The best things to do in NYC this week

We all have an inner party monster that likes to come out and play. And this Halloween, you’ll have the chance to unleash it at The McKittrick Hotel.

“Monster: A Halloween Party” invites the monster within you to enjoy a live spectacle at The McKittrick Hotel that will unfold as you explore a forbidden dreamscape filled with monsters, myths, and acts ranging from intimate to epic in scale, according to the venue.

As with every Halloween event at The McKittrick, you’re encouraged to dress as your inner monster (whatever that looks like) or in all black. You can get some inspiration on the hotel’s website (linked below).

The stage is set for monsters of all shapes and sizes—the show is produced by Emursive and conceptualized and directed by Conor Doyle and Oliver Sayer, the founders of immersive creation studio, One Hundred, as well as dance artist and choreographer, Marla Phelan, who was the associate choreographer/director for Fiddler on the Roof’s Broadway touring company. 

Book your tickets now for the most monstrous night of the year!

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine’s annual Halloween Extravaganza returns to celebrate All Hallow’s Eve on Friday, October 27 at the uptown house of prayer.

The long-standing Upper West Side tradition was born decades ago under the direction of Artist in Residence Ralph Lee, founder of the Mettawee River Theatre Company. This year, the cathedral honors that legacy with an evening featuring frightening Mettawee performers who will haunt the audience with tricks and treats. 

The evening will kick off with a screening of the classic 1921 silent film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, directed by Robert Wiene and screened with live organ accompaniment by Timothy Brumfield. Following the film will be the Procession of the Ghouls, where ghouls and goblins from the Mettawee River Theater Company will fill the cathedral to scare and delight audiences.

Two viewings will be offered at 7 and 10 pm for the Halloween Extravaganza, with $40 tickets available on the cathedral's website. 

Also on October 27 and 28, the cathedral's famous Crypt Crawls will make their grand return from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm and from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm, guiding visitors down into the rarely-seen depths of the Gothic building. You will hear stories of the entombed and learn the origins of Halloween as a Celtic New Year celebration and later transformation into All Hallows Eve. Grab tickets for the guided tour here.  

Following successful runs in Madrid, Milan, Paris and Rome, the Balloon Museum is officially set to take over Pier 36 in The Seaport this fall.

Set in and outside of the 80,000-square-foot space, the new cultural destination will make its debut on October 27 with a new exhibit titled “Let’s Fly,” scheduled to run through January 14, 2024. 

Visitors are encouraged to interact with the installation, touching and feeling the various pieces exhibited. In terms of actual pieces, you can expect a 4,000-square-foot ball pit, inflatable lava lamps and the sorts of infinity rooms that you'll itch to post about on Instagram.

From Delamotte to Drappier to Dom Pérignon, New Yorkers love bubbly, and you can partake in all of the above at an immersive champagne festival this fall.

The annual La Fête du Champagne—co-founded by champagne expert and author Peter Liem and world-renowned sommelier Daniel Johnnes—returns from Wednesday, October 25 through Saturday, October 28. The event includes four days full of sparkling tastings, introductory seminars, intimate dinners, collaborations with celebrated chefs, winemakers and sommeliers, and more across Manhattan. The fizzy fest will spotlight France's finest Champagne producers, from large historic houses (Krug, Louis Roederer) to smaller family-owned estates and boutique growers (Pierre Péters, Chartogne-Taillet).

Tickets range from $150 to $2,900, through the official La Fête du Champagne website.

Bryant Park's Winter Village by Bank of America is returning to NYC with exciting holiday shops, food and activities on October 27 through March 3, 2024.

Its 17,000-square-foot ice-skating rink that’s free to use (if you bring your own skates) is always the highlight, but its Winter Village in all its holiday spirit is a close second. This year, over 180 new and returning kiosks will be there for you to peruse through—all at one of the best NYC parks.

You'll also be able to cozy up at The Lodge: a covered, outdoor après-themed area where visitors can grab a festive cocktail, enjoy delicious food, watch the ice skaters or admire the tree.

Take your fall festivities to a higher level this autumn at Edge, the highest outdoor sky deck in the Western Hemisphere. At the "Autumn in the Sky," installation, walk through an autumnal tunnel leading to stunning skyline views. Colorful leaves and pumpkins decorate the space. The seasonal exhibitions are included with admission; general admission starts at $36.

In addition to "Autumn in the Sky," Edge is also hosting a Sky High Halloween celebration on October 28. Tickets ($75/person) include one cocktail or mocktail as well as exclusive access to Edge’s outdoor viewing areas from 10pm-2am. Dress up to participate in the costume contest; the winner gets a pair of tickets to Broadway's "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child."

Rising 1,131 feet in the air and extending out 65 feet from the 100th floor of 30 Hudson Yards, Edge features a spectacular outdoor viewing area with its breathtaking glass floor, angled glass walls, and outdoor skyline steps from the 100th to 101st floors.

Throughout the entire month of October, both NYC locations of the immersive, wizard-themed bar The Cauldron (47 Stone St and 127 W 26th St) will be hosting a wickedly good Halloween lineup of events, from potions classes to horror movie marathons to magical costume dance parties. 

At the downtown location throughout the month, you can take part in a Limited Edition Potions Experience: The Veil for $49.99, where you'll learn how to make mystical and mightily boozy concoctions like “The Monster Mash,” “The Summoner’s Siphon,” and “The Forager’s Cauldron.”

On Tuesday, October 24, the Stone Street bar will also offer a free horror movie quiz night directed by resident trivia master Sean O'Shea where you can come test your knowledge of all things spooky and supernatural, and wow the rest of the quizzers by dressing up as your favorite horror movie villain. (Freddy, Jason, Michael—take your pick!)

And at the stroke of midnight on Tuesday, October 31, you can conjure up the spirits at the free All Hallow’s Eve Spectacular Drag Seance, hosted by the enchanting Sanderson Sisters drag act. 

And up at the Flatiron outpost, both kids and kids at heart can explore a two-floor Wizard Pumpkin Patch & Pumpkin Carving Workshop, hosted in partnership with Little Kid Big City. Don a wizard's robe and magic wand as you embark on a 45-minute pumpkin carving adventure ($39.99), which also includes a pre-scooped pumpkin of choice, a steaming mug of HallowCream Cider, and a stylish witch’s hat to take home.

Museum-goers of all ages are invited to the Whitney Museum of American Art during Halloween weekend. The spooky celebrations kick off on Friday, October 27 with Halloween Teen Night, a free evening for teens full of lively music, dancing, artist-led workshops, a spooky photo booth and more. 

The fun continues on Saturday, October 28 with Family Halloween Day, an afternoon of trick-or-treating, making delicious art with candy, creating shadow puppets and putting on a little show in a shadow-and-light theater, and participating in a scavenger hunt throughout the museum's gorgeous galleries, with thrilling prizes to boot. 

Halloween Member Night: Music and Mayhem closes out Saturday night with after-hours access to the galleries and a party inspired by the musical influences in the artworks on view in Henry Taylor: B Side and Fragments of a Faith Forgotten: The Art of Harry Smith.

All weekend long, attendees can also check out Maniac Pumpkin Carvers in the Lobby, who will be live carving Archibald Motley’s Gettin’ Religion, 1948 into Whitney-inspired pumpkins. (Even cooler: you can visit the original artwork in the museum's permanent collection galleries on the seventh floor.)

Head to the Whitney's website for more information on Halloween Weekend at the Whitney and to book your tickets. Most of the events are free with museum admission and simply require registration, but the Music and Mayhem party does require tickets, priced between $45 and $90. 

Enjoy three nights of fun, frights and sights this Halloween weekend during Watermark's Fear On the Pier at the riverfront eatery and bar. 

From Friday, October 27 through Sunday, October 29, the Seaport District spot will transition into an eerie atmosphere with specially crafted themed cocktails like the Witches Brew, the Pumpkin Cup and Jello Shot Syringes, which you can throw back while you take in those stunning East River views. 

Friday night is the Haunted Pie Bash from 5 pm until midnight; Saturday is Oktober-Fright-Fest on the Pier from noon to 1 am; and Sunday is the Spooky Brunch & Sunset Soiree from noon to 10 pm. A rotating lineup of DJs will keep the scary-good tunes spinning the whole weekend long, and infamous horror characters might pop up just to keep you on your toes.

Though free to attend, reservations for each of the three days of Fear on the Pier can be made on the Watermark website. 

Venture into a haus of haunts at Thistle Dance's Unbound performance held at Jefferson Market Library (425 6th Ave in Manhattan). This spooky, immersive dance experience spans three floors explores the twisted relationships between the seven deadly sins and invites audiences to engage with each sin in its own skin. Shadow them room by room for an unrepentantly fun night.

Free shows are held on Friday, October 27; reserve a ticket online in advance.

What began back in 2019 as a one-night-only Halloween art crawl has turned into a weeklong spotlight of thrilling, chilling fine art from more than 30 local artists.

Running from Wednesday, October 25 through Tuesday, October 31, the woman-owned and curated pop-up gallery will take place at 145 Sterling Place off Seventh Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn, displaying "dark, curious, and surreal works" by candlelight. Featured pieces include “Midnight” by photographer Eden Estephan, “The Meating” by painter Jeramy Turner and “Sacred Space” by songwriting collective Founders. (And even if you can't physically attend, you can still take in all of the festively spooky fun by tuning into the entire exhibition online at The Skeleton Crawl website from Friday evening on.)

Along with taking in the illuminating art (literally—you can grab a flashlight to get up close and personal with all of those fine details in the dark), you can hear the famously eerie words of Edgar Allan Poe during a live reading and musical performance on Thursday at 8 pm; sing your favorite spooky sons during Halloween-themed karaoke night on Friday at 9 pm; mingle with official The Skeleton Crawl artists at the opening bash on Saturday from 6 pm to 9 pm; and settle in for a scary film screening curated by participating artist Jeramy Turner on Sunday at 7 pm. 

You can also participate in a Spider Toss Raffle for the chance to win a Polaroid iType Camera and potentially create some art of your own. Entries are $10 each and the raffle winner will be announced on All Hallows Eve. And, as with all things Halloween, costumes are very much encouraged throughout the whole fest!

The NoMad golf lounge is already a swinging good time but now Swingers is getting a spooktacular makeover just in time for Halloween.

From Friday, October 27 through Tuesday, October 31, the fun-loving venue will be rolling out a brand-new sister cocktail menu for you to toast the ghoulish season. We're talking about hauntingly tasty drinks like a Black Margarita (agave, lime, raspberry and black simple syrup), the tart and sweet Twilight Zone (with notes of green melon and green apple) and a sweet-and-spicy Blood Orange Blossom mocktail. There will also be a trick-or-treat wheel of fortune, where you can potentially win a host of exciting and eerie prizes.

Swingers will also be debuting its first-ever Spooky Sunday Brunch on Sunday, October 29. Along with the bottomless drinks you'd come to expect from the boozy weekend tradition, you can also enjoy those Halloween specialty cocktails, unlimited crazy gold and street foods. And costumes are very much encouraged, so break out your best Arnold Palmer or Happy Gilmore and get swinging! Find out more information and book your mini golf session at the Swingers site. 

In New York City, Halloween isn't just one mere day—it's a weeklong celebration. That's certainly true at Somewhere Nowhere, the two-level lounge and rooftop venue at the Renaissance New York Chelsea Hotel (12 W 25th St between Fifth and Sixth Aves), which be hosting a five-day series of Halloween parties in the days leading up to October 31.

Keeping the "gals and ghouls partying all night long," the festivities will kick off on Thursday, October 26 with a DJ set from Mel Debarge. Things continue on October 27 with The Villains Ball, soundtracked by tunes from Brandi Cyrus x Nathan Leong, Ina Nia, and an opening DJ set by Mock. Villain-themed costumes are highly recommended, whether you opt for The Joker or Regina George, Hannibal Lector or Hans Gruber. 

Saturday, October 28 is a double feature of Halloween fun, with a DJ Pickle Sunset Party from 4 pm to 10 pm, followed by The Book of the Forbidden party featuring music from Rick Wonder, Firpo, and Luis Noronha starting at 10 pm. Costumes are encouraged for both!

And the series wraps up on Sunday, October 29 with the Forbidden Garden party at 10 pm, featuring the musical stylings of dance DJ Classmatic and tech-house artist Latmun. That should have you all well and ready for Halloween, no? 

Autumn usually sees herds of New Yorkers leave the confines of our fair city to go experience the quaintness of small-town life, all apple picking and pumpkin patches and changing leaves. However, you won't even have to leave the five boroughs to get yourself a taste of fall fun, thanks to the Queens County Farm Museum (73-50 Little Neck Parkway in Floral Park) and its Maze by Moonlight, NYC's only corn maze under the starry sky.

The 47-acre corn maze, which is in the shape of a 1954 Ford tractor, will be open to the public for a limited time only: Friday, October 27 from 6-10pm. 

Along with the maze, the farm's iconic pumpkin patch, tractor-drawn hayrides, farmers' market and delicious Donut Shop treats (yes, including apple cider doughnuts and freshly baked pies) round out the museum's autumnal offerings. 

“Apples, Donuts, Pies, Oh my! ‘Tis the season at Queens County Farm Museum,” said Jennifer Walden Weprin, Executive Director of Queens County Farm Museum. “It’s not Fall in New York City without finding your way to Victory Bridge in the Amazing Maize Maze, now in its 17th season. It’s really hard this year so the challenge is on!”

Tickets are from $14 to $18 and admission is free for those aged three and under.

Some of your favorite spooky tracks, from Michael Jackson's "Thriller" to Ray Parker Jr.'s Ghostbusters theme, are getting the Candlelight Concerts treatment at "A Haunted Evening of Halloween Classics."

The multi-sensory musical experience will reinterpret Halloween-inspired music under the gentle glow of candlelight at a pair of eerie venues: St Ann & the Holy Trinity Church in Brooklyn Heights on Thursday, October 26 and Friday, October 27 (with two seatings each night, at 6:30pm and 9pm), as well as at the Church of the Heavenly Rest on the Upper East Side on Wednesday, October 25 and Thursday, October 26 (with sessions at 7pm and 9:15pm each night). 

On the musical program, you can expect to hear selections from some of your favorite horror movies performed by the Highline String Quartet, like John Carpenter's spine-chilling Halloween theme, Danny Elfman's Beetlejuice theme and The Nightmare Before Christmas medley and Bernard Herrmann's Psycho prelude, as well as classical numbers like Charles Gounod's "Funeral March of a Marionette" and Franz Schubert's "Der Erlkönig."

Tickets for the 60-minute performance range from $35 to $65, depending on which of the three zones you sit in. You can purchase them via the Candlelight Concerts website. 

Fall is here and so is Brooklyn Academy of Music's perennial festival of theater, dance, and opera. As any local culture vulture will tell you, when temperatures cool down, culture heats up in Brooklyn thanks to Next Wave. This is the 40th iteration of the fall arts festival brings cutting-edge sound, movement and drama to Kings County

Performances this fall will empower and elevate a diverse group of voices speaking to some of today's crucial issues, including immigration, assimilation, race, and food security.

Performances include Corps extrêmes from the jaw-dropping French aerialist and choreographer Rachid Ouramdane; Broken Chord—a stunning choral piece with dance from South Africa’s Gregory Maqoma and Thuthuka Sibisi; Trajal Harrell’s dazzling The Köln Concert, and many more. Events run from October thorugh December.

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 at least December. The museum is free to visit and open to all. It's open Wednesdays-Sundays from 1-6pm. 

Laughing in a funeral home or a cemetery might feel as taboo as shouting in a library or microwaving fish in the office, but Ben Wasserman’s Live After Death comedy show performed in a Brooklyn funeral home will have you laughing out loud.

Part catharsis, part circus, don't miss this comedy show about grief and loss. Live After Death promises juggling, karate, a seance, ventriloquism and intimate discussions with the audience about grief.

The show's coming up on Thursday, October 26 at Green-Wood Cemetery.

For three months in the summer of 1921, Pablo Picasso worked out of a makeshift garage studio in Fontainebleau, France, where he created both cubist and classical masterpieces. Now, for the first time since then, the works are reunited in a sprawling new exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. 

MoMA's "Picasso in Fontainebleau," on view through February 17, is the latest show in NYC presented as part of the international Picasso celebration marking 50 years since his death.

A garage space measuring in at 20 by 10 feet served as Picasso's studio that summer. Using the exact dimensions, MoMA created a room with the garage's footprint, so museum-goers can step inside and imagine creating such large paintings in a small space. 

In that garage, Picasso created the cubist "Three Musicians" with colorful geometric shapes as well as the classical "Three Women at the Spring" with references to Greco-Roman antiquity. For the first time in more than a century, MoMA has reunited these works.

Painter Marc Chagall's lusciously vibrant works of art come to life in a new immersive experience at Hall des Lumières. Titled "Chagall, Paris-New York," the exhibition explores the prolific painter who defied labels. 

His works are projected in a larger-than-life scale, taking over walls, ceilings and even the floor of the ornate bank-turned-exhibition hall located at 49 Chambers Street in Lower Manhattan. “Chagall, Paris-New York” is now on view through 2024 with adult tickets starting at $30. In addition to the Chagall works, Hall des Lumières is also displaying works by Wassily Kandinsky. 

Eighty years ago, as World War II raged on, Danish citizens worked together to ferry 7,000 Jewish people to safety, keeping them out of concentration camps. 

Now, New York City’s Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust is commemorating that anniversary, known as one of the most effective examples of mass resistance in modern history. "Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark," the museum’s first exhibition developed for elementary-age students, is now opne.

The exhibit focuses on themes of separation, bravery and resilience to help children ages 9+ reflect on the dangers of prejudice and on their own potential for courageous collective action. 

And Scene is a half-scripted comedy show where actors and improvisers are paired up to perform scenes together. The actors can only say the words as they come in the script, and the improvisers don't know what play they're in, making for a truly chaotic and hilarious evening.

See the show on Monday, October 30 at Caveat. This month's performers include: Kevin Kane, Zach Cherry, Kaley Ronayne, Connor Ratliff, Tenzing Kalden, Russell Daniels, Alex Dickson, Eddy Lee, Brian Morabito, Jess Morgan. It's hosted by Mick Szal.

In his studio in Kyiv, an artist called Burenko paints poignant landscapes of lifeless homes. In the basement of an art-gallery-turned-bomb-shelter, Nikita Kadan creates disorienting charcoal drawings of desperate pleas. In the conflict zone, Dom Marker photographs life and loss. 

These works and many others produced in the active warzone in Ukraine are now on display in Manhattan's Hudson Square neighborhood as part of Sonya Gallery's latest exhibition. The show, which features contemporary Ukrainian artists, will benefit the non-profit Sunflower Network's efforts to build a hospital in Brody, Ukraine. 

Find Sonya Gallery at 555 Greenwich Street at the Charlton Street entrance. "Thousand Yard Stare: Ukraine 2023" runs through November 4. It's open Tuesday through Saturday, 11am-6pm.

They say comedy is a Boys' Club, so join head to Club Cumming for this aptly named comedy show. 

Nico Carney and Conor Janda, "famously pillars of masculinity," promise a night of laughs with an event featuring Dave Mizzoni, Alexa Loftus, Julia Zhen, and Julia Shiplett. "The boys are joined by their rough and tough friends for a night of subverting expectations of what it means to be 'a boys' club," event organizers say. The queer-centered show is on Friday, October 27.

Merrily We Roll Along is the femme fatale of Stephen Sondheim musicals, beautiful and troubled; people keep thinking they can fix it, rescue it, save it from itself and make it their own. In the decades since its disastrous 1981 premiere on Broadway, where it lasted just two weeks, the show has been revised and revived many times (including by the York in 1994, Encores! in 2012 and Fiasco in 2019).

The challenges of Merrily are built into its core in a way that no production can fully overcome. But director Maria Friedman’s revival does a superb job—the best we've ever seen—of overlooking them, the way one might forgive the foibles of an old friend.  

Here's why our theatre critic gave this performance four stars.

For the first time, a New York museum will present a comprehensive survey of work by feminist artist Judy Chicago. "Judy Chicago: Herstory" will span the artist's 60-year career across painting, sculpture, installation, drawing, textiles, photography, stained glass, needlepoint, and printmaking.

"Herstory" will trace the entirety of Chicago’s practice from her 1960s experiments in Minimalism and her revolutionary feminist art of the 1970s to her narrative series of the 1980s and 1990s in which she expanded her focus to confront environmental disaster, birth and creation, masculinity, and mortality. Contextualizing her feminist methodology within the many art movements in which she participated—and from whose histories she has frequently been erased—"Herstory" will showcase Chicago’s tremendous impact on American art and highlight her critical role as a cultural historian claiming space for women artists previously omitted from the canon.

See the show from October 12-January 14, 2024.

Something wicked is brewing at The Plaza Hotel. The Palm Court's iconic stained-glass dome is now bathed in emerald light, and beneath the dome, patrons are dining on a Wicked-themed tea with plenty of green and pink accents.

The Plaza's newly launched "Defying Gravi-Tea" afternoon tea service is available through October 31. The delectable tea celebrates the Halloween season in New York City, as well as 20 years of the beloved musical Wicked on Broadway.  

The menu includes plenty of savory and sweet delicacies. The Signature Wicked Tea costs $134/person. The Grand Imperial Wicked Tea, which adds caviar and champagne to the menu, costs $599/two people. 

This tea is sure to be "popular!" Make a reservation online or by calling The Plaza at 212-546-5300. Afternoon tea is served daily, 10:30am to 4pm in The Plaza's Palm Court. 

Support up-and-coming sketch comedians as they perform a medley of new sketches at this show at The PIT. The show's called "BoogieManja: A Sketch Comedy Collective" and it promises an hour of sketch comedy that changes every show. 

BoogieManja performs on most Wednesdays. Performers include Both Hands, The Right Stuff, Mice & Big Apartment, Wicked Triplet and Cliff Hanger.

Gabe Mollica begins his one-man show with a declaration: “I turned 30, and it occurred to me that I don’t have any friends.” Sure, the comedian explains, there are guys he grew up with and bros he’s befriended through the years. But what about the kind of close friends you can talk about the Big Stuff with? When his mother faced a health crisis, he began to notice a dearth in that department.

Mollica weaves humor with vulnerability throughout the delightful Solo: A Show About Friendship. See it at Connelly Theater Upstairs with dates through October 28. 

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. 

Sondheim’s final musical is not quite a full meal—not, at least, as a Sondheim musical per se—but how could it be? After working on the show sporadically for a decade or so, the irreplaceable Broadway auteur died in 2021, having written a fair amount for the first half but not very much for the second. 

But if Here We Are amounts to a plate of hors d’oeuvres in the Sondheim oeuvre, it is exquisitely well served in its world premiere at the Shed.

Tickets to "Here We Are" are on sale here.

This new night market celebrates all things vegan. The Vegan Night Market coming to Central Park this summer will be the city's first night market celebrating plant-powered eats.

You'll get the chance to taste vegan foods from a variety of local vendors while listening to live music in a crowd of like-minded folks. Whether you're a seasoned vegan or curious about trying some plant-based meals, all are welcome.

Find the Vegan Night Market at Wollman Rink in Central Park from 4-10pm every Tuesday from June 6 to October 10. It's free to enter. The market's hosted by MHG Events, who also run the Uptown, Brooklyn and Bronx Night Markets.

If scrolling through social media to see pictures of cute dogs and hilarious cats is a favorite pastime of yours, then this new exhibit at Fotografiska is a must-see. Titled "Best in Show," the exhibition explores the role of furry and feathered friends in our culture through more than 100 incredible photographs. 

Photos show dogs in a variety of situations, like getting baths, posing, partying, shaking their heads and even dressing up in fancy “cones of shame.” Cats, rats, bunnies, birds, reptiles, turtles and fish get their moment in the spotlight, too, at this exhibition on view in the Flatiron District through January 2024. 

The show showcases works by 25 renowned photographers. That includes William Wegman's famed Weimaraner portraits, pictures by Sophie Gamand of dogs taking baths and images by the world's first professional cat photographer Walter Chandoha. From candid photos of pets at home to posh portraits of pups at the Westminster Dog Show, each image explores the unbreakable bond between humans and their pets.

Rooftop Cinema Club is screening rooftop movies this fall with a packed slate of films running all the way through October 31. 

Sip wine and eat vegan popcorn while watching classics like When Harry Met Sally, The Addams Family, Hocus Pocus and lots more this autumn. Tickets are on sale here.

October's lineup include scary screenings such as Rosemary’s Baby, Paranormal, The Exorcist, The Shining, American Psycho and other cult classics as well as family favorites like Coco and Monsters, Inc. That all leads up to All Hallow's Eve's screenings of Hocus Pocus and Halloween.

Grab your garlic because a vampire masquerade is making its debut in NYC this fall, and it's going to be truly immersive. "Dreams of Dracula: An Immersive Masquerade Experience" will recreate the classic Dracula universe as a brand new vampire theatrical adventure.

The production runs through November 11 at Musica NYC in Hell's Kitchen. Gothic and Victorian costumes are "very much encouraged," event organizers say. Tickets start at $69 and are available for purchase here.

Putting a new spin on the Bram Stoker classic, this choose-your-own-adventure evening whisks visitors through two floors and six rooms across 25,000 square feet for a heady mix of immersive theater, dance and decadent masquerade.

The premise for this haunted house is a terrifyingly simple one: "Nightmare Dollhouse" is a petrifying roadside attraction in the middle of nowhere that’s home to all of the world's scariest dolls (and we can think of plenty!).

"Nightmare Dollhouse" is now running at Teatro SEA at the Clemente at 107 Suffolk Street by Norfolk Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The limited engagement will run through October 31.

"At first it may seem like a serious museum, but beware, the demonic and bloodcurdling lurk around every corner," reads the chilling official description. "The dolls have come to life and want to make you one of them! Can you escape with your soul intact, or will you succumb to the evil in the Nightmare Dollhouse?"

Tickets are available for purchase right here. Bonus: Ticketholders get access to a full bar.

If you want your spooky celebrations to be more festive and less frightening, Halloween House is serving up a fear-free All Hallows Eve attraction at The Oculus this fall.

Running now through Wednesday, November 1, Halloween House—which welcomed 100,000 visitors across its various locations last year—will take over the transportation and shopping hub at 185 Greenwich Street with an array of immersive, intricately designed themed rooms: a Glow in the Dark space, a mysterious Vampires' Lair, a Horror Movie Graveyard and an indoor pumpkin patch, among others. 

Unlike traditional haunted houses, the all-ages Halloween House "sets itself apart by delivering entertainment through meticulously detailed environments, devoid of actors, jump scares, and strobe lights," reads a press release. In terms of decorations, expect more ghouls and graveyards, not gross-out gore or ghastly characters.

You can get tickets at the Halloween House website; adult entry costs $40, while tickets for kids and under are set at $35. 

Creepy cobwebs and eerie energy have taken over INTER_, the immersive art experience in Soho, in celebration of Halloween. If you dare to make Halloween a truly immersive experience, INTER_ delivers. But don't worry, it's family-friendly and not too scary.

Every part of the multi-sensory museum at 415 Broadway has undergone a seasonal glow-up with spooky twists on a sound bath, infinity room and a 360-degree immersion experience. INTERWEEN runs through November 5 with tickets available here starting at $45/adult. Plus, INTER_'s also offering pumpkin decorating and tarot card readings on select dates for an additional fee.

Four decades after its initial debut, the terrifying Halloween movie franchise is coming back to theaters this month just in time for the Halloween holiday. 

CineLife Entertainment will re-release Halloween (1978) and its sequels, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) in more than 300 theaters across the nation, including five in NYC. Screenings kick off on Thursday, October 5 and increase in frequency as Halloween approaches.  

In New York City, you can see the movies at 10 theaters: Rooftop Cinema Club in Midtown, Roxy Cinema in Tribeca, LOOK Dine In Cinema W. 57th in Hell's Kitchen, Nitehawk Cinema in Williamsburg, Skyline Drive-In in Greenpoint, Syndicated Bar Theater Kitchen in East Williamsburg, Linden Boulevard Multiplex Cinemas in Brooklyn, Jamaica Multiplex Cinemas in Queens, Alamo Drafthouse Staten Island, and Alamo Drafthouse Yonkers. Here's how to find a showing near you.

Prepare to scream in horror. Blood Manor is back in NYC through November 4, marking the haunted house's 20th season in the city. 

To celebrate two decades of terrifying New Yorkers, Blood Manor will present yet another theater-quality production. The space in Soho at 359 Broadway will include three new rooms, and brand-new costumes by designers from Abracadabra, Manhattan's iconic Halloween store. The multiroom immersive experience employs professional actors, set designers and makeup artists, and promises to leave visitors more afraid than ever in 2023. 

Blood Manor’s most infamous attractions will return for repeat visitors looking to relive their self-induced terrors, and the space will be revamped, and amplified to intensify the fear factor. Visitors will journey through dark, sinister corridors filled with twisted characters and jumpscares at every turn.

Witness an army of more than 7,000 glowing, intricately carved pumpkins at the annual Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze. 

The annual pumpkin party will be back in the Hudson Valley at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson for the 19th year, now through November 19, as well as Old Bethpage Village Restoration in Old Bethpage, Long Island for the fourth year, through November 5.

Ogling pretty gourds isn’t the only draw. There are also "stargazing" opportunities inside the Pumpkin Planetarium, flying ghosts and a special appearance by Sleepy Hollow’s Headless Horseman.

Tickets start at $37 for adults and $29 for children 3-17, and are free for children 2 and under.

The fall festival at the Bronx Zoo will showcase more than 5,000 carved, animal-themed pumpkins in a jack-o’-lantern trail stretching over half a mile. Live pumpkin carving demonstrations, games, festive fall treats and food trucks will also take place at the all-ages Pumpkin Nights.

Pumpkin Nights run on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Sunday, October 29 from 6pm to 10pm.

Tickets for Pumpkin Nights range from $26.95-$36.95 for adults; kids' tickets range from $24.95-$26.95 for kids. 

In addition to the new Pumpkin Nights, the Bronx Zoo will continue the tradition of Boo at the Zoo, which runs on Saturdays and Sundays through October 29, plus Monday, October 9. 

Autumn brings some of the beautiful colors in nature with its crispy red leaves and bright orange pumpkins, so it's no surprise that Color Factory is going all out for the season as well.

The Soho immersive art museum presents Haunted Hues, a Halloween-themed takeover, running through November 1 with plenty of tricks and treats. Tickets start at $39 and are on sale here.

The experience will include a pumpkin patch with a Color Factory twist, fun giveaways and fresh seasonal treats. Plus, guests can add on a new scavenger hunt to search for hidden monsters throughout the venue.

Times Square is a nightmare for so many of us already (cue the unkempt Elmos and the smelly, zombie-like crowds), but now it's even more terrifying.

“Horrorwood Studios” has opened its freakish doors in Times Square at 300 West 43rd Street for a spooky season of “heart-pounding” immersive experiences from artistic directors Will Munro and Katie McGeoch (the duo has spent more than two decades as the heads of Six Flags’ Fright Fest). Dubbed “TerrorVision - Live Screaming Your Nightmares,” you’ll live out your Samara dreams and step through a flickering TV screen into a horrible scene.

Filled with 140 actors across 20,000 square feet, what could be the largest haunted house in NYC, you’ll enter under the guise that you’re behind the scenes at the filming of an upcoming TerrorVision Halloween episode.

Tickets, which are $39 per person, can be purchased at facetheterror.com.

Join an elite group this Halloween season: The League of Inebriation Technology (L.I.T.), a storied institution dedicated to studying the celebratory effects of alcohol. Get in on the fun at The Drunken Laboratory, a bar in Brooklyn where you’ll wear lab coats and goggles for a night of sipping drinks and doing science. 

The bar's Haunted Laboratory experience includes a ghostly drink menu, haunted decor and scare actors for a truly immersive experience. Tickets are on sale now starting at $45; the experience in Bed-Stuy runs through the finale on Halloween night. 

During the event, guests will try to free the laboratory from the clutches of the supernatural. Plus, you’ll get to compete against each other—from performing exothermic reaction experiments that send heat erupting into the air, to competing in ghoulish trivia quizzes—for the chance to win free themed shots, merch or hangover kits. 

The deeply unpalatable day when Martin Scorsese, now 80 years old, hangs up his clapperboard for good is drawing steadily nearer, but the great man isn’t going quietly into the night. His latest, an utterly gripping, impeccably constructed and politically-charged crime saga, wipes the dust from a neglected corner of indigenous American history – the serial murders of Osage Native Americans in 1920s Oklahoma – to tell a subversive story of greed, violence and systemic injustice that sits alongside some of his best work.

But truly, everyone here is top of their game. Thelma Schoonmaker’s masterful editing weaves together the story’s many threads and its rich ensemble of characters (special mention to Louis Cancelmi, who channels pure New Jersey hitman into his Okie lowlife). And Robbie Robertson’s old-timey blues score beats time to a movie so richly entertaining, its three hours and 26 minutes whip by in a blur. As the great man himself would say, what a picture!

It opens in theaters on October 20.

He's one of our most famous New Yorkers—and now legendary director Spike Lee (Do The Right Thing, Crooklyn, The 25th Hour) is getting his own immersive installation at the Brooklyn Museum this fall.

Running from October 6-February 4, 2024, "Spike Lee: Creative Sources" will delve into the world, works and influences of the acclaimed director who, though born in Atlanta, Georgia, was raised and revered as one of New York's own, particularly in the borough of Brooklyn. 

The exhibit will feature more than 300 works from Lee's personal collection, "items that have been touchpoints for Lee and the topics he explores on-screen," the museum said.

A new exhibition that celebrates Jewish comics is coming to the Center for Jewish History this fall. JewCE! The Museum and Laboratory of the Jewish Comics Experience will showcase the work of renowned Jewish comics writers and artists, including original artwork, historical artifacts, interactive installations that explore Jewish themes and narratives in comics and more. 

Guests will also be able to try their hand at character creation, storyboarding and iconography as part of the Laboratory portion of the exhibit.

The exhibition is open from October 9 through December 2023. It will also be presented alongside “JewCE: The Jewish Comics Experience,” a Jewish comic book convention happening November 11-12.

Free tickets to the exhibition are available here.

The Frick is showcasing an unprecedented display of Barkley L. Hendricks paintings drawn from private and public collections. Barkley L. Hendricks (1945–2017) revolutionized contemporary portraiture with his vivid depictions of Black subjects that emphasize the dignity and individuality of his sitters. Beginning in the late 1960s, his work drew from and challenged the traditions of European art. The exhibition is quite full circle as The Frick Collection—with its iconic portraits by Rembrandt, Bronzino, Van Dyck, and others—was one of his favorite museums.

This exhibition celebrates and explores the remarkable work of this pioneering American painter. “Barkley L. Hendricks: Portraits at the Frick” is on view through January 7, 2024.

American Impressionism is back at the National Arts Club this fall.

"In a New Light: American Impressionism 1870–1940" will highlight the work of important figures in the American Impressionism movement from the late 19th to early 20th centuries, including Childe Hassam, George Inness and John Sloan. Thirteen of the featured artists were once Artist Life Members of the NAC, making the exhibition a celebration of both the famed movement and the NAC's own history.

Over 130 pieces are on display through November 22 at the NAC's Tilden House in Gramercy Park for free. The works hail from the Bank of America collection.

In a year where NYC has seen no snow, sweltering days and wildfire smoke, the Poster House's fall exhibition feels staggeringly relevant. The exhibit "We Tried to Warn You! Environmental Crisis Posters, 1970–2020" features 33 works that have shaped the worldwide public debate on environmental issues including clean energy, endangered species, and air and water quality. 

Ranging in style from whimsical to apocalyptic, the works examine international awareness campaigns and federal advertisements that aimed to address environmental crises as they evolved from regional problems to a global disaster. Exhibited works mark important events and movements, including the first Earth Day in 1970, the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States a few years later, and the UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992. 

Artists whose posters are exhibited include: Amos Kennedy, Robert Rauschenberg, Per Arnoldi, Tom Eckersley, Freidensreich Hundertwasser, Hans Erni and Milton Glaser, among others. This exhibition is supported by the Simons Foundation. The show runs through February 25, 2024.

Explore the power of books at this new Grolier Club exhibition, "The Best-Read Army in the World." The show tells the story of how the U.S. military fought against propaganda and promoted free thought by disseminating more than one billion books, magazines, and newspapers to 16 million American troops worldwide, partnering with the U.S. publishing industry to create pocket-sized paperback books called "Armed Services Editions," as well as petite issues of newspapers and popular magazines.

See 225 pieces, including miniature books and periodicals, photographs, posters, artwork, propaganda leaflets, and letters. Highlights include rare prototypes for troop-friendly publications, a bundle of Armed Services Editions in its original packaging, a U.S. army librarian uniform, and a display on World War II-era book bans.

"The Best-Read Army in the World" is on view at the Upper East Side club through December 30, 2023; it's free to visit.

A new art exhibit puts queer domesticity at the forefront this fall.

Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art's fall group exhibition, “Dreaming of Home,” will look at depictions of queer and trans domesticity via various perspectives and mediums. 

Curated by cultural advisor Gemma Rolls-Bentley, the Soho exhibition starts with Catherine Opie’s famed 1993 photograph “Self-Portrait/Cutting,” which examines queer people’s desires and restrictions by society.

Additional programming following the theme of queer domesticity will be available until the exhibit closes on January 7, 2024.

Wake up with the sun for a morning yoga class with Chelsea Piers Fitness has you covered.

Head to the Maker's Room at Chelsea Market for a free 7am all-levels vinyasa flow class every Thursday morning. Just be sure to bring your own yoga mat and towel and register in advance. It'll be a good way to embrace the vinyasa flow all throughout your day. Programming runs through the end of the year.

The days of outdoor tennis in New York City are fleeting, but before it gets too cold to play in the parks, a new indoor tennis facility is opening in Brooklyn. 

Court 16's 26,000-square-foot venue on the fourth floor of City Point will offer seven courts for tennis or pickleball, usable by players at any level and age. To talk serves, swings and after-game plans, a contemporary lounge featuring Ligne Roset designs and the most comprehensive Babolat product line of racquets in New York City will also be on site.

At this new experience in Lower Manhattan, shattering plates, throwing glasses at the wall and smashing laptops isn't just OK—it's encouraged. 

Live Axe's Rage Room, allows visitors to take a crowbar to a printer,  pulverize glassware, shout, stomp and truly let it all out.

The Rage Room is located beneath Live Axe, a popular axe-throwing spot that’s been open since 2020. Before you get to go wild, you’ll meet your “rage captain” who will interview you about what makes you tick, from relationship issues to work problems to political drama. Then, you’ll suit up into head-to-toe gear, including a helmet, eye protection and gloves to make sure you’re safe. (Be sure to wear close-toed shoes and long pants for the experience.)

Here's our first look at the experience.

Southern wives' tales, folklore and fables—these are the works that inspired BK Adams' exhibition at the Claire Oliver Gallery in Harlem. 

"Five Miles" is a collection of 10 large-scale multimedia pieces that explore complex biographical and allegorical stories. Recurring characters, such as a lion and a blue horse, appear throughout Adams' artwork alongside pieces of nature to depict scenes of encouragement and inspiration.

The exhibition is on display through November 4. More details are available here. 

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. 

From The Marcy Houses to the biggest stages in the world, Jay-Z has always represented Brooklyn. Now Brooklyn is radiating that love back to him with a major, free exhibition called The Book of HOV on view at Brooklyn Public Library.

The exhibit chronicles the journey and impact of Shawn Carter through thousands of archived objects, including original recording masters, never-before-seen photos, iconic stage wear, prestigious awards and videos. Roc Nation created the exhibit as a surprise to the renowned hip-hop star as the city celebrates 50 years of the genre that started right here in New York City. See it at Brooklyn's Central Library along Grand Army Plaza during regular library hours through December 4.

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, according to a release.

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.

Remember when NASA published those first images from the Webb telescope and blew everyone's minds? 

Well, now you can admire never-before-seen visuals captured by the James Webb Space Telescope in this new immersive art experience at ARTECHOUSE in Chelsea. “Beyond the Light” runs all summer with adult general admission starting at $25. 

Described as "an artistic exploration of our unseen universe," Beyond the Light centers on a 25-minute cinematic audio-visual interpretation of how humans have experienced light over time. The show's presented in the highest-resolution projection technology available, making it a true feast for the senses. You'll get to see newly analyzed galactical data captured by the James Webb Space Telescope.  

"Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery" is now open at The Met. This presentation of Pueblo Indian pottery is the first community-curated Native American exhibition in the history of The Met. The exhibition showcases more than 100 historical and modern clay works dating from the 11th century to the present day. 

"It offers a critical understanding of Pueblo pottery," Met Director Max Hollein said.  

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 through January 8, 2024 and start at $29 for adults. 

Sushidelic, a psychedelic Kawaii-themed sushi restaurant complete with a sushi counter conveyor belt and plenty of kitschy, neon decor is now open at 177 Lafayette Street.

Sushidelic’s menu features sushi dishes that come to you on a conveyor belt, plus more Japanese favorites and vegetarian dishes—all created in collaboration with several Japanese and New York-based chefs, including Hiroki Abe from nearby EN Japanese Brasserie.

A major new exhibit by the Museum of the City of New York titled "This Is New York: 100 Years of the City in Art and Pop Culture" explores NYC through the lenses of visual art, television, film, music, theater, literature and fashion. The exhibition, which celebrates the museum's centennial, is now open in Manhattan. Here's a sneak peek at what you'll see in this landmark show. 

The exhibition highlights more than 400 objects through several sections. The first, called “Tempo of the City,” spotlights the joys and struggles on the streets and subways of NYC. The next, called “Destination NYC,” focuses on iconic and hidden places from parks to rooftops to nightclubs. Next, the exhibit moves to a peaceful room called “At Home in New York” featuring depictions of home life in books and films. Finally, take a seat for “You Are Here,” a compilation of more than 400 film scenes about New York City stitched together to create a stirring narrative that’ll make you smile and laugh. 

"This Is New York: 100 Years of the City in Art and Pop Culture" runs through June 21, 2024 at the Museum of the City of New York in East Harlem. Admission is $20/adult (you can opt for pay-what-you-wish admission if you buy tickets in person at the museum).

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.

Anyone can walk through this towering new sculpture in Brooklyn Bridge Park that shouts in all caps: “LAND.” But anyone cannot walk through certain lands, especially at border crossings. That juxtaposition comes into stark relief at this recently installed 30-foot sculpture that simultaneously evokes Pop Art and questions the legacy of colonization. 

Nicholas Galanin's "In every language there is Land / En cada lengua hay una Tierra" is now on view at the Empire Fulton Ferry Lawn in Brooklyn Bridge Park through fall 2023.

A vibrant new sculpture called “Old Tree” is now on view at the High Line. 

Find it over the intersection of 10th Avenue and 30th Street, claiming residency through Fall 2024. Created by Zurich-based artist Pamela Rosenkranz, the vivid sculpture is the third High Line Plinth commission, which changes every 18 months.

The pink and red “Old Tree” sculpture stretches 25 feet into the sky. It's shaped like a realistic tree but constructed completely from man-made materials. 

Union Square is about to get even more fun this summer.

Popular Lower Manhattan brewery Torch & Crown will bring its beloved brews to Union Square this summer with a seasonal location running through November.

Torch & Crown will set up shop in the historic Union Square Pavilion with a variety of hand-crafted drafts. A few stand-outs on the menu will include Almost Famous, a smooth, bright, aromatic hazy IPA packed with peach and grapefruit notes, and Share House, an easy-drinking crisp ale made for summertime.

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 now available. 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.  

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 ($45/adult) are on sale now.

The pickleball craze is continuing as CityPickle is now open at Central Park's Wollman Rink. It's the largest pickleball installation in the Northeast.

Courts are open through October 9 and all skill levels are welcome to experience the fun.

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. 

Smorgasburg is the food bazaar spectacular that unofficially announces summer in New York City every year. Founded by Brooklyn Flea’s Eric Demby and Jonathan Butler, the culinary extravaganza typically spotlights about 100 vendors across its locations. Smorg has three spots in 2023, two in Brooklyn (in Williamsburg and Prospect Park) and one at the World Trade Center. 

The World Trade Center outpost runs on Fridays; Williamsburg on Saturdays; and Prospect Park on Sundays.

New York City is full of free outdoor art that you don't even have to go to a museum to see. Sculptures, murals and photographs can be found in its parks, sidewalks and on its buildings! 

An outdoor artwalk makes for a perfect spring activity, and there's no shortage of art to check out right now. Best of all, it costs you nothing to pay a visit.

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.

A new exhibit at The Rubin Museum of Art opening this spring will explore the concept of death and the afterlife through the art of Tibetan Buddhism and Christianity. See 58 object spanning 12 centuries in this new show. 

"Death Is Not the End" features prints, oil paintings, bone ornaments, thangka paintings, sculptures, illuminated manuscripts, and ritual objects, inviting "contemplation on the universal human condition of impermanence and the desire to continue to exist," as the museum described.

The exhibition focuses on three major themes: The Human Condition, or the shared understanding of our mortality in this world; States In-Between, or the concepts of limbo, purgatory, and bardo; and (After)life, focusing on resurrection, ideas of transformation, and heaven.

"Death Is Not the End" is on view through January 14, 2024.

The steady stream of Stephen Sondheim revivals continues as the estimable Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford headline the latest Broadway incarnation of Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s 1979 killer-cannibal musical. Directed by Hamilton's Thomas Kail, the production uses Jonathan Tunick's original 26-piece orchestrations to do justice to the show's razor-sharp score; the large cast includes Ruthie Ann Miles, Jordan Fisher, Maria Bilbao, Jamie Jackson and Stranger Things kiddo Gaten Matarazzo. 

The Met's kicking off 2023 with an exhibit of life-size photomurals by Richard Avedon. Celebrating the centennial of the artist's birth in 1923, the show presents a selection of the photographer's innovative group portraits. The exhibit focuses on Avedon's creativity between 1969 and 1971 when he experimented with sense of scale to create monumental photomurals. Some of his work even chronicled the era's most well-known figures, including Andy Warhol.

The show runs through November 1, 2023. 

With indoor and outdoor options, Carreau Club, the nation’s first pétanque bar, offers a fun spot to get your game on while sipping a drink.

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.

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 2023. 

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.

The immersive experience trend continues strong with Wonderland Dreams, a newly announced interactive wine bar loosely inspired by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The cultural offering is scheduled to debut in midtown Manhattan at 529 Fifth Avenue by 44th Street.

The venue, which boasts 20 different rooms filled with eye-catching sights, sounds pretty remarkable. The 26,000-square-foot space has been hand-painted, there's a living art gallery that quite literally puts visitors inside a picture frame, a secret rose garden and giant playing cards.

Tickets for Wonderland Dreams are available for purchase now right here.

Have some fun this week 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.

Swingers NoMad, a "crazy mini-golf course" and entertainment complex straight from London, offers 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. Take your pick from six cocktail bars with signature classic cocktails, as well as 12 cocktails created specifically for Swingers NoMad. Plus, you can rent private rooms, check out an opulent clubhouse and enjoy four gourmet street food vendors—Sauce Pizzeria, Miznon, Fonda and Mah Ze Dahr Bakery.

For the holiday season, Swingers is offering a fun twist on the festivities: Spin a Naughty-or-Nice Prize Wheel to decide whether you're ordering the "Naughty" Sex on the Green shot or the "Nice" Festive Dessert. In addition to the game, there's also seasonal decor and even more holiday drinks.

Join Josh Johnson (Comedy Central's The Daily Show), Lucas Connolly (Comedy Central), and Brittany Cardwell (Drule, New York Comedy Fest) for stacked lineups of top comics from NYC and beyond every Wednesday at 7:30pm. 

Plus you can enjoy free beer from 7:30 to 8pm and there's a pizza raffle if you RSVP. What's not to love? Show up to Two Boots Williamsburg for the show.

Artshack Cafe offers everything on its menu on ceramic pieces made in-house. What’s more, according to an official statement by the cafe, patrons are asked to “help reduce waste by bringing their own cups.” Looking for a coffee to-go? Expect it served in a ceramic to-go cup. The cafe is part of Artshack Brooklyn, a community-based ceramics studio that offers both free and subsidized programming for adults and children alike. In addition to not using single-use products, standout features of the Bed-Stuy cafe at 1129 Bedford Avenue by Monroe Street include an anti-racism library and a number of chairs shaped like bunnies that will make anyone’s selected orders from chef Silvia Barban’s menu taste that much better.

Descend into The Django (l2 6th Avenue, The Roxy Hotel, Cellar Level) and you’ll feel like you’ve entered another world. The subterranean jazz club, with its vaulted ceilings and exposed brick walls, was modeled after the boîtes of Paris. The venue consists of two cocktail bars, an open dining space, and a stage for live performances with a state-of-the-art sound system. The Django offers a full dinner menu and handcrafted cocktails, all partnered with a brilliant entertainment lineup. Check out the schedule here.

Superstorm Sandy devastated New York City, destroying homes and businesses, but it also flooded the New York Aquarium so badly that parts of it have been closed to the public for the past decade. Now, after completely rebuilding these galleries with help from FEMA, New York State and New York City, NY Aquarium is open in full—you can see all of it—"Spineless," the PlayQuarium, "Ocean Wonders: Sharks!" Glover’s Reef, the Conservation Hall, the Sea Cliffs, the Aquatheater, the Seaside Café and more.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's "Date Nights" give visitors an opportunity to become acquainted with artwork with informal drop-in gallery chats, listen in on gorgeous live music and sip on yummy cocktails.

"Date Nights" are held every Friday and Saturday night in the American Wing Café from 5pm to 9pm. Make it a night out with The Met's buy-one-get-one drink special and snack on light bites in the American Wing Café. More details can be found at metmuseum.org/datenight. 

There's literally no excuse not to go—the date nights come with museum admission, which is always pay-what-you-wish for New York State residents and NY, NJ, and CT students with valid ID. And this time, advance tickets are not required. 

The luxurious Italian wellness spa QC NY has opened to the public, bringing the elegance and rejuvenation of a European spa to Governors Island, but with New York City flavor. It's immediately clear when you enter the spa that it was made to feel like home. From its cozy reception area decorated with custom-made furniture from Italy to its welcoming relaxation spaces with plush leather chairs and massive pillows you can sprawl out on, it feels like you're staying at a retreat with New York Harbor views. Since it's on the edge of the island, a short walk from Soissons Landing, looking out the windows offers gorgeous blue water views and glimpses of the city skyline. Because of its layout, the spa feels secluded from the rest of the island. Click through to read more about the new spa.

Immersive art exhibit Arcadia Earth aims to inspire visitors artistically and ethically, as it uses 15 rooms to spotlight the environmental challenges that our planet is facing (such as overfishing, food waste, and climate change).

This exhibit will not only leave visitors in awe, but it will help support Oceanic Global, an organization devoted to raising awareness around our aquatic ecosystems. In addition, a tree will also be planted for every ticket sold, making it a perfect gift for your eco-conscious friends!

A new audio tour by the Brooklyn Public Library seeks to explore the lives of the characters and authors that call the borough home in fiction and in real life. From Patti Smith to Biggie Smalls, Howard Zinn to Tanwi Nandini Islam, the guide covers a total of 16 writers over eight miles of Brooklyn. You can also expect to stop at important public libraries the likes of Washington Irving and Clinton Hill, which, according to an official press release, "played an important role in the lives of the featured author[s]." Expect the entire tour, which can virtually start off from anywhere in Brooklyn, to take at least two hours to complete, depending on how many stops you wish to make along the way.