NYC events in January 2025

New Yorkers unafraid of braving the freezing waters of Coney Island will return to the ocean for the Coney Island Polar Bear Plunge on New Year's Day from 11am-1pm.

Every New Years Day for 122 years, swimmers sporting their skivvies or wild costumes dive into the freezing Atlantic to symbolically wash away the year before. Organizers expect over 4,000 to take the dive this year, matching—if not surpassing—the 4,300+ who dove last year.

Fun fact: The Coney Island Polar Bear Club is the oldest winter bathing club in the United States, dating back to 1903.

During a time when downtown theater has been contracting in New York, the 2025 Under the Radar festival, which runs from January 4 through January 19, is actually expanding its offerings of experimental theater.

Not only does this year's season, produced by ArkType's Thomas O. Kriegsmann and Sami Pyne, feature more productions and more institutional partners (such as BAM, New York Theatre Workshop and the Apollo), but it is also broadening its leadership and its mandate.

There are 23 productions in the festival's principal Mainstage series and eight more in its developmental Under Construction wing, plus three special events. Here's the full lineup.

Cole Escola’s Oh, Mary! is not just funny: It is dizzyingly, breathtakingly funny, the kind of funny that ambushes your body into uncontained laughter. Stage comedies have become an endangered species in recent decades, and when they do pop up they tend to be the kind of funny that evokes smirks, chuckles or wry smiles of recognition. That's not so at Oh, Mary! where the audience burst into applause at the end of every scene.

Fasten your seatbelts: This 80-minute show is a fast and wild joy ride. In this hilariously anachronistic historical burlesque, Escola plays—who else?—Mary Todd Lincoln, in the weeks leading up to her husband’s assassination. Boozy, vicious and miserable, the unstable and outrageously contrary Mary is oblivious to the Civil War and hell-bent on achieving stardom as—what else?—a cabaret singer.

The Urban Bush Women dance company is celebrating 40 years of “building community and taking risks that push the culture forward.” To honor the momentous occasion, the troupe has put together a (very) full calendar of performances, special events, digital content, and opportunities to gather. Here's what's coming up: 

— January 10-March 27, 2025 - Lineage Legacy and Liberation: An Examination of Urban Bush Women’s Art-making and Community Organizing Praxis in NYC, exhibit at the Apollo Theatre

— February 5-8: SCAT!...The Complex Lives of Al & Dot, Dot & Al Zollar

As the world commemorates the centennial of James Baldwin's birth, Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) presents Turkey Saved My Life - Baldwin in Istanbul, 1961–1971, a landmark exhibition featuring rare photographs of the iconic writer by Turkish photographer Sedat Pakay.

Running through February 28, 2025 in the Grand Lobby of the Central Library, this exhibition offers an unprecedented glimpse into Baldwin’s transformative years in Istanbul from 1961 to 1971, when the author-activist moved to Istanbul seeking refuge from the entrenched racism and homophobia he experienced in America. The exhibition will be accompanied by public programs, including panel discussions, film screenings, and readings that further explore Baldwin’s unique connection to Turkey.

In the 1950 film masterpiece Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood glamour is a dead-end street. Stalled there with no one coming to find her—except perhaps to use her car—is Norma Desmond: a former silent-screen goddess who is now all but forgotten. Secluded and deluded, she haunts her own house and plots her grand return to the pictures; blinded by the spotlight in her mind, she is unaware that what she imagines to be a hungry audience out there in the dark is really just the dark. 

Queens Botanical Garden has a beautiful light show you’ll want to see this year called “Lektrik.” With over 1 million LED lights, this illuminated trail imitates a lush garden with giant lanterns—including 40 stunning lamp scenes crafted by 150 artisans using 120 tons of steel and 150,000 feet of silk—and brings it to life with acrobatic performers, stone-carving, an artisan market and ambient music.

There's a reason Chamber Magic has remained a staple in NYC's magic scene for more than two decades: It dazzles, show after show, with tricks that'll still leave you awestruck days later. 

The charming Steve Cohen, billed as the Millionaires’ Magician, conjures high-class parlor magic in the marble-columned Madison Room at the swank Lotte New York Palace. Dress to be impressed (cocktail attire is required); tickets start at $125, with an option to pay more for meet-and-greet time and extra tricks with Cohen after the show. If you've come to see a classic-style magic act, you get what you pay for.

Sporting a tuxedo and bright rust hair, the magician delivers routines that he has buffed to a patent-leather gleam: In addition to his signature act—"Think-a-Drink," involving a kettle that pours liquids by request—highlights include a lulu of levitation trick and a card-trick finale that leaves you feeling like, well, a million bucks.

Think pink at Watermark, the classic American restaurant on Pier 15 by the Seaport, is turning into an immersive pink wonderland this month. It's just in time for the peak of New York winter and for Valentine's Day celebrations.

The 10,000 square-foot outdoor bar and restaurant will be lit up in pink hues and be decorated with red flowers, heart installations and mesmerizing twinkling lights. Pink Pier will be open from January 10 until mid-April.

The Anne Frank House is one of the most popular sites in Europe. A museum dedicated to Frank and her Jewish family, the destination served as a hiding place for the Franks and others during World War II, as they were hiding from the Nazis.

For the first-time ever, the nonprofit organization behind the museum will bring its work to New York City in partnership with the Center for Jewish History in Manhattan, together debuting “Anne Frank The Exhibition,” a full-scale recreation of the annex, complete with the furniture pieces that adorned the space during Frank’s years in hiding.

The new exhibit will be mounted at the Center for Jewish History at 15 West 16h Street by Fifth Avenue in Union Square. The production will run from January 27, 2025—International Holocaust Remembrance Day—through April 30, 2025.

Since it was first observed nationwide in January of 1986, the holiday commemorating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has served as a reminder of his legacy to the causes of civil rights, nonviolent opposition and community service.

This year, the holiday is celebrated on Monday, January 20.

For Sophia Allison, the journey from bedroom pop idealist to full-fledged rockstar happened slowly, then all at once. In the nearly 10 years since Allison began posting demos on Bandcamp under the name Soccer Mommy, her '90s-indebted indie pop has led to performances on The Tonight Show and on tours opening for Paramore, Wilco and Phoebe Bridgers. On her latest album, Evergreen, Allison returns to the laidback instrumentation of her earliest songs.

After testing out the new album by touring overseas, Soccer Mommy returns to Brooklyn on January 30 at Brooklyn Steel. The show is certain to contain fan favorites like “Still Clean,” “Crawling in My Skin” and Allison’s breakthrough single “Your Dog.” Opening is the amorphous experimental pop musician L’Rain, whose fuzzy, electric album I Killed Your Dog was one of the most acclaimed of 2023. 

Talk about shining bright! Two million twinkling white lights will adorn Hudson Yards for the shopping center’s fifth annual holiday display. This year's seasonal illumination includes 115 miles of string lights, 725 evergreen trees dressed to create a gleaming forest, 16-foot tall illuminated hot air balloon decorations and a massive 32-foot hot air balloon centerpiece suspended in The Great Room of The Shops & Restaurants. 

See it through January 5.

The Bronx Zoo's sparkling seasonal outdoor celebration featuring animated lights and LED displays of animals from around the world is back.

Expect the zoo to dazzle with 400 wildlife lanterns representing 100 species spread across an expansive area of the zoo. This year, the display spreads across six different trails, focusing individually on wildlife from North America, Africa, Latin America, and more. 

The zoo is introducing an interactive lights section this year with bright stepping stones and sparkling lights. Also don't miss the park’s holiday train, new snacks like apple pie nachos and warm spiked apple cider, and ice carving demonstrations. 

Holiday Lights will run at the Bronx Zoo on select dates through January 5.

Austin McCormick and his risqué neo-Baroque dance-theater group Company XIV present a lavish erotic reimagining of the classic holiday tale, complete with circus performers, operatic singers and partial nudity. The word nutcracker has customarily conjured innocent wonder; now be ready to add glitter pasties, stripper poles and comically large stuffed penises to the toys in wonderland. Definitely leave the kids at home. 

Within Grand Central Terminal, find the New York Transit Museum's 20th annual Holiday Train Show, an ode to all kinds of locomotives. You'll feel positively giant while wandering around the 34-foot-long display, festooned with miniature versions of city landmarks such as the Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Building. Watch as Lionel model trains depart from a miniature replica of Grand Central. Then they travel over the river (the East River, to be exact) and through the wood to reach their final destination, the North Pole.

The Holiday Train Show will be on view at Grand Central Terminal through February 2025. The free show is open Monday-Friday, 10am-7:30pm; Saturday-Sunday, 10am-6pm; and closed major holidays. Find it in the shuttle passage on 42nd Street and Park Avenue, adjacent to the Station Master’s Office.

In NYBG's wildly popular diorama, more than a dozen model railway trains traverse an incredibly detailed New York City scene, including such landmarks as the Empire State Building and Radio City Music Hall, made of natural materials such as leaves, twigs, bark and berries.

Each year, artist Laura Busse Dolan and her team at Applied Imagination work on the awe-inspiring structures using plant materials to build "botanical architecture." It's been a beloved tradition since 1992.

The destination is ideal for children, but there are also 21+ nights to check out. This year's holiday train show will take place through January 20, 2025, starting at 10am until 6pm, at the Bronx destination.

Festooned with more than 1,000 meticulously hand-folded paper ornaments, this year’s 13-foot-tall tree at the American Museum of Natural History is inspired by the theme "Jumping for Joy" in honor of our 2024 Leap Year. The tree features specially crafted origami creations inspired by the museum's hopping, pouncing, and leaping creatures.

Some of the pieces decorating the greenery include rabbits, kangaroos, grasshoppers, frogs, squirrels, and cicadas, along with those depicting iconic museum exhibits like the Blue Whale and Tyrannosaurus rex.

Created in partnership with OrigamiUSA, the Origami Holiday Tree is delightfully decorated with hand-folded paper models created by local, national, and international origami artists. See it through January 22.

Before you even see these gingerbread creations, you’ll smell their sweet-spicy aromas wafting through the halls. Gingerbread NYC: The Great Borough Bake-Off has taken over the Museum of the City of New York once again bringing holiday cheer with 20 stunningly beautiful gingerbread structures.

Each one emulates an iconic part of the city, from the Wonder Wheel to the Prospect Park Boathouse to a bodega (complete with a bodega cat, of course). Feast your eyes upon them this holiday season. Go see them all at Museum of the City of New York in East Harlem now through January 12. 

In this charming New York City village, Santa drives a taxi, a nutcracker runs a hot dog cart and snowmen hang out at the Snoball Fight Club. The local cafe sells North Pole Holiday Blend hot chocolate, polar bears run the neighborhood bagel shop and the I Want a Hippopotamus Gift Store does a bustling business. This is GingerBread Lane, a confectionary creation by Jon Lovitch who holds the record for the world’s largest gingerbread village.

You can step into Lovitch’s whimsical world inside The Shops at Columbus Circle. Find this four-tiered gingerbread village on the second floor of the mall. It’s free to visit and will be on view through January 5, 2025. If you want to learn to make your own gingerbread house, Lovitch is hosting classes for $35 per person; you can grab a ticket here.

This holiday season, escape to an island paradise without ever leaving Manhattan. Celebrate the first-ever Holiday Under the Palms at Brookfield Place. Running through the end of the year, the brand-new concept will transport visitors to a warm, tropical oasis in the heart of frigid New York, thanks to the recent arrival of 16 new palm trees to BFPL’s iconic Winter Garden.

Among the "sunny" lineup of free events and family-friendly programming are waterfront ice skating, selfies with Santa, a tropical holiday cocktail crawl, festive giveaways and live performances of that Christmas classic, The Nutcracker, by the New York Theatre Ballet.  

The Winter Village at Bryant Park is back in all its holiday glory. On the grounds you can peruse more than 180 shopping and food kiosks—all at one of the best NYC parks. Expect loads of handmade, unique and New York City-specific gifts for your family and friends. Work up an appetite at the 17,000-square-foot ice-skating rink and then fill up at the rinkside pop-up restaurant called The Lodge for festive cocktails and hearty food.

The holiday season isn't over til The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree says it is. This beaming and brilliant symbol of the holiday season goes dark for the season in mid-January.

Until then, head to Rockefeller Center to admire more than 50,000 multi-colored LED lights wrapped around the branches. It's topped with a three-dimensional Swarovski star that weighs 900 pounds and sparkles in 3 million crystals. 

The clothes we put on our bodies every day don't just keep us warm or covered or in fashion. They also say something. Clothing conveys meaning—sometimes in direct ways like "I'm mourning" and sometimes in indirect ways like "screw the status quo." 

A new exhibit titled "Real Clothes, Real Lives: 200 Years of What Women Wore" at the New-York Historical Society digs into how clothing has played a crucial role in the lives of everyday women. The exhibit, on view through June 22, 2025, explores how women have influenced, adapted and defied societal expectations through clothing. See a wide array of women's clothing, from a Depression-era house dress to a psychedelic micro mini to an Abercrombie & Fitch wool suit from 1917. Unlike most other women's fashion exhibitions, there's not a ball gown in sight, and that's exactly what makes this show so special. 

When you think of Franz Kafka, there are a few words that likely come to mind: Lonely, tortured, isolated. But this depiction doesn’t actually tell the full story of Kafka, a new exhibit at The Morgan Library & Museum argues. Yes, the Czech writer known for his surrealist literary masterpieces like The Metamorphosis, did have a difficult life before dying at the age of 40 from tuberculosis.

But he was also known to be funny, a brilliant love letter writer, a good friend, and even a playful spirit. In fact, many of the solo photos we see of Kafka were really photos with other people who have been cut out of the scene over the years, Sal Robinson, curator at The Morgan explained during a tour of the new exhibit. The show, simply titled "Franz Kafka," is now on view through April 13, 2025.

Get a new perspective at American Dream at the Paradox Experience, where you explore a collection of family-friendly exhibits where “nothing seems logical, yet all is utterly real,” including an Infinity Well, where you’ll “fly through an abyss.” The Paradox Sofa will have you questioning reality and the Paradox Tunnel will make it hard to walk a straight line. According to Fever, each exhibit inspires and challenges with ultimate creativity. Plus, it makes for trippy IG photos!

Heading to Madison Square Garden to watch the Knicks play is an iconic night out in NYC. The basketball team made the playoffs recently in the 2020-21 season led by forward Julius Randle and RJ Barrett. 

Catch them at MSG now!

If Netflix’s Squid Game was one of your favorite shows and you’re looking forward to the new season premiere this December, you’ll want to try your hand at some of the challeneges at Squid Game: The Experience here in NYC.

Set within Manhattan Mall (100 West 33rd Street by Sixth Avenue), you get into teams of up to 24 people each to complete challenges across 60 minutes, including those that appeared on the TV show (yes, you’ll get to try your hand at the iconic Red Light Green Light) plus a number of brand-new ones built specifically for the experience. Once done playing, you can enjoy a night market offering a variety of Korean and international sweet and savory foods, plus drinks.