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Things to Do in NYC (4/27-5/4)

(4/27-5/4) Each week, City Guide's Things to Do in NYC brings you the best in special NYC events, the newest exhibits, sightseeing activities, fun for kids, concerts, nightlife, and more. Sakura Matsuri, the Cherry Blossom Festival, takes place all weekend at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, plus Edgar Degas at MoMA, Circle Line launches its Hello, Brooklyn Cruise, IndieCade East calls for game lovers at the Museum of the Moving Image, and much more! 

THIS WEEK IN NEW YORK: THE BIG EVENT

Sakura Matsuri Cherry blossom festival

(4/30-5/1) Sakura Matsuri: Cherry Blossom Festival at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden presents more than 60 events that celebrate traditional and contemporary Japanese culture. Catch taiko drumming, a cosplay fashion show, tea ceremonies, kabuki dance, samurai sword fighting, vintage kimonos, kids’ workshops, and maybe a few flowering trees while you’re at it. Children under 12 are free.

PLUS

(4/27-4/28) Celebrate the The 100th Anniversary of the Easter Rising of Ireland at Cooper Union.

(4/29-5/1) IndieCade East 2016 Festival at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. An exciting weekend features dozens of new and unreleased games, including IndieCade 2015 Festival winners and finalists, and a packed schedule of talks, panels, and workshops by designers, developers, players, organizers, thinkers, activists, historians, critics, and provocateurs.

THIS WEEK IN NEW YORK: EXHIBITION OF THE WEEK

 Edgar Degas

(now-7/24) Edgar Degas: A Strange New Beauty dazzles at MoMA, with over 100 rarely seen monotypes, joined by related paintings, drawings, pastels, sketchbooks, and prints, showing Degas at his most modern. 

PLUS

(now-7/31) Hey! Ho! Let's Go! Ramones and the Birth of Punk takes a look at the legendary New York-bred band. The show premieres in April, 2016 at the Queens Museum.  

(now-5/15) From the vibrant hues of his Marilyn Monroe prints to his Campbell’s Soup cans, Andy Warhol’s iconic, larger-than-life works often reflect our culture more than the artist himself. A more understated view of the famed Pop Artist, however, is currently on display at the Morgan Library & Museum with Warhol by the Book, a retrospective of Andy Warhol’s career as a book artist that provides a more personal look at this cultural superstar. 

(now-8/14) Stitching History from the Holocaustan exhibit that unveils dress patterns created by Hedy Strnad, a victim of the Holocaust, found 60 years after her family’s escape from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. Their story is brought to life through the contemporary creation of Hedy’s designs and the piecing together of Hedy’s history with her husband, Paul Strnad. Museum of Jewish Heritage.

(now-6/18)The ancient Greek city of Dion comes to New York City in the form of some extraordinary artworks and artifacts, never before seen on these shores and now on view at the Onassis Cultural Center NY. The exhibition, Gods and Mortals at Olympus: Ancient Dion, City of Zeus, displays more than 90 artworks and artifacts—including mosaics, sculptures, jewelry, ceramics, coins, glass, and implements—dating from the tenth century B.C. to the fourth century A.D.

(now-8/7) Isaac Mizrahi: An Unruly History, the first-ever retrospective on the iconic fashion designer, opens at the The Jewish Museum.

(now-1/17) The exciting new exhibit Dinosaurs Among Us, at the American Museum of Natural History, examines how one group of dinosaurs evolved into the birds of today.

(now-9/25) Mo Willems’ beloved children’s book characters are distinctly New York, from Trixie’s very first Brooklyn “Aggle Flaggle Klabble!” to the Mike Nichols and Elaine May inspirations of Elephant and Piggie to the public transportation-obsessed Pigeon. The new exhibition The Art and Whimsy of Mo Willems at the New-York Historical Society brings together original art, sketches, animation cels, and sculptures, all framed by Willems’ life in New York and how it influenced his iconic characters. The show is in an immersive, child-friendly space, featuring an imaginative New York cityscape on the gallery walls, two reading areas, and family audio guides narrated by Willems himself.

(now-10/11) Picturing Prestige: New York Portraits at the Museum of the City of New York shows off the work of some of the leading American painters circa 1700-1860, as they fixed the likenesses of that era's 1% for all time.

(ongoing) As season two of Vikings gets underway on The History Channel, the Vikings have arrived in Times Square! The term "viking" conjures some basic images, usually that of a fair-haired, statuesque male (think Marvel Comics' Thor, named after the Norse God of Thunder), either in combat or on a ship. It is a noun, a general term defining people from the regions we now know as Sweden, Scandinavia, or Norway, but between 750-1100 AD (well before the regions were named) it was also a verb, meaning “to travel.” Viking treasures have now traveled to New York, where they can be explored in the new

(permanent) New York’s latest resident is a 122-foot-long dinosaur so new it has yet to be formally named. Going by “Titanosaur for now, it has taken up residence at the American Museum of Natural History, in a cast of 84 fossil bones uncovered in Patagonia in 2014. The find included a colossal 8-ft. thigh bone, whose shape and size indicated a new species—and one of the biggest dinosaurs ever found. The titanosaur is so large, in fact, that it doesn’t fit in the gallery: a 39-ft.-long neck in a new permanent exhibit extends out towards the elevator banks.

(ongoing) New York has had a fascination with the treasures of King Tut since archaeologist Howard Carter unearthed them nearly a century ago. Visitors to Premier Exhibitions 5th Avenue can walk in Carter’s footsteps in the remarkable recreation The Discovery of King Tut

(ongoing) Agitprop! at the Brooklyn Museum connects contemporary art, social change, and historic moments in creative activism. Also at the Brooklyn Museum, Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland, 1861-2008.

(ongoing) The Secret World Inside You provides an incredible tour of the trillions of micro-organisms living in and on the human body at the American Museum of Natural History.

(ongoing) On The Line: Intrepid & The Vietnam War is up at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space MuseumIntrepid made three tours of duty in Vietnam between 1966-1969. Here's a coupon!

(ongoing) The Butterfly Conservatory is back at AMNH

(ongoing) Saturday Night Live: The Exhibition is open at Premier Exhibitions 5th Avenue. Also on display is King Tut in NYC!  Get your discount coupon here!

(now-8/16) Beauty—Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial, with over 250 recent works by 63 designers that seek to answer the question “Why Beauty Now?,” is up at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

THIS WEEK IN NEW YORK: COMEDY

Stand Up New York #CollegeComedy Night

(4/28) #CollegeComedy Night with Jared Freid at Stand Up NY.

(4/28) AXS TV Presents Gotham Comedy Live! Ari Shaffir hosts, with John Campanelli, Peet Guercio, Helene Angley, and Willie Lynch Jr. at Gotham Comedy Club.

(4/27) Mike VecchioneRodney Laney, Kevin Dombrowski, Ryan Hamilton, and Erin Jackson bring the laughs to thBroadway Comedy Club.

(4/29-4/30) Steve Byrne at Gotham Comedy Club, with Gary Cannon and more.

(4/30) Michelle Buteau at Stand Up NY. Here's a coupon for free and discount admission for 2 to Stand Up NY! 

(5/1) Jacob Williams at Caroline's on Broadway.

Here's a coupon for free and discount admissions to Broadway Comedy Club!

THIS WEEK IN NEW YORK: KIDS

Charlie Brown the Movie

(4/27-4/28) Visit the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens and children can enjoy a free matinee screening (12:30pm) of The Peanuts Movie in 3D.

PLUS

(4/28) Follow the Hasbro Marvel Heroes Bus around NYC at Forbidden Planet and Midtown Comics.

(4/30) Watson Adventures' All Hands on Deck Scavenger Hunt at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum

(5/1) Folklore Family Day: Celebrating Children's Day in Japan at the Japan Society

(Ongoing) Explore the beautiful interactive exhibit Connected Worlds at the New York Hall of Science in Queens. 

(ongoing) The Force is strong in New York: visit Star Wars and the Power of the Costume: The Exhibition, now at Discovery Times Square. The interactive exhibit features 70+ costumes, including seven from the new film! 

THIS WEEK IN NEW YORK: SIGHTSEEING

Circle Line Hello Brooklyn

(5/2) Circle Line launches its Hello, Brooklyn! Cruise, which not only explores highlights of Brooklyn, but gives guests the chance to purchase beer and snacks from Brooklyn vendors including Brooklyn Brewery, Junior's Cheesecake, Brooklyn Cured, and more!  Get 2 for 1 tickets for Hello, Brooklyn during the month of May when you order online!

PLUS

(4/30) Thirteenth Annual Golf Fest at Chelsea Piers

Take a selfie with new arrival James Bond, Taylor Swift, One Direction, Ed Sheeran, and countless other famous celebs at Madame Tussauds New York! 

Explore NYC from an incredible vantage point at Top of the Rock! Then, check out the Rockefeller Center Ice Skating Rink and partake in new rink activities, including Après Skate, Starlight Skate, and more! Get a special Top of the Rock SkySkate combo coupon here! Final week to use this coupon!

Explore NYC with a magical live interactive experience when you take THE TOUR! 

Check out the new "tour about nothing" When Harry Met Seinfeld with On Location Tours

The One World Observatory is open. Start by ascending to the top of the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere in less than sixty seconds, in state-of-the-art "Sky Pod Elevators" that feature a floor-to-ceiling LED screen showing the ever-evolving New York skyline. Once reaching the 100th floor, visitors can take in panoramic, uninterrupted views on the main platform. Get a limited edition collectible pin with this coupon

Explore NYC's Financial District with Wall Street Walks

Check out the hottest spots to eat and drink in the Flatiron District and Williamsburg with Like a Local Tours. 

THIS WEEK IN NEW YORK: NIGHTLIFE & MUSIC

 Pearl Jam Danny Clinch

(5/1-5/2) Celebrating 25 years together, grunge rock stalwarts Pearl Jam show no signs of slowing down. Their tour brings them for an intense two-night set at Madison Square Garden. Recent nearby shows went for nearly three hours! 

PLUS

(4/28-4/29) R 'n' B crooner Keith Sweat performs at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill.

(4/29) A special screening of Prince's Purple Rain will be shown at the Museum-of-the-Moving-Image, 7:30pm. $12.

(4/29) The Metropolitan Opera presents its spectacular Franco Zeffirelli production of La Bohème, with three excellent casts: Sonya Yoncheva, Kristine Opolais, and Ailyn Pérez are paired with Dmytro Popov, Piotr Becza?a, and Michael Fabiano, respectively, as the young Parisian lovers at the center of the story.

(4/29) New York City's Inaugural Governor Society Wine Tasting at Davio's. 

(4/29) Almost Queen: A Tribute to Queen at the Highline Ballroom.

(now-4/29) Richard II at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. David Tennant (Broadchurch, Doctor Who) makes his US stage debut as the lead in the Royal Shakespeare Company's take on the Bard's study on squandered sovereignty (note: standby tickets only).

(4/30) Dance with MMDG at the Mark Morris Dance Center. 

(5/1) Bunny Wailer at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill

(5/2) Otello at the Metropolitan Opera

SNEAK PEEK, NEXT WEEK

Cinco de Mayo

(5/5) Get ready to imbibe some tequila and make a toast for Cinco de Mayo, which celebrates the Mexican victory over the French at 1862 Battle of Puebla. Festivities will be taking place all around the city at fun spots including Howl at the Moon, Senor Frog's, B.B. King Blues Club, and more! 

PLUS

(5/5) Psychiatrist Edmund Griffin looks at epidemiology, cocaine-addicted rats and molecular neuroscience to examine the question of why a small percentage of drug users become drug addicts. SciCafe: Just Can't Get Enough: Addiction & the Brain at the American Museum of Natural History.

(5/5) AXS TV Presents Gotham Comedy Live hosted by Bad TV's Brad Garrett, with Andy Pitz, Danny Bevins, Drew Thomas & more, at Gotham Comedy Club.

(5/5) Jerry Seinfeld continues his residency at the Beacon Theatre.

(5/6) Roberto Burle Marx: Brazilian Modernist opens at The Jewish Museum. The innovative and prolific work of Roberto Burle Marx (1909-1994) has made him one of the most prominent landscape architects of the 20th century. In this first U.S. exhibition to showcase the full range of his rich artistic output, nearly 140 works will be on view including landscape architecture, painting, sculpture, theater design, tapestries, and jewelry.

(5/8) Mother's Day! It's not too late to plan something special! Read our suggestions for great jewelry shopping and dining ideas!

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Click here if you're looking for more things to do in May. (We've got June covered, too!)

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