Good afternoon, this is W42ST Lifestyle Editor Sarah Beling with “Make Way For The Weekend” — your curated guide to the best of New York events in one convenient newsletter!
Sometimes I think of life in New York in cinematic snapshots. Maybe it’s the influence of a summer movie season unlike any other in recent years, maybe it’s that I’m dramatic and (unsurprisingly) like to hyperbolize life here, and maybe it’s just that there’s a good reason New York is its own character in books and TV shows. In just under a week, the snapshots for my fictional trailer appear. I see a good friend nail her standup comedy routine. The weather finally breaks and we all rush outside, flooding the sidewalk cafes at happy hour. My neighbors hold a memorial for my super and the balloons released float back to where he always stood in front of our building. I take a Zumba class in a gym that fondly reminds me of a suburban YMCA. I awkwardly lock eyes with Roger Bart after spotting him on Columbus Ave. I wander Lincoln Center plaza, passing through the empty discotheque at daytime and crowds of people sunning themselves by the reflection pool. I stop midblock with my Trader Joe’s bags and catch a cotton-candy pink sunset from between the buildings. Later, the full moon takes over and I stare at it from my apartment window.
Anyway my overly indulgent short film is forthcoming and so is the weekend!!! Make your own movie moments!!!
…when you can only think as far ahead as Monday!
🎭 the og almond mom
Without revealing any major Barbie spoilers, I’ll tell you that Rhea Perlman made me weep gratuitously. Go see her and B’way vet Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer star in Let’s Call Her Patty, now playing at Lincoln Center Theater, in which Perlman plays a calorie-obsessed Upper West Side mom who enlists niece Kritzer to get her sculptor daughter off of a new diet — cocaine.
🚶 room to roam
Grab your sneakers and take a walk without the imminent fear of being run over by a taxi 👀 at this year’s Summer Streets (Manhattan’s first session is up the East Side on Lafayette Avenue and Park Avenue August 5). Walk, bike, blade your way around town and enjoy live performances throughout the route!
🤽 easier to get in than the soho house pool
While most hotel pools require a paid day pass to enter (unless, of course, you’d like to commit identity fraud), the Grayson Hotel is making the investment worth your while with a Midtown Meltdown party August 4, where attendees can enjoy complimentary makeovers (after you take a dip, of course!), happy hour samples and pop-up shops to accompany your pool time.
🌞 let the sun shine
If you’ve spent too much time watching the news and would prefer to stare directly into the sun, we have an option for you!!! Check out Sun Gaze at Riverside Park August 5 where the Amateur Astronomers Association will help you safely take in solar formations through their telescopes!
🍸 singles sip in the sky
Tired of the apps?! There’s the Serafina Sky Soiree August 4 at the Pod Hotel, where for $15 (frankly, less than one cocktail in this town!), you can mix and mingle at the rooftop bar’s private terrace and, at the very least, enjoy the views!!! Godspeed!!!
🎭 whose fault is it anyway
What’s behind the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets? Can’t those crazy kids just get along? Check out the Frigid Festival’s world premiere reading of Lady Capulet August 3-5 at Theatre Under St Marks where playwright and performer Melissa Bell “explores the betrayal, revenge, and manipulations that set the houses of Capulet and Montague against one another in a time when the influence of family, money, power, and gender determine everything.”
🎶 the beat goes on
Celebrate a half-century of New York’s greatest music genre at the Hip Hop 50 Special Edition concert playing August 6 at the Coney Island Amphitheater, where legendary artist Special Ed will curate an evening of hits by the best in the business.
🎞️ i’m afraid i can’t do that, dave
Watch Stanley Kubrick predict Siri’s hostile takeover in 70mm at a screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey August 4-6 at the Museum of the Moving Image. They’re always listening!!!!!
🎤 lots of inspiration
Stand up comedian and actor Ali Wong has had kind of a wild few years, so I would imagine that her show at the Beacon Theatre August 3-6 will be SUPER interesting. Regardless of what she covers, she’s a talented storyteller and it’s worth going to the show!!
🎞️ honestly don’t go in too deep
Maybe it’s just my TikTok algorithm (theme: disasters, dinner recipe and musical theater bootlegs), but it seems like the sharks are OUT this summer, y’all. Feed your fear at a screening of Meg 2: The Trench August 4 at the Skyline Drive-In — it can’t be scarier than the screening that was held in the ocean at night!!!!
👯 jump in
Take a free West African dance class tonight in Bryant Park, taught by Ailey Extension instructor Maguette Camara, followed by a performance from the renowned Ailey II company!
🎶 no they will not be bleating
At one very low point of quarantine, my best friend recommended I listen to The Mountain Goats’ hit single This Year and it became my veritable anthem, y’all. The Cali-based indie rock band plays the rooftop at Pier 17 August 4.
🎞️ in here, life is beautiful
Have you, like me, been anxiously awaiting any news of the upcoming Cabaret revival’s casting (while simultaneously hoping someone will call you to play Sally’s 8th cover lololol)? Until then, why don’t we all take a chill pill and learn from the best — Ms Minnelli — at a screening of the 1972 classic Cabaret at Green Room 42 August 6.
…what’s happening before and just after I hit your inbox next!
🎶 sing(?) along
I’ll be completely honest: I have NO idea what the lyrics are to Sam Smith’s Unholy and instead of Googling them like a normal person I just sing something like “BaDEEdada daddysgettinlate and thebodyate doing SOMETHING unholy”. Maybe I’ll learn them before Smith plays Madison Square Garden August 8-9, or not!!!!! Lyric fakers unite!!!
🎞️ tick tock
Since we were singing the praises of Liza Minnelli earlier, it’s worth noting that 1945’s The Clock, screening at the Museum of the City of New York August 10 is perhaps the reason for her existence. Directed by Vincente Minnelli, the film stars Judy Garland and is where the two met!
…for when you need to secure those hot tickets before they sell out!!!
🎞️ what is this a school for ants
Sometimes my brain shouts “OBEY MY DOG” out of nowhere and I know that Zoolander, screening August 14 at Bryant Park, has irrevocably altered my consciousness. Go see Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Will Ferrell shout one-liners that you will remember better than anything useful in this life.
🥟 i’ll take one of everything
My friend Nick tipped me off that one of my favorite Sichuan restaurants, Han Dynasty, hosts a monthly Tasting Menu!!! This is GREAT news!!! The next one is August 15 at their Brooklyn location and sounds so damn good!!
🔥 Hot tip
Did YOU KNOW that there’s an ENTIRE New York City museum dedicated to paintings of dogs (The American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog)?!!! Did you also know that they are hosting a free, outdoor Origami Dog Bookmark-making workshop at Bryant Park this Friday August 4?!! Bring Fido and your best artistic skills!!!
⚠️ Omg I forgot to tell you
The Moth has another Story Slam August 7 at The Bell House
There’s another talkback at Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground August 7 with playwright Richard Hellesen, Stephen Hauge, President of The Eisenhower Foundation and Ann Brownell Sloane, former President of The Eisenhower Foundation.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s is screening at Bella Abzug Park tonight
There’s karaoke at Our Wicked Lady August 7
The Brooklyn Beach Sports Festival is August 5
There’s an ON activewear sample sale now through August 6
That’s it for now! Call me beep me if you want to reach me! (sarah@w42st.com)
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