New York City
How to spend a summer in the city that never sleeps
Summer in New York City is dominated by free music, free movies, outdoor and rooftop noshing and imbibing and increasingly, getting onto and into the waters surrounding the islands.While you can find the same indoor offerings almost year-round, the sunshine activates the parks, waterfront and streets in new ways, effectively multiplying the number of things to see and do.
Pro tip: If you are a planner, set up your Facebook and Twitter feeds so that you are following the accounts for the venues where you intend to go as many of the event organizers will provide real-time updates on weather-related changes. Or sometimes you can just show up and follow the performers to an alternate venue, like the musicians did in Central Park last month.
For sports and activity seekers, the city has 14 miles of beaches, with a lot of activity focused at quirky Coney Island, Russian-centric Brighton Beach and the somewhat hipster fixated Rockaway and Jacob Riis beaches.
In August, a long stretch of New York City roadways shut down to traffic and open for bikers, skaters, joggers and other activities along the route. The Summer Streets events are set along a route from Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park for select Saturdays.
Summer offers special options when it comes to food and drink.In addition to the outdoor beer gardens, rooftop cocktail bars and restaurants, there are boats that cater to the non-tourist crowd, such as The Frying Pan lightship at Pier 66 on the Hudson River and the much-anticipated Brooklyn Barge Bar in Greenpoint. Even the Met Museum opens up its rooftop sculpture garden in summer and hosts an evening martini bar.
Destination food festivals include The Big Apple Barbecue Block Party and Pig Island, while outdoor pop-up style food vendors can be found on a regular basis at Smorgasburg, the Hester Street Fair and multiple food truck rallys.Summer Restaurant Week is July 20 to Aug. 14 this year, and hundreds of the city’s top restaurants will offer three-course meals for $25 at lunch and $38 at dinner.