Upper West Side
Free admission at NYC's National Parks, everyday
Although all National Parks were free today for Veterans Day, it didn’t mean much for New York City - but for a good reason.
All the National Park Service properties in NYC are always free.
The last one to charge a fee, the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site, dropped its $3 admission charge as of Oct. 1.
The only caveat, a parks spokesperson told NewYorkology, is that a few of the sites charge transportation-related fees, such as the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, which may only be reached by a ferry operated by Statue Cruises. But once visitors reach the island, admission is free.
Other National Parks sites in New York include the African Burial Ground, Federal Hall, General Grant National Memorial, St. Paul’s Church, Floyd Bennett Field, Fort Wadsworth, Fort Tilden and Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.
Picture crredit: Grant’s Tomb. Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.
November 11, 2009 7:58 PM Comments (0)
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Sesame Street Day marks show's 40th year in NYC
 By mayoral proclamation, today is Sesame Street Day in New York City.
To mark the 40th anniversary of the New York-based children’s show, the city erected a temporary “123 Sesame Street” temporary street sign at 64th Street and Broadway, across from Sesame Workshop’s corporate headquarters.
NYC & Co., the city’s official official tourism marketing group, and Toys R’ Us and Babies R’ Us are marking the occasion with a line of co-branded plush toys and clothing, including an NYC fire fighter, police officer, taxi driver and sanitation worker.
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November 10, 2009 10:31 AM Comments (0)
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Museums, zoos, ice rinks, clubs open Thanksgiving Day
In case you find yourself in New York City on Nov. 26, 2009 looking for something to do besides share a bird with your beloved family members, here are some places that will be open on Thanksgiving Day in NYC:
The Macy’s 83nd Thanksgiving Day Parade will begin at 9 a.m. at 77th Street and Central Park West. The new route this year starts out the same, traveling south down Central Park West to Columbus Circle. But this year it will skip Broadway,and instead turn onto Central Park South and then south on 7th Avenue. Once it reaches, 42nd Street, the parade will head east until it reaches Bryant Park at 6th Avenue. The parade will continue south on 6th (Avenue of the Americas) until it reaches 34th Street, where it will turn towards Macy’s at herald Square.
Restaurants open Thanksgiving Day
Radio City Christmas Spectacular - performances at 2, 5 and 8 p.m.
Cirque du Soleil’s “Wintuk” at Madison Square Garden - performances at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Broadway Thanksgiving Week schedule includes Thanksgiving Day performances of “Hamlet” at 7:30 p.m. as well as “Chicago,” “Oleanna,” “Phantom of the Opera” “West Side Story” and “White Christmas” at 8 p.m.
Big Apple Circus - 2 p.m. performance
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island - 9 a.m. - 5:15 p.m. (Although tickets to the statue’s crown are sold out through 2009, you can still reserve free pedestal/museum access with your ferry tickets.)
Empire State Building open from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. (Last elevator goes up at 1:15 a.m.)
Rockefeller Center’s Top of the Rock open from 8 a.m. to midnight (Last elevator goes up at 11 p.m.)
Socrates Sculpture Park - 10 a.m. to sunset
Discovery’s Times Square Exhibition featuring “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition” and “DaVinci’s Workshop” from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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November 9, 2009 10:56 PM Comments (0)
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Met Opera lottery to offer free dress rehearsal tickets
 Update: Here’s the link to enter the free ticket lottery before Nov. 18 at 8 p.m.
On Friday, the Met Opera will open a free-ticket lottery to the final dress rehearsal of Bartlett Sher’s new production of Jacques Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann.”
The Met Opera will hand out 3,000 tickets for the Nov. 30 daytime dress rehearsal. The lottery will remain open through Nov. 19.
The Kafka-inspired opera stars Joseph Calleja, Anna Netrebko and Alan Held; James Levine conducts. Following the dress rehearsal, it will premiere at a Dec. 3 gala.
Image source: Met Opera’s detail page for “Les Contes d’Hoffmann.”
Earlier: $16 open rehearsals at NY Philharmonic all season
Met Opera free rehearsals start with ‘Tosca’ on Sept. 17
November 9, 2009 7:34 AM Comments (0)
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Museums open late for fall/winter 2009/10 in NYC
 Many museums stay open late at least one night a week, often in conjunction with free admission hours, live music and cocktails.
Here are the New York City museums with late-closing hours listed by day of the week:
Mondays
New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex at Grand Central Terminal - 8 p.m. (always free)
Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame Annex - 8 p.m., with last admission at 7 p.m. ($24.50)
Tuesdays
China Institute Gallery - 8 p.m. (free 6 to 8 p.m.)
Society of Illustrators - 8 p.m. (always free)
New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex at Grand Central Terminal - 8 p.m. (always free)
Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame Annex - 8 p.m. with last admission at 7 p.m. ($24.50)
Wednesdays
Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art - 7 p.m. ($10)
New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex at Grand Central Terminal - 8 p.m. (always free)
Museum of Jewish Heritage - 8 p.m. ($12)
Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame Annex - 8 p.m. with last admission at 7 p.m. ($24.50)
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November 4, 2009 10:28 AM Comments (0)
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Met Opera, NYC Opera offer rush seats for $25 or less
Some of the best seats in the house at the Metropolitan Opera are available for a mere $20 through the Varis Rush Tickets all season.
All regular performances Mondays through Thursdays will offer 150 orchestra seats for $20. The catch is the tickets go on sale only at the Met Opera box office starting two hours before curtain, subject to availability.
An extra 50 tickets are reserved for seniors (65 or over) at the $20 price. The senior tickets are available starting at noon on the day of each performance and may be reserved online or by calling (212) 362-6000.
The $20 tickets are not available for special events, galas or opening nights.
The New York City Opera, which begins its season later this week, again will offer tickets for $25 or less through its Opera for All program.
There are two ways to get the cheap seats at City Opera. On Mondays at 10 a.m., you can buy that week’s $25 orchestra rush seats at the box office, online or by phone (212) 721-6500. Use the offer code OFA1.
In addition to the rush seats, City Opera also sells $20 and $12 tickets for for every performance in the theater’s 4th and 5th ring.
Picture credit: Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.
November 3, 2009 9:16 AM Comments (0)
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Shakespeare in the Park '10 'Merchant,' 'Winter’s Tale'
 “The Merchant of Venice” and “The Winter’s Tale” have been chosen as the two free plays for Shakespeare in the Park for the summer of 2010, The Public Theater announced today.
Daniel Sullivan will direct “Merchant” while Michael Greif will direct “Winter’s Tale.” Casts will be announced later.
Normally Shakespeare in the Park stages one play at the begging of summer, takes a break and starts a second. But in 2010, they’ll play in rotating repertory from June 9 through Aug. 1. The same company of actors will perform in both plays.
Image source: Official website for Shakespeare in the Park.
Earlier: Tragic reviews for ‘The Bacchae’ in Central Park
‘Twelfth Night’ in Central Park draws excellent reviews
November 2, 2009 4:36 PM Comments (0)
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NYC ice skating rinks reopening for cold season
 You’re already bundled up, now lace up. The ice rinks are opening.
Wollman Skating Rink in Central Park opened for the season today, while The Rink at Rockefeller Center, Abe Stark Rink at Coney Island and the Staten Island War Memorial Ice Skating Rink in Clove Lakes Park opened earlier this month.
Opening dates for the city’s other seasonal ice rinks:
Trump Lasker Rink on the north end of Central Park - Oct. 24
Prospect Park’s Wollman Rink - Nov. 26
The Pond at Bryant Park - Nov. 6.
Riverbank State Park - mid-November (Skate office: 212-694-3642)
Year-round indoor ice skating is available at Chelsea Piers in Manhattan, Aviator Sports in Brooklyn and the World Ice Arena at Flushing Meadows, Queens.
Two of last season’s new outdoor rinks will not be returning for 2009-10. Neither Seaport Ice at the South Street Seaport nor the faux-ice Polar Rink at the American Museum of Natural History will reopen, officials said.
Update: One more , thanks to the reminder from the Mommy Poppins blog: City Ice Pavilion in Long Island City.
Picture credit: Rockefeller Center by Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.
October 20, 2009 12:46 PM Comments (0)
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Open House NY 2009 guide, links, updates, RSVPs
 Now in its fifth year, Open House New York this weekend will open hundreds of sites for free tours, allowing the public to wander through cheese caves, a subway power station, the abandoned hospital buildings of Ellis Island, and into well-appointed private apartments, hotels and offices.
And while all the events are free, not all the sites are accesed with equal ease.
While there is a free printed OHNY guide (also available online in PDF) there have been many changes since its publication, including cancelations, new sites, and altered hours. Official updates can be found on the OHNY website and its blog. (Yes, you need to go to three different locations to get a full list of changes.)
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October 8, 2009 9:46 PM Comments (0)
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Geek drinks at American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History tonight will kick off a new monthly cocktail party series called SciCafe, which promises music, drinks, and thought-provoking conversation.
Tonight’s theme is Exoplanets and the Search for Life in the Universe, featuring special guest astrophysicist Ben Oppenheimer.
The party starts at 7 p.m. in the museum’s Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth. It’s a cash bar, but admission is free. 21 and over only.
SciCafe will return the first Wednesday of every month.
October 7, 2009 11:40 AM Comments (0)
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