The best things to do in NYC this weekend

Caroling, Klezmer and Calypso—oh my! Brooklyn Conservatory of Music will present its first-ever Holiday Extravaganza on Sunday, December 15 from 3pm to 5pm.

The family-friendly, multicultural celebration will see the conservatory throw open the doors of its historic Park Slope Victorian mansion, surrounding gardens, and front stoop for guests to enjoy performances from BKCM’s Klezmer Hanukkah Ensemble, David Bertrand’s Calypso holiday band, and Christmas carolers, among others.

Attendees can get warm and cozy at the delicious Tea Station from Tea Arts & Culture and can get moving with dance lessons provided by Asase Ya Cultural Arts Foundation celebrating Kuumba, the sixth principle of Kwanzaa. The event is pay-what-you-wish, with a suggested donation of $20, and registration is required.

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.

Started originally by ornithologist Frank Chapman as an alternative to the then-customary holiday bird hunt, the Christmas Bird Count is now the longest-running community science bird project in the country. There are counts at nearly 3,000 locations across the country, including one of the most well-known and historic counts, happening at Central Park on December 15.

This family-friendly and welcoming event offers a unique opportunity for participants, from bird lovers to those totally new to birding, to contribute to bird conservation efforts while enjoying nature and the beauty of one of New York City's most iconic locations. Data collected by participants over the years help ornithologists and conservation biologists study long-term bird populations and decide what conservation action is required to protect birds and the places they need.

For the third year in a row, Alex Kim and Kenny Park Yi put on their queer Asian comedy variety show, this time at the Bell House in Gowanus on Sunday, December 15. Head over at 6pm for an evening of comedy, sketch, drag and, of course, boba, with guest appearances by comics including Ai Vy Luu, Jes Tom and Sureni Weerasekera and a drag performance by Fefe Fo Fum.

And, since it is the season of giving, $.25 per ticket sold benefits Comedy Gives Back, a safety net for the comedy community.

Kids are welcome at this staging of the Mozart classic. It’s the perfect starter opera: Performed in English, this abridged version by Julie Taymor, the Tony Award–winning director of Broadway’s The Lion King, clocks in at less than two hours and features delightful costumes and sets, but it’s still a Met production with some of the world’s finest performers.

If you want an extra special peek behind the curtain, mark your calendar for Saturday, December 14 when families with tickets to the matinee performance are invited to experience the Met’s immersive Holiday Open House, with festive behind-the-scenes demonstrations by members of the Met’s backstage and artistic staff.

The Poetry Society of New York regularly gives literary lovers the gifts of words and wonder, and this present-buying season, they're letting you pay those good vibes forward with a holiday market.

Taking over 3 Dollar Bill on Saturday, December 14, the festive, free-to-attend poetry wonderland will feature a range of meaningful, one-of-a-kind (and under-$50!) gifts from talented local poets and makers for everyone on your list. There will also be personalized typewriter poems on offer; live readings from the likes of Dorothea Lasky, Terrance Hayes and Haleh Liza Gafori; a jolly drag performance by Poison Oak and more. 

New York nightlife personality and comedian Dominic Pupa—who you may know from his one-man shows like Gypsies, Tramps & Me, Cherstruck and Surprising No One—returns to The Cutting Room (44 E 32d St) with his annual holiday show, Dom We Now Our Gay Apparel.

The “pop culture roasting” of “a lecherous year” by “a treacherous queer” will skewer the best and (mostly) worst that 2024 had to offer, combined with holiday music parodies that promise to “ruin the Christmas classics for you forever.” Touring cities like Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, this spunky and spirited show will make its way to New York City on Saturday, December 14. 

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 between December 12, 2024 and 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.

Close out the year with a one-night-only celebration of the life and legacy of James Baldwin, the writer and activist.

On Friday, December 13 at 7pm, you can explore a special display about Baldwin's early career in the Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library's Treasures and learn more about JIMMY! God’s Black Revolutionary Mouth, featuring materials never before shown in public. The party's at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.

There will also be living readings beloved Baldwin works by artists and writers including Phoebe Robinson, Darryl Pinckney, Tayari Jones and Daphne Brooks; a musical performance by singer Candice Hoyes in the Rose Main Reading Room; 16mm films curated from the Reserve Film and Video Collection spotlighting the famed writer and his influences; and much more.

It's time for Yuletide cheer and pop music! The Christmas concert with all the biggest names is returning to the world's most famous arena for a 28th year. Put on by NYC's powerhouse pop music radio station Z100, this holiday extravanganza features performances from current stars like Benson Boone and Teddy Swims, who both had out-of-nowhere top three hits this year, and the current champion of the charts Shaboozy, who has stayed at #1 with "A Bar Song" for 18 – yes, eighteen – weeks.

Confessional singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams and alt-poppers Twenty One Pilots take the stage as well, rounding out this glitzy concert's collection of short, hit-heavy sets. Those superstars are hard to ignore but here's the hard part: Tickets will cost you at least $791 on TicketMaster.

Named in honor of its iconic namesake Billie Holiday, the Billie Holiday Theatre will celebrate the end of the year with its Billie & Beyond series on Friday, December 13.

Brooklyn-based musical outfit Kennedy Administration—known for weaving together jazz, R&B, hip-hop and pop influences into a rich, yet modern musical tapestry—will perform a selection of Holiday’s hits as well as festive classics and their own original songs. The curated evening will also include a set by the popular DJ Nyla, light bites and spirited cocktails. 

Check out the “Winter Wonder: The Northern Lights Express” exhibit at Rockefeller Center’s Hero. An immersive experience that lets you trek through giant, snowy displays, an imaginary train car, and dancing lights. It brings you through the 13,000-square-foot space, stopping in eleven rooms to see familiar, beloved scenes from the coldest part of the year. The trip kicks off at a secret train station—complete with a clock tower, fir trees and silver tinsel—so attendees can take the Northern Lights Express towards the galleries. 

Get into the holiday spirit with NYC darlings Svetlana's Big Band at two shows in December. No matter which show you choose—or both!—you can count on classic big band sound meeting thrilling modern arrangements, all with Svetlana’'s dulcet vocals and captivating stage presence.

Hear a dynamic set featuring Svetlana's favorite holiday songs, including big band arrangements from her chart-topping recording, serpentine jazz love songs, and uplifting originals. As she puts it: "let the enchanting melodies quicken your pulse and thaw your heart from the winter blues!"

On December 14, it's the Blue Note Holiday Show; tickets range from $32-$37. 

Back in 1987, an art amusement park—featuring works from Keith Haring, Salvador Dalí, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and more—delighted visitors in Germany. There were plans for a world tour, but it never happened, and the art was abandoned. Until now, that is.

Now, you can walk through Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy, a wonderland featuring a Basquiat Ferris wheel, a Haring carousel, a Lichtenstein labyrinth, puppets and other immersive experiences in this limited-time installation at The Shed. Luna Luna is, hands down, the coolest art exhibition to open in New York City this year, and it's on view through January 5, 2025 with tickets starting at $44/person.

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree (NYC’s pride and joy) is a beaming and brilliant symbol of the holiday season. Tourists and native New Yorkers alike sure do love this towering tree.

The tree will be lit daily from 5am to midnight. On Christmas Eve, the tree is lit for 24 hours and on New Year’s Eve it is lit from 5am to 9pm. The tree goes dark for the season in mid-January.

More than 50,000 multi-colored LED lights wrap around the branches. It’s topped with a three-dimensional Swarovski star that weighs 900 pounds and sparkles in 3 million crystals.

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. 

Shop 'til you drop at FAD Market, a curated fashion, art and design pop-up marketplace, which is back for 2024. Expect to see your favorite makers plus brand new creatives to help you live smarter, gift better and support local businesses. 

FAD—which stands for Fashion, Art and Design—takes over different venues with a horde of independent vendors and creators. Admission is free and dogs are welcome! Here's the schedule:

December 14-15, 21-22: Holiday Market at Empire Stores in Dumbo (next toTime Out Market!) 
December 14-15, 21-22: Holiday Market at St. Paul’s in Cobble Hill
December 14-15, 21-22: Holiday Market at The Invisible Dog Art Center in Boerum Hill

If these 4:30pm sunsets in NYC are getting you down, this new immersive experience at Genesis House might be just the antidote. Called STARSCAPE, this light installation explores the beauty of darkness and the wonders of the cosmos.  

The walk-through exhibit was designed by Ethan Tobman, who is known for his visual storytelling as creative director of The Eras Tour. But unlike Taylor Swift's concerts, this experience is completely free to see with no tickets required. Tobman drew inspiration from Dongji, the Korean Winter Solstice, to craft an awe-inspiring journey through the longest night of the year.

STARSCAPE is now open to the public through January 12. No reservations are needed; just show up. Public operating hours are Tuesday–Sunday, 11am–7pm. Find it at 40A 10th Ave. in the Meatpacking District.

Powerhouse musicians will help get you in the Christmas spirit inside the stunning Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Morningside Heights with a themed concert on Saturday, December 14. 

Sing along to holiday classics like "Silent Night," "Joy to the World," and "Angels We Have Heard On High." Performers include the cathedral choirs and orchestra with Arthur Fiacco on cello and Daniel Ficarri and Jacob Gruss on organ. Concerts are conducted by Kent Tritle, director of cathedral music, and Bryan Zaros, associate director of music and choirmaster. 

The concert also marks the much-anticipated return of the Great Organ (Aeolian-Skinner Op. 150A) after five years.

Coney Island isn't just a summertime destination anymore. Luna Park's Frost Fest is home to a 35-foot tree sure to get you into the holiday spirit, plus photo opps with Santa, a holiday market, and an ice skating rink. 

New in 2024 is the Candy Cane Chute rapid slide that you are sure to want to ride down endlessly. Don't forget that the iconic Coney Island Cyclone will also be open during select days this season, so make sure to save some time to experience the thrilling ride as well.

Frost Fest is taking over Coney Island through January 1, 2025 on select weekdays and holidays, plus Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Read more about the offerings right here.

For over a decade, award-winning singer Suzi Shelton has been creating music for kids, inviting them to dance, sing and explore the world around them. For Thanksgiving, she is coming to Time Out Market New York with Macaroni KID Brooklyn NW for a special holiday show.

On Friday, December 13, Shelton will be playing a free concert at Time Out Market New York. Prepare to sing along, clap and move with your little ones. And it is a holiday show, so feel free to dress up your little one. Doors open at 10am, and the show starts promptly at 10:15am. Arrive early to get a front row spot!

L'chaim! You can shop goodies from more than 60 vendors at the two-day Hanukkah Bazaar coming to Iron 23 on Saturday, December 14 and Sunday, December 15. Stock up on Judaica, jewelry, art, crafts, fashion and more, with featured vendors including Woz Art, Netali Ofer, Avraham Vofsi, Yehoshua, Hotcrown, Via Maris, Naomi Salfati and more.

You’ll be happy that Hanukkah is late this year, because this bazaar is perfectly timed to grab gifts and goodies for everyone on your list!

The ArtsClub is sprinkling a little seasonal cheer at the Banksy Museum with a Holiday Art Party on Saturday, December 14 from 2pm to 5pm. Head down to the Canal Street museum for a day of creativity, cheer, and colorful fun as you shop gifts from an array of artist vendors, learn to craft and make candy jewelry with Cricket’s Candy Creations, and enjoy festive freebies like a Banksy tote bag and a street art-inspired holiday ornament.

The merry afternoon is free to attend, but you can reserve your spot here. 

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.

This weekly Upper West Side marketplace, one of NYC’s oldest, goes all out every holiday season with holiday treats and special holiday vendors. Now through December 22, drop by any Sunday from 10am to 5:30pm, to shop photographs, jewelry, furniture, beauty products, antiques and tasty eats from more than 150+ local merchants selling across the holiday season—and feel really good doing it: the market supports local businesses by donating 100 percent of its profits to four of the neighborhood’s public schools.

The Bazaar is open all year round, indoors and outdoors, and over 70% of the vendors can change from one week to another, so there’s always something new to see!

Sure, you can go to a chain jeweler to pick up something shiny and impersonal for the one you love, or you can make them a treasured trinket yourself with a ring-making workshop with Seelye Designs.

Taking place at Harsh Collective on Saturday, December 14 from 2:30pm to 4:30pm, this intimate class will show you how to design the Seelye Root Stacker ring using the 6,000-year-old tradition of wax carving and casting. Your holiday giftee will no doubt appreciate all of that time-honored effort!

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.

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. 

In addition to the awe-inspiring light display, there are plenty of free photo opportunities, chances to visit Santa and stores to shop for everyone on your list.

The Paley Center for Media's annual seasonal spectacular is back for another holiday season: PaleyLand will run through Sunday, January 5 at the midtown-based museum with jolly joy for revelers young and old.

Along with free hot cocoa and holiday treats, attendees can enjoy five floors of merriment, including photo opportunities with Santa; screenings of  holiday-themed episodes and specials of hit Disney Jr. and Disney Channel series; meet-and-greets with classic holiday characters like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Hermey the Elf; and the chance to explore the magical holiday train, the Paley Express. It's all included with general admission.

The weather outside is, indeed, getting frightful, so this holiday season, cozy up to the "Island of Warmth" activation at Manhattan West. Along with an electrifying urban bonfire, there will be music and dance performances (from Harlem Lite Feet with Chrybaby Cozie, the Maimouna Keita School of Dance, and Music from the Sole), memorable holiday photo opportunities, and a show-stopping winter lights display that is sure to mesmerize the whole family.

Enjoy complimentary hot chocolate by Daily Provisions on December 4, caroling around the campfire on December 11 and a Hanukkah celebration featuring the Brooklyn Klezmer Trio Plus on December 18. 

We like to get our hands dirty. And by that, we mean dirty martinis and dirty-fries-in-our-hands dirty.

On December 15, Tanqueray is taking over MetLife Stadium for a timeless pop-up of its own. For one night only, the Classic or Nothing Diner will rise inside the stadium’s FanZone. Its fare? The classic Martini and Fries duo. Sip on dirty martinis paired with dirty fries topped with pulled pork and green onions, finished with a drizzle of zesty barbecue sauce. Even better? The pop-up is open to all who are 21 and up; no tickets to the game required.

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.

Take a break from Christmas shopping and check out the state-of-the-art holiday light display at The Shops at Columbus Circle. This year, the seasonal spectacle has been pumped up with 300,000 shimmering lights, 44 new LED stars, and over 3,000 feet of sparkling garland illuminating the entire complex. 

You’ll be so moved, you won’t even care that you maxed out your MasterCard getting Aunt Judy that back massager she’s been wanting. Along with daily light and music shows (which run every half hour from 5pm to 11pm), the Shops will also host festive activities and events throughout the season, including free live Broadway performances and children’s programming, a gingerbread village and more. 

Mark your calendar for Broadway Under The Stars, live performances by Broadway stars amidst the holiday decor. Here's the full lineup:

— December 4: Moulin Rouge! The Musical | Bohemian Winter Rendezvous
— December 5: The Lion King, Aladdin, Wicked
— December 12: SIX, The Book of Mormon
— December 19: Chicago, Death Becomes Her, The Outsiders

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.  

Skate your way into the holiday season at the iconic Oculus at the Winter Whirl Roller Rink, presented by Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Through Sunday, January 5, you can lace up your own skates (or rent a pair there) and surround yourself in festive holiday music and good cheer as you spin and slide under some seriously stunning architecture. It's an indoor rink, so you'll stay nice and warm and you glide around. 

In between turns around the rink, fuel up at The Polar Pub, an all-new holiday themed pop-up serving festive snacks and drinks.

It might seem strange to say about an actress who emerged like a supernova, won an Oscar for Girl, Interrupted (1999), was nominated for Changeling (2008), and brought Lara Croft to life, that Angelina Jolie’s on-screen career has never quite hit the expected heights. With this musical biopic, though, she’s finally landed a role that will have audiences talking about her acting again.

Directed by Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín, Maria casts her as American-Greek opera legend Maria Callas, a woman trying to rekindle former glories whose personal life, including a failed relationship with world famous socialite Aristotle Onassis, is cannon fodder for the world's tabloids. It wouldn't be wildly off-beam to call it a role Jolie has spent her life preparing for.

This enjoyable biopic offers a loving and affectionate portrait of Callas that never airbrushes her foibles. It’s likely to put Jolie front and centre in the Oscar race, too. Girl, Resurrected. It's in theaters now. 

It’s over 50 years since British filmmaker Mike Leigh made Bleak Moments – a debut title that set the tone for a career if ever there was one. Leigh is now 81, and his wise and painful new film, Hard Truths, is the story of a London woman, Pansy (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), a middle-aged wife and mother stuck in a cycle of anger and resentment that Leigh is not about to break simply because it would give us a sense of relief. 

It’s a film of deep empathy, but a tough one, too. Leigh and his collaborators don’t have any easy answers as to why Pansy is this way, or if she’ll ever be different. What they leave us with is a character who’s richly and roundly drawn – one who remains a mystery once we’re not in her alienating company, but also one who Leigh and Jean-Baptiste have created with palpable and intense care and compassion.

It's in cinemas now. 

Halloween may be over but that doesn't mean the witchy fun has to end. In this "unhinged clown hour of self discovery" inspired by the "witch hunt" on trans rights in the United States, Amanda Houser is DeliaDelia, a flat-chested witch from the swamps "who happens to be as nasty on the eyes as she is on the basketball court."

Directed by Kedian Keohan, the show follows DeliaDelia's quest to become a "real girl" and join a human b-ball team. "Will she finally get her shot at greatness, or will she be cursed forever and turned into a serpent?" You'll have to head to The Brick during its run between December 4 and 14 to find out!

Does it smell like onions in here or is that just another Shrek Rave looming in the near distance? It's true, the most anticipated party for Shrek megafans is returning to Webster Hall on Saturday, December 14. 

Pull out your best Lord Farquad-inspired fit and twerk to remixes of music featured in the Shrek movies. This is the definition of a party that does not take itself too seriously, so expect lots of gags and people bonding over the shared silliness of glamorizing an animated film about a stinky ogre that came out 23 years ago. Doors open at 11pm—Do keep in mind that this is an 18 plus event. 

The tingly experience of ASMR—also known as Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response—typically stems from auditory cues. But the team behind ARTECHOUSE in Chelsea reimaginged that auditory language into a vibrant visual experience infused with holiday magic for their latest immersive experience. 

Called Tingle Bells: An ASMR-Inspired Holiday Special, this new exhibition merges holiday nostalgia with cutting-edge technology. Think gift wraps unraveling into hundreds of small boxes that transform into Tetris pieces. Or a conveyer belt of Rubik's cube-like baked goods in mouthwatering pink and blue hues. It's all projected onto the massive walls of a former boiler room-turned-gallery next to Chelsea Market. 

Tingle Bells offers a chance to unplug while still engaging with digital media—and that feels very 2024. Find ARTECHOUSE at 439 W 15th St. inside the historic boiler room at Chelsea Market; tickets start at $23. 

Sail into the holiday spirit aboard Circle Line’s Holiday Harbor Lights Cruise, running through January 5. Decked out with twinkling holiday lights, green garland, Christmas trees and other jolly decor, the festive—and heated!—boats will tour you around the Hudson River. 

This year's cruise is complete with a “Create-Your-Own-Santa Hat” station to get all passengers in the holiday mood. A menu of seasonal cocktails inspired by the Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes are available, with highlights like the Salted Caramel Rockette-tini or the Rum Punch Kick Line. Don't forget to leave a gift inside the Toys for Tots donation box for families who may not be able to afford gifts during Christmas.

The cruise departs each day at 7pm and you can buy tickets here starting at $45.

An exhibit that tells the story of Paris' Notre-Dame cathedral has landed in New York. History fanatics and art buffs can make their way to Morningside Heights' massive Cathedral of St. John the Divine to experience this multimedia event. 

As a part of the church's art collection this winter, "Notre-Dame de Paris: The Augmented Exhibition" promises an interactive tour of crucial moments in the cathedral’s 850-year history, from its inception in 1163 to the current process of restoration after the 2019 fire. 

Admission to the exhibit costs $25 for adults, $22 for seniors, and $10 for children, with hours every day from 10am to 5pm.

Dance yourself clean (or dirty) night after night with LCD Soundsystem's winter residency. For 12 glorious nights through mid-December, the rock band will play its biggest hits on stage at the Knockdown Center in Queens.

Grab tickets here.

The queen of Christmas herself, Mariah Carey, is the focus of a seasonal pop-up bar on the fourth floor of Virgin Hotels at 1227 Broadway near 30th Street running through December 29.

It's dubbed Mariah Carey Black Irish Holiday Bar, a call-out to the artist's Irish cream liqueur brand. Inside the winter wonderland, guests will be able to snap photos alongside a custom "All I Want for Christmas Is You" neon sign (it's the iconic song's 30th anniversary!), sit on a festive wreath to actually recreate Carey's Christmas album, look through a lyric wall, interact with a Black Irish Christmas tree and even write a letter to Carey herself.

You can snag tickets to the 90-minute experience right here. Each pass includes a welcome signature Black Irish cocktail!

Nostalgists love to talk about returning to "simpler" times. But as Tim Fehlbaum’s riveting September 5 reminds us, humans have always found new ways to fuck things up. 

Taking a big step back thematically – and forward artistically – from his 2021 dystopian fantasy The Colony (aka Tides), the Swiss director keeps things ultra-taut in his media drama: most of the movie takes place in an airless control room. And we can feel the rising panic just as palpably as we smell the stale coffee.

Thanks also to meticulous production design and outstanding editing – glory to every director who sacrifices ego for a precise, 94-minute cut – thoughts of modern technology, social media, and contemporary politics are both pushed aside and ever-present in our minds. More often than not, September 5 feels like a great 1970s thriller that could only have been made in the 21st century.

It's in theaters as of December 13.

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.

In the heart of NoHo, Great Jones Distillery's downstairs speakeasy has been transformed once again into one of the coziest spots in NYC with gorgeous holiday decor to make it look like a winter chalet, complete with a warm fireplace, twinkling lights, ornamented trees, and a menu that'll make you want to come in from the cold. 

Sip with Great Jones' whiskey-based cocktails (Comet, Cupid, & Caramel, the returning Krampusnacht Nip, Sleighbell Sour and more) from head mixologist Collin Frazier alongside wintery bites like White Chocolate Fondue, Autumn Spiced Corn Dogs and Toastie Buttered Pretzels.

The Whiskey Wonderland will run through the holiday season into January 2025. Get a reservation here.

For the past six decades, Barbie has delighted fans around the globe. And this new exhibit in NYC celebrates the doll in all her full plastic glory. Barbie: A Cultural Icon is now open at the Museum of Arts and Design to celebrate the 65-year history of the Barbie franchise and its global impact.

The exhibit includes 250 vintage dolls as well as life-size fashion designs, ads, and vintage interviews with the doll's designers. The show also considers the impact of the Space Age and even the Civil Rights Movement, which would eventually lead to the creation of the first Black and non-white Barbies in the 2000s. You'll also be able to see how American fashion evolved through the years, from disco to beachwear and eventually, to the inclusion of different body types. 

It's on view through March 16, 2025.

NYC is packed with holiday markets every fall with holiday spirit and unique gifts. While fancy Christmas window displays may entice you, NYC's holiday markets offer a chance to shop local. With everything from clothing to holiday ornaments to artwork, there's something for everybody on your holiday shopping list.

Shopping for the perfect gift doesn't have to be stressful; make it fun at these holiday markets. This year, new holiday markets are debuting in Herald Square.

Perhaps one of the most conveniently located holiday markets is the Grand Central Holiday Fair. Running now through December 24, Vanderbilt Hall, the destination will highlight the work of 36 local food and craft vendors and small businesses known for their quality craftsmanship and products made within the state of New York or the U.S.

Goods will range from home décor and jewelry to abstract art and perfumes. “Whether shoppers are looking for a thoughtful hostess present, a sentimental piece of jewelry for a cherished friend, or a cozy sweater for a loved one, this year’s fair promises an amazing selection of gifts, many of which cannot be found at other holiday markets across the city,” GCT officials said.

This year, Uncommon Goods have a pop-up at the market on the bridge adjacent to the Main Concourse with a hand-picked selection of imaginative gifts for kids, handmade jewelry and ornaments, small batch syrups and confections, and creatively designed finds for grillmasters, sports fans, book lovers and more.

There will also be Grand Central Terminal-branded gifts, from Yeti tumblers and Baggu totes to charming souvenirs such as jigsaw puzzles, luggage tags, and playing cards inside The Grand Gift Shop within the Holiday Fair.

The Holiday Fair will operate seven days a week from 10am to 7pm Monday-Saturday; and 11am to 6pm on Sundays. The space will be closed for Thanksgiving.

For more information regarding specific vendors and hours, click here.

Calling all art lovers and night owls! Head to Mercer Labs, Museum of Art and Technology to see their new "After Dark" exhibition on any weekend evening. The new Financial District museum has come out swinging since opening in February 2024, which brings us to their latest. Catering to those who think the city closes too early these days, this after hours exhibit concentrates on how fickle reality and memory can be—especially when technology is involved. 

"After Dark" runs from 8pm–12am on every Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through the new year. Mercer Labs lead artist Roy Nachum, best known for designing the cover of Rihana’s "Anti-," hopes the exhibit can make attendees reflect upon "what lies beneath the surface, sparking an enduring sense of reflection," according to the arts organization.

Mercer Labs has put tickets on sale through the first weekend of January, although there’s no word yet on an official end date. Tickets cost $52 for adults, while seniors, students, and kids are $46 and can be found on their website here.

A new exhibit at the New-York Historical Society showcases the ways the role of our furry friends has changed since the 1700s, becoming ingrained in the city’s evolution from the wilderness to an urban environment. The exhibit, titled “Pets and the City,” gathers together countless works of art, documents and memorabilia in order to paint a complete picture of New York’s animal history through the years.

Brought together by Roberta J.M. Olson, the museum’s curator of drawings emerita, this show brings you to early portraits of our favorite pets and their owners and images that capture the expanding definition of household animals and pop culture’s fascination with our four-legged friends. 

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.

Sure, the holidays are something to be enjoyed, but sometimes, they're something to be endured. Running until December 28, The Second City New York will present their new Mainstage comedy show, "Wreck the Halls: The Second City New York’s Guide to Surviving the Holidays."

Packed with original sketches, improv and variety delights, the spirited show will gift plenty of laughs as it roasts all of the things we love to loathe about the "festive" season, from the dreaded family obligations to the boring office parties to the ad nauseum Mariah Carey songs. 

New Yorkers itching to see the Sistine Chapel's ceiling painted by Michelangelo usually have to embark on an eight-and-a-half hour flight to Rome before finding their way to the Vatican City.

But now, this special slice of history has landed in Brooklyn in an immersive exhibit. Michalangelo's Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition has touched down in Industry City through January 5, 2025, after stints in London, Shanghai, Toronto, Chicago, Vienna and other cities around the world. 

The exhibition features 34 of the famous frescoes reproduced in precise detail with bold color and enhanced details to give visitors a fuller experience than they would get if they visited the Vatican, where the artwork towers a staggering 66 feet above the main floor and where details can get lost if you don't have hawk-like vision. Tickets range from $22 to $26.

Explore the legacy of Belle da Costa Greene (1879–1950). The Morgan’s first director, she is one of the most prominent librarians in American history. American financier J. Pierpont Morgan hired her as his personal librarian in 1905. After Morgan’s death in 1913, Greene continued as the librarian of his son and heir, J. P. Morgan Jr., who transformed his father’s library into the public institution we know today.

A new exhibition about her, "Belle da Costa Greene: A Librarian's Legacy" runs through May 4, 2025 at The Morgan. 

As the Revolutionary War came to a close, British Loyalists and soldiers evacuated the colonies in droves. But the evacuation was more complicated for Black Loyalists, some of whom joined the British cause in response to offers of freedom. 

In 1783, the new government formed a special committee to review the eligibility of some Black Loyalists to evacuate with the British Army, and that committee met at Fraunces Tavern in Lower Manhattan. A new permanent exhibit at the Fraunces Tavern Museum explores this important moment in history. 

The exhibition first opened last year, and officials are now moving it to a larger permanent gallery within the museum. The new space will offer a chance to include recent new discoveries of significant information concerning the identities of individuals participating in the Birch Trials and their inclusion in the Book of Negroes.

This fascinating 90-minute tour introduces you to all the secrets of the 200-year-old Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral. Enter areas off-limits to the public, including the Henry Erban Organ, the cemeteries, and top it all off with an exclusive walk-through of the Catacombs themselves.

Even better, you will experience the whole tour by candlelight (romantic, if you ignore the dead bodies part). This unique and historic site serves as the final resting place for many prominent New Yorkers, including the Delmonico Family, General Thomas Eckert (a confidant of Abraham Lincoln), Honest John Kelly of Tammany Hall and the first resident Bishop of New York, Bishop John Connolly. 

On October 27, 1904, New Yorkers dressed in their finest clothing and hosted dinner parties to celebrate the big news of the year. After four years of messy, sometimes controversial construction, a subway had opened in New York City. Officials didn't know if people would show up for its debut, but more than 100,000 people descended beneath the ground that evening to traverse the system's 9 miles and 28 stations. The next day, a Sunday, more than 1 million people showed up on the subway's first full open day. 

It may not seem like a big deal to us now, but the subway was revolutionary—and it still is. A fascinating new exhibit at the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn digs into the history and the future of our underground rail system. Titled "The Subway Is...," the exhibition brings together artifacts, photos, multimedia installations, old advertisements, train models and more to tell the story of our city's subway system. 

Bryant Park's Winter Village by Bank of America is now open in NYC with exciting holiday shops, food and activities through March 2, 2025.

Its 17,000-square-foot ice-skating rink that’s free to use (if you bring your own skates) is always the highlight, but the Winter Village in all its holiday spirit is a close second. This year, over 170 new and returning kiosks will be there for you to peruse.

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.

You can now glide around the ice at Central Park’s Wollman Rink once again. The iconic rink has reopened for skating season with skyline views, rinkside igloos, an expanded skate school, and free access programs. General admission ranges from $15-$38 for adults, depending on the date; kids and seniors get in for $10/person. Skate rentals cost $12. 

The world's most famous ice rink, The Rink at Rockefeller Center, is back for the season. The iconic Manhattan ice rink, a fixture in countless movies and TV shows, is celebrating 88 years in New York City this fall and winter. 

Tickets to the rink start at $21 per person and go up to $114 per person, depending on the date, time and skater's age. Skate rentals are not included and cost about $12. 

Pieces Bar has been a West Village staple for more than three decades. And for 18 years of that tenure, the historic spot has played host to one of New York City’s best bingo nights.

Every Sunday, guests can enjoy Happy Hour Drag Bingo hosted by drag queen Chaka Khanvict, with seating starting at 5pm and the game starting at 6pm. Grab your game board—$5 for a single, $10 for a page of four or $20 for three sheets of four boards for the best chances to win big—and play for amazing prizes like tickets for two to the Broadway Comedy Club, merchandise from Absolut Vodka and Andrew Christian, and a VIP Pieces Card, which gets you a free drink every day for a month.

Speaking of drinks, happy-hour specials include $6 margaritas, mimosas, bellinis and Bloody Mary, plus $8 Long Island Iced Teas from 2pm to 8pm.

Pop on over to American Dream in East Rutherford, New Jersey for an immersive experience dedicated to bubbles. This surreal and colorful world promises to delight all ages with themed rooms, fantastic landscapes, and VR tech. 

Bubble Planet promises to challenge imagination, amaze with the magic of science, and unleash the inner child in all. Expect to see oversized bubbles, balloons, and more in this sensory playground.

Edges of Ailey is the first large-scale museum exhibition to reflect on the life, work and legacy of the visionary artist Alvin Ailey. Ailey founded his eponymous dance company in 1958, creating a platform for modern dance through his innovative repertoire and the unflinching support of other dancers and choreographers. His creative pursuits even extended far beyond dance.

This multimedia cross-disciplinary exhibition—presented in the museum’s 18,000+ square-foot fifth-floor galleries—brings together painting, sculpture, photography, drawings, print, and video made before, during, and after the artist's lifetime (1931-1989). It crystallizes his incredible influence on the contemporary art world and establishes him as one of the great polymaths and earliest, most celebrated multi-hyphenates of the 20th century. 

See it from through February 9, 2025 at The Whitney.

When Robert A. Caro's The Power Broker was first published 50 years ago, the book's release was met with great anticipation. Excerpts in The New Yorker gained lots of attention—including from the biography's subject, NYC government official Robert Moses, who described the deeply researched book as "venomous." Even so, it was impossible to predict whether a 700,000-word biography would resonate with readers. 

The book quickly earned acclaim, winning the Pulitzer Prize and finding a home on bookshelves across America, especially among New Yorkers. Now, five decades later, the monumental work still resonates for its look at NYC’s past and the lessons it holds for our future. The book and its tenacious author are the subject of a new exhibit at New-York Historical Society Museum & Library titled “Robert Caro’s The Power Broker at 50." See it at the Upper West Side museum through February 2, 2025. 

Just Do It. Er, Just Frame It. That's the motto of this exhibition at Poster House, a museum in Chelsea that's dedicated to posters. 

"Just Frame It: How Nike Turned Sports Stars into Superheroes" explores how one company paved the way for modern sports advertising. During the 20th century, it became a rite of passage for a professional athlete to cement their icon status by having their persona memorialized on a Nike poster. Today, in an age where athletes’ images are much more accessible and "just like us," these 60 posters may seem quaint—but they’re also larger-than-life and undeniably entertaining, just like the stars they depict.

Photographers featured in the exhibit include Chuck Kuhn, Bob Peterson, Gary Nolton, Ancil Nance, John Terence Turner, Chuck Rodgers, Harry De Zitter, Bill Sumners, Jean Moss, Pete Stone, Richard Noble, Cliff Watts, and Peggy Sirota. See it through February 23, 2025.

It's a different world for politicans trying to make a name for themselves nowadays. TikToks, Instagram posts and televised debates are the method du jour. But back in the 1800s, books made Abraham Lincoln.

He became a lawyer through self-disciplined study, won the White House through the concurrent rise of American popular publishing, and remains one of the most written about figures over the 160 years since his death. "Abraham Lincoln: His Life in Print" uses original printings of books and ephemera to create a sweeping, conceptual portrait of the man.

See it Grolier Club through December 28; it's free and open to the public.

Fancy gowns and celebrity outfits are no strangers to museum collections. But the everyday clothing found in closets across America typically gets overlooked by fashion exhibits.

A new show coming to the New-York Historical Society, titled "Real Clothes, Real Lives: 200 Years of What Women Wore,” changes that. The newly announced exhibit will feature everyday women’s clothing from the past two centuries, including a well-worn Depression-era house dress, a college girl’s psychedelic micro mini, and an Abercrombie & Fitch wool suit bought off-the-rack in NYC in 1917 that was remade into a Relief uniform worn behind enemy lines in France. See the exhibition through June 22, 2025.

After you finish Life and Trust, the new immersive, three-hour epic from the producers of Sleep No More, you may want to start over. With more than two dozen characters to follow around six floors of gorgeously crafted environments in a former bank building, this choose-your-own-theatrical adventure demands multiple viewings to see—and make sense—of it all.

Even though the show has only been running since June and is far from a cheap ticket, some fans have been numerous times. If you’re looking for tips and spoilers, including how to find hidden spaces like the poodle room or the lake, or what happens to the few chosen for one-on-one character interactions, there’s an active Life and Trust subreddit, a jam-packed Medium post and passionate Discord discussions. 

Life and Trust is playing at Conwell Tower on Beaver Street. You can buy tickets here. There’s also a new monthly series called “Unlocked” which is a talk back about the creative process that’s free to attend. RSVP here.

“Recording the Ride: The Rise of Street-Style Skate Videos" will honor DIY filmmaking with videos, vintage skate decks and other objects related to the formative years of the skate video in the 1980s and 1990s. See it in Astoria through January 26, 2025. With limited budgets and cheap video equipment, skaters recorded their limit-pushing tricks on stairs, benches, and other skate-able elements of public architecture. These grainy videos of bodies in flight were set to music-driven montages on VHS-format videos, often with a defining fish-eye lens. 

Start your weekend off right at Time Out Market New York’s stunning rooftop! Friday Night Vibes gets the party going on the fifth floor at 7pm with tunes from DJ Stretch (on the first and third Friday of every month) and DJ Price Is Right (on the second and fourth Friday).

Dance the night away with specialty cocktails from the Market’s awesome bar and grab bites from one of two dozen kitchens including, Jacob’s Pickles, Bark Barbecue and Wayla. Enjoy it all to the incredible views of the East River, the NYC skyline and the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. 

Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building has been giving us murders to solve for three seasons, and now as the fourth season debuts, it’s giving us one more mystery to solve—in person. Hulu and The Escape Game, located in midtown, have partnered up to create The Only Murders in the Building Escape Game.

The escape game is played across a couple of rooms that have been outfitted to look like the Arconia hallway and Charles’ apartment. You have 60 minutes to escape and if you need a clue, there’s a red button you can smash that plays a snippet from the theme song when you push it. Staffers then shell out an idea for you to try. There also may have been hidden bookcase doorways, a laser and even a water feature puzzle. Check it out now because it’s on for a limited time!

Explore the extraordinary life of Lord Byron—the famous scribe known for his lengthy narratives Don Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage—at this new exhibition at the New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Running through January 12, the collection of personal letters, literary manuscripts, illustrated biographies, paintings, prints, and even wine bills traces Byron’s movements, from his youth in Aberdeen, to his sudden fame after the publication of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, to his death in Greece at the age of 36. 

A new immersive installation at the World Trade Center hopes to remind us of our shard connectedness by displaying thousands of anonymous hand written stories collected from all sorts of people. 

The exhibition, called The Strangers Project, will be set up inside the South Concourse of the Oculus at the World Trade Center Thursdays through Sundays from 2pm until 7pm for an indefinite period of time. 

Each note contains a true story by a stranger, ranging from hilarious tales to inspiring anecdotes and downright heartbreaking recountings. In the 15 years since the project started, Doman has collected more than 95,000 stories and allowed thousands of strangers to empathize with each other without ever meeting. 

As Edgar Allan Poe once wrote, "What care I how time advances? I am drinking ale today." His words serve as the toast to kick off the weekly Literary Pub Crawl, which highlights the fascinating literary history around New York City, particularly in Greenwich Village.

Though the Literary Pub Crawl has a long history in New York City—25 years, 200 authors and 2,000 beers—it remains one of the more under-the-radar walking tours around town. This Saturday afternoon activity offers a chance to learn a lot while sipping your drink of choice, bringing a whole new definition to "get lit."

The tour runs about three hours, totaling a mile of walking. Tickets cost $49/person, plus bring along some cash if you'd like to buy drinks. You'll leave having learned something, having sipped a few drinks, and hopefully feeling inspired to go read.

This sprawling 16,000-square-foot space in Bushwick, designed to double as a concert venue and nightclub for up to 1,200 people, is the city’s first new wooden roller skating rink in over a decade.

Xanadu is decorated with a giant black-and-white photo of a group of young Black skaters taken over 40 years ago, a model for the energy in the room today. There’s also a rinkside bar, serving drinks with names like Skaterade and Purple Rain with direct sightlines of all the action on the wood. And in the bathroom, a surprise DJ spins a soundtrack for patrons to dance to as they wash their hands, a cheeky setup Kataria calls, “Club Flush.”

The Brooklyn Flea is undoubtedly one of the most popular flea markets to hit in NYC if you're looking for the best selection of throwback wares and records.

Find Brooklyn Flea in DUMBO on the cobblestone streets of Pearl Plaza, where it spotlights roughly more than 40 vendors who display their goods beneath the Manhattan Bridge. Brookyn Flea operates on Saturday and Sundays, now through December. Brooklyn Flea also operates in Chelsea year-round on Saturdays and Sundays.

Mercer Labs, Museum of Art and Technology is a unique new immersive museum created by Roy Nachum, the artist behind Rihanna’s famous 2016 “Anti” album cover, and his business partner Michael Cayre, a real estate developer. 

The 36,000-square-foot space opened in early 2024 at 21 Dey Street, inside the bank building that used to be part of the now-nextdoor Century 21. There are a total of 15 different rooms to explore, each one attacking all the senses upon entrance.

Some outstanding installations include the one that the staff refers to as "The Dragon," where a total of 500,000 individual LED lights hung on strings adorn a room and are lit up to created 3D videos, including one of a galloping horse, that will catch your attention.

In the resonant words of A$AP Rocky, "The nails, the kilts, the pretty-boy swag, the pearls—I think it's just being comfortable. I just express myself with fashion, and what's fly is fly." What's fly is "Ice Cold: An Exhibition of Hip-Hop Jewelry" at the American Museum of Natural History, a new show that features dozens of incredible necklaces, rings, watches, chains, and more worn by some of the biggest names in music.

A few highlights include T-Pain's Big Ass Chain necklace, Ghostface Killah's eagle arm band, Nicki Minaj's Barbie pendant, Beyoncé's nail rings, Cardi B's nipple covers, and Slick Rick's crown. While the pieces are a sight to behold up-close, the exhibit carries a much deeper meaning, especially as New York City wraps up its 50 years of hip-hop celebrations.

See the exhibit now at the American Museum of Natural History with general admission, which is pay-as-you-wish for New Yorkers. Find it in the Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals on the first floor through January 5, 2025.

Basically a massive maze made of ropes, this new exhibit allows attendees to jump inside, climb, relax and even get lost in the whole webbed arrangement that’s comprised of 80,000 feet of handwoven rope, which is part of a 400-square-foot interactive artwork created by Treenet Collective, a net expert company. 

Find "The INTERnet" at INTER_, the interactive art center at 415 Broadway by Canal Street in Soho.

The installation, which accommodates 15 people at once, boasts a variety of different weaving styles, each one creating a "setting" for folks to dive into, including the "quantum leap," where guests can play in mid-air, and the "social network," a more serene space that will feel like you are floating above everyone else.

This museum serves as a love letter to the enigmatic street artist known only as Banksy. The Lower Manhattan venue features the largest collection of Banksy’s life-sized murals and artwork in the world. 

After passing through an industrial door, you'll see a city of walls a.k.a. Banksy's ideal canvas. By its nature, street art is impermanent, but this museum offers a long-term space for the ephemeral. Many of the re-creations at the museum no longer exist on the street. Expect to see more than 160 works on display in this celebration of the artist.

Just a programming note: The production at the museum is unauthorized and unaffiliated with the artist.

Need a laugh? The Second City—the renowned comedy club with locations in Chicago and Toronto—just opened in Brooklyn, and you will definitely laugh out loud there. The New York City venue, which opened on the legendary club’s 65th anniversary, offers hilarious live comedy every single night of the week.

The club has debuted "The Second City Presents The Mainstage Revue 1: Ruthless Acts of Kindness," a completely original NYC revue, which has been created in conversation with the audience over the last ten-weeks.

Some of the funniest names in comedy got their start at Second City. Just a few Second City alumni include: Bill Murray, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Amber Ruffin, Keegan-Michael Key, Chris Farley, Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, and Aidy Bryant. You might just see the next comedy star on this stage.

The venue offers sketch shows and improv performances, along with a great restaurant and no drink minimums in a beautiful venue. Tickets start at $39.

Grand Bazaar is one of NYC’s oldest and largest marketplaces where you can buy vintage treasures, antiques, clothing and more goodies from more than 100 local merchants. Photographers, jewelers and furniture designers sell their best on Sundays between 10am and 5pm on the Upper West Side (77th Street at Columbus Avenue). 

Each week offers a different theme, from featuring women-owned businesses to focusing on handmade items to spotlighting international wares. The market runs both indoors and outdoors each week all year long.

Think bugs are creepy? Think again. That's the message of IMAGINARI, an immersive art and science experience in Manhattan. 

The year-long exhibition called The Insect World shows just how cool—and important—bugs actually are. You’ll get to walk through fields of 6-foot flowers, come face-to-face with Picasso bug artwork, and see a mantis partying under a disco ball. Larger-than-life ladybug sculptures dot the floor, and 200 faux monarch butterflies perch on a 12-foot cherry blossom tree. It all adds up to an important message of environmental stewardship. Tickets are on sale now for $36; the all-ages exhibition will be on view for one year.

It's another election year, and once again, women's rights are on the ballot. What would the suffragists who fought for women's right to vote say to us now, a century later?

Shaina Taub, the powerhouse writer of Suffs, a musical coming to Broadway this spring, answers that question with a lyric: “Keep marching. Keep marching on.” It’s a line from the finale of the show, which she produced with support from former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai. The show has now made its Broadway Debut at the Music Box Theatre.

For more than a century, the Statue of Liberty has offered inspiration as a beacon of freedom, equality, and democracy. And for just as long, she has also served as an inspiration for tattoo artists. 

A new exhibit at City Reliquary, a jewel box of a museum in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood, features vintage State of Liberty tattoos. As the first show devoted to Lady Liberty ink, it also traces tattooing history in NYC since the 1800s. "Liberty the Tattooed Lady: The Great Bartholdi Statue as Depicted in Tattooing" is now open through January 12, 2025.

The exhibition spotlights antique flash, vintage photographs, drawings, and other ephemera that show how Lady Liberty has been a popular subject in tattooing for as long as she’s stood in New York Harbor. You'll even get to see vintage tattoo art that's never been on display before.

Puttery is an adults-only mini-golf and nightlife destination that just opened at 446 West 14th Street by Washington Street in the Meatpacking District and is backed by, among others, Irish professional golfer Rory McIlroy.

The first location of its kind in New York, Puttery spans 24,000 square feet over five levels that feature an underground lounge and a total of three bars, including a rooftop one that will be open year-round (yes, there will be heat lamps on site). 

There’s a lot of good to see at this Manhattan subway stop. 

Two years after opening the subterranean bar Nothing Really Matters, hospitality professional Adrien Gallo continues building his subway station empire, opening See No Evil Pizza last week on the concourse level of the downtown-bound 1 train station at 50th Street and Broadway—a space that once housed a Dunkin’. It joins his Tiny Dancer Coffee on the same concourse.

“I basically transformed a subway station that was super neglected to a destination spot in the middle of Times Square,” Gallo tells Time Out New York.  

Find See No Evil Pizza is located on the concourse level of the downtown-bound 1 train station at 50th Street and Broadway. It is open for pop-ins and Resy reservations Monday-Saturday from 5pm-midnight. 

Head to a beloved West Village music shop for a banging musical comedy blowout every Friday night. This variety show mixes music, comedy, and characters with apperances by Stephen Sihelnik (NY Comedy Festival), Natan Badalov (Adult Swim), Alexander Payne (Netflix), and surprise guests.

Fun fact: The event's set in New York's oldest continually-run music and record store, Music Inn World Instruments. It's been in operation since 1958 and has been heavily featured in the first two seasons of "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel."

Show up early, save a seat and BYOB: You're in for a party.

Beautiful, buoyant, beguiling bubbles are back at the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) in Queens. The beloved bubbles exhibit, which had been closed for five years, has returned bigger, better and bubblier than ever.

The Big Bubble Experiment encourages kids of all ages to experiment and discover through the joy of playing with bubbles. That includes blowing, stretching, popping and looking closely to see what happens at each move. 

The exhibit features 10 stations, each one with different tools and methods for exploring bubble solution.

Majestic, incredible elephants are getting the spotlight in a new exhibit at The American Museum of Natural History. "The Secret World of Elephants" showcases both modern and ancient elephants, offering visitors a chance to see a full-scale model of a woolly mammoth, learn about what elephants eat, touch an elephant's tooth, listen to elephant calls and more.

The exhibition is now open in the museum’s LeFrak Family Gallery. An additional ticket is required to visit the exhibit; museum members can visit for free.

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. 

When Jack Kliger, President & CEO of the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in Battery Park City, and his team started working on a new kid-friendly exhibit about the Holocaust almost four years ago, they could not have imagined the chaotic world order that the show was eventually going to premiere in.

"Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark" tells the story of the Danish Rescue, when citizens of the European country came together to usher nearly 7,000 Jews to safety and away from concentration camps during World War II.

"How you doin'?" If you read that in Joey Tribbiani's voice, then you've got to get yourself to "The FRIENDS Experience: The One in New York City." The immersive, walk-through experience in the Flatiron District features photo ops, props from the show, and Easter eggs at every turn.

There’s a chance to pose with the "Pivot" couch, a backdrop that looks like the Vegas chapel, and a photo opp with Phoebe’s grandma's taxi. You can even pose on top of Pat the Dog, snap a photo with the giant poking device and take a selfie in Monica's apartment. Using high-quality cameras, staff take photos at each spot, which you can purchase at the end. But staff will also take free photos with your cell phone if you ask. 

It's not just a selfie museum, though. There's a fascinating display featuring the show's costume designer Debra McGuire where you'll learn about her sartorial choices for each character. Another exhibit spotlights artist Burton Morris, whose Pop art pieces decorate Central Perk. Other display cases feature set designs, signed scripts and a statement from the show's producers, Marta Kauffman and David Crane.

Here's our full review.

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.

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.

If you're not a paint-and-sip kind of person, try Act & Sip, a beer-fueled acting workshop in an Off-Broadway Theater with expert instructors. They pair students off with partners and hand over the pages to a scene from a well-known iconic NYC sitcom or movie, offering tips along the way to help performers conquer stage fright and discover their inner actor.

This event is perfect for bachelorette parties, after-work outings, or just a fun night with friends to get on stage with a little help from liquid courage. You don't need any experience, but you must be 21 or older and BYOB.

Wild Captives, the nation’s first female- and LGBTQ-owned archery studio, is now open. It's a place where everyone can "be their own superhero." The studio in Brooklyn’s Industry City offers empowering and fun hour-long introduction to archery classes every weekend for $45/person. 

Each intro class includes a chance to learn about different parts of the bow and safety requirements. After the lesson, each participant gets a chance to shoot the bow trying to pop a balloon pinned onto the bullseye. Intro-to-archery classes are available each Friday, Saturday and Sunday, bookable online for anyone over age 12.

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.

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.

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, starting at $29 for adults.

Every day, our staffers are eating, drinking, partying, gigging and generally appreciating their way throughout this fair town of ours. Which makes pinning down the most essential New York activities kinda…tough. We need to include the classics, naturally—art museums in NYC, stellar New York attractions, killer bars and restaurants in NYC—but also spotlight the more recent or little-known gems that we truly love. Consider the below your NYC Bible.