50 reasons fall in New York is the best

Central Park is suddenly a magical, multicolored wonderland of crunchy-underfoot, leaf-throwing shenanigans.

It’s finally cool enough to drink proper beer again instead of the generic watery crap we’ve been hosing our insides off with all summer.

The color the sky turns right before the sun completely sets would bring a tear to any jaded New Yorker's eye.

Photograph: CC/Flickr/KarlNorling

Badass fall fashion. Even if you have no style, NYC streets look like runways with all those layers. Also, layering clothes is the best!

Just think of all the possibilities! From admiring fall foliage at the best NYC parks, to holding your S.O.’s hand during New York’s spookiest ghost tours, we think these activities are the foundation for a long-lasting relationship. And, hell, these date ideas will get your through cuffing season at the very least.

Getting your digits decked out in dark nail polishes and autumnal nail art at your local manicure joint.

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Don your stretchiest pair of pants and get ready to eat and drink your way through our list of epic food and drink festivals in NYC this fall! As summer comes to a close, New York is rife with larger-than-life gatherings to celebrate the city's world of culinary offerings.

New Yorkers are a tough breed, but when the fall chill really sets in, you’re bound to see bargoers flocking to the coziest bars in town. Amidst frosty winds, even the most hardened urbanite will appreciate rustic warmth of a roaring fire.

If you’re searching for fun Halloween events and aren’t afraid to get a little spooked, sign up for one of Gotham’s creepy and informative ghost tours. NYC certainly has a shadowy past, so it’s no surprise that there are many spirits (friendly ones, hopefully) walking among us.

Autumn is nearly here, which means rich pickings for museumgoers as the Met, MoMA, Brooklyn Museum, and other institutions and galleries around the city gear up for the best fall art shows.

Even the most loyal New Yorkers crave a break from the city, and lucky for us, these fall getaways are just a few hours away. Pack your bags—amazing hiking trails, boozy North Fork wineries and all the apple cider your heart desires await at these escapes from NYC.

You can spend all of Friday night partying in the city and still be taking in the fall foliage in the mountains by Saturday lunchtime.

The temperature is perfect for smoking outside. It’s not so hot you miss the air-conditioning inside, not so cold your fingers fall off before you can get the thing to your lips.

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The sadness of surrendering the iced coffee for a season is automatically combated by the delightful warmth of curling your hands around a hot coffee during your morning walk to the subway.

Boots! For the next six months, our main mode of forward motion will be stomping. Pile of leaves? Stomp. Puddle? Stomp. Foot of annoying person who shoves you on the subway? STOMP.

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Fingerless gloves. And tights! Who doesn’t love a good pair of tights? (Gentlemen, stand back.)

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A leather or denim jacket is basically a New Yorker's second-skin in the fall, but we love seeing stylish Gothamites give these simplistic outerwear staples some personality by adding cheeky patches, embroidered sayings and, if you would be so bold, glitter and sequins!

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Because running outside during a sweltering summer is awful. Practicing for the NYC Marathon is much easier thanks to autumn's cool breeze.

Au revoir, lame-o blockbusters, and hello to classy fall movies. We kiss you on both cheeks in the Continental style.

In the same regard, say sayonara to those golden-oldies arena tours. New York’s slate of fall concerts is unmatchable.

Sleep, glorious sleep! Without the drone of the AC in summer or being wrapped in 237 layers of clothing in winter. Perfect napping weather.

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Men dress once more like grown-ups (jeans, sweaters, boots) and less like massive hairy toddlers off to the sandpit (shorts, sandals, baseball cap).

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Prospect Park, you gorgeous thing, you.

Photograph: CC/Flickr/Vige

Neat whiskey. There is no way to drink it (warm) in the summer without feeling like a idiot.

Pulling your comforter back out, spreading it over the bed, and then climbing in for the first time in months.

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We have two gorgeous rivers to stroll along and sniff the sweet autumn air.

Photograph: CC/Flickr/Anthony Quintano

Oktoberfest. Beer halls. Why, yes, we would love a pretzel the size of our face.

Fall contains New York’s two best holidays Halloween and Thanksgiving. All the drinking/feasting/dressing up or not dressing up and no gift-giving required.

Restocking your tea drawer/cabinet/shelf with all the good flavors.

Time to bust out the Emily Dickinson, yo! Bring on the feels.

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Empire, Winesap, Northern Spy, Macoun. New York has the most scrumptious apple varieties, and the farmers' markets (and upstate orchards) are overflowing with them.

You can open your windows and rid your apartment of the air grown vaguely stale from repeated conditioning. Enjoy this for the few months when it's possible before the sharp winter winds make it impractical.

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Whether you’re interested in traveling upstate to admire New York’s lovely fall foliage or getting spooked at nearby haunted houses, we tracked down the best autumnal attractions that are located less than two hours away from Manhattan.

'Tis the season of kissable, rosy cheeks. Go plant a smacker on someone right now!

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You can start drinking Irish coffees and hot toddies without sweating out the booze immediately.

We're living for oversized, sweater weather. Added bonus: Longer/bulkier clothing makes it easier to eat what you want again, timed perfectly to the return of comfort food on menus.

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More Citi Bikes in the racks (and fewer Citi Bikes to dodge as a pedestrian) as the fair-weather cyclists abandon their wheels.

The perfect Halloween festivals include pumpkins, costumes, autumnal treats and spooktacular entertainment. Lucky, the majority of these Halloween events and fêtes taking place in the city and New York state area include all of the above!

Oh, and you can actually ride your bike in the city without turning into a sweaty mess. Riding a bike on one of the bridges on a crisp, autumn day is the best. 41. The streets don’t stink so badly in crisp autumn air. Summer is a nasal vandal.

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More reasons to wear hats. All the hats. All the kinds.

First, find your creepy costume of choice at a great Halloween store (or borrow one without breaking the bank at the best Halloween costume rental stores). Then scream your way through some of the spookiest haunted houses in NYC. But before the wicked weekend is over, be sure to buy you and your ghoul squad tickets to an epic Halloween party where you can sip on killer cocktails as you monster mash all night.

We repeat: Pumpkin. Spice. Motherfuckin'. Lattes.

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The nighttime air temperature of New York in the fall plus the gentle glow of an outdoor fire heater is the very definition of blissful.

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Bye, mosquitos! Mwa hahahahah!

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The Village Halloween Parade, a.k.a. the world's biggest cosplay festival, gives you a great chance to let loose your creativity or marvel at the creativity/time management of others.

Damn straight. Cruch.

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It’s the freakiest time of year and we couldn’t be more excited to scream our guts out at one of the scariest haunted houses NYC has to offer. Get all your thrills and chills at these horrifying venues, filled with monsters from your worst nightmares.

Spots like Nitehawk Cinema, Videology and Syndicated will play everything from Nightmare on Elm Streetto the latest horror releases like It.

It is clinically impossible to effectively snuggle in summer. Even if you’re snuggling solo, the first snuggles of autumn are like being reunited with a lover.

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Knowing that everybody in the world agrees that nobody does fall like New York City. Like, don't even try to argue. (They made a Richard Gere/Winona Ryder movie about it, okay?)

Photograph: CC/Flickr/Anthony Quintano