Events & Things To Do

Bryant Park’s Winter Village opens for the 2026 holiday season

Photos by Colin Miller on behalf of Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park

October 29, 2026

Bryant Park’s Winter Village opens for the 2026 holiday season

Holiday festivities have returned to Midtown as Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park celebrates its 25th season. The annual destination officially opened on Wednesday, bringing the city’s only free-admission ice skating rink, a rinkside food hall and bar, and an open-air holiday market with more than 180 vendors to the heart of Manhattan. The Winter Village is open through March 1, 2027.
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Events & Things To Do

Everything you need to know about the 2026 NYC Marathon

Credit: Marc A. Hermann / MTA on Flickr

October 29, 2026

Everything you need to know about the 2026 NYC Marathon

By Aaron Ginsburg

The New York City Marathon returns to the five boroughs this Sunday, November 1, marking the 50th anniversary of the race. Adding to this year’s significance is a route change for the first time in 15 years, sending tens of thousands of runners along a slightly different path through the Bronx. Ahead, here’s everything you need to know about this year’s event, from start times and road closures to route information, the best spots to watch, and celebrity participants.
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Events & Things To Do

Stoop and the City: This New Yorker turns her UES brownstone into a seasonal destination

All photos courtesy of Kristi Hemric/Stoop and the City

October 29, 2026

Stoop and the City: This New Yorker turns her UES brownstone into a seasonal destination

By Lidia Ryan

Kristi Hemric’s stoop is a destination. A stranger once reached out asking if he could propose to his girlfriend in front of it (after dinner and a wedding invite from the couple, they were no longer strangers). Another person posted a video of themselves walking across the Brooklyn Bridge to the Upper East Side just to check it out. Both were enticed by an elaborate Lego garden display Hemric and her husband spent weeks building and installing. “All of a sudden hundreds of people were stopping by every day,” she said. “The Lego one had my jaw on the floor. I was shocked."
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Rockefeller Center reveals 2026 Christmas Tree

Credit: Tishman Speyer

October 26, 2026

Rockefeller Center reveals 2026 Christmas Tree

By Aaron Ginsburg

This year's Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree has been revealed: a monumental spruce hailing from upstate New York. Discovered in West Edmeston, the 76-foot-tall Norway spruce will be cut down on Thursday, November 5, and arrive in Manhattan on Saturday, November 7, before becoming the centerpiece of the city’s holiday celebrations. Following the tree’s signature adornment with thousands of twinkling lights and its glittering Swarovski star, the annual tree lighting ceremony will take place on Wednesday, December 2.
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Events & Things To Do

Mamdani is giving away 350 tickets to NYC Marathon finish line

The lead female runners at 81st Street and 1st Avenue in 2015, photo © 6sqft

October 22, 2026

Mamdani is giving away 350 tickets to NYC Marathon finish line

By Devin Gannon

One of the best days of the year in NYC is around the corner, and a select group of New Yorkers will get a front-row seat to the action. Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday announced the city will give out 350 free tickets to the TCS New York City Marathon Grandstand, located at the finish line in Central Park. The November 1 event will bring together 60,000 runners from around the world in a 26.2-mile race across the five boroughs.
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Events & Things To Do

NYC’s first major Roy Lichtenstein retrospective since 1993 now on view at the Whitney

Installation view of Roy Lichtenstein: Like New (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, October 11, 2026–May 10, 2027). Artwork © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein. Photograph by Jason Lowrie/BFA.com

October 20, 2026

NYC’s first major Roy Lichtenstein retrospective since 1993 now on view at the Whitney

By Devin Gannon

New York's first Roy Lichtenstein retrospective since 1993 opened at the Whitney Museum earlier this month, offering an up-close look at the Pop artist's most famous works. "Roy Lichtenstein: Like New" assembles 130 works created between the 1940s and 1990s and traces Lichtenstein's fascination with images and how they are perceived. The exhibition also spills to the outdoors, with a recreated 32-foot-tall version of "Girl in Window" visible from the High Line and a towering "Coups de Pinceau" sculpture on the fifth-floor terrace. In today's world of computer-created images, the exhibition celebrates the handmade nature of Lichtenstein's paintings and prints and examines how images are duplicated and circulated.
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Events & Things To Do

20+ free ways to celebrate Halloween in NYC

Photo credit: Benny Polatseck | Mayoral Photography Office on Flickr

October 13, 2026

20+ free ways to celebrate Halloween in NYC

By Aaron Ginsburg

Halloween is one of the most exciting times in New York City, but some New Yorkers can find themselves priced out of the festivities due to the steep costs that come with them. Ahead, here are some of the best free ways to celebrate Halloween across the five boroughs without breaking the bank, from spooky festivities on car-free streets to famous parades and family-friendly events.
Haunted happenings, this way

Events & Things To Do

NYC extends late-night pick-up soccer at five fields

Photo courtesy of Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office on Flickr

October 6, 2026

NYC extends late-night pick-up soccer at five fields

By Devin Gannon

The lights will stay on at soccer fields across New York City, extending a pilot program launched during the FIFA World Cup this summer. Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Monday announced he will extend the NYC Open Play pilot, which let one pitch in every borough stay open overnight for 24/7 pick-up games. Instead of running all night, the program, which will take place through November this year and then return from April through September 2027, will allow games to be scheduled between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.
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October 5, 2026

Archtober 2026: 9 must-see architecture tours in and around NYC

By Lidia Ryan

The annual Archtober Festival officially kicked off this month as a celebration of architecture and design in one of the most architecturally significant cities in the world: New York. The monthlong program, put on by AIA New York (AIANY) and the Center for Architecture, with partners and sponsors, hosts a variety of events and tours across the city and the greater New York City region to encourage the exploration and appreciation of architecture and how it intersects with our lives.
happy archtober

On the Upper West Side, you can visit the real-life Shop Around the Corner from ‘You’ve Got Mail’

Credit: Lauren Fleming

October 2, 2026

On the Upper West Side, you can visit the real-life Shop Around the Corner from ‘You’ve Got Mail’

By Lidia Ryan

This weekend, The Sunshinery is hosting two “You’ve Got Mail” walking tours that sold out within hours. But you can still play Kathleen Kelly by shopping at the locally owned gift shop that served as The Shop Around the Corner in the film.
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Halloween ‘Trick-or-Streets’ return to NYC with 180 car-free streets

Photo © 6sqft

October 2, 2026

Halloween ‘Trick-or-Streets’ return to NYC with 180 car-free streets

By Aaron Ginsburg

Halloween returns to New York City’s streets at its largest scale yet, with 180 streets and public spaces closing to vehicles for spooky celebrations. After announcing the return of "Trick-or-Streets" earlier this month, Department of Transportation Commissioner Mike Flynn on Tuesday announced the addition of 20 more car-free locations in response to record demand. The annual initiative closes streets, plazas, and other commercial corridors across the five boroughs to vehicle traffic, creating safe spaces for free programming, trick-or-treating, and other Halloween activities.
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Manhattan’s Little Red Lighthouse is getting a makeover

Photo by Pfgelfan on Wikimedia

September 30, 2026

Manhattan’s Little Red Lighthouse is getting a makeover

By Devin Gannon

The Historic House Trust of New York City this week announced plans to restore the Little Red Lighthouse, a landmark in Washington Heights made famous by the 1942 children's book "The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge" by Hildegarde H. Swift. Originally built in 1880 in New Jersey, the 40-foot structure moved to Fort Washington Park in 1921. After more than a century on the Hudson River, the lighthouse, the last remaining in Manhattan, is getting a renovation that will preserve its historic cast-iron architecture while improving accessibility and the surrounding park space.
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Photo credit: Baarast project via pexels

September 25, 2026

A bunny cafe hops into East Harlem

By Michelle Cohen

If current events have you looking for news that's just plain fluff, here's some: NYC is getting a bunny cafe. Similar to the familiar cat cafe idea, The Carrot Cup Cafe at 354 Pleasant Avenue in East Harlem is a community space where you can enjoy coffee and other artisanal refreshments while learning about rabbit care (there really is a lot to learn!), adopt a new friend, purchase treats for small critters, and, of course, get some bunny cuddles in. The cafe is an extension of Bunnies & Beyond, a rabbit rescue founded in 2016 by Cindy Stutts; the grand opening will be Sunday, September 27, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
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NYC is giving away 70,000 Met Opera tickets to New Yorkers

Credit: Robert Brands on Flickr

September 24, 2026

NYC is giving away 70,000 Met Opera tickets to New Yorkers

By Aaron Ginsburg

New York City is giving away 70,000 tickets to the Metropolitan Opera, making performances more accessible to those who might not otherwise be able to afford them. Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday announced "Opera for All," a partnership with the Met that will release 10,000 free tickets each month during the 2026-27 season. New Yorkers who have never purchased a Met Opera ticket can enter the monthly ticket lotteries through the Met’s app or the city's website.
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Events & Things To Do

NYC Marathon will change its route for first time in 15 years

Credit: Marc A. Hermann / MTA on Flickr

September 22, 2026

NYC Marathon will change its route for first time in 15 years

By Aaron Ginsburg

The New York City Marathon returns to the five boroughs next month with a new route for the first time in 15 years. Taking place on Sunday, November 1, the race will send tens of thousands of participants along a slightly different course in the Bronx, cutting the number of turns runners must make from seven to five and minimizing the event's impact on Mott Haven residents. In previous years, the roughly one-mile-long stretch in the borough looped around a block containing a supermarket and laundromat, cutting off local residents from accessing them. The new route will redirect runners around the block, maintaining access to the businesses while reducing the number of turns they must make.
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Events & Things To Do

Track New York’s fall foliage with this weekly report

Courtesy of I LOVE NY

September 18, 2026

Track New York’s fall foliage with this weekly report

By Aaron Ginsburg

Fall is on the horizon, bringing with it the brilliant autumn colors that will soon blanket the treetops across New York. The state this week released the season's first Fall Foliage report, an annual interactive map and guide documenting the changing leaves across New York, informed by a team of nearly 100 volunteers who provide on-site accounts of the progression of foliage. Updated every Wednesday throughout the season, the report allows New Yorkers to stay up-to-date on the status of fall foliage across the Empire State’s regions, including the Adirondacks, Catskills, Capital-Saratoga, the Finger Lakes, and New York City.
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Events & Things To Do

23-foot Earth sculpture to hang inside Cathedral of St. John the Divine

“Gaia” at Tewkesbury Abbey, UK, 2024. Photo © Jack Boskett Media Ltd.

September 14, 2026

23-foot Earth sculpture to hang inside Cathedral of St. John the Divine

By Aaron Ginsburg

A massive, detailed sculpture of the Earth will hang inside Morningside Heights’ grand Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. Created by UK artist Luke Jerram, "Gaia" measures 23 feet in diameter and features NASA imagery of the planet’s surface as it slowly rotates in the cathedral’s nave, offering a three-dimensional view of Earth floating in space. Installed to mark the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi, the sculpture will be celebrated with a special opening reception on Friday, September 18, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
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NYC’s biggest Himalayan food festival returns with $1 momos and more

Photo of momos courtesy of Jeff on Flickr

September 10, 2026

NYC’s biggest Himalayan food festival returns with $1 momos and more

By Michelle Cohen

This weekend, dumpling devotees have yet another reason to head to Jackson Heights, Queens. The 14th annual Momo Crawl, NYC’s largest Himalayan food and cultural festival, is happening on Sunday, September 13. The event will showcase the Himalayan favorite snack as well as live music and dance performances. Purchase a passport and enjoy dumplings from over 30 local vendors for one dollar each.
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September 4, 2026

Where you can see late artist Yayoi Kusama’s work in NYC

By Devin Gannon

Yayoi Kusama, the iconic Japanese artist known for her distinctive polka dot style, pumpkin sculptures, and infinity mirror rooms, died on August 14 at the age of 97. Born in Matsumoto, Japan in 1929, Kusama lived in New York City from the late 1950s through 1975, where she established herself as an avant-garde artist through "groundbreaking performances, happenings, events, and exhibitions," according to David Zwirner, who represented her since 2013. While her work has been recognized for decades globally, Kusama's legacy in New York City will be especially remembered, from her early "Infinity Room" series to more recent exhibitions at the New York Botanical Garden and mosaics at Grand Central.
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Events & Things To Do

NYC expands free rooftop tours at historic Manhattan Municipal Building

Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office on Flickr

August 28, 2026

NYC expands free rooftop tours at historic Manhattan Municipal Building

By Aaron Ginsburg

Larger groups are now permitted to attend the city's free tours of the historic David N. Dinkins Manhattan Municipal Building following growing demand. Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) Commissioner Yume Kitasei on Friday announced expanded access to “Centre 360,” a panoramic experience inside the Beaux-Arts government building's 36th-floor cupola, increasing the maximum group size from five to eight. The move comes just months after the tours launched in June following a $6 million renovation, with reservations for the experience selling out in less than two minutes.
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August 27, 2026

17 spots in NYC to watch the U.S. Open and sip a Honey Deuce

By Aaron Ginsburg

The U.S. Open is set to return to Queens' Billie Jean King National Tennis Center for another year of world-class competition. As the world's best tennis players battle for the final Grand Slam titles of the year, the tournament will once again bring plenty of excitement to the five boroughs, along with one of its most iconic drinks: the Honey Deuce. If you weren't willing to splurge on tickets to the increasingly expensive event in Queens, we've found some of the best spots across NYC to watch the U.S. Open while enjoying a Honey Deuce cocktail.
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Events & Things To Do

Mamdani announces 1,000 discounted U.S. Open tickets for NYC residents

Photo by Kate Tann on Flickr

August 25, 2026

Mamdani announces 1,000 discounted U.S. Open tickets for NYC residents

By Aaron Ginsburg

Amid backlash over high U.S. Open ticket prices, Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday announced he secured discounted tickets to the tournament for New York City residents. The mayor and the United States Tennis Association (USTA) will offer 1,000 tickets priced at $100 to see main-draw matches taking place from Sunday, August 30, through Tuesday, September 8. The tickets, which go on sale on this Wednesday at 10 a.m., will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis to eligible New Yorkers. New Yorkers will be able to purchase two tickets each.
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Events & Things To Do

Prospect Park to host Battle of Brooklyn reenactment for borough-wide 250th anniversary commemoration

Battle of Brooklyn reenactment in Green-Wood Cemetery. Credit: Allison Meier on Flickr

August 21, 2026

Prospect Park to host Battle of Brooklyn reenactment for borough-wide 250th anniversary commemoration

By Aaron Ginsburg

Relive the first and largest battle of the American Revolution this weekend as part of a borough-wide commemoration of the Battle of Brooklyn's 250th anniversary. Fought in August 1776, just weeks after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, the battle took place across parts of present-day Prospect Park, Green-Wood Cemetery, Fulton Ferry Landing, and Fort Greene Park. To mark the anniversary, Prospect Park will host a reenactment of the battle on Saturday August 22, following in the footsteps of the soldiers who fought there 250 years ago, while Green-Wood will host its own reenactment on Sunday. The events are part of Brooklyn 250, a borough-wide commemoration by six cultural institutions with free events, tours, and discussions on the historic battle's role in American independence.
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Inwood’s new immigrant arts center announces inaugural season

Photo by Luis Luque/Capture Imaging

August 20, 2026

Inwood’s new immigrant arts center announces inaugural season

By Devin Gannon

A new theater dedicated to immigrant-centered works opening in New York City this fall released its inaugural schedule of performances. Located on West 206th Street in Inwood, Centro Cultural Inmigrante provides a permanent home for The People's Theatre, the first immigrant cultural center in New York. The season begins on September 19 with a community open house and jazz power jam, followed by the play "GUAC," written and performed by Manuel Oliver, whose son Joaquín "Guac" Oliver was killed in the Parkland shooting in 2018.
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Events & Things To Do

Broadway Week is back with discounted tickets for 25 shows

Photo credit: Lucia Vazquez

August 18, 2026

Broadway Week is back with discounted tickets for 25 shows

By Devin Gannon

With summer about to take its curtain call, New Yorkers can start planning for fall. Tickets for the semi-annual Broadway Week are now on sale, offering 2-for-1 deals on select shows, New York City Tourism + Conventions announced. Running from September 8 through September 20, this year's event includes 25 shows, from longtime favorites like "The Lion King" and "The Book of Mormon" to newcomers "Schmigadoon!" and "Titaníque."
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