Events &amp; Things To Do

Here’s everything you need to know about getting around this weekend and over the Christmas holiday, whether you’re staying in or traveling outside NYC. The good news is that the MTA is suspending bridge and tunnel maintenance for the holiday, the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North are providing extra service, off-peak fares apply, and there’s a free bus to La Guardia. Read on for some of the bad news.
Know before you go

10 ideas for an adventurous NYC New Year’s Eve, regrets optional

Image courtesy of MetropolisNYE

December 20, 2018

10 ideas for an adventurous NYC New Year’s Eve, regrets optional

New Year's Eve is one of those holidays where expectations outweigh the realities–freezing weather, scarce transportation, raucous crowds and the prospect of corralling all of your friends in one place to avoid ringing in the new year while packed into a stalled subway car. If you've a shred of sense, you're not headed for Times Square, but the city does its best to offer up options that are suitably festive and possibly even a whole lot of fun. See the list below for some ways to avoid dropping the ball on this year's NYE plans.
2019, this way

Events & Things To Do

Celebrate the winter solstice in NYC with one of these musical parades

Via Flickr

December 19, 2018

Celebrate the winter solstice in NYC with one of these musical parades

On December 21st, the longest night of the year, neighborhoods throughout New York City will be transformed by the festivities of Make Music Winter, a series of free participatory parades focused on music and representing a range of cultures and traditions. With more than 18 separate events taking place throughout the boroughs, there will be something for music lovers of all stripes this Friday.
Follow the music

Events & Things To Do

What are the chances of a White Christmas in NYC this year?

Photo via Marianne O’Leary on Flickr

December 19, 2018

What are the chances of a White Christmas in NYC this year?

The chance of getting a White Christmas in New York City this year is sadly unlikely, but not impossible. The team behind the Omni Calculator Project created an online tool that provides the probability of snowfall in major cities across the United States as well as the closest White Christmas--meaning at least one inch of snowfall on Dec. 25--near that city. While the White Christmas Calculator says NYC has a roughly 12 percent chance of seeing snow next Tuesday, there are four nearby cities with a nearly 50 percent chance of enjoying some flurries.
Dreaming of a White Christmas?

Events & Things To Do

Ride back in time on vintage NYC trains and buses this holiday season

Via Victoria Pickering on Flickr

December 18, 2018

Ride back in time on vintage NYC trains and buses this holiday season

Feeling whimsical? Holiday Nostalgia rides are back this season, with vintage train cars and buses replacing regular service through New Year's. The New York Transit Museum invites New Yorkers and visitors alike to celebrate the magic of the city during the holidays with train rides that run along the F line from 6th Avenue to 47th-50th-Rockefeller Center, with stops at stations like Columbus Circle and 125th Street, all spots known for being major holiday shopping centers.
Roll this way

Events & Things To Do

Photos courtesy of Roey Yohai Studio

December 18, 2018

A behind-the-scenes look at Gracie Mansion’s colorfully festive holiday decorations

By Emily Nonko

Gracie Mansion, the residence of Mayor Bill de Blasio, is officially in full holiday spirit. The historic home, which dates back to 1799, is showing off decorations that promote some of the mayor's top initiatives, plus the overall theme of togetherness. It's all the work of New York City's First Lady Chirlane McCray and renowned event planner Bryan Rafanelli, who have been refining the vision since this summer. This is Rafanelli's second year working with McCray to decorate the people's home of New York. For 2018, they selected jewel-toned colors, lots of ribbon, and even worked in some participation from New Yorkers. Keep reading to figure out how the pair made it happen, an effort that includes bringing a 17-foot-tall tree through a narrow French door into the mansion's ballroom. The images are sure to put you in a New York holiday spirit.
Read more

On Christmas Eve, the public can go inside Gramercy Park for one hour

Photo via Flickr cc

December 18, 2018

On Christmas Eve, the public can go inside Gramercy Park for one hour

Photo via Flickr cc From 6-7pm this Christmas Eve, the Gramercy Park Block Association will open the park's iron gates to the public for its annual holiday caroling hour with the local Parish of Calvary-St. George's. And though this may not seem like much time, it's probably the only chance New Yorkers will get; all other times, Gramercy Park is only accessible to those who live in the 39 building surrounding the square and are lucky enough to have one of the 400 keys.
READ MORE

Events & Things To Do

This New Yorker wants you to take advantage of your ‘right’ to free admission at NYC museums

Via Wikimedia

December 14, 2018

This New Yorker wants you to take advantage of your ‘right’ to free admission at NYC museums

The Metropolitan Museum of Art and 12 other New York City institutions should be free of charge for New York residents, claims one local resident. New Yorker Pat Nicholson this week launched a website aimed at educating the city about the "right" to free admission to museums like the Met and others, as Metro reported. According to Nicholson, a 19th-century law states the Met should offer free admission five days a week in exchange for a rent-free lease on city property.
Find out more

Events & Things To Do

Port Authority launches public poll to decide fate of awkward Holland Tunnel holiday decorations

Photo via Flickr cc

December 13, 2018

Port Authority launches public poll to decide fate of awkward Holland Tunnel holiday decorations

Update 12/17/18: Following the public poll, the Port Authority says they will move the Christmas tree over the A and remove the wreath over the U in Tunnel. The Port Authority is asking commuters to weigh in on the great Holland Tunnel holiday decoration debacle that many are calling an "OCD nightmare." While the decorations have historically been placed to sit aligned symmetrically above the tunnel lanes, workers who were tasked with decking out the tolls created an eyesore by placing a triangular tree over the N in "Holland" and by putting a wreath over the U, turning the "Tunnel" into a "Tonnel." As the New York Post reported, Cory Windelspecht of Tribeca decided to start a Change.org petition to challenge the decor faux pas. “I look at it and it makes me itch. It gives me anxiety and anger," he fumed. "Why wouldn’t they just put [the tree] in front of the A?”
Find out more

See this year’s completely outrageous Dyker Heights Christmas lights

Where else can you see 25-foot toy soldiers, a two-story Santa, or a house decked out with 30,000 lights other than Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. The suburban neighborhood, historically a quiet, Italian-American enclave, has been putting on its legendary holiday spectacle since 1986, when Lucy Spata moved to the area. Her over-the-top Christmas displays started as a way to honor her mother's memory (she also loved holiday decorations) and quickly her neighbors followed suit. Today, Lucy is known around town as "Mrs. Claus" and the Dyker Heights lights attract up to 150,000 visitors each season. 6sqft's resident photographers, James and Karla Murray, recently visited Dyker Heights and captured the outrageous lights and decorations in all their glory. And they were even lucky enough to meet Lucy herself!
See this year's insane Christmas light extravaganza

Rendering via Studio Gang

December 11, 2018

Judge rules in favor of Studio Gang’s Natural History Museum expansion plans despite lawsuit attempt

In October, plans by Studio Gang to expand the American Museum of Natural History and create the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation were stopped in their tracks after New York State Supreme Court Justice Lynn Kotler issued a temporary restraining order. A lawsuit had been filed by a community group opposed to the expansion on the grounds that it would destroy public parkland and threaten the surrounding environment. Judge Kotler on Monday ruled in favor of the museum in a decision confirming that all appropriate procedures in preparation for the project were followed. The decision will allow the museum to proceed with the $383 million expansion project.
Find out more

The High Line Plinth will showcase public art as a gathering spot in the park’s newest section

Image by James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro, courtesy of the City of New York.

December 10, 2018

The High Line Plinth will showcase public art as a gathering spot in the park’s newest section

The Spur, the last section of the High Line, extending east along 30th Street and ending above 10th Avenue, is scheduled to open in 2019. Unlike other sections of the park which are more linear and perfect for strolling, this section will feature a large-scale plaza for public programming and art and areas for seating and gathering. Anchoring the new section will be the High Line Plinth. As Designboom reports, the Plinth will be one of the only sites in New York City with the purpose of featuring a rotating series of new contemporary public art commissions.
Renderings of the Plinth, this way

GIVEWAY: Join a 6sqft editor for a special ‘Christmas History in Gramercy’ tour

Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress

December 7, 2018

GIVEWAY: Join a 6sqft editor for a special ‘Christmas History in Gramercy’ tour

Did you know the nation's first public Christmas tree went up in NYC? Or how about the fact that Santa Claus was born here in both literature and drawing? And have you seen the famous restaurant decorated with 15,000 Christmas ornaments, 10,000 lights? Join 6sqft's managing editor Dana Schulz for her Christmas in Gramercy tour with the Municipal Art Society to see and learn about all this and more. Taking place, Saturday, December 15th, the two-hour event will reveal the surprising origins of our most beloved holiday traditions.
Enter to win tickets here!

Events & Things To Do

Photographer Betsy Pinover Schiff takes us on an illuminated tour of NYC during Christmastime

6sqft’s series The Urban Lens invites photographers to share work exploring a theme or a place within New York City. In this installment, NYC-based photographer Betsy Pinover Schiff shares photos from her new book, “‘Tis the Season New York.” Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected].

December 7, 2018

Photographer Betsy Pinover Schiff takes us on an illuminated tour of NYC during Christmastime

Two years ago while attending for the first time the Winter’s Eve Festival, billed as the largest holiday festival in New York City, photographer Betsy Pinover Schiff had an ah-ha Christmas moment. If she, a native New Yorker, just recently learned about this huge annual celebration that draws thousands to Lincoln Square, what other Christmas celebrations was she missing? In a quest to find out, Betsy ended up taking hundreds of photos and attending hundreds of events across the city, all within a six-week period. Her curiosity grew to become the basis of her latest book, “‘Tis the Season New York," which was released this fall. Her book takes us on a tour of NYC during its most festive time of the year, from photos of the holiday windows at Saks Fifth Avenue to the elaborately decorated homes of Dyker Heights. Plus, 15 different New Yorkers, ranging from philanthropist Agnes Gund to Betsy's postman, provided their own NYC experiences for the book. Ahead, Betsy shares with 6sqft some of her sparkling photos and tells us how New York during Christmastime becomes a place for "fun, fantasy, and endless heartwarming moments."
See the spirited photos

December 6, 2018

40 NYC-themed gifts for every type of New Yorker

Whether you need just a few more items to check off your holiday shopping list or you haven’t even started thinking about it yet, follow our guide to make this year’s gift-giving totally stressfree. We’ve rounded up the 40 best presents that are uniquely New York for every type of Big Apple dweller, from the transit nerd and the foodie to the architecture buff and bookworm. Priced between $10 and $295, recommended gifts include everything from a cheese class with Murray's Cheese to a walking tour of Flushing, Queens.
See the full list

December 5, 2018

The official SantaCon 2018 map is here. Consider yourself warned.

Like most things requiring crowd control, SantaCon began life with the best of intentions; long ago (in the early '90s) in San Francisco, a group of merry pranksters called the Cacophony Society thought it might be a hoot to poke fun at both the proliferation of people in Santa suits and the proliferation of “cons," while participating in a (alcohol-free, by the way) performance-art-inspired flash mob. As such things do in modern cities, the once-subversive event snowballed, and to paraphrase the Eagles, call someplace paradise–and wake to find four frat dudes barfing outside your window. The drunken ho-ho-hordes are now too legit to quit, and you might as well know where they’ll be on Saturday, December 8, 2018, which is the official date of this year’s SantaCon. Whether your intent is to join in the fun, or to avoid being totally broadsided by a thousand drunk adults in Santa suits, use this map from the event's organizers.
Map, venue list, rules and caveats, this way

The Henry Street Settlement’s new exhibit showcases 125 years of progressive reform

Students from Camp Henry at the exhibit, courtesy of The Henry Street Settlement

December 3, 2018

The Henry Street Settlement’s new exhibit showcases 125 years of progressive reform

By Lucie Levine

In honor of its 125th anniversary, the Henry Street Settlement, the community hub and social services organization at 265 Henry Street, has mounted a new permanent exhibit in its historic 1830 landmarked headquarters. "The House on Henry Street" is a multi-media exhibit that highlights the legacy of the Settlement’s founder, Lillian Wald, and explores over a century of social activism, urban poverty, and public health on the Lower East Side through the lens of the Settlement’s own history. Incorporating archival photos, video and sound recordings, historic objects, and quotations from both settlement workers and clients, the exhibit distills over a century of history into a stunningly rich and deeply moving meditation on the vital importance of community-oriented social activism.
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Support refugees, immigrants, and local public schools at these NYC holiday markets

Via Choose Love

December 3, 2018

Support refugees, immigrants, and local public schools at these NYC holiday markets

This holiday season, instead of buying more stuff you don't need, gift items that make a true difference in someone's life. In Soho, Choose Love sells gifts that go directly to refugees, like tents and diapers. The "Give Back" holiday market in Gowanus is back this year, offering a percentage of all proceeds to the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES). And Upper West Side standby and the biggest of its kind in NYC, the Grand Bazaar Holiday Market will donate 100 percent of its profits to four local public schools.
Learn ways to give here

Events & Things To Do

December 3, 2018

William Wegman’s famous dog murals cheer up the newly reopened 23rd Street F, M station

After four months of renovations, the 23rd Street F/M Subway reopened last week. In addition to platform repairs and tech upgrades, the station now features a series of 11 charming murals of artist William Wegman's infamous Weimaraners, Flo and Topper. Set against bright, colorful backgrounds, the dogs look out onto the platform as if they were waiting for the train themselves, echoing some of the emotions felt by straphangers and bringing a bit of humor and life to the subway.
See the murals

After more than 20 years, Coney Island brings back holiday lights along Mermaid Avenue

Photo courtesy of the Alliance for Coney Island

November 29, 2018

After more than 20 years, Coney Island brings back holiday lights along Mermaid Avenue

For the first time in more than 20 years, Coney Island's Mermaid Avenue, its main retail corridor, will light up for the holidays. Alexandra Silversmith, the Alliance for Coney Island's executive director, told us that the snowflake-themed display "invites shoppers to visit Mermaid Avenue and support our local merchants while simultaneously welcoming residents home."
READ MORE

Events & Things To Do

November 28, 2018

Enter to win a pair of tickets to 6sqft & Untapped Cities’ tour of COOKFOX’s architecture studio

6sqft and our friends at Untapped Cities recently announced a new joint event series where we'll offer behind-the-scenes tours of some of the city’s top architectural and design firms’ studios. First up is COOKFOX, who will open up their Midtown office space this coming Monday evening. Guests will be treated to a tour of the space's biophilic tools, wellness technology, and functional outdoor spaces, as well as a discussion with the firm about some of their most notable projects past and present. Interested in attended? Enter our raffle for a chance to win a pair of tickets!
Enter here

Events & Things To Do

‘Fearless Girl’ statue begins her move to permanent Stock Exchange home

Image credit: State Street Global Advisors.

November 28, 2018

‘Fearless Girl’ statue begins her move to permanent Stock Exchange home

The four-foot bronze "Fearless Girl" statue was removed from her spot across from the iconic “Charging Bull” in Bowling Green Tuesday night, AMNew York reports, and is on her way to a more pedestrian friendly spot in front of the New York Stock Exchange. Since its appearance in 2017 a day before International Women’s Day, sending a message to Wall Street for the need of gender equality in the financial world, the diminuitive statue has become a major attraction, drawing millions of tourists and locals. State Street Global Advisors, the investment company that owns the statue, said she'd be installed in her new home by December 31.
Find out more

Events & Things To Do

How to get around Midtown during tomorrow’s Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lighting

Via Flickr cc

November 27, 2018

How to get around Midtown during tomorrow’s Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lighting

Driving in Midtown is never advised, but really must be avoided this Wednesday. The 86th annual lighting ceremony of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree kicks off tomorrow, bringing with it more than 100,000 spirited visitors and blocks of street closures. The city's Department of Transportation designated Wednesday a "Gridlock Alert Day" for the celebration, meaning drivers can expect travel throughout the area to take twice as long as usual.
Plan ahead

November 27, 2018

On Long Island, Santa’s Christmas Tree Farm is for sale for $2.5M (lights included)