BEST OF NYC THIS WEEK
Dance, play, run, walk, bike and join in all-ages activities on car-free Park Avenue during Summer Streets.
Also see our listings of outdoor dance events plus ongoing free summer concerts for getting down any day. Take indoor breaks at hands-on museums and interactive experiences. Stay cool with visits to splash pads and destination ice cream.
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🪩 Join interactive gallery tours, see recolored ancient sculpture and admire Central Park from the Roof Garden at the Met, plus join Thursday storytimes.
🪩 On Mondays, see The Very Hungry Caterpillar puppet show outdoors at the rainbow DiscoOasis in Central Park.
🪩 CMOM - and its very cool updated Inside Art exhibit - is always a fun indoor option with outdoor water play.
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MIDTOWN
💧 Play in interactive water sculptures and ride rainbow unicorns by the disco roller rink at Rockefeller Center.
💧 See a family-friendly Broadway/Off Broadway show and say hi to the OG Pooh Bear & friends at the library (always climate controlled and free).
💧 Work on summer reading at the immersive, text-based Barbara Kruger Thinking of You. I Mean Me. I Mean You at MoMa, then get creative in the all-ages Art Lab.
💧 Join CMA for Peacetime: Communal Drawing in Times Square.
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FLATIRON
🎨 Join artmaking projects at Whitney Museum Open Studio on Saturdays.
🎨 Stop by Rubin Museum Family Sundays to make your own board game and explore this serene museum for free.
🎨 Visit unique Little Island, where you can find weekday arts programs for kids and Sunday family shows among the plants and interactive art.
Stop by Chelsea Market for tons of food options, plus pop-up makerspaces and the immersive Life of a Neuron experience.
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DOWNTOWN
🍭 Visit legendary LES Economy Candy (plus check out other favorite sweet shops).
🍭 Visit the stunning Museum at Eldridge Street near delicious food options at Essex Market (which houses a small Tenement Museum exhibit on American food).
🍭 Stranger Things fans can enter the Upside Down at a free immersive pop-up in Soho and at the Sour Patch Kids store, not far from free arcade games at Showfields.
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FIDI/SEAPORT
The interactive Seaport Discovery: Exploring our Waters with Eric Carle is free for the rest of the summer (near Mister Dips). Also explore interactive water-themed art, tour a historic tall ship and go inside pretty glass houses.
Learn to tie knots at nautical-themed waterfront lounge Portside at Brookfield Place, another free, air-conditioned spot with lots of room and a new jungle-inspired art installation.
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BROOKLYN
🪔 Get free culture with Brooklyn photo-ops - on an iconic DUMBO corner, Brooklyn-based artists present experimental art and performance on a Six Foot Platform on Saturdays. On Thursdays join music, dance and artmaking at Live at the Archway.
🪔 Play Jurassic mini-golf at the alays-fun Brooklyn Children's Museum. Explore the twisting tunnels and abstract architecture of TapeScape, made entirely of tape.
🪔 Frolic in the waterfront fountains at Domino Park. Play climate-change-focused mini-golf nearby.
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QUEENS
💧 Splash in the Unisphere's Fountain of the Fairs and take indoor breaks at the New York Hall of Science and free Queens Museum.
💧Sample cuisine from around the world at open-air Queens International Night Market (and play Rocket Park Mini Golf).
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BRONX
🥒 Explore the plans behind favorite treats at garden-wide summer exhibition Around the Table: Stories of the Foods We Love.
🌽 Walk through prehistoric animatronic at the Dinosaur Safari at the always fun Bronx Zoo.
🌽 Make nature-inspired art projects among gorgeous gardens and trees overlooking the Hudson River at Wave Hill Family Art Projects.
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NEW JERSEY
🌭 Favorite activities and characters come to life at Liberty Science Center, a short drive/train/ferry away in New Jersey.
🌭 Enter a IRL Overworld in the incredible, immersive Minecraft: The Exhibition, fun for both fans and those new to the popular game.
🌭 Explore the art and delightful characters of beloved children’s book author and illustrator Mo Willems in The Pigeon Comes to Jersey City!
Also visit beaches, boating and outside-the-city escapes.
