Events &amp; Things To Do

It'll cost you a pretty penny—$340 per person, to be exact—but you can now take a private helicopter to brunch at JFK's buzzy new TWA Hotel. Helicopter service Blade and the Gerber Group have partnered on the limited-edition offering, which is open for reservations on Sundays only through November 3rd.
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New design revealed for Central Park women’s suffrage statue, but objections delay vote

Rendering of “Women’s Rights Pioneer Monument” (courtesy of Monumental Women).

September 17, 2019

New design revealed for Central Park women’s suffrage statue, but objections delay vote

Last year’s unveiling of designs for the first statue in Central Park’s 165-year history that depicts real historic women–a sculpture of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, set to be dedicated in August of 2020 to mark the 100th anniversary of nationwide women’s suffrage–was met with the criticism that it didn't adequately represent the many African-American women who aided in the cause. As 6sqft previously reported, a redesigned statue honoring women’s rights advocates will now include Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and escaped slave and abolitionist Sojourner Truth, who aided in the fight for women’s rights. The updated design has been revealed. But, as AM New York reports, The city's Public Design Commission has said the statue still falls short, and has postponed the vote to confirm the new design–possibly jeopardizing an August 26, 2020 unveiling.
Critics weigh in

Enter to win tickets to 6sqft & Untapped Cities’ tour of CetraRuddy’s architecture studio

Photo by James and Karla Murray exclusively for 6sqft

September 16, 2019

Enter to win tickets to 6sqft & Untapped Cities’ tour of CetraRuddy’s architecture studio

By 6sqft

It's your chance to get a behind-the-scenes look at one of New York City's most impressive architecture firms. 6sqft and Untapped Cities are joining forces to offer tours of studios of the city's top architectural and design firms. In the most recent installment, you can tour the Financial District studio of CetraRuddy, the firm behind the tower One Madison, Tribeca's 443 Greenwich Street, and the Lincoln Square Synagogue. Led by principals at the firm, the tour takes participants through the office, explaining their sustainable interiors and usage of technology. For a chance to win a pair of tickets, enter our raffle below!
How to enter

New Brooklyn Museum exhibit will explore the legacy of Studio 54 for the first time

Dustin Pittman. Stroke of Midnight at Studio, 1978–79. Photograph, 15x 20 in. (38.1 x 50.8 cm). Courtesy of the artist. © Dustin Pittman

September 16, 2019

New Brooklyn Museum exhibit will explore the legacy of Studio 54 for the first time

An exhibition opening at the Brooklyn Museum next year will explore for the first time the enduring impact of Studio 54. Opening in March, Studio 54: Night Magic examines the influence that the disco-era nightclub continues to have on design, cinema, and fashion today. Iconic photography and roughly 650 objects, including drawings, paintings, music, and decor, will be on display.
Get the details

Events & Things To Do

Fall art roundup: Highlights of the season’s new crop of exhibitions, openings and events

Image courtesy of Harold Navarro via Flickr

September 16, 2019

Fall art roundup: Highlights of the season’s new crop of exhibitions, openings and events

When autumn rolls into New York City, the fall arts season heats up with museum exhibits, gallery openings, art fairs and more to keep us culturally fulfilled through shorter days and colder nights. Below are our top picks and suggestions for the season’s art whirl, from an all new MoMA to open studios in Bushwick.
Inspirational art, this way

Events & Things To Do

New exhibit from photographers James and Karla Murray celebrates mom-and-pop storefronts of NYC

Photo © James and Karla Murray

September 9, 2019

New exhibit from photographers James and Karla Murray celebrates mom-and-pop storefronts of NYC

A free photography exhibition highlighting mom-and-pop shops of New York City opens in the East Village next week. Photographers and award-winning authors James and Karla Murray hosted two workshops earlier this year on using photography and oral history to "raise public awareness, build community, and encourage advocacy." The free exhibition, "Capturing the Faces & Voices of Mom-And-Pop Storefronts," shows off the photos and interviews from the workshop's participants, as well as large-scale photos of now-shuttered East Village shops, taken by James and Karla.
More here

Events & Things To Do

Contest calls on New Yorkers to eat a slice of pizza in every borough in one day, using only public transit

Photo by City Foodsters on Flickr

September 6, 2019

Contest calls on New Yorkers to eat a slice of pizza in every borough in one day, using only public transit

In what may be the most New York competition ever, the annual 5 Boro Pizza Challenge returns this month, asking participants to combine their love of slices and public transportation. The contest involves five pizzerias in five boroughs. On Saturday, Sept. 28, the list of shops will be revealed, sending racers off to plot their journeys. Another NYC twist? The use of cars to travel between destinations is not allowed.
More delicious details this way

Eat your way into Fall at one of these upcoming food festivals

Image courtesy Taste of Gramercy Neighborhood

September 6, 2019

Eat your way into Fall at one of these upcoming food festivals

As summer days begin to wane this month, we're looking forward to a lineup of food festivals that offer New Yorkers a chance to enjoy the (slightly) cooler weather and discover all sorts of culinary treasures throughout the city's neighborhoods. With many food events slated to take place throughout the Fall season, here's a roundup of three, block party-style festivals that will get things started over the coming weekends in Carroll Gardens, Williamsburg, and Gramercy Park.
There'll be something for every craving

Events & Things To Do

WTC Oculus skylight won’t open this year during 9/11 commemoration due to leak

The skylight atop the $3.9 billion World Trade Center Transportation Hub Oculus won't open this year on September 11, according to the Port Authority. It was announced this week that the skylight–comprised of 224 panes of glass on 40 motorized panels designed by Spanish starchitect Santiago Calatrava–has a leaking problem and will remain closed for this year's anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The skylight was intended to open and close, releasing a beam of light into the Oculus space at precisely 10:28 A.M. each year to mark the moment the north tower of the World Trade Center fell.
Find out more

Take a jazz-filled tour of historic Fort Greene homes

Photo courtesy of CityRealty

September 4, 2019

Take a jazz-filled tour of historic Fort Greene homes

While it's always easy to admire the stunning brownstones of Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood from the outside, here's your chance to appreciate them up close. The 34th Fort Greene House Tour takes place on Sunday, Sept. 22, opening up unique homes from the 19th-century to architecture enthusiasts. Hosted by the Fort Greene Association, the theme of this year's tour is "Houses, History & All That Jazz," with some homes on tour featuring live music, in honor of the neighborhood's musical legacy.
How to get tickets

The history of Brooklyn’s Caribbean Carnival, the most colorful event in New York City

Via Run With Scissors on Flickr

August 28, 2019

The history of Brooklyn’s Caribbean Carnival, the most colorful event in New York City

Every Labor Day, millions of people gather in Brooklyn to celebrate Caribbean culture at the West Indian-American Day Carnival. Since the early 20th century, the Carnival, which first got its start in the United States in Harlem, has brought together New Yorkers through beautiful costumes, music, dance, and food of the West Indies. Starting in the 1960s, the festival has taken over Crown Heights' Eastern Parkway, uniting many islands (Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Haiti, Dominica, Saint Lucia, Jamaica, Saint Vincent and Grenda, Guyana, Suriname and Belize, and others) in one extravagant party. As one of New York City's largest, and certainly most colorful, events, the Carnival should not be missed. Ahead, learn about the history of the parade, the traditions that thrive to this day and the details of this year's festival.
More this way

10 bronze sculptures of powerful women are on view outside a Midtown office building

photos © 6sqft

August 28, 2019

10 bronze sculptures of powerful women are on view outside a Midtown office building

By Dana Schulz

It's been nearly two years since artists Gillie and Marc first revealed their "Statues for Equality" project. Noting that less than three percent of all NYC statues are of women, the husband-and-wife public art specialists created a series of 10 bronze sculptures of inspirational women who were voted on by the public--Oprah Winfrey, P!nk, Nicole Kidman, Jane Goodall, Cate Blanchett, Tererai Trent, Janet Mock, Tracy Dyson, Cheryl Strayed, and Gabby Douglas. Monday, on Women's Equality Day, the statues were unveiled in front of RXR's Realty's 1285 Avenue of the Americas (h/t Untapped Cities).
Check out all the statues

Events & Things To Do

Homemade, illuminated lanterns will float above Morningside Heights

Photo from 2018’s Morningside Lights festival by Michael Seto via Flickr

August 27, 2019

Homemade, illuminated lanterns will float above Morningside Heights

The sky above Morningside Heights will soon come alive with illuminated, handmade lanterns. The Arts Initiative and Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts next month will host its annual "Morningside Lights" festival, which allows community members to make their own lanterns and float them in a procession through Morningside Park to Columbia's campus. Free workshops will be hosted each day at the Miller Theatre leading up to the event from Sept. 14-20, with the magical march happening on Saturday, Sept. 21.
It's lit

Events & Things To Do

De Blasio moves to restrict hotel development after receiving campaign contributions from industry union

Image via Pixabay

August 27, 2019

De Blasio moves to restrict hotel development after receiving campaign contributions from industry union

After receiving an endorsement from the New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council (HTC) for his long-shot presidential campaign in June, Mayor Bill de Blasio has asked the city's planning council to look into the process for implementing a city-wide special permit for hotel development, as Crain's first reported. If adopted, new hotel projects throughout the five boroughs would have to undergo the city's land-use review process, ULURP—something that the HTC has long advocated for.
More info

Try food from all 30 MLB ballparks in NYC next month

Photo by Kevin Harber on Flickr

August 23, 2019

Try food from all 30 MLB ballparks in NYC next month

By Andrew Berman of Village Preservation

Forget the peanuts and Cracker Jacks. A food festival coming to New York City next month will serve out-of-the-box ballpark food from all 30 Major League Baseball teams, from toasted grasshoppers to bulgogi beef egg rolls. In its second year, the MLB FoodFest, presented by Budweiser, will take place on Sept. 21 and 22 in Midtown. Tickets cost $35 for unlimited vendor tastings or $50 for food and three beers.
Calling all baseball lovers

August 22, 2019

Elevated rails, rooftops, and McSorley’s: How painter John Sloan captured 20th-century Manhattan

Many artists have been inspired by the scenes of life in New York City, particularly Lower Manhattan. But perhaps no artist captures the feeling of New York during the hot, heavy days of August like the painter John Sloan. Sloan was one of the leading figures of the "Ashcan School" of artists of the early 20th century, a loosely-defined movement which took its name from a derisive reference to the supposed lowbrow quality and themes of their work, and the smudgy, impressionistic brushstrokes they utilized. His workaday subjects and hazy images of city life capture the heaviness of the air of New York during its dog days. Here’s a look at some of those paintings of life in our city 100 years ago.
See NYC through the eyes of Sloan

Events & Things To Do

Help plant 500,000 daffodils around NYC to remember 9/11

Image via Flickr cc

August 21, 2019

Help plant 500,000 daffodils around NYC to remember 9/11

The annual Daffodil Project--launched by New Yorkers for Parks and NYC Parks in 2001 as a living memorial to September 11th--is now open for bulb requests. Each year, the initiative gives out approximately 500,000 free daffodil bulbs to individuals and groups to plant throughout New York City's public spaces—in parks, schoolyards, community gardens, and street tree pits. More than 7.5 million bulbs have been planted since the project started. If you're interested in participating, all you have to do is submit a request before September 5.
More details

Here’s what you need to know about NYC’s first dog restaurant week

Via Flickr

August 20, 2019

Here’s what you need to know about NYC’s first dog restaurant week

It's officially the dog days of summer. This week, New Yorkers can dine out with their four-legged friends at a number of restaurants during the city's first-ever Dog Restaurant Week. Hosted by Petminded, an organization that helps owners travel with pets, the weeklong event includes special promotions at more than a dozen dog-friendly restaurants across the city.
More this way

Photo courtesy of the DOT via Flickr

August 16, 2019

This Saturday is your final chance to enjoy Summer Streets

By Nicole Mondrus

Now in its 12th year, Summer Streets returns this Saturday for its third and final hurrah, where New Yorkers can experience over seven miles of car-free streets. Park Avenue will be closed from Chambers Street all the way to 72nd, and the path will be open to cyclists and pedestrians alike. Five “rest stops” will be set up along the route, each with different activities, performances, and free snacks.
Car-free fun this way

The Queens County Fair will debut a three-acre corn maze inspired by the Unisphere

Image via Wiki Commons

August 14, 2019

The Queens County Fair will debut a three-acre corn maze inspired by the Unisphere

The 37th Annual Queens County Fair taking place in September at the Queens County Farm Museum will include a three-acre corn maze inspired by the iconic Unisphere in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, as Patch first reported. Commissioned for the New York World’s fair of 1964-65 and designed by landscape architect Gilmore Clarke, the Unisphere is a steel rendition of the Earth and has become one of the Borough’s most enduring symbols. Sponsored by Con Edison, “The Amazing Maize Maze” is set to debut during the fair on September 21 and remain open through October 26. It will be the only corn maze in New York City.
More details

Events & Things To Do

Coney Island’s Luna Park looks to the public to name new attractions

The new log flume ride. Photo Credit: NYCEDC

August 14, 2019

Coney Island’s Luna Park looks to the public to name new attractions

Luna Park, home of the Coney Island Cyclone and Steeplechase, will welcome three new attractions–a ropes course, a log flume ride and a roller coaster–next year. The iconic seaside amusement park has turned to the public to name the new additions, which are set to open in 2020, AM New York reports.
Taking names, this way

Events & Things To Do

New bill may bring hostels back to New York City

Image via CC.

August 13, 2019

New bill may bring hostels back to New York City