Things to do on a Sunday in New York

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

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

Tickets cost $25-$30 for general admission.

New York City has a glorious history of offering high-quality art and culture for rock-bottom prices. “Rock bottom” may not be what it once was, but at least the culture remains at the same high standard. And this summer, you can confirm that for yourself when Lincoln Center hosts concerts for as little as $5 through Saturday, August 9.

Or rather, $5 is the minimum amount for the “Choose-What-You-Pay” fee structure. The concerts comprise the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center series, part of Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City. Highlighting musicians from across the world who routinely perform with Lincoln Center, you might better know the Festival Orchestra from its previous iteration as the Mostly Mozart Festival. 

The annual Latin American Foto Festival (LAFF) features work by Latin American photographers exploring powerful and important topics. This year's festival, which runs through August 3, will include topics such as Venezuelans' reverse migration to South America; the housing crisis in Peru; youth-led resistance in Brazil; incarceration and the water crisis in El Salvador; life on a tiny island off the Caribbean coast of Colombia; decades of Bronx and Puerto Rican life; and the archival images of a Caribbean social club in Brooklyn. 

The festival is free and open to the public with exhibitions at El Maestro Boxing Gym, CasaAmadeo, and Bronx Arts Space, all in the Bronx. Exhibitions will also be on view in Manhattan at  Loisaida Center, in Queens at Terraza7, and in Brooklyn at Toñita’s Caribbean Social Club.

German-American actress and comedian Lucie Pohl invites comics born near and far to perform their best immigration-inspired stand-up, storytelling and sketch comedy.

Comedians for the Friday, August 1 show at Caveat include Felipe Torres Medina, Nataly Aukar, Peng Dang, Fareeha Khan, and more, plus prizes and games. Comedians represent Colombia, Lebanon, China, Pakistan, Romania, Germany and more. This month's show raises money for the New Women New Yorkers. 

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

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

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

— Friday, July 11: Daddy Rabbit plays David Bowie featuring Rahj Mason and Emily Braden
— Friday, July 18: Featuring Benny Benack III
— Friday, August 1: Featuring Steve Nelson and Rudy Royston
— Friday, August 29: Daddy Rabbit featuring Jackie Ribas 

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

Friday Night Fireworks run through Labor Day. Fireworks begin at approximately 9:45pm and launch in front of Deno's Wonderwheel Park providing a breathtaking backdrop to the iconic boardwalk and amusement parks.

The spectacular show is presented by the Alliance for Coney Island.

Remember that viral craze that washed ashore and flooded our Instagram, TikTok and Twitter feeds a few years back? Captivating videos of harmonizing choruses singing classic sea shanties that build into something akin to nautical symphonies.

If you want to get to bring that social trend into the real world, the South Street Museum has made it easy for you with a monthly sea-music event called “Sea Chanteys and Maritime Music.” The event is the original NYC shanty singalong, and it features members of The New York Packet singing songs round-robin from living rooms, kitchens and other spaces across the city. The music events occur in person aboard the 1885 tall ship Wavertree on select Sunday through fall (August 3, September 7, and October 5) with each singalong hosted by a local artist who will lead the group through a variety of traditional maritime work songs and ballads.

Dancing with thousands of strangers on a moonlit beach may sound like a dream, but this summer it’s a "Dreamscape." The Pines Party, New York’s largest summer queer nightlife event, is back this year with a trippy, dreamy theme. Think: surreal visuals, hypnotic beats, lapping waves and plenty of strange surprises. The massive annual Fire Island beach party is more than just a hedonistic celebration, however, it’s also a charitable event that raises millions for non-profits like The Pines Foundation, Stonewall Community Foundation and the Seashore Defense Fund.

Still, if you’re looking for an epic East Coast summertime bacchanal, this is your weekend. Tickets are available to this year’s event here which features music by The Carry Nation, David Harness, Tedd Patterson and more. Attendees can opt for either a full “weekend pass” or individual admission to the Pool Party, Beach Party, Lucid Party or Closing Party. (Just remember when deciding which events to hit up that sometimes the biggest nightmare of all is FOMO.)

Open Call: Portals is a new exhibition at The Shed's Bloomberg building in Hudson Yards featuring the work from 12 early-career, New York City-based artists. By exploring the forces shaping our world including colonialism, migration and environmental crisis, their art  examines the ties between political borders and identity, historical trauma and embracing the power of generational spirituality. 

The art ranges from paintings and films to sculptures and performances by Zain Alam, AYDO, Mel Corchado, Marwa Eltahir, Patricia Encarnación, Laurena Finéus, Lily Honglei, Tyson Houseman, Jarrett Key, Chelsea Odufu, Victor “Marka27” Quiñonez, and Yelaine Rodriguez and Luis Vasquez La Roche.

The exhibition is free and open every day but Monday. You can find the schedule for Open Call performances and conversations here. 

When slavery is taught in an educational setting, perspectives are often erased or overlooked. Marcus Brown, a New Orleans-based artist with enslaved African ancestors, aims to share the stories of enslaved people with four free Augmented Reality (AR) exhibitions across New York City opening July 25 and running through July 2026.

As part of the city's Arts in the Park initiative, Brown's "Slavery Trails" takes historical sites that are tied to slavery and crafts them into digital memorials using sculpture and AR that visitors may access via mobile device. Manhattan will house two exhibitions while Brooklyn and Queens will showcase one; "merging technology, music and history into public memory spaces that honor the enslaved and challenge contemporary narratives," according to a press release about the exhibition.