Where to go in NYC when you don’t have air-conditioning

Finding a coffee shop in NYC with air conditioning as strong as the iced coffee is no easy task. Discovering one that also won’t judge you for lingering for hours is like finding the holy grail. This local mini-chain serving just four drinks—brewed coffee, iced coffee, espresso and espresso with milk—started in Alphabet City, but has since added locations in Midtown, Chelsea Market, Tompkins Square and Gowanus.

Ready to get your adrenaline pumping without sweating your butt off in the ungodly heat? Conquer the 5,000 square foot indoor climbing wall at Manhattan Plaza Health Club. Beginners might want to find their footing in an hourlong lesson, while more experienced climbers can try their luck on the 160-foot bouldering route or multi-stepped cave. And since the gym redesigns the 60 routes every month, you’ll never tire of the options.

This massive shopping center in Battery Park City has enough high-end stores, restaurants and free events to keep you occupied for hours. Some of this summer’s highlights include adult coloring, live music, art shows and happy hours.

In the depths of winter, New Yorkers pine for summer, and when it’s 95 degrees and nearly 100 percent humidity outside, we miss the snow desperately. Get a little taste of the winter chill inside Minus5 Ice Bar, where the seats, walls, bar and even glasses are made entirely out of ice. It’s so cold that you have to slip into a fluffy parka to enter. Once you take that first sip of your frozen drink, you’ll forget all about the midsummer heat outside.

Tucked inside the glass panels of the Ford Foundation building, this 160-foot-tall garden filled with ferns, gardenias and tropical plants is an ideal escape from the busy streets of Midtown East. Wander the three-tiered terraces of the garden, basking in the cool, fresh air. It’s a little slice of heaven.

Photograph: Courtesy CC/Flickr/Timothy Vollmer

Go say hi to your old pals Patience and Fortitude (those are the two marble lions outside the Stephen A. Schwarzman building, for those unfamiliar) and slip inside the main portal of the New York Public Library for an afternoon of reading in the peace and quiet. Not a soul will disturb you—and thankfully, the temperature is always extra cold.

Though any museum would be a welcome escape, the Met’s enormous size makes it easy to spend an entire day inside its cool, air-conditioned embrace. With more than 5,000 years of art history contained within its walls, you’re guaranteed to discover a new artwork or gallery every time you visit. Plus, the Met offers pay-what-you-wish admission, so it’s totally affordable.

Get the scoop (pun very much intended) on whipping up luscious frozen gelato from scratch in a cooking class at this Murray Hill gelateria. After the instructor shares some of the tricks of the trade, you will make your very first batch in the professional kitchen. And of course, you’ll get to sample the fruits of your labor at the end of class. Buon appetito!

Photograph: Courtesy CC/Flickr/jen

Sure, you may not be able to submerge yourself in water all day, but you can at least gaze at the 150,000-gallon tank of Caribbean fish and imagine you’re right there with ‘em. Make sure to check the board in the main lobby for the daily schedule of feedings, too: You don’t want to miss your chance to watch the keepers give the penguins and sea otters their lunch.

You could certainly go see a movie, but why settle for one when you could spend all day watching classic cinema, playing arcade games and learning about the filmmaking process? The Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria is a movie buff's playground, and it would be easy to burn several hours browsing the collection of behind-the-scene photos, set pieces and costumes.