What to do in NYC this winter

Don’t let the cold deter you! NYC still has lots of great activities to offer. Here’s what’s on our to do list:

Museums

Our favorite exhibits going on this winter are:

Laura Owens at the Whitney

Brooklyn Museum has Francisco Goya, Sergei Eisenstein, Robert Longo and Judy Chicago’s incredible “The Dinner Party”

The Met: David Hockney

MOMA: Louise Bourgeois

Ice Skating

Central Park:

Thousands of New Yorkers and tourists from across the globe enjoy ice skating in Central Park each winter. After all, there’s nothing more serene than gliding across the ice with the city skyline in the background. Ice skating is fun, family-friendly, and could also be the perfect way to spend a romantic winter day or night. So grab your skates (or rent some) and enjoy! There are two rinks located in Central Park:

Wollman Rink: The Wollman Rink is located on the east side, very close to the Central Park Zoo. It offers ice hockey, a skating school, party facilities, skate rentals, and lockers

Website: http://www.wollmanskatingrink.com/ — Location: MAP | Enter the Park at 59th and 6th Avenue, or 59th and 5th Avenue

Lasker Rink: The Lasker Rink is located mid-Park between 106th and 108th Streets and converts from a swimming pool in the summer to an ice-skating rink during the winter months. It hosts skating, adult and youth hockey, lessons for all ages and abilities, skate rentals, and lockers.

Website: http://www.laskerrink.com/ — Location: MAP | Enter the Park at 110th and Lenox Avenue

Winter Village at Bryant Park: 

The Rink at Winter Village is New York City’s only free admission ice skating rink, which is made possible by partner Bank of America. More information on skate rental, other pricing, and Winter Village programs and events can be found here.

The observation deck, located on the second floor of the Skating Pavilion, is the perfect place to warm up and watch the skating below. While you sit, enjoy a selection of games, chess, and art supplies, all for free! Overlook may be closed to the public on certain days for private events, so please click here to check hours before visiting. No purchase is necessary to enter Overlook. Learn more about Overlook.

Lunar New Year and Parade Festival

CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS: February 25: The parade makes its way through the main streets of Little Italy and Chinatown starting at 1pm. February 16: the Firecracker Ceremony and Cultural Festival, takes place on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Festivities start at 11am. Fireworks are scheduled for noon.

<MORE INFO HERE> // Photo by NYC & Co

Celebrate Black History Month

Celebrate Black History Month in NYC. Take a walking tour with the Black Gotham Experience, visit The Studio Museum, Harlem Fine Arts Show, or visit Brooklyn Historical Society’s website for special programming.

Nitehawk Cinema

136 Metropolitan Ave., near Berry St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn // www.nitehawkcinema.com

Nitehawk has been and still remains our favorite cinema to enjoy dinner and drinks DURING a movie. It’s very popular though so plan to make your reservation well in advance. They opened in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in 2011 and that same year, they successfully lobbied Gov. Cuomo to overturn a state law that barred booze in movie theaters. True story!

Alamo Drafthouse

445 Albee Square West, nrear Willoughby St., Downtown Brooklyn // https://drafthouse.com/theater/downtown-brooklyn

With plush armchairs and the ability to pick out your seats online, despite the fact that Alamo Drafthouse is part of a chain, we love it. The chain’s roots are in Austin though so we like how they keep it weird with hand-picked indie films, a series of musicals, and weekly themed nights. Their menu is also quite extensive with 16 different varieties of shakes and floats, most of which have an alcoholic option, over three dozen beers on tap, cocktails, wines, and unique soft drinks. The bar is also a nice surprise. You’ll have to see it for yourself.

iPic Theaters

11 Fulton St., near Front Street, South Street Seaport, Manhattan // www.ipictheaters.com

Review from GrubStreet: One of the city’s latest options for dine-in cinema, iPic is a plush and polished experience in the South Street Seaport. When you reserve your seats online, pay for the “Premium Plus” seating ($60 per couple) and you get a pillow, a blanket, and table service in a cozy viewing pod built for two, with seats that recline at the push of a button and a waiter who appears at the push of another. Two other seating options — cushy recliners, or sculpturally swoopy chaise longues in the front row — have tables but no table service; you have to order the food from the lobby and bring it in yourself. The menu, from James Beard Award–winning chef Sherry Yard, skews rich and soft and saucy and includes shrimp tacos, lobster rolls, and filet mignon sliders. IPic is about as far from a hip art-house cinema experience as you could get, but it’s the right choice for a splurgy, pampered viewing of the latest Hollywood blockbuster.

Syndicated

40 Bogart St., near Thames St., Bushwick, Brooklyn // http://syndicatedbk.com/

Cheap! Sit at the bar and catch free movies and sporting events or buy a ticket for one of their theaters.

Cozy up at the glorious Winter Garden at The Standard, East Village. Enjoy fondue and warm cocktails in heated alpine yurts. Booking a yurt requires 8-10 people for fondue at $60 per head. Sausage or veggie fondue, a salad and apple strudel. The drink package is an additional $32 per person, which includes a pot of hot cider or mulled red wine, as well as wine carafes and Aquavit shots. (photo above)

Sit in a rooftop igloo at 230 Fifth in Flatiron or Bar 54 in Times Square. Reservations recommended.

Sit in front of the fire at the always chic Bowery Hotel.

The Gallow Green Rooftop has a real firepit! With blankets as well of course.

Go to Camp on Smith Street in Boerum Hill: Camp brings Brooklyn urbanites a little taste of the country. Relive summer memories while making your own smores, escape from the cold by cozying up to our fireplace, bag a deer on Big Buck Hunter, and grab some friends for a classic board game competition. All while listening to hand-picked indie rock. Welcome to Camp. http://www.camp-brooklyn.com/

Sit around the fire pit at Hotbird in Clinton Hill! Lots of craft beers from a cash-only bar in a former auto shop, with patio picnic tables & fire pit. 546 Clinton Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238