35 ways to have the best summer in NYC – Time Out New York

“Soak up the sun as well as our list of recommendations for the best things to do during summer in New York.”
By Shaye Weaver and Krista Diamond

“This summer in NYC promises to be an unforgettable one now that our city is back up. The city has a boundless energy once the heat cranks up, and doubly so this year, so it’s time to start checking off our sensational list of things to do in summer in NYC. Some of the most popular New York attractions provide an endless list of things to do outside from rooftop movies and free dance parties to can’t-miss music festivals and more. Here’s how to make the absolute most of these steamy summer nights.

Tip: You may want to request off for a few staycation days too so you can spend some time relaxing at a few rooftop pools during the week when they’re less crowded.”

35 ways to have the best summer in NYC

Do dinner and drinks at Time Out Market New York

Broadway at the Drive-In

Be a disco diva at Lola Star’s Dreamland Roller Disco

Catch “In the Heights” at the Tribeca Film Festival

See live music at the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn Festival

Try the city’s best bites at Smorgasburg

Take in a show at Irving Plaza, finally

Get down at Hot Honey Sundays

Get free entry to the 1885 Tall Ship Wavertree

Skate around at TWA Hotel’s Roll-A-Rama

Celebrate Pride!

Visit NYC’s gorgeous floating park

Do margs on NYC’s only floating Mexican restaurant

Go glamping in the Rockaways

Go glamping on Governors Island, instead

Fill up at Queens Night Market

See the hot Immersive Van Gogh exhibit

See movies atop Pier 17’s rooftop

See a free SummerStage show

Devour an ice cream cone at Ample Hills Creamery

Eat, drink and shop in the streets

Cool off in the city’s pools

Lindy Hop at the Jazz Age Lawn Party

Take a trip to Governors Island

Catch a flick at Rooftop Cinema Club

Have drinks with a view at these rooftop bars

Drink on the water at boat bar!

Scream your guts out at Luna Park

Go stargazing on the High Line

Nosh on as many lobster rolls as you can

Dance the night away at Midsummer Night Swing

Tackle the water slide at Summer Streets

Go kayaking (for free!)

Attend a tennis match during the U.S. Open

Have a picnic in the park

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The best things to do in NYC this week

“The best things to do in NYC this week include Daybreaker, the Running of the Goats and Bastille Day! By Shaye Weaver / Time Out New York

If you’re looking for the best things to do in NYC this week or even today, there are tons of fun options. Watch the Running of the Goats at Riverside Park, celebrate Bastille Day, attend a Daybreaker party and more this week.”

Here are just a few of this week’s events.

3. Andrea Miller: You Are Here

Hearst Plaza (at Lincoln Center), Upper West Side Jul 24 2021-Jul 30 2021

For the first ten days of You Are Here, from July 14 through 23, visitors to Lincoln’s lovely Hearst Plaza can take in a free sculture and sound installation—conceived by choreographer Andrea Miller—that conveys the pandemic stories of artists, teachers, Lincoln Center employees and others. Then, from July 24 through July 30, some of those stories will be incarnated by ten live dancers from Miller’s company, Gallim, in nightly live shows at 7pm. (The sound installation will open at 6pm on those dates.) Attendance is free but is only available to those who secure tickets in advance through a TodayTix Lottery that opens two weeks before—and closes three days before—each of the performances.

4. Bastille Day at SummerStage

Central Park Until Jul 14 2021

For the first time, the Consulate General of France in New York, the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF), and the Committee of French Speaking Societies (CAFUSA) are presenting a special Bastille Day Celebration in Central Park with SummerStage. Starting at 6:30pm on July 14, jazz quintet headlined by vocalist Kavita Shah will perform, followed by a get-up-and-dance set with movie clips by star Joachim Garraud, and a screening of the 2020 French comedy My Donkey, My Lover & I starring Laure Calamy (Call My Agent!). The event is free an open to everyone, just get there early to grab chairs and lawn seats.

6. Free Puccini operas from The Metropolitan Opera

As the Metropolitan Opera prepares to resume live performances in September, the New York institution continues to sustain opera lovers worldwide with free streams of full operas from its archives every night of the week. From July 12 through July 18, the lineup is devoted exclusively to works by the Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, including La Bohème, Madama Butterfly and Tosca. Most of the operas were recorded in high definition for the Met’s popular stage-to-cinema Live in HD series, but the offerings also include three pre-HD classics that feature star tenors Luciano Pavarotti and Plácido Domingo. The streams go live on the Met’s website every night at 7:30pm EDT (12:30am BST) and can be viewed until 6:30pm EDT the next day. The operas can also be accessed on various devices via the Met Opera on Demand app.

13. Films on The Green Festival

Movies Various locations, Hell’s Kitchen Until Jul 30 2021

This free outdoor French film festival is back with the theme, “Music and Cinema,” from July 9 to 30. Don’t miss screenings planned at four Manhattan Parks that include films that illustrate the diversity of French and Francophone cinema and feature movies from Tunisia (Satin Rouge), Japan (Interstella 5555), Brazil (Black Orpheus), and Spain (Vengo). The Festival will also shine a light on strong female portraits played by stunning actresses: Sophie Marceau in La Boum, Hiam Abbass in Satin Rouge, Marpessa Menor in Black Orpheus, Jeanne Moreau in Elevator to the Gallows and musicians Chavela Vargas and Les Amazones d’Afrique. The Cultural Services of the French Embassy, FACE Foundation and NYC Parks will offer free online screenings for the first time this year.

Below is the schedule:

July 9 at (Virtual Cinema only): La Boum by Claude Pinoteau
July 12 (Virtual Cinema only): Elevator to the Gallows by Louis Malle
July 16 at Washington Square Park: Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem by Daisuke Nishio, Hirotoshi Rissen, Leiji Matsumoto, Kazuhisa Takenouchi
July 19 (Virtual Cinema only): Chavela by Catherine Gund and Daresha Kyi
July 21 (Virtual Cinema only): Akounak Tedalat Taha Tazoughai by Christopher Kirkley
July 23 at Seward Park: Satin Rouge by Raja Amari
July 26 (Virtual Cinema only): Concert—Les Amazones d’Afrique
July 28 (Virtual Cinema only): Vengo by Tony Gatlif
July 30 at Riverside Park, Pier I (at 70th St): Black Orpheus by Marcel Camus

All screenings will be subtitled in English, free and open to the public. Capacity and tickets availability will be limited due to COVID-19 safety and capacity guidelines. Screenings begin at 8:30pm.

14. Shakespeare in the Park in NYC

Every summer, the Public Theater produces a beloved NYC democratic tradition and one of the best free things to do in NYC: Shakespeare in the Park, presented at the open-air Delacorte Theater in Central Park. There’s nothing quite like hearing the Bard’s immortal words performed outside in New York, with a backdrop of natural splendor and the Belvedere Castle looming in the background like the world’s most impressive set decoration. Shakespeare in the Park’s popularity means that tickets aren’t easy to come by—but if you persevere, you can get seats. Here’s our guide to navigating the system in 2021.

For the full list and descriptions of all 80 events go HERE

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If you are looking for some of the best info on food and drink, restaurants and eating in New York City, then you want to head to New York magazine’s Grub Street.

Right now you want to check out: The Return of Restaurants

“Make up for lost meals. No takeout, no pasta kits, just 66 of the best new (or newly relevant) places to eat.”
Edited by Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld, Photographs by Dina Litovsky

Here are 3 more of my faves:

Eat All Your Chinese Vegetables

Fat Choy / 250 Broome St.

It’s one thing to offer a $335 meat-free menu for the one percent (see Eleven Madison Park 2.0). It’s another to charge $10 and under for veggie-centric Chinese food for everyone: the curious carnivores, the certified vegans, and the dedicated superfans like Deborah from the Upper West Side, who loves the food and the vibe so much she literally hiked down the West Side Highway from 88th Street to Broome and Orchard one recent Saturday afternoon just to tuck in to paper-boatloads of chewy rice rolls topped with gai lan and juicy bok choy showered with crispy fried garlic. We know she did this because Fat Choy is the kind of place where diners who have navigated the scrum of Lower East Side streeteries — bars, vegan-cupcake shops, more bars — start conversations with strangers to recommend dishes, offer bites, and generally share communal moments of vibrantly flavored, inventively conceived culinary bliss. —Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld

Sip a Sazerac in a Secret Garden

Villanelle / 15 E. 12th St.

This elegant Greenwich Village establishment has flown so far under the radar that many regulars (ourselves included) were afraid it would close forever when disaster struck. Miraculously, unlike with the still-shuttered Gotham Bar & Grill across the street, the opposite has happened. Owner Catherine Manning fitted the space out back with tables and little enclosed “garden rooms” that have become a hit during the outdoor-dining craze. The Sazeracs we enjoyed on a recent summery evening were exceptional, and you can also addle yourself with $9 cocktails during the new happy hour. The talented young chef Tyler Heckman (Ferris, Le Turtle) took over the kitchen last fall, and he’s slowly added the kind of variety and style to the aggressively seasonal menu (braised spring lamb on our visit, white-asparagus velouté, gnocchi with escargot) that threatens to turn this sleepy local favorite into a proper big-city dining destination. —Adam Platt

Sample the Latest Fusion Cuisine on New York’s Original Open Street

The Migrant Kitchen / 45 Stone St.

Long before 2020 brought alfresco eating to every corner of our city, Stone Street was a pedestrian paradise, and it still is, a cobblestoned car-free wonderland for outdoor pints, pizza, and mozzarella sticks. The Migrant Kitchen, which opened last fall, brings Middle Eastern–Latin fusion to this Fidi pub-grub zone. Owner Nasser Jaber, who operates out of the Dubliner bar’s kitchen, sends out sumac-butter-slicked fried-chicken-and-falafel waffles, mariquitas (fried plantain chips) nachos, and pastelon mahshi, a Dominican-style maduros-and-beef riff on the traditional Palestinian stuffed gourd. And since many office workers are still Zooming in from home, Stone Street feels distinctly chiller and less suits-y these days. —Ryan P. Sutton

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Also see Eater New York’s interactive map that highlights
these 66 restaurants that deserve your attention.