Events & Things To Do

September 16, 2020

‘Ode to NYC’ poster campaign spreads love across the five boroughs with heartfelt artwork

A new citywide poster campaign will launch next month as a tribute to New York City in response to one of the most challenging times in its history. NYCxDesign this week announced the "An Ode to NYC" campaign, a collection of posters designed by local artists that reflect their love for New York. The original artwork will be on display in design showrooms, restaurants, retail stores, and iconic spots across the five boroughs, including the Oculus at the World Trade Center.
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September 11, 2020

Sotheby’s hip hop auction includes Biggie Smalls’ crown from ‘King of New York’ photo & more gems

Next week, Sotheby's will host its first-ever hip hop auction with iconic memorabilia from the music movement that got its start in New York City. One of the biggest items of the auction, which will be held live on September 15, is the crown worn by Brooklyn-born Biggie Smalls during the 1997 "King of New York" photo shoot, the last portrait of the rapper before he was killed just days later. Another amazing item at the auction includes over 20 love letters penned by a 16-year-old Tupac Shakur to his high school sweetheart.
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September 10, 2020

Tenement Museum restarts outdoor walking tours

The pandemic has taken its toll on almost every New York City museum, but the Lower East Side's Tenement Museum has had it especially hard. Because of the cramped quarters of the historic tenement houses that make up the museum, they've been unable to reopen indoors. As NY1 reported in late July, the museum laid off 76 part-time employees, 71 of whom were tour guides. But there's now a glimmer of hope for the museum that educates people on the history of immigration to New York in the 19th and 20th centuries. They will be restarting their outdoor walking tours for single household groups beginning this weekend. 
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September 10, 2020

Village Halloween Parade cancelled for only the second time in 47 years

Though the Village Halloween Parade was just a small neighborhood gathering in 1973, it has taken place and grown every year since then except after Hurricane Sandy in 2012. This year, however, the beloved event is being cancelled for the second time ever due to COVID-19. Jeanne Fleming, who has been the director of the parade since 1985, broke the news yesterday to the Post, but promised New Yorkers a special "trick" in its place, though she's remaining mum on those details for now.
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September 9, 2020

Sting, Norah Jones, & more to perform in free SummerStage Jubilee virtual concert

A free concert benefiting New York City parks programs will be live-streamed next week, with a number of renowned artists participating. Hosted by the City Parks Foundation, the SummerStage Jubilee takes place virtually on September 17 with performances from Sting, Norah Jones, Trey Anastasio, Rufus Wainwright, Leslie Odom Jr., Rosanne Cash, Emily King, PJ Morton, and more. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the foundation put its annual free outdoor concert series in Central Park, online for all to enjoy, dubbing it SummerStage Anywhere.
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September 8, 2020

Annual 9/11 dance tribute at Lincoln Center will be live streamed

An annual dance performance in New York City commemorating September 11 will be live-streamed this year. On Friday, the Buglisi Dance Theatre and Lincoln Center, in partnership with Dance/NYC, will present a "reimagined" Table of Silence Project 9/11, a multi-cultural performance calling for peace and global unity. Created and choreographed by Jacqulyn Buglisi, the yearly performance first debuted in 2011, on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
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September 8, 2020

Chelsea Flea returns this weekend with new Smorgasburg vendors

After closing in December and being unable to reopen this spring due to the pandemic, the beloved Chelsea Flea is returning this weekend. The outdoor flea market will have more than 40 antique and vintage dealers (some old favorites, some new), as well as a new partnership with Smorgasburg that will bring some great food options.
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September 4, 2020

New York is looking for ‘leaf peepers’ to keep track of fall foliage

Admit it--you can't wait to get that perfect #fallfoliage shot. But if you want to take it a step further, you can volunteer as an official "leaf peeper" for the state of New York (h/t Time Out). I LOVE NY, the state's tourism agency, is growing its statewide team of volunteers who submit weekly reports on the status of foliage in their given areas.
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September 2, 2020

Free outdoor sculpture garden opens at Rockefeller Center

Another free public art installation has opened at Rockefeller Center. In its second year, the Frieze Sculpture at Rockefeller Center opened on Tuesday as an outdoor sculpture garden with works from six major international artists. Originally scheduled to open this past spring as part of art programs offered by Frieze New York, the installation was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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September 2, 2020

Hudson Yards’ Vessel and Edge reopen today

Hudson Yards announced that both Vessel and Edge reopen today. The 150-foot-tall climbable public art piece and the observation deck that's 1,100 feet in the air (the highest in the Western Hemisphere) have been closed since March, only two days after Edge officially opened to the public. Both attractions will operate at 25 percent capacity and have numerous health and social distancing protocols in place.
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September 1, 2020

Madison Square Garden, Barclays Center to serve as polling sites for 2020 election

Two major sports arenas in New York City will serve as polling sites for the general election in November, providing a socially distanced way for residents to vote in person. The city's Board of Elections announced that Madison Square Garden and the Barclays Center will both be Early Voting and Election Day poll sites, the result of a deal made between players of the National Basketball Association and the league to resume playoffs after teams refused to play following the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The agreement involved several social justice initiatives, including the use of NBA arenas across the country as voting locations for the upcoming election.
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August 28, 2020

Keith Haring’s personal art collection will be auctioned off to raise money for NYC’s LGBTQ Center

On September 24, Sotheby's will open the auction for "Dear Keith: Works from the Personal Collection of Keith Haring." The auction is comprised of more than 140 artworks from Haring's personal collection and is expected to raise close to $1 million, all of which will all go directly to the LGBTQ Community Center. The collection is being donated by the Keith Haring Foundation, which was set up by the artist and activist himself shortly before he passed away from HIV/AIDS in 1990. It includes pieces by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Kenny Scharf, Jenny Holzer, and George Condo.
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August 27, 2020

This year’s Met roof garden installation tackles ‘the wall’

When the Metropolitan Museum of Art reopens on August 29, this year's eighth annual installation on the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden will also be on view. Titled Lattice Detour, the work by Mexican artist Héctor Zamora tackles a prevalent symbol in today's society--the wall. The 11-foot-tall work deliberately screens views of Central Park and the skyline to evoke the feeling of a barrier to viewers. But the bricks are stacked on their sides, thereby letting in light and air and referencing the latticed celosía walls that are used for shade and ventilation in the Middle East, Africa, Iberia, and Latin America.
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August 26, 2020

Coney Island’s colorful Mermaid Parade will take place virtually this weekend

Coney Island's beloved Mermaid Parade returns this weekend with a twist. The annual event will be live-streamed online Saturday, August 29 as a "Tail-a-Thon," a parody of a telethon that will raise real money for charity. Marchers, dancers, and musical groups will be performing live from remote locations and available to view online, starting at 1:30 p.m.
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August 26, 2020

Central Park’s first statue of historical women unveiled

The "bronze ceiling" has officially been broken in New York City's most famous park. A new statue depicting women's rights activists Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton was unveiled in Central Park on Wednesday, becoming the park's first monument of real-life women. The new statue comes on the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment, which granted some women the right to vote.
More here
August 26, 2020

There’s a giant gorilla sculpture in Hudson Yards

To raise awareness and funds for the critically endangered gorilla species, public artists Gillie and Marc Schattner have created a massive sculpture of the animal that arrived this week in Hudson Yards' Bella Abzug Park. Titled King Nyani, Swahili for gorilla, it's the world's largest bronze gorilla sculpture and can fit two to three humans just in its hands.
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August 25, 2020

New York Fashion Week is still on for next month

One of fashion's biggest events will still take place in New York City next month. Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday announced that New York Fashion Week will be held September 13-17 for a mix of live and virtual fashion shows, under stringent coronavirus restrictions and capacity limits. Indoor events will be able to take place at 50 percent capacity and with no spectators, according to the governor.
Details here
August 21, 2020

The Met reveals facade banners designed by Yoko Ono

For the first time, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is displaying artist-designed banners on its Fifth Avenue facade, and they're from none other than Yoko Ono. Titled DREAM TOGETHER, the 24' x 26' banners read "DREAM" and "TOGETHER," and were revealed in anticipation of the museum's reopening on August 29th. Ono created the piece in response to the global COVID-19 crisis, offering "a powerful message of hope and unity to the world," according to the Met.
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August 19, 2020

Hudson Yards reveals two huge murals near the Vessel

As part of its HYxOffTheWall initiative to bring "vibrant and interactive displays and murals" to Hudson Yards, the mega-development has revealed two new public art installations that will remain on view for the rest of the year. Street artist ELLE worked on a 2,900-square-foot semicircular stretch of wall, and mural artist KEY DETAIL worked on a four-sided standing rectangle that rises behind it. According to a press release, the two works "celebrate inclusion and togetherness, inspired by a belief that New York’s happiest moments are the ones we spend together—something we have been consistently reminded of during our time apart."
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August 17, 2020

New large-scale installation of ringing bells to open at Brooklyn Bridge Park

A new art installation featuring five giant bells in 14-foot-tall structures will open at Brooklyn Bridge Park this week. Created by San Francisco-based artist Davina Semo, Reverberation allows visitors to ring each bell, drilled with a variety of holes to produce different tones and pitch. The exhibition, curated by the Public Art Fund, will be on view at the waterfront park from August 20 through April 18, 2021.
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August 17, 2020

After Cuomo provides health personnel, 9/11 Tribute in Light is back on

It takes nearly 40 stagehands and electricians more than a week to produce the annual Tribute in Light display that marks the 9/11 anniversary each year, according to the New York Times. And because they must work in close contact, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum decided last week to cancel this year's memorial. Upon hearing the news, Governor Cuomo, however, stepped in and said he'd provide the medical personnel necessary to make the event happen safely.
More details here
August 14, 2020

You can help choose the High Line’s next public art installation

Banu Cennetoğlu, "right?" The High Line is reviewing proposals for its next two art installations and is asking the public for feedback. The Plinth, part of the elevated park's newest section, the Spur, which opened last year, is dedicated space for public art, visible from the street at 30th Street and 10th Avenue. Eighty nominated artists have submitted proposals to be considered for the third and fourth Plinth commissions and now you can provide comments for each on the park's website.
See the proposals
August 11, 2020

MTV cancels VMAs at Barclays Center, announces outdoor performances throughout NYC

Along with most other large events for the rest of the year, MTA has decided to cancel the annual Video Music Awards ceremony that would have been held at Brooklyn's Barclays Center on August 30th. Instead, "The 2020 VMAs will be held on Sunday, August 30th and pay homage to the incredible resiliency of New York with several outdoor performances around the City with limited or no audience, adhering to all state and city guidelines," according to a joint statement from MTV and the Barclays Center.
More details here
August 11, 2020

150 NYC restaurants with outdoor dining

With outdoor dining in New York City extended through October, there are countless spots to dine al fresco, with restaurants able to set up seating on sidewalks, adjacent parking spots, rooftops, and gardens. To help you decide where to eat first, we've begun compiling a list of some of the best restaurants offering outdoor dining, neighborhood by neighborhood. This is by no means an exhaustive list, so we hope that you, our readers, will share more restaurants with us that we can add to this list.
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