Manhattan

55 Bar

This bar has some good blues and jazz acts, but what's so unusual about it is that it dates back to 1919 and still has a lot of the original furnishings and Beaux Arts-style lamps. Keep your drink orders simple and enjoy the atmosphere.

92nd Street Y

92Y

A full season of concerts, lectures, and other events takes place here. The Y's Kaufmann Concert Hall is one of the premiere concert halls in the city, and its lecture and concert series feature many well-known groups and individuals. Some fans particularly recommend the chamber music concerts featuring members of the New York Philharmonic. The Y also offers classes in various subjects through art, culture, and entertainment. Judaism is also a major part of the community here as well, being a Jewish-based organization with a variety of classes based on religion.

May Center: Mon-Thu 5:30AM-10:30PM; Fri 5:30AM-9PM, Sat Sun 7:30AM-8PM. Resident Office: Mon Wed 9AM-7PM, Tue Thu 9AM-8:30PM, Fri 9AM-5PM, Sat noon-8:30PM, Sun 10AM-6PM

AMC Empire 25

This large multiplex cinema shows first-run, mainstream films on 25 screens. It also contains an IMAX cinema showing mainstream feature films.

First showings begin around noon, last showings begin at around 11PM·$6-14

Ancient Playground

Inspired by the nearby Egyptian Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this playground contains several pyramid-like play structures.

Angelika Film Center

Just down the street from Film Forum, the Angelika plays new independent and foreign films, many of which are screened in no American city but New York. The cafe upstairs is something of a hotspot as well.

Anthology Film Archives

A varied program of unique films, both repertory and new, most playing for only one or two screenings. Many of the films shown here can't be seen anywhere else (for better or worse). It also plays host to several film festivals yearly.

Asphalt Green Upper East Side Campus

Asphalt Green

With a massive fitness and pool center in the area's signature arches, there's an endless array of activities here, including baseball, flag football, gymnastics, lifeguard training, martial arts, soccer, swimming, tennis, and yoga. On the western half of the block is a turf field that provides a vast playing field for games, playing around, and relaxing. There is a playground just north of the fitness center.

Mon-Fri 5:30AM-10PM, Sat Sun 8AM-8PM·Free admission at all times

Atlantic Stage 2

This is the Atlantic's 99-seat theater which they use for shows too interesting to go in their larger theater on 20th St. Listings for stage 2 shows that are part of their regular season go on their website. But this theater has many secret shows, like their acting school's semester-end performances, and staged readings during the summer. This other stuff is usually not even on nytheatre.com, but, rather publicized by Facebook and postcard only, so while some of it is open to the public, most of the audience may consist of fans, relatives, and friends of the performers. You may have the chance to hear readings by talented young authors from places like Middlebury College before they become famous. If you're invited to something here, it will probably be good and completely irreplaceable, but think twice about making critical comments in such an environment.

Beacon Theatre

This is a major music performance venue for big-time solo acts and groups, and many, many famous artists have performed there, including The Rolling Stones, Jerry Garcia, Aerosmith, Michael Jackson, James Taylor, Radiohead, Queen and the Allman Brothers. Prices are not cheap, and tickets sometimes sell out well in advance.

Box Office hours: Mon-Sat 11AM - 7PM; if an event starts before 1PM, the Box Office will open 1 hour before event start time; if an event starts after 6:30PM, Box Office will remain open 30 minutes after event start time. Sun: closed, except that if an event takes place on Sun, the Box Office will open at noon or 90 minutes before the event start time (whichever is earlier) and remain open 30 minutes after event start time for Will Call and tickets sales for the evening's event only

Billy Johnson Playground

A rustic-themed playground, with a stone bridge, a granite slide, a gazebo, a water feature, and playground equipment constructed of white cedar.

Birdland Jazz Club

This historic club (though not at the original location of W. 52 St.) — universally acknowledged as one of the top jazz venues in the city — features a great lineup of justly famous performers and has good acoustics. Expect to pay a fair price for that quality.

Blue Note

Also has a lineup of famous jazz and blues performers. It feels a little more like a bar (with people talking during the show) and a little less like a venue that's only about the music.

Broadway Comedy Club

This is one of the most respected comedy clubs in all of New York City, one that has played host to the likes of Joe Devito, Scott McFadden, Jimmy Fallon, David Letterman, and many others who have gone on to make it big in television. Tickets generally run for about $20 a night, and include a free pitcher of beer. Shows run up until as late as 11PM and are a great way for you to end your evening.

Carl Schurz Park

Home of Gracie Mansion, the Official Residence of the Mayor of New York, Carl Schurz Park also boasts wonderful views of Hell Gate and the East River. Compared to other New York parks, Carl Schurz is extremely quiet, given that the surrounding area is almost exclusively residential. The park features two bustling dog parks, two playgrounds, a sports court, multiple fields of grass to rest on on a peaceful spring day, and a boardwalk with beautiful views of Roosevelt Island. This is a great destination for any visitor sick of the overwhelming crowds elsewhere in the city.

Daily 6AM-midnight·Free

Carnegie Hall

If you ask a New Yorker how to get to Carnegie Hall, you may get the answer "Practice, practice!" This elegant 19th-century hall is New York's premier venue for famous recitalists and visiting symphony orchestras. The complex also includes the more intimate Weill Recital Hall slightly further east and Zankel Hall, in the basement of the side of the building facing 7th Av. near 56th St, a medium-sized venue used by jazz groups and classical concert pianists, alike.

Chelsea Piers

28-acre waterfront sports village. Amenities include golf, bowling, skating, batting cages, rock climbing, fitness center, and a spa.

Cinema Village

Cinema Village specializes in showing documentaries, independent and foreign films. Often the films there will not be playing anywhere else in the country and Q&As with directors are common at opening weekends.

Cotton Club

A dance club/dinner club near Columbia University. Swing dancing is on Monday nights (8:30PM-midnight, $25), with a 13-piece swing band. Friday nights at 8:30PM are taken over by Latin Dance ($20) with a live 14-piece band playing merengue and bachata, appropriately for Dominican-heavy West Harlem. Th 8PM and Sa 9PM are jazz/dinner and dancing nights ($55) for a southern cooking buffet and swing band, while Sa-Su have gospel brunches at noon and 2:30PM ($45).

Delacorte Theater

Home to the Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival in the summer.

Diana Ross Playground

A large wooden climbing structure, toddler swings, and a water-spray feature, at the base of Summit Rock - the highest natural point in the park.

Film Forum

A stylish theater that runs two programs—contemporary independent releases and classic repertory films. While the current releases are almost always interesting and worth seeing, it's the repertory programming schedule that filmlovers anticipate eagerly.

Gramercy Theatre

An old theater that now serves as a small rock concert venue.

Heckscher Playground

Central Park's largest playground, Heckscher is unique among Central Park's playgrounds in that it is not on the boundaries of the park. The playground has a range of play equipment, including a large water feature.

Hudson Theatre

This theater is over 100 years old and remains the third oldest theater on Broadway. Located right next to the Millennium Broadway Hotel, it remained defunct as a theater for decades, acting as the hotel's event space, before reopening in February 2017.

IFC Center

An art house theater showing independent films and documentaries. It is owned by the IFC network (an extension of AMC), so a lot of premiers and television broadcasts take place here.

Irving Plaza

A popular concert venue that regularly hosts rock and hip-hop concerts as well as the occasional comedy show.

John Jay Park

Not many know of the peaceful nature of the area of Manhattan just by the East River, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have any special gems nearby. Just along the bustling FDR Drive is the peaceful yet impressive John Jay Park, which doesn't only include traditional benches and playgrounds for a quick rest but an outdoor pool in the summer that makes this area great for anyone looking for water sports in this area of New York City.

Daily 7AM-10PM·Free

Joyce Theater

One of the premier contemporary dance performance spaces in the world, with modern dance and ballet.

Kramer's Reality Tour

For Seinfeld fans. Kenny Kramer, said to be the inspiration for the character Kramer, tells about the show, in a fun way. And guides on a tour to places seen in the show. Stop for photo outside the restaurant seen in the show.

Sat Sun noon·$47.50

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

The world's largest cultural complex, where you can see theater, symphonies, ballet, opera, movies, art exhibits or just wander the architecturally beautiful buildings. The buildings are modern, and even have modern chandeliers. There are two opera companies, and the famous Juilliard School of Music is also here. Also part of the complex is the New York Public Library's Library for the Performing Arts, containing circulating and non-circulating collections in music, drama, and dance, as well as special collections of priceless documents that scholars from around the world come to look at.