New York Events This Weekend
New York is home to some incredible, immersive experiences. From teasing your tastebuds in complete darkness to traveling the universe at Astra Lumina, there’s plenty to do this weekend.
Tours are back at the historic 1863 Lower East Side apartment building that houses the Tenement Museum after a renovation. Plus, a time capsule of immigrant life.
Taste of Sunnyside
Taste of Sunnyside, produced by the community-focused Sunnyside Shines Business Improvement District, gives attendees the opportunity to sample from more than 35 local restaurants. Participants will stroll from door-to-door in the open-air restaurant crawl format.
Upon check-in at Lowery Plaza (at 40th Street and Queens Boulevard, under the elevated 7 train) or Bliss Plaza on 46th Street, attendees will receive a wristband that gets them tasting portions at each participating eatery. Crawl maps and trolley transportation will also be available to help guests get around.
A few of the restaurants on the list include old favorites like 43 Bar & Grill, Riko Peruvian and City Tamale. But newcomers to the neighborhood will also be able to showcase their cuisines at this event.
A Current Affair
At the curated Grand Bazaar NYC, shoppers can score designer clothes, jewelry, and other locally made goods. And if you’re hungry, the artisanal food court tempts with smoked brisket sandwiches, Asian favorites, granola, pickles and small-batch sweets.
Spike Lee, the director behind Do The Right Thing and Crooklyn, gets his own immersive installation at the Brooklyn Museum. It’s open now through February 2024.
The new Small is Beautiful exhibit takes you into a miniature world featuring 130 pieces of art. It’s already been praised in Paris and London.
City of Forest Day
Thousands of people citywide will participate in City of Forest Day on Saturday, a new initiative encouraging tree stewardship and education. Learn more about the event at the Forest for All NYC website, which includes a weeding session and a walking tour of edible and medicinal street trees led by Solar 1’s Candace Thompson.
Back in Manhattan, Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE sculpture returns to Rockefeller Center. Also on display is Best in Show: Pets in Contemporary Photography, an exhibition that interprets how furry friends have shaped culture.
In Brooklyn, the Atlantic Terminal Mall will host a family-friendly fest with music from Hopalong Andrew and not-too-spooky haunted trucks. Or head to Staten Island for the Festivala D’Italia.
Bed-Stuy Clothes Swap
If you’ve got nothing to swap, you can always make a donation to donateNYC, which keeps NYC fashion-forward. Visit this map to find locations where you can drop off clothing and textiles.
Bed-Stuy native Akiera Charles launched her community-based initiative in 2018 when she was starting grad school sans dinero * and in need of a new wardrobe. This weekend she’s hosting a free, all-ages art crawl that brings people together through large-scale, family-friendly artistic block parties.
You can also join a queer-oriented clothing swap at Ginger’s in Park Slope. Trade in your Doc Martens for some liberation-leaning threads.
Markets for Makers
Whether you’re a local shopping for unique gifts or a tourist discovering new experiences, the Bryant Park Makers Market brings vitality and authenticity to this bustling neighborhood. The event celebrates local small businesses and features 118 stalls over three weekends.
Clean out your closet and recharge for fall at the Bed-Stuy Clothes Swap or shop black girl eco-fashion at Bkloft26. You can also make a splash at the new LES rooftop at UNTITLED Hotel and sip on drinks served in spray paint cans.
The stalls at the market are packed with one-of-a-kind handmade goods. You’ll find everything from ANNIE ZHANG NYC’s sophisticated fashion to handwritten art by Renda Writer.
Small is Beautiful: Miniature Art Exhibition
After soaring popularity in London and Paris, the world’s biggest miniature art exhibit is finally making its way to NYC. Small is Beautiful is a unique experience that immerses visitors in a weird, wonderful world of meticulously-created tiny treasures.
A number of artists will be showing off their skills in this immersive art experience. Brooklyn-based artist Danny Cortes reimagines landscapes of his borough that are buried by gentrification while Belgian-based Vincent Bal plays with light and shadows with his work.
Slinkachu from London creates ice sculptures of humans and puts them in urban settings, and Nele Azevedo sculpted 1,000 melting men for a project that was meant to illustrate human impact on climate change.
Glow Gala
From teasing your tastebuds in complete darkness to living out your dreams of becoming a real-life spy at SPYSCAPE, NYC is full of immersive experiences this weekend. See a complete list of offerings here.
Join thousands of people for the 2023 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk, plus other events across the city to raise money and awareness. See how you can help here.
NYBG GLOW takes the Garden’s sights and buildings to the next level, with luminous light installations that you’ll want to snap photos of. On select nights you can also enjoy the beloved Holiday Train Show.