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!
Last week, I took my own newsletter advice (lol) and tried Silent Disco for the first time. In addition to being a fun (albeit very sweaty!) workout, it reminded me that despite being labeled as “city” and not “country” mice, New Yorkers are willing to live outdoors like no one else. Where else do we readily accept each other as we groove out to our own (headphoned) beats in a public plaza? Where else do we hold our weddings, birthdays and engagement parties outside in order to accommodate more celebrants than our apartment square footage will allow 😅? Where else do we salute fellow New Yorkers sitting on a park bench, taking a Zoom call while discreetly finishing a bagel? In a way, we’re all roommates on this strange simmering slab of asphalt. See you out there!!!
❓Quick Question
Speaking of…where do you host parties other than your apartment??!
🍔 never felt more like singing the blues
Beer, blues music and BBQ are an ideal way to survive the August heat, if you ask us. Head over to Pier 76 this Saturday for the Hudson River Park Blues BBQ Festival, featuring a full day of performances and plentiful food and drink from city favorites like Blue Smoke and Dinosaur-Bar-B-Que.
🎤 a set worth checking out
New York’s hottest comedy club is the West Side’s Little Island. In addition to hosting a recent show from Seth Myers (!), this Sunday the park’s riverside glade welcomes industry mainstay Jo Firestone and performers from the Greenwich House Senior Center’s comedy class (who I fully believe will steal the show!!).
🎶 hard rock cafe
Maxed out your summer concert budget 😅? The Times Square Alliance is hosting free live shows every Friday through the end of the month — this week, check out singer-songwriter Diana DeMuth!
👯♀️ dancing in the street
Learn from the best of the best in a free, hour-long workshop from Dance Theatre of Harlem teaching artists this Friday at Lincoln Center, featuring choreography from Robert Garland’s Return!
🎶 this girl is on fire
She knows that the concrete jungle is where dreams are made of — check out Alicia Keys at Radio City Music Hall this Friday!!
🏃 run for rogosin returns!
Founded by West Bank Cafe’s own Steve Olsen, the 13th annual 5k race returns to Hudson River Park this Sunday to raise funds for kidney treatment and research center The Rogosin Institute.
🎭 let’s talk about it
Alison Leiby’s Oh God, A Show About Abortion, playing now through August 26 is a must-see, full-stop. As well as a thoughtful and frequently side-splitting exploration into the absurd experience of trying to maintain your reproductive rights in this country, Oh God also thoughtfully and equally side-splittingly explores the frequently absurd experience of “womanhood” in all of its forms.
🏖 every grain of sand
Does anyone else find the impermeability of building a sandcastle inherently stressful? All that work and the ocean could just wash it away?? Anyone else have anxiety??? Just kidding, all New Yorkers have anxiety. Anyway! head over to Coney Island for their 30th Annual Sand Sculpting Competition this Saturday to watch other people work their magic. And if you’re feeling brave enough to battle fellow sculptors/gravity/nature, you too can participate!
🍦 we all scream
Hoping to compete with Mister Softee? Make your own ice cream tonight (and every Thursday!!) in a dessert-making workshop at the venerable Ample Hills Creamery in Gowanus.
🎨 the last summer fridays
Y’all, Labor Day is nearly upon us — signaling the (unofficial) end of summer and with it, the end of summer Fridays. Celebrate the last few weeks of completely ignoring your emails past 12pm by heading to MoMa PS1’s Summer Friday, to bliss out to live music, enjoy cocktails and bites as well as stroll the museum’s indoor and outdoor exhibitions after hours.
🌅 out on the roof
We are still canvassing for your favorite Hell’s Kitchen rooftops (last call, enter here!!), but in the meantime — check out the Sunset Social day party at Brooklyn bar Our Wicked Lady this Saturday featuring open-air food, drink and DJ sets!
🎤 chosen comedians
If you or someone you love has had the formative experience of attending a Jewish summer camp (or any summer camp!), why not check out The Chosen People’s Comedy Tour show at Union Hall tonight, where performers Jacob Kaplan (an SNL staffer!) and Marcus Lustig tell the tale of their recent camp comedy tour. In their words: “Come hear them perform the best bits from their camp shows and stories from the tour itself. Like when Jacob got ‘Camp Canceled,’ or when Marcus got bullied by a 17 year old for being ‘sincere.’ So come out! And please, stay hydrated.”
🔥 Hot Tip
In addition to the many excellent boating programs on the Hudson River, did you know that there is a free community sailing event this Saturday on the Bronx River? Check out Rocking the Boat’s public initiative and take a ride in their catamaran fleet steered by the program’s apprentice sailors!
⚠️ Omg I forgot to tell you
Fleet Foxes are playing Forest Hills Stadium this Saturday
Last weeks to check out roller disco at Wollman Rink!
Rage Against the Machine and Run the Jewels play Madison Square Garden this Friday
That’s it for now! Call me beep me if you want to reach me! (sarah@w42st.com)
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