nights at the Rubin Museum of Art are back with free admission, live music and art from 6 to 10pm every Friday night. Kick off your night with drinks and tunes by a DJ in the K2 Lounge before going on a free exhibition tour at 7:15pm and enjoying a free sound bath from Brooklyn-based musician and sound healing practitioner Samer Ghadry, sound artist Mari Tanaka and producer/musician David Ellengbogen. You can also check out the new exhibit, "Healing Practices: Stories from Himalayan Americans" and roam the museum. (RSVPs are encouraged for the soundbaths.)

Go check out the largest installation on the Highline to date, which took over 56 hours and 25,000 flowers to bring to life. At this Victoria's Secret pop-up, guests are walked through a sensorial experience to celebrate the newest "Bombshell" campaign starring Camila Cabello. Flowers were sourced from all over the world including New Zealand, Netherlands, France, South America and more with over 5,000 stems sourced from local farms. Throughout the week, an additional 15,000 stems of florals will be utilized throughout the week to keep the installation fresh with 1,000 stems a day to be handed out by Victoria's Secret. Throughout the weekend, there will be fragrance bars, bottle engraving, Mother’s Day card creations, family portraits and more:

• Friday, May 6-Sunday, May 8 (noon-3pm): Create custom Mother’s Day cards with Ellen Weldon Designs
• Sunday, May 8 (all day): Bring the whole family to snap your very own family portraits by Sophie Elgort

The Bombshell Gardens experience will be located on the High Line between 14th and 16th Street.

With about 164 open streets (closed to traffic) around the five boroughs, New Yorkers have found new ways to utilize these new open spaces, from holding farmers' markets and free programming to live music and community barbecues. Street Lab even brought pop-up reading rooms, art studios, chalk murals and more, transforming city streets and other public spaces into vibrant community hubs of artistic expression, learning and fun. Now that things are heating up in NYC, we've teamed up with Jackson Chabot the Director Public Space Advocacy at OpenPlans, a non-profit group that advocates for livable streets and neighborhoods, to identify the 10 best Open Streets in the city that you should hit up this spring and summer...

Greenpoint Terminal Market, an outdoor flea located on the waterfront with gorgeous views of the Manhattan skyline, is back starting May 1 with more programming than ever, including a brand-new kids’ zone, vintage and antiques, local art and design, fresh fashion and a variety of international food.

A new art installation that uses augmented reality is transforming Battery Park City into a bird watcher's paradise. Those who walk along Battery Park City's riverfront, from South Cove north along Rockefeller Park, will be able to access an invisible world of birds with their phones.  Named "Bird’s-Eye View," this new artwork by New York City-based artist Shuli Sadé showcases 30 species of birds that seek temporary or permanent refuge near Manhattan’s waterways via photographs and original watercolors by Sadé through the Adobe Aero app and a smartphone camera. All you need to do is scan one of 70 QR codes on any of the 14 signs along the water to view local birds and explore their habitats and migratory patterns.

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is exploring the work of Austin Hansen and the Black gaze in photography in "Been Seen," its spring exhibition. For 47 years, Harlem-based photojournalist, studio photographer, and documentarian, Austin Hansen ran a photo studio on West 135th Street that doubled as a gallery and exhibition space. Over his career, he photographed inside nightclubs, freelanced for the Amsterdam News, trained as a combat/war photographer in the Navy, and continued to document community life in Harlem. Now, some of his 500,000 portraits of African American families, clergy, political leaders, entertainers, writers, and community members are on view as well as correspondence, original photographs, news clippings, programs for special events held at many historic Harlem churches, and other social events in Harlem and elsewhere. The exhibit also features the work of seven contemporary photographers: Dario Calmese, Cheriss May, Flo Ngala, Ricky Day, Gerald Peart, Mark Clennon, and Lola Flash, whose practices explore identity, Black experiences, visual culture, and portraiture.

The Final Frontier will be just a train ride away at The Paley Center for Media with its new immersive exhibition, "The Visionary Universe of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," opening on Wednesday, April 27. The exhibit celebrates the latest series in the Star Trek franchise, Strange New Worlds from Paramount+ and the other acclaimed series in the Star Trek universe from across the decades. Through May 29, fans and visitors will be able to take photos in the captain's chair, see costumes and props from several series (Vulcan uniforms, set pieces including the USS Enterprise), sit in for special screenings and bring kids to weekend events featuring Paramount+’s hit animated original kids’ series Star Trek: Prodigy and much more. The Paley Center will be holding a preview screening of Episodes 1 and 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on May 1 at 1pm and daily screenings of premiere episodes on the big screen from various Star Trek TV series, including "The Cage," the 1965 pilot episode from the original Star Trek series. Screenings begin at 12:10pm daily.

If binge-watching season two of Bridgerton on Netflix has got you in the mood for tea time, you're going to want to visit The Cauldron on Stone Street starting April 21 (National Tea Day!) through June 21, when the destination will launch a Bridgerton-themed tea experience complete with an in-house Lady Whistledown. The experience will last 1 hour and 45 minutes, during which participants will get to indulge in British macaroons, scones and mini sandwiches (make sure to indicate if you're vegetarian or vegan when booking a spot) while brewing two different teas. The series will be playing on a drop-down screen in the background as will the iconic Vitamin String Quartet songs that have peppered the second season of the show. (If you're anything like us, you've added them all to your Spotify playlist already.)

Seven years after first opening its doors in Riverside Park at West 105th Street, Ellington in the Park has sprung back into action. Its sprawling beach-lite design remains the same, but new menu items abound, including drinks made to embrace NYC’s recently resurrected to-go drink program. Each of the restaurant’s cocktails will be available to take away, reps say. A very springtime-appropriate Lillet spritz is among new selections joining returning tipples like the margarita and fruity mimosa varieties. A trio of pizzas including the Margherita variety, hot dog options like the “old-fashioned” with brown mustard and sauerkraut and pretzel bites touch on some of NYC’s famous foodstuff categories. Salads, sandwiches and burgers are also available on the general interest menu. Ice cream is, of course, also featured on the returning bill of fare. 

There's a new 80,000-square-foot rooftop park at Hudson River Park's Pier 57! The 2-acre rooftop park is now open to the general public from 7am to 10pm all year round. (The site will also serve as an outdoor screening location for the Tribeca Film Festival starting this year.) According to an official press release, other amenities will launch to the public in the fall. For now, it's a great place to catch some sun and views.

If walking by the Garment District, make sure to wave hello to the fourteen gigantic sculptures with raised hands that have been installed around the neighborhood. Created by artist Santi Flores, the monuments are part of the Garment District Alliance's new public art exhibit, "Here," and you'll find them on Broadway between 38th and 41st Streets. The exhibition is completely free to the public and will stay in place through August 29. Needless to say, each piece makes for wonderful social media fodder—so don't be surprised if you notice a cluster of people surrounding the enormous structures with outstretched arms.

The days of ice skating at Rockefeller Center are over—a groovy roller skating rink is opening in its place this April with live DJs, concerts and performances as well as lessons. Flipper's Roller Boogie Palace, an iconic West Hollywood roller rink that became a "mecca of uninhibited fun," will operate a new roller rink between April 15 through October, according to Rock Center's owner, Tishman Speyer. The roller rink will come with a lot of fun too, including DJ sets, live music performances, concerts, roller boogie nights, food, a viewing deck and a store at the Channel Gardens that'll sell gear and merch from Flipper's.

There’s a brand-new way to get your green fix in The Bronx! A new combination vegan restaurant and plant store opened on Wednesday in the Bruckner Building at 2417 Third Avenue. Mae Mae Café is now offering plant-forward dishes on a Latin-inspired menu, including Mushroom Mole Tacos (White onion, cilantro, sesame seeds, corn tortilla), Huitlacoche Quesadilla (Corn, lime, onion, radish, vegan queso blanco, coconut crema) and a Crispy Tortilla Salad (Romaine lettuce, black beans, watermelon radish, lime, onion, cilantro vinaigrette.) Who said eating your greens had to be boring?

Very soon, you'll be able to take in works by the legendary Jean-Michel Basquiat that have never been seen before. The forthcoming "Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure" is set to open on April 9 with 200 pieces of art inside the Starrett-Lehigh Building in Chelsea. The immersive exhibition will feature a wide range of mediums including paintings, drawings, multimedia, ephemera and artifacts that will both give a broader understanding of the artist but also offer a more intimate look at his life and work.

An immersive experience with massive, ultra-realistic dinosaurs that takes place on the grounds of the Bronx Zoo is back!

Dinosaur Safari asks visitors to the zoo to traverse a path filled with 52 life-sized dinos and pterosaurs through a wooded area, where they will see the largest flying animal to ever live (the Quetzalcoatlus) and, of course, the Tyrannosaurus rex and the vegetarian Omeisaurus that stretches an impressive 60 feet long. When it first opened in 2019, it was a ride that used shuttles to introduce people to the dinos. Now, it's a 1/4 mile-long walk-through experience with 52 dinos rather than 40.

To make things as realistic as possible, the Bronx Zoo teamed up with a paleontologist from the American Museum of Natural History—Don Lessem even served as an advisor on the original Jurassic Park! The experience is topped off with an ADA-accessible fossil dig area for kids to play in, plus some additional dino-themed activities around the zoo. All ages. 

The Whitney Biennial has been a long time coming. Originally meant to open in 2021, the 80th edition combines three years of planning as well as 63 artists and collectives to present an event that has been described as both "dynamic" and timely by its curators. "Whitney Biennial 2022: Quiet as It’s Kept," which opens April 6, is broken up into two experiences on the fifth and sixth floors of the Meatpacking District building. Each one presents a completely different atmosphere—on the sixth floor is a cavernous, labyrinth-like gallery, and on the fifth floor is an open and airy room where works are displayed together. The exhibition mimics the range of emotions we felt during the past two years, from fear and pain to joy and hope, and everything in between. And while Edwards and Breslin started planning out the exhibit before the turning point that was 2020, they were able to incorporate works that question and reckon with these major moments in our recent history. Artworks—even walls—will change and performance will "animate" the galleries and objects. The changing nature of the exhibition reflects these uncertain times.

Just a few weeks ago, the iconic Kim's Video and Music—the video and music retail store that first opened in the East Village back in 1986—made its grand return to New York City, opening inside the newly launched Alamo Drafthouse location on Liberty Street. You'll find all the films at the Alamo store which, as an on-site plaque makes clear, is actually dedicated to the municipality of Salemi "and its commitment to the promotion, maintenance and return of the collection."

The return of Smorgasburg is upon us! Now in its twelfth year, the annual, weekly outdoor food festival will return to several New York City locations, and beyond, as of this Friday, April 1. More than a dozen new vendors are slated to join the lineup of 60+ returning food artisans. (Pandemic kitchen hobbyists should know that new vendors are still being accepted, and can apply for consideration online.)

The Brooklyn Flea is undoubtedly one of the most popular flea markets to hit in NYC if you're looking for the best selection of throwback wares and records, which you certainly wouldn’t find in just any vintage clothing store or record store in the city. The food selection is also top-notch since the creators also operate one of the city’s best food markets: Smorgasburg. The Brooklyn Flea DUMBO kicks off the weekend of April 2 and 3, 2022, from 10am-5pm. Brooklyn Flea also operates in Chelsea year-round on Saturdays and Sundays, 8am-5pm, and the new Hester Flea on Saturdays, 11am-6pm.

A new outdoors installation has just taken up residence by Greenwich Village's Ruth Wittenberg Triangle, at the intersection of Greenwich Avenue, the Avenue of the Americas and Christopher Street—and it would be very hard for you to miss it. "Faces of the Wild" features nine, six-foot-tall sculptures depicting critically endangered animals. The monuments are based on the many photographs and sketches that the artists behind the works have taken of wildlife over the past 15 years.  The depicted animals include the northern white rhino, the chimpanzee, the addax, the western lowland gorilla, the polar bear, the red wolf, the African forest elephant, the hippopotamus and the lion. "These animals come from all over the world, from the African savannahs to the rainforests of Indonesia," reads an official press release about the installation. "They are all beautiful, instantly recognizable, yet in desperate need of help.

Catbird jewelers will be zapping on its signature 14k Forever Bracelets to willing customers during a limited residency inside the iconic dome glass elevator at Rockefeller Center. The bracelets are good to commemorate a trip to the city, to surprise a friend, or to add to your Forever stack in this quintessential New York setting. Catbird Zaps at Rockefeller Center will be open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday in April from 11am-7pm. Appointments are highly encouraged but some walk-ins are available. To make an appointment, click here.

Now that Daniel Craig has wrapped up his longtime gig as film killer James Bond, he has time to return to one of his passions: killing people on stage. The actor plays the title role in this limited Broadway run of the Scottish play, in which an ambitious nobleman, egged on by witches, murders his way to the crown; the Ethiopian-Irish actor Ruth Negga, of Loving and Passing, joins him as the ruthless Lady M. The production reunites Craig with director Sam Gold, who helmed the 2016 New York Theatre Workshop production of Othello.

The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) is hosting its first global survey exhibition dedicated to the use of clothing as a medium of visual art, March 12 to August 14. The work of 35 international contemporary artists, from established names to emerging voices, will be on display, and you'll see how they made or altered clothing for expressive purposes via sculpture, installation, and performance art to transform dress into a critical tool for exploring issues of subjectivity, identity, and difference.

Serra by Birreria at Eataly Flatiron has changed its decor to celebrate the arrival of spring. The bright, airy space—where natural light streams in through wide windows and a high glass roof will take on a greenhouse fashion—is intended to evoke the Italian countryside. The dining room will be festooned with faux blooms so you can swing by for a fresh spring selfie any time and save the visit to the Botanical Garden for the weekend. The installation features climbing vines and flowers among its photo ops...

It's not every day that a new nightclub opens in New York City, especially one that harks back to an old sort of New York—when nightclubs were the city's premiere destinations for some after-hours fun. Which is why Daphne, a new subterranean spot under Hotel 50 Bowery in Chinatown, is so special. Upon entering the massive 2,500-square-foot space, patrons are pleasantly surprised to find a beautiful silk pink flower installation by art studio Floratorium. Dazzling disco balls also permeate the premises, calling back to a time when the dance club you frequented was just as important as where your apartment was located. 

The Cactus Shop in Williamsburg is a plant store by day and a speakeasy cantina by night, complete with a lovely outdoor courtyard perfect for the spring-ish nights that have graced New York in the past week. It's clearly not a speakeasy in the most authentic sense of the word, but it certainly boasts that same sort of vibe. Inside, patrons will revel in heartwarming yet vibrant decor that is actually sourced directly from Mexico alongside the just-as-authentic drinkware (think black clay and hand-blown glasses). Pay particular attention to the skeletons and sugar skulls that are placed just so all over the destination and call out to Mexico's Day of the Dead celebrations (did you know that, in Mexican culture, the skulls represent both death and rebirth?). The menu is prepared by chef Eduardo Domingues. He's actually from Sinaloa, one of Mexico's 31 states, so you can expect the food to be stellar. 

The AKC Museum of the Dog is opening a timely exhibit of 10 life-sized, carved-wood allegorical memorials of military dogs from WWII and Afghanistan by sculptor James Mellick. Visitors will see the artist's collections "Wounded Warrior Dogs" and "Over the Rainbow Bridge," along with the museum’s permanent collection, which includes sculptures, paintings, collars, vests, photographs and more. Mellick says that the exhibit of wounded and rehabilitated dogs aims to draw attention to the service and heroism of dogs in the military. The Wounded Warrior Dog statues are carved from cedar, walnut, sycamore, cherry,
poplar, maple and more, laminated and painted to showcase beautiful life-size dogs who fought alongside veterans and often aided in the completion of successful missions. The AKC Library and Archives will also feature photographs and documents of the WWII U.S. Marine Corps "Devil Dogs" during the time of the main exhibit. Throughout the installation, there will also be events and veterans invited to speak on their experiences and the history of dogs in the military. For these dates, check the events calendar at museumofthedog.org

As soon as you walk into the Queens Museum, Christine Sun Kim's massive graphic artwork greets you, reminding you that we're all in this together. "Time Owes Me Rest Again" is a mural on the monumental 40-by-100-foot wall surrounding the Panorama of the City of New York. Each word is drawn to represent the five words in the title—"Time," "Owes," "Me," "Rest," "Again"—in American Sign Language. Each word is represented by the movement of the signing hand coming into contact with the signer's body. "These drawn notations echo and bounce off each other to render a lethargic feeling drawn from the societal and systemic inequity that persists between Deaf communities and the hearing power structures," the museum says. The meaning of the words also reflects on the fatigue people have from the pandemic. Many Queens residents near the museum (in Corona and Elmhurst specifically) are immigrants from Latin America and Asia and were among the hardest hit in 2020. There's a screen nearby that animates the words as they're meant to be felt against one's body.

Follow Lacy’s history as an organizer and socially engaged artist over the course of 50 years in a series of artworks that undo stigmas and subvert oppressive norms across feminism, violence against women, racism, gender identity, and aging. The earliest works in the exhibition are records of Lacy’s solo performances, including "Net Construction (1973)," "Prostitution Notes (1974)" and "Cinderella in a Dragster (1976)," whose confrontational nature established Lacy as a perceptive observer and daring critic of social issues and urban life. These works capture lives society may consider more taboo on the fringe. Later works include "International Dinner Party (1979)"—in which she staged a worldwide dinner as a tribute to Judy Chicago—and "Crystal Quilt (1985-1987)," which demonstrates the experience of how older women are represented in the media. Her newest work, "De tu Puño y Letra, Quito, Ecuador (2014-2015)," is one of the moving pieces. Lacy gathered men in a bullfighting ring in Quito, Ecuador, to record them reading letters by Ecuadorian women on childhood, the body, and domestic and gender-based violence.

On March 4, the luxurious Italian wellness spa QC NY (by QC Terme Spas and Resorts) will open to the public, bringing the elegance and rejuvenation of a European spa to Governors Island, but with New York City flavor. it will be open daily, Sunday–Thursday 10am–10pm and Friday–Saturday 10am-11pm. Half-day passes are $88 ($100 on weekends) and full-day passes are $110 ($128 on weekends), which includes access to the entire spa, all amenities for the whole day and a roundtrip ferry ticket.

Industry City, with all its artisans, tasty restaurants and unique shops, is now a major hub for Japanese culture and cuisine. Japan Village, which is both a food hall and supermarket full of Japanese groceries, has expanded upward with a 20,000-square-foot second floor it's calling The Loft. Here, visitors can basically step into a representation of Japan with cool shops with items straight from the country as well as fun experiences like tea ceremonies and cultural classes.

Lady M's cakes are so beautiful that we sometimes feel bad cutting into them. And yet, leaving them untouched would be a sin akin to blasphemy as they are just as delicious as they are visually striking. This season, the iconic cake shop has raised the bar even further with a delicious Tres Leches Mille Crêpes cake, already available for pickup at various Lady M locations. The traditional Latin treat boasts layers of milk-soaked vanilla sponge cake made with a combination of three milks and a hint of toasted coconut. "Handmade cream infused with blonde chocolate is gently brushed between every crêpe layer, finished with a light whipped cream topping and a sprinkling of crunchy coconut flakes," reads an official description of the delicacy. The price? A very worth-it $98.

The roaring 2022 speakeasy-inspired bar boom reverberates apace this week with the opening of Dom (styled as DOM) a subterranean cocktail lounge in Gramercy. The “retro-future” space, replete with high ceilings and fancy furnishings intended to evoke “the image of a modern age La Dolce Vita lifestyle” seats 50, exclusive of a private tasting room. Art programming across various mediums is planned for a gallery space and exhibition wall.  Dom’s opening cocktail menu is divided into the categories Health and Beauty, Pain Killers, Stress Relievers, Aphrodisiacs, Pharmaceuticals, Stimulants and Euphoric Enhancers. Many drinks incorporate liqueurs like walnut elderberry from owner Albert Trummer’s own eponymous line. The cognac-flavored cigar leaves in the barrel-aged negroni (a Pain Killer), and unspecified herbs from the South of France in the large-format house absinthe (a Euphoric Enhancer) are among other noteworthy ingredients. Trummer’s previous ventures include the ultimately headline making Apothéke.  Snacks like cheese, charcuterie, oysters and caviar will also be available. Reservations are recommended, but walk-ins are also theoretically welcome.

Pearl Alley, located at South Street Seaport's Pier 17 is one such spot. Anchored by Dante Winter House, a seasonal pop-up by the beloved and highly acclaimed West Village Bar, this new venue may just get your outer borough crew socializing at the edge of Manhattan. From now until winter's end, Dante has transformed its coffee bar into the Oysters & Martini Bar, which is open every Wednesday–Sunday from 4pm until late. Oysters are being supplied by Massachusetts-based Island Creek Oysters and will be $21 for a half dozen or $41 for a full dozen. Speciality martinis are $17 each.

Kitsby, a dessert shop in Brooklyn, has just introduced a new menu item that will surely entice you to visit Williamsburg, where the shop is located. Dubbed The Kit, the signature offering is a tray of bites that represents "second generation baking." Consider it Kitsby's very own Asian American spin on afternoon tea. The tray, which costs $38 per person or $70 for two people, comes with ten sweet and savory pastries. These include a black sesame financier, a five-spice shortbread, an asiago lop cheong roule, a mocha mousse cake plus a slew of other bite-sized treats. You'll also get to choose one entrée to go with your order. 

Good news for those that love Ramen Misoya—the popular East Village destination dedicated exclusively to miso ramen. The eatery has just opened a second location, and this one boasts a cool, speakeasy-style ambiance. It's not that easy to find the new spot, so let us help you out. The West Village location at 535 Hudson Street has a below-ground entrance on Charles Street. (Look for a small sign on the wall above the stairs.) Once you enter the premise, you'll notice a second set of doors. (They're bright orange!) Walk right in and you'll find yourself in the main dining room.  

Head to the Museum of the City of New York to see 100 photographs selected from the more than 1,000 images recently gifted to the Museum by the Joy of Giving Something (JGS), a non-profit organization dedicated to the photographic arts. Images range from documentary-style to quirky and from architectural to atmospheric. “Celebrating the City” features works by more than 30 creators new to the MCNY collection, including multiple images from Helen Levitt’s dynamic and celebrated street photography; Sylvia Plachy’s playful and eccentric examination of the people, animals, and moments of NYC; and Michael Spano’s slice-of-life city shots spanning the 1990s and 2000s. Other key figures in 20th-century photography are incorporated into the show, including Ilse Bing, Bruce Davidson, Mitch Epstein, Elliott Erwitt, Robert Frank, William Kline, Saul Leiter, Alfred Stieglitz, Rosalind Solomon, and Paul Strand, to name a few—all capturing indelible, sometimes implausible, intimate, and often incredible moments of the city. You'll even see a llama in Times Square, fireworks over the Brooklyn Bridge, polar bears playing in a pool at the zoo as well as subways, skylines, shadows, and stolen moments.

Looking for a treat? Head to Ample Hills' Gowanus Scoop Shop rooftop for a comedy show hosted by Savannah DesOrmeaux (X Change Rate) and Jenny Gorelick (NY Comedy Festival) featuring a heavily female, queer, and non-binary line-up every Friday. Pizza and ice cream will be available for purchase at the show.

Drive-Thru might be the coolest thing to check out around town this weekend. Billed as a "drive-in movie theater," Drive Thru is actually a free public arts installation aimed at pedestrians that will showcase a rotating selection of films by eight different local artists exploring unique perspectives on city life. You'll find the outdoor theater at the Plaza at 300 Ashland through April 14. In addition to highlighting films dissecting the immigrant experience, the current status of minorities in the country, the ecological impacts of urban life and more, the destination will also host a slew of live performances. 

Fraunces’ announced its latest concept in November–an intimate room above The Independence Bar is soaked in a shade of cerulean across its paneled walls, with pops of color on tufted red banquettes and gilded picture frames. Beer, wine, all manner of cocktails and a dedicated list of gin and tonics are all available, in addition to broad-appeal snacks, apps and entrées. Live piano music, of course, is also on the menu. The Piano Bar Upstairs is open Thursday-Saturday from 5pm to 11pm. 

Bring your dog to the AKC Museum of the Dog at these special after-hours events called Furry Fridays. The next event is Friday, February 18 (6-8pm) and Friday, March 4 (6-8pm). Tickets are $20 per person and $5 per dog. The Museum of the Dog has more than 180 sculptures and paintings of four-legged furballs as well as a “Meet the Breeds” table, which provides info on all 193 AKC recognized dog breeds, and other interactive fun.

When it comes to displays of public art in New York, this might be our favorite installation yet: a slew of massive, polygonal-shaped animal sculptures have taken up residence all over Park Avenue in Murray Hill and they will stay put through February 2023. The outdoor exhibition is presented by the Patrons of Park Avenue (POPA), a group that supports the care, maintenance and planting of the malls of Park Avenue in the neighborhood. They are the works of French artist Idriss B. Although Mojo the Gorilla—a very large and very yellow gorilla—might be the most striking animal of them all, he joins a roster of just-as-awesome-looking sculptures between 34th and 38th Streets. On 34th Street, New Yorkers will get to meet Rexor the Tyrannosaurus Rex, for example. Up on 35th Street, they'll come face-to-face with Baloo the Bear and Diego the Sabertooth Tiger. Manny the Mammoth is comfortably sitting at 38th Street and Park Avenue while Urus the Buffalo and Dundee the Crocodile call 37th Street home. You might also notice Mojo2 the Gorilla—who, unlike his yellow brother, is actually red, somewhere on the Avenue. Murray Hill has basically transformed into an urban zoo—and we're so into it.

If Agi’s Counter were in your neighborhood, you might just be there every day. It’s like a cafe in a Netflix original series where the whimsical main character spends long afternoons scribbling improbably artistic annotated sketches in a Moleskine notebook. Still, Agi’s stops short of veering into twee by virtue of its own genuinely darling character. The menu is brief but already buzzy a couple of months and alterations after Salamon (Buvette, The Eddy) opened his first solo spot. The leberkäse ($15) seems to be the most frequently recommended: A breakfast sandwich worthy of NYC canon that places a thick slice of pork pâté, pear mostarda and a fried egg between two hearty hearty slices of toast that ably stand up to the substantial fillings. It's a giddily rich way to start the day and large enough to share. Lunch includes a nosh plate ($17) with the aesthetic appeal that you’d expect at any august NYC restaurant. Thin, palm-sized spelt crackers are suspended in a generous portion of pâté alongside a dense, piquant Hungarian pimento spread, pickled cauliflower and cucumber and deviled eggs topped with a sunny dollop of egg mousse and a pop of dill. The plate is poised on a silver stand, literally elevating the very notion of a snack plate.

Kings Theatre, the legendary theatre in Flatbush, Brooklyn, is re-launching historic tours of its opulent space this month. During the 75-minute tour, you'll discover historical and architectural highlights, beginning in the majestic grand lobby from 1929. You'll also be ushered through ornate speakeasy lounges and both levels of the 3,055-seat auditorium and see the baroque stylings of this opulent theatre, the “Queen of Kings”, the Robert Morgan Wonder Organ and gaining insight into the daily workings of the theatre. You can upgrade your experience with two drinks and access to one of the theatre's private speakeasies for a post-tour destination. Built in 1929 as one of the five original Loew’s Wonder Theatres, Kings Theatre was initially a movie palace and live performance venue featuring vaudeville reviews. After closing down in 1979, the theatre sat dormant until undergoing a restoration in 2013 which included the repair of the original lobby furniture. The theatre reopened as Kings Theatre in 2015 with Diana Ross as the debut performance.

Some tours are already sold out, but the theatre will be holding these twice a month through at least May.

The Jewish Museum is hosting the first U.S. museum survey of the Lithuanian-born filmmaker, poet, critic, and institution-builder Jonas Mekas, who helped shape the avant-garde in New York City and beyond. Coinciding with what would be his 100th birthday, the exhibition includes 11 films, photography, and previously unseen archival materials that explore the breadth and import of Mekas’s life, art, and legacy in the field of the moving image. Mekas spent five years stateless and homeless in a Nazi work camp and then in Displaced Persons camps throughout Germany before emigrating to New York City with his brother Adolfas in 1949. He quickly became entrenched in the avant-garde community and his artwork reflected his refugee experience. 

In conjunction with the exhibit, Film at Lincoln Center will screen a selection of Mekas’s most essential film and video works as well as some rarities, from his first feature-length film, Guns of the Trees (1962), to the reflective and deeply moving final features that concluded his career, from February 17 through 28.

Kinky’s Dessert Bar just opened at 181 Orchard Street with very explicit decor—a ton of sexually provocative posters and magazine covers adorn the walls and an upstairs seating area—the two-floor destination will function as both a bar serving drinks and desserts and, eventually, an event space. Conceived as a sex positive space that celebrates all sorts of sexual persuasions, Kinky's main focus is the erotic, penis-shaped waffle that has become a staple at night markets all over Taiwan as well as a menu filled with all sorts of cookies and cupcakes. Yes, the treats are just as delicious as they are visually entertaining. (We tried them!) Standouts include the oatmeal raisin cookie Lick Me, the So Anxious vanilla cupcake made with creamy vanilla buttercream, the I Like it Rough (a red velvet cupcake topped with cream cheese frosting) and the Beg for More Banana—a waffle filled with homemade banana pudding and glazed with a banana cream.

The authorized biomusical MJ wants very much to freeze Michael Jackson in 1992: It’s a King of Pop-sical. Expertly directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, MJ does about as well as possible within its careful brief. In and of itself, it is a deftly crafted jukebox nostalgia trip. Lynn Nottage’s script weaves together three dozen songs, mostly from the Jackson catalog. The music and the dancing are sensational. And isn’t that, the show suggests, really the point in the end? Doesn’t that beat all?

Serafina, the Italian restaurant group with the familiar yellow awnings and several locations in NYC and beyond, quietly started operating its latest, Serafina in the Sky, earlier this year. On Wednesday, February 16, it will officially open the space’s speakeasy-themed lounge annex, UnPublished. It shares its menus with Serafina in the Sky, which serves crostini, charcuterie, and guacamole Italiano to start, plus salads, pizza, pasta and general interest entrées. Beer, wine and cocktails are also available. UnPublished boasts a disco ball, chandeliers and candlelit velvet banquettes inside, and a terrace with a retractable roof outside. It can accommodate 100 guests, provided they know the way in. No, not through the curtain, the nebulous way in. “To make reservations, guests must obtain and call a ghost number, privy to a small few,” a press release reads, in part. “Less connected guests can try their luck at the door.”

Sushi 456 quietly opened on Hudson Street in the former Takashi space this past August. It has no known PR or apparent email address, and its social media presence is scant. It is, however, a more polished looking spot than its similarly analog contemporaries. Sushi 456’s fish is flown in from Tokyo’s Toyosu Market and occasionally U.S. providers a few times a week before it’s expertly formed into blossoms of hirame, fanned-out rectangles of bluefin tuna arranged like a hand of three card poker, thick squares of king salmon and little cucumber cups overflowing with buttery uni or popping crimson ikura pearls.  Plenty is available à la carte for $4 (tamago) to $14 (Japanese uni). Sets like an attractively plated five-piece sashimi lunch are available for $35 in the afternoon, when the understated space is a pleasant, peaceful place to have lunch alone...

If you loved the music and cool jazz scene in Disney and Pixar's movie Soul, you'll want to make a beeline to The National Jazz Museum in Harlem, which has been transformed into the film's Half Note jazz club. Showcasing incredible artifacts from major players in Harlem's jazz scene, including Duke Ellington’s white grand piano, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis' tenor saxophone, a player piano and a working 78rpm Victrola, "The Soul of Jazz: An American Adventure" highlights the many different cultures and creators who influenced this genre. To tie it all into Soul, there are maquettes (small sculptures) of its characters Joe Gardner and Dorothea Williams and virtual experiences via the Play Disney Parks app. The floor of the museum has been changed with brick walls and street scenes. There are windows that "look out" into scenes of the movie like the owner of the barbershop cleaning up and Joe's student playing their trombone in the street.

Marianne Elliott’s Company is the most satisfying Broadway revival of a Sondheim show in history. Its contemporary setting and gender switches help; with a woman as Bobbie, and the sexes of several couples swapped around, the text plays out in exciting new ways. (The sequence for the instrumental “Tick Tock,” for instance, now evokes the notion of a biological clock.) The comedy of the modernized book scenes is squeezed to the hilt by a cast that includes musical-theater überdiva Patti LuPone, harnessing her imperious earthiness to outstanding effect, and Broadway pros like Jennifer Simard—who can make any line a laugh line—Nikki Renée Daniels and the Christophers Sieber and Fitzgerald. Katrina Lenk holds strong at the center, bringing her formidable charisma and individuality to the role of Bobbie; you understand why everyone in town seems to want her to themselves. 

Everything at 8282 makes sense. The second restaurant from the pair behind now-closed Pado opened on Stanton Street in November. Billed as modern Korean, selections from 8282’s banju menu are prepared and presented to effectively share, and its anju options can easily act as apps or sides.  The boneless K.F.C. ($14) is the star of the smaller plate section. Four chunky cuts of chicken thigh splattered with soy garlic sauce are pleasantly jagged on the outside with juicy interiors. The larger, kitchen-sliced skirt steak with roasted potatoes ($26) rivals steakhouse classics, successfully grilled to the dedicated carnivore’s target mauve and tender beyond expectation. The accompanying mushroom purée is subtle enough that serious fungi fans will want more. Dakgalbi kimchi-bap ($21), which features cheesy rice covered with gochujang-marinated chicken and a wispy tangle of fragrant seaweed, is 8282's essential dish. The best bites are the scorched bits at the bottom of the skillet its served in: Crunchy and caramelized, they're warmly combined like the cheese fell in love with the rice. 

Just in time for Black History Month, the New-York Historical Society is bringing Frederick Douglass’ vision of freedom, citizenship and equal rights to life in a new ongoing special installation opening on February 11, 2022. A range of artifacts and documents illustrate Douglass’ vision, including illustrations from the popular press of the time and scrapbooks of articles by or about Douglass compiled by his sons that also documented his work to usher in a more just country. Visitors will also see speech excerpt from his contemporary, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, who raises the question of gender in step with Douglass’ ideas about racial equality. Political cartoons and a copy of an editorial that Douglass wrote about Chinese immigrants’ right to belong in the U.S. in the Chinese American newspaper are also on view. The maquette of a statue of Douglass erected on the campus of the University of Maryland in 2015, which was gifted to the late Congressman John Lewis, is also on display and a recreation of the Douglass statue, painted to be lifelike, greets visitors to the Museum at the 77th Street entrance.

Dinner at Mari’s high-gloss, muted-hued chefs counter or in the comfortable dining room beyond starts with a beautiful hansang. Clockwise to the center: An opaque acorn jelly, oyster with makgeolli mignonette, eggplant jeon (on a skewer like an insider wink to Kochi), Wagyu tartare and a sensational sphere of one or two-bite crispy egg rice, best tasted in that order.  It’s real "kid in a candy store" stuff, all exquisitely executed save for maybe one too many drops of sauce on the tartare, which almost obscures that inimitable beef flavor that people pay a premium for. Each element’s expert preparation and presentation would be notable on their own. Combined in this tantalizing fashion, they articulate the abundance to come and easily establish Mari’s quickly earned best-of status.

NYC’s newest entry to the micro category of subway bars–pour houses adjacent to the otherwise dry MTA–opened on New Year’s Eve. Nothing Really Matters is the latest from Adrien Gallo, whose previous endeavors included Double Happiness and Grand Banks. It’s located between the entrance and the turnstile in the downtown-bound 1 train station at 50th Street and Broadway. The cinematic subway entrance that leads to Nothing Really Matters is next to the Duane Reade on 50th Street near Broadway. The facade is adorned in signs for the newsstand and barbershop that previously operated in the station’s small retail areas. An illustrated haircut legend is still on display. Trash is strewn about. It looks like a subway station from 1984’s Ghostbusters. Inside, the long oak bar is backed by rows of bottles lit from below, illuminated like a boozy skyline snapshot. There’s a disco ball in the corner and the bathroom is covered in glitter wallpaper. Cocktails like the Empire State (vodka, maple, spiced apple, lemon), Knickerbocker bramble (bourbon, rosemary-blueberry compote, lemon) and the Time Out (Jamaican hibiscus, ginger, soda) are named in nods to New York. Classics, low- and no-ABV options are all on the menu.

Every Saturday night at 10pm, two piano men battle it out to prove who is truly the master of all 88 keys, with a playlist decided entirely by the audience. Whether you’re in the mood for Billy Joel, Christina Aguilera or current chart toppers, these pianists are up for the challenge. But they expect you to do your part by singing along, but from home. Find tickets and request songs here: bit.ly/SRRshows

Ninety Nine Franklin is hidden behind an espresso shop at—you guessed it: 99 Franklin St. It serves top-notch cocktails throughout the night. First, head to the daytime cafe, which opened in mid-2021, and notice a slightly open door at the back of the premise. Walk in and be greeted by a dark but welcoming room with a sleek-looking bar and modern finishes throughout. There's also a heated patio in the back, complete with a round fireplace! Ninety Nine Franklin, the speakeasy, opened towards the end of 2021, turning the address into a full-day operation. The espresso shop is open from 8:30am to 4pm daily, serving very well-made coffee drinks plus breakfast and lunch. The bar is closed on Sundays and Mondays but opens at 6:30pm every other day of the week (closing time is midnight on Tuesdays through Thursdays and 2am on Fridays and Saturdays). 

Head over to Q.E.D. Astoria for stand-up each Friday night with the Transplants Comedy Show. As the name suggests, the comedians on stage are not originally from New York City, so they'll be telling jokes and stories about NYC and their hometowns. Hear from hosts Katie Boyle and Lindsay Theisen and comics like Rallo Boykins, Zubi Ahmed, Annick Adelle, Santi Espinosa, Brittany Carney, Bridget Geiran and Lindsay Adams.

"Andy Warhol: Revelation," a new exhibit opening on Friday at the Brooklyn Museum, seeks to do just that. Featuring over 100 objects—from some of Warhol's own belongings to the artist's drawings and rarely seen prints—the show explores the Pop genius' career through the prism of his religion. Although not as grand as expected given the heftiness of the subject, the exhibit does a great job at showcasing as-yet unexplored portions of the life of an artist who has been the subject of countless shows and profiles throughout the years. 

On Location Tours is once again offering its popular On Location Tours Sex and the City Hotspots Tour as both a public and private sightseeing experience. This bus tour highlights several famous NYC buildings and locations featured in the series Sex and the City, all from the comfort of a heated bus this winter. Each tour guest will also receive a free Magnolia Bakery cupcake (and those over 21 can sip discounted cosmos at the famous NYC bar ONieal’s).

At first glance, the concept behind Ornithology Jazz Club, a new music destination in Brooklyn, sounds like an oxymoron. Found smack-dab in the middle of a neighborhood, Bushwick, usually known for its allegiance to EDM music, the only thing odder than its function is Ornithology's menu—which is entirely vegan. In addition to the musicians that take on the stage every night (check out an updated performance schedule right here), the destination hopes to differentiate itself with an elevated food menu. Generally, jazz clubs aren't necessarily known for their food offerings—but at Ornithology the fare is meant to be just as exciting as the music.

Nightlife revelers looking for an interesting new destination will be delighted to hear about Nina's, a new cocktail bar inside the NoMo SoHo Hotel at 9 Crosby Street that doubles as a gallery displaying the works of some of the city's top-rated emerging artists. Now in soft-launch mode (it'll be officially open for business on December 16), the destination seeks to hark back to the "DNA of SoHo," when the neighborhood was all about the arts. To that intent, all the works displayed on the walls are by graduates of the New York Academy of Arts—whose founding was inspired by Andy Warhol in the 1980s. Every six weeks, a new roster of art following a specific theme will be hung on the wall and available for sale. 

A new, more high-end destination has opened at the South Street Seaport, combining a love for singalongs with delicious tabletop grills. Upstairs at Ssäm Bar is Momofuku's latest restaurant, this one located at Pier 17 (89 South Street, to be precise), on the second floor of Momofuku Ssäm Bar. While overlooking the East River, you'll get to sing your heart out to your favorite karaoke songs in one of two private rooms (each one accommodates up to 10 people) where you'll also get to order from the entire Asian-influenced menu. And because there is no karaoke without cocktails, here's a bit about that: from the Psycho Beach Party (mezcal, cynar, passionfruit, pineapple and blood orange) to the Toki Hot Toddy (Suntory Toki whisky, genmaicha tea and lemon) and the Suit & Chair (chai-infused rum, rockey's liqueur, ginger, salted plum and a chinotto float), you probably never have had such high-end drinks while screaming your lungs out to Prince's "Purple Rain." 

Although the city's omakase scene is getting pretty crowded, a new project by Maki Kosaka, the sister restaurant of Michelin-starred Kosaka, might strike your fancy given the unconventionality of its offerings. Tucked behind Maki Kosaka's main temaki counter, a new eight-seat omakase bar helmed by chef Sho Boo is officially open to the public at 55 West 19th Street. For $150 per person, plus tax and gratuity, diners will be treated to a regional form of omakase that might not necessarily look like the traditional nigiri-style sushi that New Yorkers are accustomed to. From a chef-selected amuse-bouche (that is: a bite-sized hors d'oeuvre) to some pressed cube sushi and pieces of temari ("handball" sushi), fans of the Japanese cuisine will likely revel in the novelty of the destination's menu. 

There is something about the talent of musicians in uptown Manhattan that simply cannot be authentically replicated in other New York neighborhoods—and the folks at the Cloak Room, a relatively new jazz speakeasy in Hamilton Heights, know that. Taking over the space previously occupied by Hogshead Tavern, which permanently closed during the pandemic, the Cloak Room opened this past September. Using the lockdown as an opportunity to re-invent, Hogshead Tavern co-owners Tara Wholley and Ady De Luna decided to move away from the structure of the bar that had become a neighborhood favorite and instead honor the musical legacy of Harlem by opening a spot dedicated to jazz.

Restaurant reservations may be NYC’s most competitive sport. (Take our baseball teams, please.) I have half-a-dozen Resy notifications set at any given time and only two have come through in the past several months. As a result, snagging a hot table always feels like a win. Contento opened on 111th Street in June and swiftly garnered extensive press—and tons of buzz—surrounding its important, and often woefully overlooked, mission of providing “accessibility to all.” About half of Contento’s bar is positioned at a height to accommodate wheelchair users, its tables are slightly raised to do the same and adaptive utensils are available on request. Sommelier Yannick Benjamin (previously of Le Cirque and Jean-Georges) and business partner George Gallego considered these details as wheelchair users themselves. Chef Oscar Lorenzzi (the Waverly Inn, Marseille) authored the Peruvian-influenced menu that includes some early highlights...

Overthrow Hospitality—the group behind New York favorites Amor y Amargo, Ladybird and Death and Co., among others—has just debuted an attention-grabbing champagne and absinthe bar in the East Village that is inspired by... hell. Café de L’Enfer, which literally translates to "hell cafe" from the French, opened earlier this month and the decor is just as striking as the cocktails, developed by mixologist Sother Teague. The destination, which calls out to the famous Victorian-era Cabaret de l'Enfer in Paris, is filled with touches of the underworld. Expect skulls, deep red booths and ogre-like statues to adorn the dark space, located directly above Amor y Amargo.

There's a brand-new dumpling destination downtown, and it's over a year in the making. Dumpling Lab, founded by Hunan Slurp's Chef Xiaomei Ma and partners Chao Wang and Lu Dong, brings even more contemporary Chinese food to the East Village with its new seafood-focused menu, inspired by the Chinese city of Tsingtao. Mackerel Dumplings made with Spanish mackerel, pork, chive and dried shellfish are a menu standout. To embrace the diversity of Tsingtao's culinary culture, Ma also added dumpling flavors like organic chicken dumplings with wood ear and corn, plus zucchini and cucumber dumplings with eggs and vermicelli.

The Rubin Museum is offering a unique exhibit that delves into the power of difficult emotions and how to turn them into positive ones—something many of us would benefit from these days. On the third floor of the museum, the Mandala Lab uses fun and interactive tools to explore jealousy/envy, attachment, pride, anger and ignorance and shows visitors how to turn them into wisdom of accomplishment, discernment, equanimity, mirror-like wisdom and all-accommodating wisdom, respectively. How this is done is through four quadrants across the floor, based on the Sarvavid Vairochana Mandala, a Tibetan Buddhist mandala that is used as a visualization tool to help achieve enlightenment. Each quadrant represents an emotion and has a playful activity to navigate it, including a "gong orchestra," a "breathing alcove" and a "scent library."