There’s a reason Sunday rhymes with Funday. It’s another chance to make it a great day here in New York City!
Whether you’re planning a day trip from NYC, looking for an awesome festival, or finally have the time to see some of the best museum exhibitions in NYC, we’ve scoured all our listings to put together our favorite things to do on Sunday in NYC right here (as well as on Saturday and this weekend. And if you blew all your cash on Saturday, stick with our picks for the best free things to do in town.
RECOMMENDED: The best things to do in NYC right now
Hold on to your guts—Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest 2025 is upon us! During the competition—which is now more than 100 years old—Frankfurter-eating legends race the clock and chow down on as many Nathan’s Famous dogs and buns they can swallow in ten minutes.
The race of legends goes down on Independence Day (Friday, July 4), typically from 11am to 1pm. Watch the glorious event at Nathan’s Flagship restaurant (1310 Surf Ave.) on the corner of Stillwell Ave at Coney Island, Brooklyn.
City Climb—which is the highest external building climb in the world on the Western Hemisphere's tallest observation deck, Edge—tethers brave thrillseekers to a secure trolly along the outside of the building and open, edged platforms and stairways. Two cables will keep you secure on a path that leads up 32 steps to “The Cliff,” an outlook 1,190 feet in the sky and to “The Stair,” which consists of 151 steps on a 45-degree incline. “The Apex” is where they can lean out and hang over the platform at 1,271 feet. Are your knees buckling yet? Here’s what it was like to climb it. It all finishes with a victory lap on Edge's outdoor viewing area on the 100th floor (and a celebratory medal for inaugural guests).
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 are now on through Labor Day. Fireworks begin at approximately 9:45pm and typically launch from the beach at West 12th Street, providing a breathtaking backdrop to the iconic boardwalk and amusement parks.
Transport yourself to the heart of the mosh pit—figuratively, that is—at this new immersive exhibit all about rock 'n' roll. Titled "Rolling Stone Presents Amplified: The Immersive Rock Experience," this digital exhibition is hosted at ARTECHOUSE in Chelsea, known for its stunning visual and audio presentations.
You'll get to explore the legacy of Rolling Stone magazine through more than 50 years of music and pop culture. Narrated by Kevin Bacon, "Amplified" features more than 1,000 photographs, 1,300 iconic magazine covers and a massive 270-degree digital canvas. Adult tickets start at $39, and the show is on view through August 31.
The show will take you on a 50-minute journey featuring iconic visuals and, of course, incredible music.
Forget the 14-hour flight from NYC to Tokyo, you can now discover the tastes of Japan with just a short subway ride to JAPAN Fes. The massive annual food festival just announced its 2025 dates, and the schedule is packed with events.
The organization is hosting nearly 30 outdoor events in NYC this year. What used to be just a summertime festival is now a year-round celebration across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. Event organizers say it's the largest Japanese food festival in the world, attracting 300,000 visitors and featuring 1,000 vendors every year.
Here are the upcoming dates: July 6 in Midtown East; July 12 in Chelsea; July 20 in Times Square; August 3 on the Upper West Side; August 9 in Greenwich Village.
For its latest blockbuster exhibit, The Paley Museum is catching up with Ray (Ray Romano), Debra (Patricia Heaton), Frank (Peter Boyle), Marie (Doris Roberts) and the whole Barone clan. 30 Years of Everybody Loves Raymond: A Behind-the-Scenes Tribute is bringing the Emmy-winning, nine-season CBS sitcom to life via cast costumes, props and artifacts, rare footage and behind-the-scenes photographs pulled straight from the set of the beloved comedy series.
Running through Sunday, September 7 at The Paley Museum in midtown Manhattan, the immersive exhibit lets visitors snap a photo at the Barones' iconic kitchen table, settle in on Ray and Debra's famous couch and more.
New York has entered its De Niro era—again. But this time, it's not just on screen. It’s around you.
Now open at Mercer Labs, Museum of Art and Technology in Lower Manhattan, De Niro, New York is a first-of-its-kind immersive film installation that reimagines the legendary actor’s career through 360-degree projection, spatial audio and mind-bending scale. The 20-minute experience is part of Summer Nights at Mercer Labs with Tribeca, running Thursday through Sunday evenings through July 13.
Tickets are $70 and include a drink and a souvenir. (Guests under 21 will receive a non-alcoholic beverage.)
One of our most tried-and-true signals that the warm-weather season has officially begun is when summer concerts return to Union Pool.
The former pool supply store turned iconic Brooklyn venue—beloved for its tin-walled main room, saucy photobooth and spacious courtyard equipped with room for taco trucks and live bands—will bring back its annual "Summer Thunder" series, hosting a slew of free daytime concerts on site every weekend throughout the summer.
Check out the full 2025 lineup below:
Fútbol fans, rejoice: You don’t need a ticket to the Club World Cup or a cross-country flight to feel like you’re in the center of the action. Running through Sunday, July 13, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is turning the World Trade Center campus into a hub for free FIFA Club World Cup watch parties—yes, completely free.
Presented in partnership with the New York Red Bulls and FIFA itself, the viewings will take place outdoors on the North Oculus Plaza, with games streamed live on a giant screen.
No RSVP is necessary, but it’s recommended if you want to stay in the loop. Just be sure to take public transit—there’s no campus parking and PATH and the MTA are your best bet. Let the (free) games begin!
From the people who brought you Asssscat comes this Sunday comedy series, taking over Caveat NYC every weekend. A guest monologist (previous monologists include Gloria Steinem, Mark Hamill, Kevin Bacon and Bowen Yang) will tell true stories from their life and the performers—some of NYC's best improvisers, including Zach Cherry (Succession), Connor Ratliff (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Jeff Hiller (Somebody Somewhere) and more—will use them as inspiration to make up scenes on the spot.
It's a perfect way to banish the Sunday scaries with a laugh.
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