(10/26-10/28) Looking for what to do in New York this weekend? We've got the latest on all the goings-on in NYC, from concerts to museum exhibitions to comedy to the best in city sightseeing. Read on for our picks for the best of a spooktacular pre-Halloween weekend in NYC!!
THE BIG EVENT
(10/26-10/27) Spooky Pumpkin Nights at The New York Botanical Garden. Come dressed in your favorite costume, grab a flashlight, and go on a nighttime adventure to explore the Spooky Pumpkin Garden’s scarecrow and pumpkin displays at The New York Botanical Garden. Visit the Whole Foods Market Trick-or-Treat Trail to decorate a bag and collect wholesome goodies. Other frightfully fun activities include gourd decorating, mingling with larger-than-life skeletons and costumed characters, and listening for critters of the night. The New York Botanical Garden, the Bronx. 6:30pm-8:30pm. $25. Part of the Spooky Pumpkin Garden, that will be open now through 10/31. nybg.org
PLUS
(10/28) Drag Show & Music Festival at Hell's Kitchen Flea Market.
(10/28) Trick Or Treat at Grand Central Terminal. This family-friendly event includes: trick-or-treat totes for kids upon arrival, trick or treating for kids in costume at participating merchants, pumpkin decorating, face painting, GoGo SqueeZ samples, and more! 11am-2pm.
(Now-10/31) Bring on Archtober 2018. New York’s annual Architecture and Design Month, now in its seventh year, is a celebration of all things architectural. This year’s festival features over 150 events, from lectures to activities to exhibitions.
EXHIBITION OF THE WEEK
(Now-1/27/19) Gather round ye muggles and wizards, squibs and witches, tourists and natives: magic is on its way. Harry Potter: A History of Magic, commemorating the beloved series’s 20th anniversary, is now open at the New-York Historical Society. One of the most eagerly anticipated exhibits to hit the city since, well, ever, the show comes straight from the British Library in London, where, not surprisingly, it was the institution’s most successful exhibition. Artifacts like crystal balls, Leonardo da Vinci notebooks, and the first written record of the magic word “abracadabra” are among the treasures on display, joined by original materials from author J.K. Rowling’s archives. Also on view to the public for the first time will be Mary GrandPré’s illustrations created for Scholastic’s original editions of the novels. Costumes and set models from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which opened on Broadway in April, will be showcased in the exhibition. A long list of events will take place in conjunction with the exhibit, including trivia night, talks, an adult costume party, and more. nyhistory.org
(Now-1/27/19) Psst! Catch HP star Daniel Radcliffe, alongside Cherry Jones and Bobby Cannavale on Broadway, in Lifespan of a Fact!
PLUS
(Now-10/28) Final weekend! In 1939, the pioneering American Modernist Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986) went to Hawaii on commission for a Hawaiian Pineapple Company promotional campaign. What she created provides the inspiration for the landmark new exhibition Georgia O’Keeffe: Visions of Hawai‘i at The New York Botanical Garden. A stunning display in the LuEsther T. Mertz Library Art Gallery includes 17 of O’Keeffe’s Hawaii paintings, not seen together in New York since their debut in 1940. The historic Enid A. Haupt Conservatory explores the remarkable beauty and variety of Hawaiian flora, as well as its complex botanical and cultural history. The garden (just a 20-minute Metro-North ride from Grand Central Terminal) also features a living collection of more than one million plants.
(10/26-10/27) It's the Aloha Nights Encore. Celebrate Georgia O’Keeffe: Visions of Hawai‘i on this final weekend with the return of two spectacular Aloha Nights. Enjoy an after-hours viewing of the exhibition in the Conservatory and Art Gallery. Gather around our beautifully crafted fire pits under the autumn sky to enjoy live music, dance, and storytelling honoring Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes. Invoking awe and respect, her legendary force is always in harmonious balance with the creation of new land, life, and hope. 6:30pm-10:30pm. $38.
(Now-2/3/19) Before abstract art was a speck in Kandinsky’s eye, the painter Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) was pioneering non-representational painting in Sweden. A spiritualist who claimed to communicate with the dead, af Klint worked in near-obscurity, forbidding her paintings to receive public exposure until 20 years after her passing. Discover Hilma af Klint, a woman before her time, at the new Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum exhibition Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future. Over 170 of af Klint’s non-figurative paintings are on display, richly colored and often staggering in scale. Many pieces play with geometry and floral shapes that seem to swim across the canvas. As af Klint worked on her series The Paintings for the Temple, she envisioned a spiral temple as their eventual home. She got her wish over a century later with this eye-opening exhibition at the Guggenheim.
Carolyn Lawrence, Black Children Keep Your Spirits Free. The exhibition, which opens September 14, presents a wide range of painting, photography, and sculpture from over 60 artists on the fourth and fifth floors of the museum. Photo by Michael Tropea.
(Now-2/3/19) A new exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum brings together for the first time the disparate practices of more than 60 Black artists from the revolutionary years of 1963 to 1983. Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power offers an unparalleled opportunity to see these extraordinary creations side by side. Among the 150 works on display you’ll find a diversity of expression, including figurative and abstract painting, prints, and photography; assemblage and sculpture; and performance art. Although the political and social justice perspectives may vary, the show is tied together by a universal spirit of aesthetic innovation. On October 6th, you can also catch a Target First Saturday, a free night at the museum, which this month will have the theme “Come Together in Honor of Brooklyn’s Latinx Communities.”
(New!) The first tremors of the American Revolution were felt in New York City, as a group of colonists came together to fight for freedom. The new exhibition at Fraunces Tavern Museum, Fear and Force: New York’s Sons of Liberty, tells the story of these early resisters. The show relays the first bloodshed of the Revolutionary War (it took place just a couple of blocks from here), shows off relics like part of the original Bowling Green Park fence present when King George III’s statue was torn down, and gives context to pivotal moments in the birth of America.
Photo: Jin Lee
(Ongoing) Sports in America provided a unique form of solace after the seismic losses of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. Comeback Season: Sports After 9/11, a special exhibition at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, delves into uplifting moments at games in the aftermath of the attacks. Explore the stories of Mike Piazza’s home run during a New York Mets home game, President George W. Bush’s first pitch at a World Series game at Yankee Stadium, and the New York City Marathon on November 4th, 2001. Video, artifacts, and moving images help provide context for a nation coming back together.
COMEDY
(10/26-10/27) Rachel Feinstein at Gotham Comedy Club. Huffington Post called her “the only comedian we've seen who can go from embodying her grandmother in one breath and a predatory guy on the street in the next and be equally convincing at both.”
PLUS
(10/26-10/27) TK Kirkland at Carolines.
KIDS
(New!) DreamWorks Trolls The Experience, with its world of rainbows, sparkles, and very big hair, has arrived in midtown. Sprawled across multiple floors, this interactive adventure will thrill fans of the movie Trolls and pretty much any kid who likes to dress up, bang on things, collect glitter, or dance. During this preview period, tickets are $25 (the experience opens officially Nov. 15). trollstheexperience.com
PLUS
(10/27) Ghouls and Gourds 2018 at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Shake a tail feather, show off your costume, and carouse with colossal puppets at Brooklyn’s wackiest costume parade. Noon-5:30pm.
(10/28) Children's Fall Festival at Queens Farm. Dress in costume, boogie down to live country western music, take an autumn hayride, visit a Haunted House, and enjoy pony rides and a seasonal petting zoo. Find your way out of The Amazing Maize Maze, take pics with cartoon character look-alikes, and check out the Con Edison Ecology booth for recycling tips and kids' crafts. 11am-4pm. $20. queensfarm.org
Final weekend! Join Luna Park in Coney Island, Brooklyn along the Atlantic shore weekends now through Oct. 28 for family-friendly activities. Luna Park’s Halloween Harvest, now in its sixth year, features pumpkin picking and painting and FREE activities like trick or treating, daily entertainment, costumed characters, caricature artists, balloonbenders and twisters, magicians, one of NYC’s largest pumpkins, and more! lunaparknyc.com
Read lots more about Halloween in NYC 2018: Scary Good Times!
(Ongoing) Fans of virtual reality will be flocking to VR World, the largest VR entertainment center in the Western Hemisphere. Check out special experiences for some spooky good fun during month of Halloween, with more than over 50 options to choose from.
(Ongoing) Exhilarating Family Fun at Stomp NYC. Special discount packages available!
For more kids activities, check out our sister site nymetroparents.com!
SIGHTSEEING
(10/27-10/28), take advantage of Circle Line’s Bear Mountain Cruise, or as it has come to be known by many, the Oktoberfest Cruise. Peak fall foliage, live bands, craft vendors, and the largest pretzels known to mankind all welcome you to a hoppy universe far away from the daily grind. You can burn off all those beer and brats, plus stock up on fresh air, with a gorgeous three-hour hike along one of the 50 hiking trails in Bear Mountain State Park. $65 adults, $52 kids. Boards 8:30am sharp. circleline42.com
PLUS
(Ongoing) Check out NYC's hottest new museum, exploring the world of espionage, SPYSCAPE!
Immerse yourself in the deep, dark depths of the ocean, where Humboldt squid fight to the death, 50 foot whales ride overhead, play with sea lions, navigate a sea kelp maze and more at National Geographic Encounter: Ocean Odyssey! Here's a $5 off coupon!
Bring a loved one to take in the breathtaking view at Top of the Rock.
(Ongoing) The Rink at Rockefeller Center has officially opened for the season. The most famous ice rink in the world will continue its time-honored tradition as the first New York rink to open each year.
Zip up 100 stories in 60 seconds and see New York City atop One World Observatory. Use this coupon and save: 20% off!
Explore New York City from the best vantage points with Helicopter Flight Services Tours. Choose from four different itineraries.
Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
(Through 11/1!) With over 500 exhibitions, many of them world-famous relics, there’s something to hold anyone’s attention at Ripley's Believe It or Not! Times Square. (Robert Ripley himself tracked down many of the items in the collection—he was a long-time presence in New York.) This month from a galaxy far, far away comes an original Star Wars Lightsaber. This is the actual prop used by actor Mark Hamill, Luke Skywalker himself, in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back! The Lightsaber was constructed from a vintage 1930s Graflex camera flash gun, with the original Graflex logo still etched into the handle. In addition to the Lightsaber, you’ll find other unique Star Wars memorabilia like a Darth Vader portrait constructed entirely from staples. Here's a coupon for discount Ripley's admission!
MUSIC & NIGHTLIFE
(10/26) Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds at Barclays Center.
PLUS
(10/26) Night of Noir: Kubrick Halloween at the Museum of the City of New York.
(10/26-11/2) Day of the Dead Celebration at Vida Verde. Celebrate with a week of costumes, performers, tarot card readers, cocktails, and more at favorite midtown Mexican spot Vida Verde. Stop by for the festivities and to show your appreciation for celebrating life, Mexico, and mezcal! Check out vidaverdeny.com for more details!
(10/27) Garbage at Kings Theatre.
(10/27) Halloween Bash at Houston Hall.
(10/27) Six-time Grammy winning salsero Gilberto Santa Rosa at Kupferberg Center.
(10/27) They Might Be Giants play Terminal 5.
(Now-10/27, 10/30-11/3) Michael McDonald performs at supper club Cafe Carlyle.
(Now-October) Calling all rosé fans for a pop-up "Rosé Mansion" in the city! Get tickets here. You can read about more Instagrammable Pop Up Exhibits in NYC here.
Cheers! Check out the Best Rooftop Bars in NYC.
For information on LGBTQ nightlife, visit our brother site metrosource.com!
Like what you see here? Share it with your friends on Facebook! Find out more about what to do in October. We've got November covered, too!
