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People in Easter bonnets at the annual parade in NYC.
Photograph: By Sam Aronov / Shutterstock

The best things to do in NYC this weekend

The best things to do in NYC this weekend include the Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival, Springtopia at the Seaport, La Barca Cantina's opening, an adult Easter egg hunt, and comic book giveaways.

Written by
Rossilynne Skena Culgan
Contributors
Christina Izzo
&
Ian Kumamoto
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Looking for the best things to do in NYC this weekend? Whether you’re the group planner searching for more things to do in NYC today or you have no plans yet, here are some ideas to add to your list for this weekend: The Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival, Springtopia at the Seaport, La Barca Cantina's opening, an adult Easter egg hunt, comic book giveaways, and free events around town. All you have to do is scroll down to plan your weekend!

RECOMMENDED: Full list of the best things to do in NYC
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Time Out Market New York
  • Things to do

Hop on by Time Out Market New York for a springtime celebration of Easter.

On Easter Sunday, March 31, the Easter Bunny will be at the market for selfies from noon to 4pm during the market’s bottomless brunch. For $55, you can get unlimited mimosas or bellinis, Aperol spritzers plus a $35 Time Out Market Card to use for your choice of 15+ concessionaires.

Melaner will perform live between 2 and 5pm, so bring your dancing shoes.

Sign up on Eventbrite and bring proof of purchase to redeem your ticket. Seating is limited on a first-come, first-served basis. For groups of 10 guests and more, send an email to eventsny@timeoutmarket.com to learn more.

Things to do in NYC this weekend

  • Things to do

This parade is all about the hats—lavishly decorated, from the exquisite to the outlandish. Anyone is welcome to join, just show up near St. Patrick’s Cathedral at 10am on Easter Sunday (March 31, 2024) to watch or saunter with the group up Fifth Avenue. The tradition dates back to the 1870s, so you might even see some participants in period costumes. But the highlight is the elaborate bonnets, some of which are truly over-the-top. 

All revelers are welcome. The only requirement is a bonnet, the more whimsical the better.

  • Things to do

The Easter fun lasts all week during The Great East Midtown Easter Egg Hunt. From March 23 to 30, kids under 12 can visit businesses throughout East Midtown to hunt for Easter eggs. 

How it works: Each participating business will have candy-stuffed eggs hidden at their location beginning Saturday, March 23 for kids to look for on a first-come, first-served basis. Each location will also have one golden egg hidden, which is redeemable for an extra special prize for the hunter and their parents. To make sure kids all over the city have the chance to participate all week long, kids are kindly asked to hunt one egg per location.

The event's hosted for the first time by the East Midtown Partnership, a business improvement district. Here's the full list of participating businesses.

 

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  • Kids

Head over to Seaport Square and the rooftop at Pier 17 from 11am-2pm on Saturday, March 30 for a kid-centered Easter festival that includes dancing sessions, face painting, wreath-making, egg races, Easter bunny photo-ops and more. The event will be a mix of free and ticketed events, so make sure to check out the Seaport's website before you go. 

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  • Restaurants
  • Eating

Easter brings with it the seasonal reopening of La Barca Cantina, the beloved floating Mexican restaurant on a three-story yacht on the Hudson River—New York's only destination of its kind.

On March 31, the on-boat eatery located at Pier 81 at 41st Street and 12th Avenue will kick off the 2024 season with a special Easter brunch featuring an all-you-can-eat buffet complete with specialty cocktails. 

All-inclusive adult tickets cost $99 while kids will be able to join for $59 each. You can purchase boarding passes right here

  • Things to do
  • Events & Festivals

“We choose to go to the Moon,” President John F. Kennedy’s voice booms through speakers welcoming visitors to the massive new Space Race-themed exhibit at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. With archival speeches, historic documents, and incredible space equipment, the exhibit whisks visitors back to the 1960s, an era when humanity first ventured into the unknown. 

"Apollo: When We Went to the Moon" is now open at the Intrepid Museum (that's the gigantic aircraft carrier in Hell's Kitchen along the Hudson River) through September 2. At 9,000 square feet, it's the largest temporary exhibit in the museum's history. Tickets are inlcluded with museum admission.

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  • Theater
  • Theater & Performance

It's another election year, and once again, women's rights are on the ballot. What would the suffragists who fought for women's right to vote say to us now, a century later?

Shaina Taub, the powerhouse writer of Suffs, a musical coming to Broadway this spring, answers that question with a lyric: “Keep marching. Keep marching on.” It’s a line from the finale of the show, which she produced with support from former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai. The show has now made its Broadway Debut at the Music Box Theatre.

  • Art
  • Art

Digital art and poetry will combine for a dive into Afrocentricity and Afrofuturism at this new immersive exhibit in Chelsea. "Aṣẹ: Afro Frequencies" is now open at ARTECHOUSE and runs all summer.

The digital art exhibition promises a "vibrant reflection upon the past, present, and future of the Black experience." It's told through the perspective of London-based Afro-surrealist digital artist Vince Fraser alongside evocative poetry by ursula rucker.

Both artists worked to honor the legacy, struggles, and complexities of the Black experience in their work. Even the exhibition's title, "Aṣẹ" stems from a powerful mantra, affirmation, and philosophical belief held by the Yoruba people of West Africa, meaning "so will it be." (By the way, that's pronounced as AH-shay.)

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  • Art
  • Art

Larger-than-life red lilies, orange daisies, and wispy green leaves have taken over the front of Macy's flagship store in Herald Square. An annual rite of spring, the Macy's Flower Show is back for 2024 with a bevy of beautiful installations.

While the oversize decor out front isn't real, the hydrangeas, orchids, and roses inside the store are, so the show is only available for a limited time. Go see it now through April 7 (except for Easter Sunday when the store is closed) at Macy's Herald Square (151 W 34st Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues). The show is free to visit, so be prepared for crowds.

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  • Events & Festivals

Batman first appeared to the public in 1939, a character in the six-page story titled "The Case of the Criminal Syndicate" in Detective Comics. The comic book star has come a long way since, so celebrating its 85th anniversary is the very least we can do to honor his incredible arc—especially here in New York, a city that has served as an inspiration for the fictional town of Gotham, home of the superhero.

To honor the anniversary, Warner Bros. Discovery and DC are hosting a number of comic book giveaways all over town this weekend, on March 30, all centered around a pop-up at SoHo News International, the beloved corner magazine store at 186 Prince Street near Sullivan Street.

Here's the full list of participating spots.

 

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  • Art
  • Art

Art nerds can’t wait until the Whitney Biennial, which happens every two years. It’s always a gigantic showcase of some of the coolest, newest, and most provocative art at a big New York City museum. It’s the Whitney Museum of American Art’s landmark exhibition series and the longest-running survey of American Art, on view through August 11.

This year, the Biennial is themed “Even Better Than The Real Thing” and features the work of 71 artists and collectives. It does a lot in this iteration. The survey examines rapidly advancing technologies and machine learning tools; the body and subjectivity as it pertains to queer identity, body sovereignty, motherhood, the aging body, and the trans body; material agency and the use of unstable media; and lots more.

Overarching is the focus on “the real,” an extremely present topic these days with the onslaught of incorrect ChatGPT answers, horrifying deep fakes and art made by AI. 

  • Music

Celebrate the last day of Women's History Month on Sunday, March 31 at 1pm at Blue Note's "Women in Jazz" brunch, which will feature an all-women jazz band led by local legend Svetlana. The music will be an eclectic mix of classic jazz songs, jazz-infused pop favorites and oringinal songs by the band's members. Plus, the event's on Easter, making it a perfect spot for your Easter brunch plans.

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  • Comedy

An Easter-themed improvised murder mystery show, Pork Side Ranch's "Egged to Death" is sure to gag. The improv group is known for seamlessly blending comedy, musical, music, dance and various other forms of live entertainment into one giant, hilarious show.

Performers for this show include Jared Kirsch, Ryan Wallace, Alida Zimmerman, Elika Plan, Julian Shapiro-Barnum, Jess Elgene, Edson Montenegro, Sloan Brettholtz, and Philip Markle. Make sure to catch them at the Brooklyn Comedy Collective in Williamsburg on Saturday, March 30 starting at 7pm to kick off your Easter weekend celebrations.

  • Things to do

If you've ever wanted to learn how to create professional-level flower arrangements but don't know where to start, then head to the Fulton Stall Market on March 30 for a workshop that will teach you how to do just that. The class will be taught by Jessica Balnaves of Good Radish Flowers and aims to help you elevate your flower arrangement game for some eye-grabbing creations just in time for spring.

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  • Things to do

Don't let the kids have all the fun. This adult Easter egg hunt kicks off with cocktails. In addition to re-experiencing the childhood glee of scavenging for colorful eggs, you'll also get the chance to win prizes like goodies from Vacation, Lanshin, Alice Mushrooms, and more, and even a one-night stay at The William Vale. 

The Easter Hoppy Hour is at The William Vale on Sunday, March 31 from 2pm-5pm at the hotel's rooftop, The Turf Club. 

  • Things to do

The Plaza Hotel is gearing up for an egg-celent week leading up to Easter Sunday, starting with a series of afternoon tea hours starting March 24 until March 31 from 10am-4pm. The afternoon tea service will take place in the hotel's Palm Court, and will include a selection of Easter-themed pasties and sandwiches. 

If you're looking for an activity to do with younger kids, then you should head there for their famous egg hunt on Sunday, March 31, wehre you'll be able to scour the iconic hotel for a search game like no other. 

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  • Hotels

For one of the most elevated Easter Sunday brunches you can find, head over the Mandarin Oriental on Sunday, March 31 for a full buffet that includes seafood, as well as lamb and prime rib stations. An intricate dessert bar will display (literally) sweet bunny sculptures and other aesthetically pleasing delicacies. There are two seatings for that day's brunch—one at 11am and the other at 1pm. There will also be an egg hunt at the lobby at 10:30am and 12:30pm.

Plus, given the hotel's incredible location along Columbus Circle, you'll be able to marvel at the spring blooms from high up in skyscaper near Central Park.

  • Art
  • Art

For more than a century, the Statue of Liberty has offered inspiration as a beacon of freedom, equality, and democracy. And for just as long, she has also served as an inspiration for tattoo artists. 

A new exhibit at City Reliquary, a jewel box of a museum in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood, features vintage State of Liberty tattoos. As the first show devoted to Lady Liberty ink, it also traces tattooing history in NYC since the 1800s. "Liberty the Tattooed Lady: The Great Bartholdi Statue as Depicted in Tattooing" is now open through January 12, 2025.

The exhibition spotlights antique flash, vintage photographs, drawings, and other ephemera that show how Lady Liberty has been a popular subject in tattooing for as long as she’s stood in New York Harbor. You'll even get to see vintage tattoo art that's never been on display before.

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  • Events & Festivals

In the TV show "The Masked Singer," celebrity contestants disguise themselves head to toe in elaborate costumes to shield their identities. The concept has captivated audiences of all ages for 11 seasons, and now you can see the incredible costumes up-close and in-person. 

The Paley Center for Media will present " Spotlighting the Costumes That Captivated America" at its midtown museum through Sunday, May 19. 

The costumes on display, which helped the show win two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Costume Design, merge fashion, fantasy, and artistry. Each is a fantastical creation, extraordinary in its intricacy, originality, and scale. Some of the fan-favorite costumes include Miss Monster, Flamingo, Chameleon, and Gazelle.

  • Theater
  • Theater & Performance

See some of Broadway's most famous shows through fresh eyes at this new exhibit at the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. The exhibition showcases lenticular prints, which appear to animate as you move around. 

"Reanimating Theater: The Photography of Friedman-Abeles," runs through September 25, 2024. It brings to life photographs by Friedman-Abeles Studio of some of Broadway's most beloved productions from 1954-1970, like West Side StoryCamelot, and Bye, Bye Birdie

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  • Restaurants
  • Eating

During the mega-popular Mel's F.O.M.O (Friends of Mel's Oven) pizza series, chef Melissa Rodriguez highlights creations by pro chef pals. The popular project is now in its third iteration, highlighting pizzas made by 2024 James Beard-nominated chefs like Telly Justice from Hags and Loring Place's Dan Kluger. 

The series runs through April 19 and reservations are required. You can make one right here.

  • Things to do
  • Events & Festivals

Everybody knows that May 4th is every Star Wars fanatic’s favorite holiday—notably because the date sounds like one of the most iconic lines in the film (May the 4th be with you). Luckily, you don’t have to wait two more months for that date to roll by: Now through April 29, Star Wars is taking over the Empire State Building with multiple displays that celebrate the legendary franchise scattered throughout the building.

Leading up to May 4th, fans can also expect more announcements of new product drops, including for apparel, accessories, collectibles, and more.

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  • Art
  • Art

The Rubin Museum, that legendary building in Chelsea that has housed the largest collection of Himalayan art in the world for two decades, is permanently closing its physical space later this year. As sad as this is for New York’s culture scene, New Yorkers at least get to enjoy the museum until October, and you should definitely plan to make the most of it until then. 

The museum’s last exhibit, “Reimagine: Himalayan Art Now, will be an appropriate, forward-looking nod to 32 contemporary artists from the Himalayas and the Asian diaspora whose work will be shown in dialogue with objects from the museum’s existing collection.

The will continue all the way through the museum's physical closing on October 6. Expect to see 32 new commissions and work across mediums, including painting, sculpture, sound, video, performance and more.

  • Museums

Featuring 60 works from The Met's collection, this exhibition traces the history and transformation of product photography, and delves into the techniques and messaging that brands have used throughout time. The photos include an ad for Panama hats in 1916, lipstick from the 1940s, shoes from the 1950s, and so much more.

"The Real Thing: Unpackaging Product Photography" is on view through August 4.

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  • Art
  • Art

The author and illustrator who ignited our childhood imaginations with tales of cuddly bunnies, mischievous squirrels and daring ducks is getting a well-deserved spotlight in NYC.

The wholesome and beautiful works of beloved children’s author and land conservationist Beatrix Potter are now on view at The Morgan Library & Museum through June 9.

Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature” is the most darling show in the city right now. The exhibition even features a delightful recreation of Potter’s home that you can actually sit and read in. 

  • Comedy
  • Stand-up
This stand-up comedy show invites audience members submit their everyday problems, complaints or questions for comedians to offer their best (and probably wrong but definitely hilarious) advice. Think: My boyfriend won't propose, my roommate is a slob, etc. Shows are on the last Friday of each month (that's March 29, April 26, May 24, June 28, July 26, and so on) with different comedians each time.
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  • Comedy

Sydney Duncan invites you into the innerworkings of the mind of an angry Black woman.

In this one-woman show, you'll see character comedian make good use of impressions, storytelling and characters to explore "the complex relationship Black women have with their anger. How do they display, conceal, and really feel about true emotions they tend not to show the world…but what if they did?" 

See "ACAB: Angry, Crazy & Black!" at Brooklyn Art Haus on Sunday, March 31. The show features SNL writer Vannessa Jackson as a special guest opener.

  • Comedy

Say cheers at this happy hour where cold drinks are served up alongside hot jokes. Say Something Funny, a monthly happy hour comedy show, brings together standups and musical comedians for a fun evening. 

This month's show is on Friday, March 29 at Poco NYC. It's hosted by musical comedian Nikki MacCallum (VH1) and the hilarious Lauren Festa who recently headlined at the Finger Lakes Comedy Festival. The lineup of comics features Michael Thomas Geary (Vermont Comedy Festival), Laura Merli (Reductress), Elle Orlando (Sirius XM), and Jamell Sirleaf (World Series of Comedy). Also don't miss the five varieties of mac-and-cheese (!!!) that'll be offered at the event. 

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  • Art

At a time when only 11% of acquisitions at U.S. museums are created by female-identifying artists, the Brooklyn Museum's Center for Feminist Art is displaying 48 emerging and established women photographers. 

The exhibit showcases photographs from artists born in or working from Europe, including Vanessa Beecroft, Carolle Bénitah, and Silvia Rosi. Everything in the exhibit was made after the year 2000 and focuses on issues of migration, the legacies of nationalism in Europe, and the male gaze as a patriarchal power structure. See it through July 7.

  • Art

Guest curated by Valeri Larko, this mixed-media exhibition at Red Hook’s Basin Gallery & Studios spotlights the original works of four female artists: Rodriguez Calero, Airco Caravan, Daina Higgins and Arlene Rush.

In their own way, each of the creators addresses women’s rights and social justice issues throughout their art. For example, Calero’s acrollage paintings like “A Life Cut Short” and “Target of Prejudice” respond to hate crimes and acts of humanity against people of color, while Caravan comments on racism, sexism, misogyny and way through her bold, colorful series featuring humorous household products, like pest-spray bottles. The powerful art runs through April 21, 2024.

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  • Art
  • Art

The Harlem Renaissance had an indisputable impact on American culture, but chances are that you probably didn’t spend much time learning about it in school. That’s because, even though it shaped global literature, music, and art, Black Americans’ historical contributions have been systematically erased or gone unacknowledged for centuries.

A groundbreaking exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art hopes to be a part of rectifying the erasure and celebrating Black artists and intellectuals.

"The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism" presents 160 works by Black artists from the Harlem Renaissance and delves into many different aspects of the movement, mostly through the lens of paintings and sculpture. You can get your tickets here

  • Nightlife
  • Nightlife

Puttery is a new, adults-only mini-golf and nightlife destination that just opened at 446 West 14th Street by Washington Street in the Meatpacking District and is backed by, among others, Irish professional golfer Rory McIlroy.

The first location of its kind in New York, Puttery spans 24,000 square feet over five levels that feature an underground lounge and a total of three bars, including a rooftop one that will be open year-round (yes, there will be heat lamps on site). 

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  • Art
  • Art

With their vibrant colors, delicate ruffles, and dramatic shapes, orchids love to show off their looks. This spring, the New York Botanical Garden is giving the divas of the plant world their moment in the spotlight as part of “The Orchid Show: Florals in Fashion.”

Three up-and-coming designers created massive installations inspired by these fashionable flowers. In one, you'll see orchids turned into avant-garde clothing. Another features a regal orchid queen. The final section draws upon AI to create anthropomorphic creatures who don floral outfits. Florals in Fashion is on view through April 21 at NYBG in the Bronx; adult tickets cost $35.

  • Restaurants
  • Eating

There’s a lot of good to see at this Manhattan subway stop. 

Two years after opening the subterranean bar Nothing Really Matters, hospitality professional Adrien Gallo continues building his subway station empire, opening See No Evil Pizza last week on the concourse level of the downtown-bound 1 train station at 50th Street and Broadway—a space that once housed a Dunkin’. It joins his Tiny Dancer Coffee on the same concourse.

“I basically transformed a subway station that was super neglected to a destination spot in the middle of Times Square,” Gallo tells Time Out New York.  

Find See No Evil Pizza is located on the concourse level of the downtown-bound 1 train station at 50th Street and Broadway. It is open for pop-ins and Resy reservations Monday-Saturday from 5pm-midnight. 

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  • Art

Deep-dive into the works of American ceramist and painter Toshiko Takaezu with this retrospective and monograph at the Noguchi Museum in Queens through July 28, 2024.

The first nationally touring retrospective of Takaezu’s work in twenty years, Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within will feature about 200 pieces from private and public collections around the country, including her rarely-seen acrylic paintings and weavings, ceramic sculptures including her signature “closed forms,” Moons, Garden Seats, Trees, and select works from her late masterpiece, the Star Series. 

Following its presentation at The Noguchi Museum, the exhibition—which is organized with assistance from the Toshiko Takaezu Foundation and the Takaezu familywill travel to several additional venues across the United States.

  • Art

This is more than your garden-variety art exhibition–None Whatsoever: Zen Paintings from the Gitter-Yelen Collection is, yes, a tranquil display of Zen Buddhist artwork. But it will also feature in-gallery activities like meditation sessions, calligraphy workshops, a tea ceremony demonstration and an ikebana (floral arrangement) workshop.

Spanning over 400 years and drawn from the Gitter-Yelen Collection, the exhibit explores the origins of Zen Buddhism through more than 50 works by Buddhist painter-monks, including the 18th-century master Hakuin Ekaku. You can check out the show now through Sunday, June 16 at the Japan Society. 

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  • Comedy
  • Comedy

After months of anticipation and some delays, it’s actually official this time—Second City, Chicago’s prestigious comedy club that is responsible for incubating talent like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Steve Carrell, just opened the doors of its New York location.

The new site of Second City, located at 64 N. 9th St. in Williamsburg, is less of a traditional comedy club than it is a sort of small campus for comedy aficionados. The 12,000-square-foot, two-floor complex includes two cabaret-style live theaters, a training center charged with raising the next generation of iconic comedians, and a restaurant bar called The Bentwood.  

  • Things to do

The Children’s Museum of Manhattan is celebrating Women’s History Month by spotlighting pioneering female artists throughout the entire month of March.

Attendees of all ages can honor engineer Emily Warren Roebling—known for her contributions to the Brooklyn Bridge—by making their own bridges with wire, foam and other mixed media materials. Make like artist Augusta Savage, a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance, by creating a three-dimensional self-portrait inspired by her work. Get in tune with jazz icon Ella Fitzgerald by creating cardboard-tube microphones and crooning to the singer’s famous ballads, or tap into your inner scientist by sculpting teeny-tiny critters inspired by the work of entomologist Sophie Lutterlough.

Check out the full month’s lineup of activities at the CMOM website.

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  • Art
  • Art

"Giants," the Brooklyn Museum's latest exhibition, fits its name in many facets. First of all, the show relies on the art collection of two titans in the music industry, Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz (Kasseem Dean). Much of the artwork itself is massive, taking over major swaths of the museum. The exhibition features artists who have made and continue to make a significant impact on the art world and contemporary culture.

Finally, and most importantly, the exhibit encourages big conversations that celebrate Blackness, critique society, and imagine a collective future. "Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys" runs through July 7, 2024. The show features 98 artworks by Black American, African, and African diasporic artists including Gordon Parks, Kehinde Wiley, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Mickalene Thomas, Hassan Hajjaj, Barkley L. Hendricks, Lorna Simpson, and Amy Sherald. 

"The Deans consider all of the artists in the show as giants. They have these very strong relationships with the artists that they collect. It's not about transaction. It's about being stewards and advocates and supporters of these artists," Brooklyn Museum curator Kimberli Gant told Time Out New York.

  • Art
  • Art

Mercer Labs, Museum of Art and Technology, a new immersive museum is now open. It's the brainchild of Roy Nachum, the artist behind Rihanna’s famous 2016 “Anti” album cover, and his business partner Michael Cayre, a real estate developer. 

The 36,000-square-foot space is located at 21 Dey Street, inside the bank building that used to be part of the now-nextdoor Century 21. It's filled with room after room of immersive fun.

The first of 15 experiences, for example, will take you through a giant room equipped with 26-foot-high projectors that blast a series of images all around that will have you feel like you've just taken a swim inside the sorts of motifs that Nachum explores throughout his work. You will quite literally land inside his art pieces.

In another room, which is being branded as one of only three 4D sound studios in the world, guests are asked to wear a blindfold and lay on the floor to properly enjoy the sounds blasting out of the 36 speakers that are embedded under the elevated floor.

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  • Things to do
  • Events & Festivals

As Black History Month approaches, NYC's Paley Center for Media is hosting a new exhibit to celebrate two pivotal civil rights leaders: Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. 

The exhibit, titled "Paley Celebrates National Geographic’s Genius: MLK/X – Two Minds, One Movement," will run through March 31 at 25 West 52nd Street. The exhibition draws from the National Geographic show about the two figures. Admission costs $20.

Drawing from the TV show, the exhibit will feature costumes, props, and set pieces from the series, along with craft activities. Head to the big screen in The Paley Museum’s second-floor theater to see films from the Paley Archive celebrating the incredible lives of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X as well as the premiere episode of Genius: MLK/X

  • Art
  • Art

The Harlem Renaissance changed the trajectory of American culture, and no other artist encapsulates the spirit of that era better than poet Langston Hughes. He wrote unapologetically about Black life at a time when segregation was law and few Black artists were allowed into the American cultural zeitgeist.

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is honoring Hughes and his friendship with photographer, filmmaker, and U.S. Foreign Service Officer Griffith J. Davis in its exhibit "The Ways of Langston Hughes." The free exhibit at the Schomburg Center's Latimer Gallery in Harlem will include photographs of Hughes and Davis, who met in Atlanta, as well as more of Hughes' friendships through letters, artwork and other memorabilia.

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  • Art

New York is a dog-loving town, a truth beautifully displayed in this “Dogs of New York” exhibition, featuring the Bic-pen illustrations of Israeli artist Shani Nizan.

"When you walk the streets of New York City, it's easy to feel lonely sometimes, until a dog passes by and looks at you as if they know you well. I usually initiate a small conversation with them until I remember that there is a person attached behind,” said Nizan per a press release.

The artist then decides to spread joy to the dog owners themselves by gifting them “human-animal” postcards of their pups. That act expanded into this art exhibition, where the creator delves into the dog culture of New York, exploring different breeds and neighborhoods throughout the city. 

See the show at Moshava Art Gallery in the West Village through April 18.

  • Art

Taking over the Asia Society through August 11, 2024, this immersive photography and video exhibition will bring together the works of more than 50 photographers and video artists from China and around the world to visualize the causes and consequences of the climate crisis.

The showwhich will take attendees from deep within coal mines to the melting glaciers of the greater Himalaya—is co-curated by photographer Susan Meiselas and international exhibition designer Jeroen de Vries, and led by Orville Schell, Asia Society Vice President and Arthur Ross Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations.

Along with the artworks themselves, the exhibition will feature a series of speaker events, performances, films and more throughout the run of the exhibition. 

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  • Theater
  • Musicals
  • Midtown WestOpen run

Nicholas Sparks's bestselling 1996 novel, which inspired a popular 2004 movie, is now also the source of an original musical by indie singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson and playwright Bekah Brunstetter. The show charts a romance that begins in the 1940s, and the central is played—in different chapters of their story—by Maryann Plunkett, Dorian Harewood, Joy Woods, Ryan Vasquez, Jordan Tyson and John Cardoza; the supporting cast includes Andréa Burns.

The production, directed by Michael Greif and Schele Williams, arrives on Broadway after a well-received 2022 run at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

  • Art

Weaving is one of the oldest art forms in human history, dating back more than 10,000 years, but you can see the ancient craft from a news perspective in this new exhibition at the Met. Now through June 16, textiles from four modern practitioners—Anni Albers, Sheila Hicks, Lenore Tawney and Olga de Amaral—will be showcased alongside pieces by Andean artists from the first millennium BCE to the 16th century.

Weaving Abstraction in Ancient and Modern Art will feature more than 50 works, curated by Iria Candela (Estrellita B. Brodsky Curator of Latin American Art in the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art) and Joanne Pillsbury (Andrall E.Pearson Curator of the Arts of the Ancient Americas in The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing).

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  • LGBTQ+

Fans of RuPaul's Drag Race rejoice. Arlo Williamsburg is hosting 1,200+ person watch parties every Friday night from 7-10pm so you can experience this season the way it was meant to be experienced — around hundreds of screaming Drag Race fans.

Hosted by Drag Race alum Mirage, consider this your weekend pregame or it can be the main event, too — there will be cocktails, giant screens and drag queens with things to say.

  • Art
  • Art

Miranda Priestly once famously said, "Florals? For spring? Groundbreaking." But at Color Factory, florals for spring are actually groundbreaking as the interactive art experience in Soho takes flowery themes to immersive new levels. 

Color Factory's “Colors in Bloom” experience is now open—exactly at the time when we could all mercifully use a break from the gray landscapes and cold nights.

For example, there's the Central Park Confetti Room, complete with larger-than-life pink cherry blossoms inspired by the city's first sign of spring. Tickets start at $38/person for the experience, which runs through mid-May.

 

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  • Museums

The International Center for Photography (ICP) in the Lower East Side is celebrating five decades of its existence with ICP at 50: From the Collection, an exhibit that will showcase photography from their archives dating back from 1845 till 2019. Notable names at the exhibit include Robert Mapplethorpe, Carrie Mae Weems, and Laurie Simmons. The show's on view through May 6. 

Along with the retrospective, the ICP is also celebrating the opening of David Seidner: Fragments, 1977-99, the first major exhibit highlighting Seidner's prolific fashion photography career before his passing in 1999. 

  • Movies

If you've ever dreamt of eating the food you see in movies and TV shows, then look no further than Fork n' Film, which will soon be diving deep into Louisiana cuisine. Up next, they're featuring "Princess and the Frog," which means they're serving up some of the Cajun specialties featured on the show including Jambalaya, Beignets, Chicken Andouille Gumbo, and King Cake Martinis. They'll be showing the Disney classic every weekend in March at the Mastercard Midnight Theatre in Manhattan.

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  • Art

An exuberant celebration of fashion, the "Fashion Forward" exhibit will showcase original paintings, textiles, garments and drawings from icons like Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Balmain, Hubert de Givenchy, Karl Lagerfeld, Alexander McQueen, and many others. Located in the dynamic Crown Heights gallery "B" Dry Goods, this exhibit will run until March 30 on Thursdays-Saturdays from 12pm-6pm, as well as some Sundays. Although the exhibit is free, everything on display will be for sale.

Other highlights of the exhibit include a traveling trunk for Queen Marie Antoinette’s wardrobe and an original Givenchy sketch of the black dress that Audrey Hepburn's wore in "Breakfast at Tiffany's." This is perfect for anyone interested in taking a look behind the scenes of fashion's biggest moments.

  • Comedy

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

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

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

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  • Art

In her first solo museum exhibition, sculptor Auriea Harvey will bring her net-based interactives and augmented reality sculptures to the Museum of the Moving Image through June. Titled Auriea Harvey: My Veins Are the Wires, My Body Is Your Keyboard, the showcase will highlight a collection of more than 40 works from Harvey’s nearly four-decade career, including oversized playable projections of her video games, intricate 3D-printed pieces and even early works plucked from her handbound sketchbooks. 

Regina Harsanyi, the Museum’s Associate Curator of Media Arts who organized the exhibition, notes: “Auriea Harvey has persistently reimagined and redefined the creative boundaries of networked technologies for more than three decades. She possesses a remarkable sensitivity to how the digital revolution of the 1990s spawned a societal shift in the way humans connect.”

  • Things to do
  • Events & Festivals

Two New York City hotels are offering outdoor spa experiences this winter—The William Vale in Brooklyn and The Rockaway Hotel + Spa in Queens, so grab your swimwear and make a reservation. 

At The William Vale, enjoy the views while indulging in some much-needed stress relief. Bask in the heat of a barrel sauna with panoramic skyline views or soak in a cedar hot tub under the stars—or both! The experience makes for a special solo trip or a romantic date night. 

At The Rockaway Hotel, enjoy a resort-style escape not too far from Manhattan. For the winter, the hotel has transformed its patio area into a winter pool house with cedar saunas and cozy decor. Plus, the outdoor pool is open for a refreshing plunge. After your dip, you can slip into a buttery robe and relax with tabletop games.

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  • Art
  • Art

Inside a venue dating back 100 years into the past, a new art show explores a question of the future: How can human creativity and artificial intelligence coexist?

ARTECHOUSE, located inside an old boiler room at Chelsea Market, has debuted its latest digital art exhibition, “World of AI·magination;” tickets are on sale here starting at $21/person. To create the exhibition, ARTECHOUSE Studio developed original visual elements with generative AI systems. Designers hope to inspire visitors to consider AI as a "creative associate rather than a mere tool for innovation." 

World of AI·magination centers around a 20-minute cinematic experience with six scenes. One scene, called the Library of Magical Portals, features colossal books brimming with dreams and algorithms. Another scene called Symphony of Illusions constantly morphs, while the Infinite Maze immerses visitors into multiple parallels.

  • Museums

The Grolier Club is America's oldest society for bibliophiles, and they're showcasing decades' worth of bookbinding magic at their 60th Street headquarters. Highlights of the exhibit include silver filigreed and jeweled binding from the 1600s, as well as bindings that date back all the way to the 1540s.

The exhibition highlights more than 100 historic and fine bindings, tracing the evolution of decorated bindings and celebrating the works as three-dimensional art objects. The oldest in the collection is pigskin binding with etched brass cornerpieces and central boss, while the newest is a 2019 free-drawn gilded design in a polychrome palette. 

"Judging a Book by Its Cover: Bookbindings from the Collections of The Grolier Club, 1470s-2020" runs through April 13, 2024. It's free to attend, but make sure to book a tour or attend a talk for the full experience.

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  • Music

On Sunday mornings at 11am in Manhattan, GatherNYC creates the community and spiritual nourishment of a religious service, but the religion here is music. All are welcome at these hour-long performances of classical music by celebrated local artists. Coffee and pastries are available for free.

These upcoming events are held at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in Columbus Circle. Shows are scheduled through May 2024. Here’s what’s on the calendar:

• March 31: Juilliard Quartet
• April 14: Maeve Gilchrist (harp)
• April 28: Majel Connery + Felix Fan: Rivers are our Brothers
• May 12: Ocean Music Action: Megan Conley (harp) + friends
• May 26: Kristin Lee (violin) + friends 

  • Art
  • Mixed media

Journey back in time to the Lower East Side at the turn of the century. A new exhibit at The Museum at Eldridge Street introduces the often-overlooked stories of 29 women who lived or worked in the neighborhood. 

The exhibition, titled "28 Remarkable Women...and One Scoundrel" features mixed media portraits by artist Adrienne Ottenberg, which are printed on silk and cotton banners. They're hung throughout the museum's gallery and historic sanctuary. Stories about the women highlight the work, life, and impact they made culturally, on social justice movements, and more.

Those featured in the exhibition include:

  • Political activist Frances Perkins, who upon witnessing the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, took on an influential role in the worker's rights advocacy movement. That led her to eventually become President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Secretary of Labor—the first-ever woman cabinet member.
  • Suffragist and activist Mabel Ping-Hua Lee who campaigned for women’s rights to vote and was the first Chinese woman in the U.S. to earn her doctorate.
  • Public healthcare worker Elizabeth Tyler, who was the first Black nurse hired at Henry Street Settlement. She went on later to establish the Stillman House Settlement on Manhattan's West Side, which provided health care and social services to the Black community in San Juan Hill.

See the show at the Lower East Side venue through May 5, 2024. The museum is open Sunday through Friday from 10am to 5pm. Admission is $15/adult; pay-what-you-wish admission is offered on Monday and Fridays. Reserve in advance here.

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  • Sports and fitness
  • Sports & Fitness

After two years of outdoor play, Carreau Club, the nation’s first pétanque bar has expanded with an indoor location with more space to get your game on while sipping a drink.

The new indoor venue is now open at Brooklyn's Industry City. 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.

Plus, every Friday, there's a free petanque tournament for all levels called the Mix and Match Tournament. Just show up before sign-ups at 7 and bring your A-game. The winner gets a free T-shirt. 

  • Art
  • Art

As she donned the black robe for her role on the Supreme Court, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was known to adorn the traditional garment with a wide array of collars and necklaces. 

Now, her fashion is getting the spotlight in a new photography exhibit called "RBG Collars: Photographs by Elinor Carucci." See it at The Jewish Museum on the Upper East Side through May 27, 2024. 

The installation features two dozen photographs of the late justice’s collars and necklaces taken shortly after Ginsburg died in 2020. This is the first time the Carucci’s photographs are being shown at the Jewish Museum since the images were acquired in 2021.

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  • Art
  • Public art

A pastel-hued floral mural with a feminist message is the newest addition to the High Line. Titled “Thank You Darling,” this mural by Dutch artist Lily van der Stokker celebrates the playful, feminine realm often overlooked or derided in our culture. 

"Van der Stokker’s work, which she has referred to as 'feminist conceptual pop art,' is undeniably joyful and positive. However, it often simultaneously speaks to weighty themes—aging, health, and, more generally, the lived experience of being a woman within patriarchal structures," a press release from High Line Art explains.

Her installation for the High Line continues this practice for a wide public audience, offering a sweet expression of gratitude to the millions of passersby and inhabitants of nearby buildings. Find the words THANK YOU DARLiNG (with that capitalization) on the side of a building adjacent to the High Line at 22nd Street.

With the word "darling" styled in bright yellow bubble letters, the mural seems to reach out to personally thank every single person who sees it. Check it out through November 2024.

"What a pleasure to lift Lily van der Stokker's cheerful message to the New York City skyline," said Cecilia Alemani, the Donald R. Mullen Director and Chief Curator of High Line Art. "We hope her work brings visitors and New Yorkers alike a feeling of joy and appreciation."

  • Things to do

There's something unusual "blooming" among Bella Abzug Park's natural fauna.

Part of a solo exhibition by Korean American artist Sui Park, this outdoor installation in Hudson Yards features the artist's biomorphic sculptures, which are shockingly made using plastic materials like zip ties and fishing line.

For Park, who trained as both an architect and in the ancient art of Korean basketry, "nature is a sacred space that allows her to slow down, consider her surroundings, acknowledge her thoughts, and find inspiration," reads a press release. "With this exhibition, she captures that sentiment using humble materials and reconstructs them into whimsical forms, awakening one’s senses and encouraging others to connect with their thoughts as well as their surroundings."

See the artwork now through fall 2024.

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  • Things to do

Oppenheimer took over movie screens last summer, and now you can learn about the physicist's New York City connections on these new walking tours. 

This nearly three-hour stroll through the Upper West Side explores how New York City raised the "father of the atomic bomb" and the "destroyer of worlds." Learn about J. Robert Oppenheimer’s early years on the west side of Manhattan and how his education shaped his adulthood. The tour also showcases the sites of the Manhattan Project and explores the legacy left by the atomic bomb.

Here's the full schedule of Oppenheimer tours.

The tour's hosted by K. Krombie's Purefinder tours, which also run tours called "Death in New York," "The Psychiatric History of New York" and "Hell Gate." Each one explore the city's darker side through meticulously researched and theatrically presented historical narratives. 

  • Art
  • Art

The vibrant, ornate stained glass windows inside Manhattan's historic churches always create a dazzling spectacle. But now, a new long-term art display inspired by those rich colors has unfurled inside the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Morningside Heights—the world's largest Gothic cathedral

Titled "Divine Pathways," the monumental art installation is made up of more than 1,100 lengths of blue, red and gold fabric. Each ribbon measures 75 feet in length (approximately seven stories high). Combined, they are almost 16 miles long—that's longer than the island of Manhattan!  

St. John the Divine is open daily for self-guided sightseeing tours with a $15/adult admission fee; timed tickets are recommended. "Divine Pathways" will be on view through June 2024. 

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  • Art
  • Art

Beautiful, buoyant, beguiling bubbles are coming back to the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) in Queens as of Friday, November 17. The beloved bubbles exhibit, which has been closed for five years, will return bigger, better and bubblier than ever.

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

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

  • Things to do
  • City Life

Majestic, incredible elephants are getting the spotlight in a new exhibit at The American Museum of Natural History. "The Secret World of Elephants" showcases both modern and ancient elephants, offering visitors a chance to see a full-scale model of a woolly mammoth, learn about what elephants eat, touch an elephant's tooth, listen to elephant calls and more.

The exhibition is now open in the museum’s LeFrak Family Gallery. An additional ticket is required to visit the exhibit; museum members can visit for free.

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  • Things to do
  • Events & Festivals

Explore "The End of Fossil Fuel," the latest pop-up from the NYC Climate Museum. It's free to visit in Soho and offers a bevy of eye-opening activities for all ages.

Inside the gallery, a collection of maps will put climate change issues into perspective, alongside text panels about the history of the fossil fuel industry. The exhibits trace the origins of the climate and inequality crises and how we got to where we are today. Other activations include a sticker wall where visitors commit to specific climate actions and a kids' corner with books and drawing materials.

Find the pop-up at 105 Wooster Street in Soho through April 30, 2024. The museum is free to visit and open to all. It's open Wednesdays-Sundays from 1-6pm. 

  • Things to do
  • Weird & Wonderful

In New York City, it can be hard to find an apartment with a nice bathtub you'd actually want to soak in. Heck, it can be hard to find an apartment where the shower isn't in a closet in the living room (ahem, this $1.25 million StreetEasy listing).

But now cosmetics company LUSH is solving that very New York problem with a new book-a-bath service just launched this week. In addition to indulgent baths, LUSH Spa Lexington also offers massage treatments and facials, creating a calming oasis near hectic midtown. Find the newly opened spa on the Upper East Side at Lexington Avenue and East 61st Street.

Given the fact that LUSH invented the bath bomb, they’re pros when it comes to bathing. For the book-a-bath experience, head through the store and climb the stairs to the spa. Inside a petite pink-and-white bathroom, a clawfoot tub beckons. Before your bath, a staff member will prepare the water with a Snow Fairy bath bomb, which creates glittery pastel pink water. Plus, they’ll offer a fresh face mask tailored for your skin, a curated playlist and a cup of vegan hot chocolate. 

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  • Art

In a pioneering exhibition, the Brooklyn Museum will present the first-ever museum show dedicated to zines by artists in North America. "Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines" encompasses more than 800 objects examining how artists have used the medium of zines over the past half century.

This exhibition explores the largely unexamined, yet vibrant aesthetic practice of zines. Zines have been widely used to create and foster communities outside of dominant culture since the early 1970s, when more affordable reproduction technologies like the photocopy machine became widely accessible. The exhibition documents the zine’s relationship to a range of avant-garde practices and intersections with other mediums, including painting, drawing, collage, photography, performance, sculpture, video, and film. From conceptual art to punk and street culture to queer and feminist practices, this canon-expanding exhibition interrogates hierarchies between media and features artworks by nearly one hundred artists.

It'll be on view November 17, 2023–March 31, 2024.

 

  • Art
  • Art

When Jack Kliger, President & CEO of the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in Battery Park City, and his team started working on a new kid-friendly exhibit about the Holocaust almost four years ago, they could not have imagined the chaotic world order that the show was eventually going to premiere in.

"Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark" tells the story of the Danish Rescue, when citizens of the European country came together to usher nearly 7,000 Jews to safety and away from concentration camps during World War II.

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  • Theater
  • Circuses & magic
  • Midtown EastOpen run

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

The charming Steve Cohen, billed as the Millionaires’ Magician, conjures high-class parlor magic in the marble-columned Madison Room at the swank Lotte New York Palace. Dress to be impressed (cocktail attire is required); tickets start at $125, with an option to pay more for meet-and-greet time and extra tricks with Cohen after the show. If you've come to see a classic-style magic act, you get what you pay for.

Sporting a tuxedo and bright rust hair, the magician delivers routines that he has buffed to a patent-leather gleam: In addition to his signature act—"Think-a-Drink," involving a kettle that pours liquids by request—highlights include a lulu of levitation trick and a card-trick finale that leaves you feeling like, well, a million bucks.

  • Art

Check out the brand-new mural by Brooklyn-based artist Steffi Lynn Tsai at 25 Kent in Brooklyn. Wedged between Williamsburg and Greenpoint, the vibrant mural is a reflection of the creative community around it, with an appropriate and resounding message in tough times: "Enjoy the Process, It Starts Here."

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  • Art

Can cow manure be turned into casings for loudspeakers and lamps? MoMA’s latest exhibition says “yes.”

“Life Cycles: The Materials of Contemporary Design” is now open on the museum’s street-level gallery. The exhibit explores the ways designers can repurpose the materials around us to extend their life cycle and promote environmental preservation. Approximately 80 pieces will be on display, including bricks made from crop waste and fungi mycelium and panels made from corn husks. 

The exhibition, curated by Paola Antonelli, will be on display until July 7, 2024.

  • Sports and fitness
  • Sports & Fitness

Wild Captives, the nation’s first female- and LGBTQ-owned archery studio, is now open. It's a place where everyone can "be their own superhero." The studio in Brooklyn’s Industry City offers empowering and fun hour-long introduction to archery classes every weekend for $45/person. 

Each intro class includes a chance to learn about different parts of the bow and safety requirements. After the lesson, each participant gets a chance to shoot the bow trying to pop a balloon pinned onto the bullseye. Intro-to-archery classes are available each Friday, Saturday and Sunday, bookable online for anyone over age 12.

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  • Things to do
  • City Life

America’s first Black popular music icon is getting his due with a massive new center that houses a 60,000-piece collection and a venue for live music, lectures and screenings.

NYC’s Louis Armstrong House Museum has now opened its new facility, the Louis Armstrong Center—and it’s a big deal!

The space acts as a permanent home for the 60,000-piece Louis Armstrong Archive (the world’s largest for a jazz musician containing photos, recordings, manuscripts, letters & mementos) and a 75-seat venue for performances, lectures, films, and educational experiences.

The Center and the historic house are now open to the public Thursdays through Saturdays. Tickets can be purchased at louisarmstronghouse.org. Tours have limited capacity, so book in advance.

  • Things to do
  • Events & Festivals

The phrase “women’s work” is often used derisively to indicate labor that’s seen as “less than,” but a new exhibit at New-York Historical Society reclaims that phrase. Aptly titled "Women's Work," the show chronicles the history of women's contributions to labor and how those efforts are both inherently political and essential to American society. 

The exhibit features dozens of objects in the museum's collection from indenture documents to medical kits to military uniforms. With items ranging from the 1740s to today, the show celebrates the strides society has made in equality while not shying away from highlighting the gender-based inequalities that persist today.

It's on view thorugh August 18, 2024. 

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  • 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.

  • Things to do

If you're not a paint-and-sip kind of person, try Act & Sip, a beer-fueled acting workshop in an Off-Broadway Theater with expert instructors. They pair students off with partners and hand over the pages to a scene from a well-known iconic NYC sitcom or movie, offering tips along the way to help performers conquer stage fright and discover their inner actor.

This event is perfect for bachelorette parties, after-work outings, or just a fun night with friends to get on stage with a little help from liquid courage. You don't need any experience, but you must be 21 or older and BYOB.

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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, starting at $29 for adults.

  • 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 now; 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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  • Movies
  • Movies

With a full restaurant, craft cocktails, comfy reclining seats and even more bells and whistles, this new movie theater in Hell's Kitchen elevates the movie-going experience. LOOK Dine-in Cinemas is now open in VIA 57 West, the pyramid-shaped building located at West 57th Street and 11th Avenue. 

With a 15-year lease, LOOK's operating in a 25,000-square-foot venue that used to house Landmark cinema until it closed in 2020. This is the company's first New York City location. At this fancy theater, you can relax in a heated seat while ordering dinner directly to your seat in the theater. 

  • 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 ($35/adult) are on sale here.

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  • 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. 

  • 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.

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  • Art
  • Art

Peek inside this new, teeny-tiny shop in Harlem to find some fun gifts for someone on your list or for yourself.

MoonLab 42 measures in at just under 5 feet wide, but the store manages to house zines, books, records, incense, prints, candles, decorative objects, ceramics, jewelry, accessories, clothing and more. “It feels like a Mary Poppins bag,” Ruso Margishvili, the concept store’s co-owner tells us.

 

  • Things to do
  • Weird & Wonderful

On a typical tour of Manhattan, the big tourist attractions—Times Square, the Empire State Building, Central Park—get all the attention. But on these new walking tours by a local author, you'll see fascinating historical sites that you won't find in a typical guidebook. 

K. Krombie's Purefinder tours, "Death in New York," "The Psychiatric History of New York" and "Hell Gate," explore the city's darker side through meticulously researched and theatrically presented historical narratives.

Each tour covers about 2.5 miles in about two-and-a-half hours. “Death in New York” and “The Psychiatric History of New York” are offered weekly, while “Hell Gate” is offered twice per month. Tours cost $32-$34 per person; you can book one here.

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  • 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. 

  • Comedy

This is the only stand-up comedy show in a Brooklyn Boathouse, boasting some of the best local talent for free on the shore of the Gowanus Canal. Cuba Libre BYOB but beer, seltzers and non-alcoholic beverages are available for donation. Go see it every Friday night; check the group's Instagram for the weekly lineup.

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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 April 2024. 

  • 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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  • Things to do
  • Weird & Wonderful

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

Here are five things not to miss at Sloomoo, including a chance to get slimed and a DIY slime making activity.

  • Nightlife
  • Nightlife

Have some fun this weekend 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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  • Nightlife
  • Nightlife

A new nightlife venue called Deluxx Fluxx has taken over the former Studio at Webster Hall location, a 4,200-square-foot space beneath the famed music venue in the East Village, inspired by early arcades, punk rock, hip-hop and graffiti culture.

The venue brings "an immersive visual and audial art space and arcade" that promises to reinvigorate the artist-centric venues that defined New York City nightlife in the early 2000s. Part interactive art project and part performance venue, expect live entertainment, DJs, pinball machines, "artfully weird" video games, custom video work, costumed performers, floor-to-ceiling blacklight art interiors and a day-glo design palette. Some of the arcade games offer their own New York City flair, like Crown Heights King where pigeons battle to be the king of the neighborhood.

Here's more about the nightlife venue.

  • Things to do
  • City Life

Still working on that screenplay? Say goodbye to writer's block (hopefully) at Soho's newest coffee shop and creative space.

The Lost Draft, a newly opened film-inspired multipurpose space at 398 Broome Street (between Mulberry Street and Cleveland Place) promises to be a refuge for those eager to finally get those creative ideas on paper. Or on screen. 

Stop procrastinating and start writing, because The Lost Draft is open seven days a week from 7am-9pm, offering plenty of time to be creative. Here's our full story on the new cafe.

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  • Things to do
  • City Life

A bucolic 1920s English country golf club is on its way to NYC's concrete jungle! But with a twist. Swingers NoMad, a "crazy mini-golf course" and entertainment complex straight from London brought with it 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, and at Swingers NoMad, there will be six cocktail bars with signature classic cocktails from London and D.C., as well as 12 cocktails created specifically for Swingers NoMad, private rooms you can rent, an opulent clubhouse and four gourmet street food vendors—Sauce Pizzeria, Miznon, Fonda and Mah Ze Dahr Bakery.

  • Things to do
  • Markets and fairs

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 is now open for the season. Brooklyn Flea also operates in Chelsea year-round on Saturdays and Sundays, 8am-5pm, and the new Hester Flea on Saturdays, 11am-6pm.

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  • Nightlife
  • Nightlife

It's not every day that a new nightclub opens in New York City, especially one that harkens back to an old sort of New York—when nightclubs were the city's premiere destinations for some after-hours fun. That's 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. 

Shake Rattle & Roll Dueling Pianos
  • Things to do

Every Saturday night, 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. Grab a ticket and request songs in advance.

More things to do in NYC this weekend

The 50 best things to do in NYC for locals and tourists
  • Things to do

Every day, our staffers are eating, drinking, partying, gigging and generally appreciating their way throughout this fair town of ours. Which makes pinning down the most essential New York activities kinda…tough. We need to include the classics, naturally—art museums in NYC, stellar New York attractions, killer bars and restaurants in NYC—but also spotlight the more recent or little-known gems that we truly love. Consider the below your NYC Bible.

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