Ten Great Things to do in New York this Summer

Travel

1 August 2013

Escaping the summer heat in the hit art exhibition of the year, the Rain Room  at MoMA, an immersive exhibit in which visitors enter a field of falling water that detects human presence, creating the curious and exhilarating sense of being dry in the middle of a rain storm. 

Riding a Citibike – the distinctive blue wheels in the city’s widely embraced bike share program, introduced earlier this year – along Riverside Park, the waterfront promenade that runs along the Hudson River on the west side of the city. 

Hitting the High Line, the city’s coolest green space – sorry, Central Park – a former elevated railway that’s a prime place to preen, people-watch and promenade. From Gansevoort Street to West 34^th, it’s a year-round fashion show. 

Sipping rosé on the La Bottega terrace at the Maritime, the iconic Meatpacking District hotel – look for the distinctive porthole windows. 

Catching an outdoor flick on the grass at the Brooklyn Bridge Park summer film series, with stunning views of the Manhattan skyline behind the screen. 

 Enjoying breezes on sultry nights at the Honorable William Wall, the floating clubhouse of the Manhattan Sailing Club. Anchored in the middle of New York Harbor, the open-to-all bar is as close as you’ll get to Lady Liberty without visiting Ellis Island. 

 Sampling the city’s best ice cream and gelato at Grom, an Italian chain on Bleecker Street in the West Village, whose unusual flavors and organic ingredients make for crazy-delicious summer relief. 

Taking in a dip in the rooftop pool at Soho House: it’s still members-only, so you’ll have to sign up or befriend a member, but it’s worth it on sweltering Manhattan days, when you can join the glam, svelte crowd, drink champagne out of plastic glasses and survey the city from on high.

Gathering a group of pals and making like sailors at The Frying Pan, a fabulously kitschy bar set on a historic boat docked at Pier 66 in the Hudson River. Fried food, cold beer, breezes off the water and helicopters buzzing overhead…it’s both surreal and wonderful. 

Getting out of town. No, seriously. Any New Yorker worth their salt finds a way to escape – to The Hamptons, Fire Island, “P. Town” (Provincetown, Rhode Island, an iconic gay getaway), or upstate New York -–at least once during the summer. The rest console themselves with the fact that at least they can get into all the hottest restaurants without a reservation.