Découvrez New York

A Random Sampling of What’s Interesting, Fun, and Unusual in the Big Apple this Month!

February – March 2019

NYC OUTDOORS

EVENTS IN CENTRAL PARK
Year round
Central Park
Manhattan, NY
Visit site.

Bicycling in Central Park
Year round
See website for fees.
There are many bike rental companies in the Central Park area. The Central Park Conservancy provides links to two of them. Visit site. There are also the new Citibike stations located at the south entrance to the park and throughout Manhattan. Visit site.

Belvedere Castle
Year round
Mid-park at 79th Street
Manhattan, NY

Calvert Vaux, co-designer of Central Park, created the miniature castle in 1869 as one of its many whimsical structures intended as a lookout to the reservoir to the north (now the Great Lawn) and the Ramble to the south. Belvedere provides the best and highest views of the Park and its cityscape. It’s fitting, considering its name translates to “beautiful view” in Italian.

“Right now, the temperature in Central Park is…” Since 1919, the National Weather Service has taken measurements of New York’s weather from the castle’s tower with the aid of scientific instruments that measure wind speed and direction. In a fenced-in compound just south of the castle, other data such as the rainfall is recorded and sent to the weather service’s forecast office at Brookhaven National Library on Long Island. After decades of deterioration, Central Park Conservancy renovated and reopened the castle in 1983 as a visitor center.

GO ICE SKATING!

“New York City’s many ice-skating rinks are synonymous with winter and the first glimpse of the holiday season. If you prefer your skating experience to come with a killer view, take a spin at Wollman Rink (open late-October through March), with its amazing skyline vistas from inside Central Park, or enjoy the spectacular surroundings of the seasonal Rink at Rockefeller Center (in December, the famous tree will be there too). The Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park, which is open October to March, is another fine option with stunning architecture nearby. For an indoor experience that will make you feel like a professional hockey or skating star, visit City Ice Pavilion in Queens or the Aviator Sports & Events Center in Brooklyn; both operate year-round.” — NYCGO

THE HIGH LINE
Year round
Gansevoort Street to West 34 Street
(between 10th & 11th Avenues)
Manhattan, NY

The High Line is a public park built on an historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side. It is owned by the City of New York, and maintained and operated by Friends of the High Line. Founded in 1999 by community residents, Friends of the High Line fought for the High Line’s preservation and transformation at a time when the historic structure was under the threat of demolition. It is now the responsibility of the nonprofit conservancy, working with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, to make sure the High Line is maintained as an extraordinary public space for all visitors to enjoy. The High Line is located on Manhattan’s West Side. It runs from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to West 34th Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues. The new Hudson Yards station, accessible on the #7 subway line, will bring you to the northernmost end of the High Line. Visit site.

THE CLOISTERS
Year round
99 Margaret Corbin Drive
Manhattan, NY 10040
Access: Free
Guided tours: Suggested fees (see website)

The Cloisters museum and gardens, the branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to the art and architecture of medieval Europe, was assembled from architectural elements, both domestic and religious, that largely date from the twelfth through the fifteenth century. The building and its cloistered gardens — located in Fort Tryon Park in northern Manhattan — are treasures in themselves, effectively part of the collection housed there. The Cloisters’ collection comprises approximately two thousand works of art. Visit site.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK — A Blast from the Past!

From the film, “On the Town”, with Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, and Jules Munshin singing.
Thanks to Jacob Wingfield for posting the video on YouTube!

FUN & CULTURE INDOORS

SPORTS AT CHELSEA PIERS
Year round
Piers 59, 60, and 61
Along the Hudson River
Manhattan, NY

The Chelsea Piers Sports & Entertainment Complex is a 28-acre waterfront sports village located between 17th and 23rd Streets along Manhattan’s Hudson River. This $120 million, privately-financed project opened in 1995, transforming four historic, but long-neglected, piers into a major center for public recreation and waterfront access. Situated on Piers 59, 60, and 61 and in the headhouse that connects them, the Complex features the following sports and entertainment venues:

ICP – INTERNATIONAL CENTER OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Ongoing
1133 Sixth Ave. (at W. 43 St.)
Manhattan, NY 10036

Through visiting exhibitions and a permanent collection of over 100,000 photographs, both contemporary and historical, the International Center of Photography gives visitors glimpses of skillfully captured moments in time and exposes the extraordinary history of America’s favorite medium. Visit site.

BROOKLYN MUSEUM – Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving
February 8–May 12, 2019
200 Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn, New York

“Mexican artist Frida Kahlo’s unique and immediately recognizable style was an integral part of her identity. Kahlo came to define herself through her ethnicity, disability, and politics, all of which were at the heart of her work. Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving is the largest U.S. exhibition in ten years devoted to the iconic painter and the first in the United States to display a collection of her clothing and other personal possessions, which were rediscovered and inventoried in 2004 after being locked away since Kahlo’s death, in 1954.” — Brooklyn Museum

SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM – Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future
January 30-April 23, 2019
1071 Fifth Avenue (Between E. 88 & 89 Sts.)
Manhattan

Not only was the Swedish artist Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) making art at a time when women artists were not taken seriously by the art establishment, she had, by the turn of the 20th Century, left behind her representational beginnings and begun producing bold, large-scale abstract art, a style yet to be recognized by the mainstream — and this was all years before Mondrian, Kandinsky, and other giants of abstract art had emerged. The Guggenheim Museum is exhibiting a full range of af Klint’s artwork through April 23, 2019. Visit site.

DISCOVER LONG ISLAND CITY
Ongoing
Long Island City, Queens, New York

Once an epicenter of manufacturing, Long Island City is now home to one of the City’s most exciting art scenes. The neighborhood is dotted with turn-of-the-20th-century industrial buildings that have been transformed into galleries, museums and studios, and there’s a fast-growing list of must-visit restaurants, shops and performance venues. Learn more about this neighborhood in transition.

BROOKLYN BREWERY
Ongoing
79 North 11 Street (Wythe Ave.)
Brooklyn, NY 11211

New York City’s leading brewery. Happy hour: Friday 6-11pm. Free tours hourly: Sat 12-8pm, Sun 12-6pm. Read more about visiting and hours. Visit site.

AMATEUR NIGHT: GOSPEL NIGHT AT THE APOLLO THEATER
Wednesday nights
Apollo Theater
253 West 125 Street
Harlem, Manhattan, NY 10027

Aspiring musicians, singers, dancers, comedians, rappers and spoken word artists try their best to please the audiences that can make them an Apollo legend. Get ready to cheer or jeer as you decide who stays and who gets booted off stage. At Amateur Night, you tell the performers to be good or be gone! Best to buy tickets in advance! Visit site.

BARBES
Ongoing
376 9th Street (corner of 6th Avenue)
Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY 11215
(347) 422-0248

Named after a neighborhood in North Paris with a thriving music and discount shopping scene, this bar and live music space was opened by two French imports looking to create a go-to cultural center for all sorts of local artsy events. On any given night, you may be privy to eclectic music being spun by a DJ, a live band hailing from North Africa, book readings or movie screenings. Either way, it’s a great place to drink draft beer, single-malt scotch or a range of tequilas while meeting neighbors and getting your culture on. Visit site.

SOB’s
Ongoing
200 Varick Street
New York, NY 10014

SOB’s bills itself as the Home of Universal Music, and indeed it features an exuberant variety of world music by bands and performers from all over the world. Live music daily: Brazilian, reggae, Latin, South Asian, urban hip-hop, and more, plus dining, and dancing. Sunday brunch shows weekly. Caribbean Fever every Saturday night. Visit site. Check calendar.

LE POISSON ROUGE
Ongoing
158 Bleecker Street
New York, NY 10012

Le Poisson Rouge is a music venue and multimedia art cabaret in New York City founded in 2008 by Justin Kantor and David Handler on the former site of The Village Gate. Dedicated to the fusion of popular and art cultures in music, film, theater, dance, and fine art, the venue’s mission is to revive the symbiotic relationship between art and revelry; to establish a creative asylum for both artists and audiences. Visit site.

AND CHECK OUT THESE FREE NYC MUSEUMS!

Thanks to NYCGO THE OFFICIAL GUIDE at nycgo.com for providing much of this content!