Best Things To Do In New York City This Weekend
Conventional wisdom has it that what you do on New Year's Day determines what you do the rest of the year. According to that logic, what you do during the first weekend of the year just might determine what you do for the others. Here are our picks for the best in eating, drinking, and merrymaking to make sure you get 2016 off right. By Jessica Allen.
The oldest winter bathing organization in the United States, the Coney Island Polar Bear Club swims every Sunday from November through April. But its most popular swim day is probably Jan. 1, when hordes of folks head into the Atlantic, regardless of weather, to ring in the new year. Friday, Jan. 1, 1 p.m., free to swim or watch, but a $20 donation to Camp Sunshine is suggested and registration is required.
Subtitled "Time's Arrow," this year's Twelfth Night Festival at Trinity Church and St. Paul's Chapel includes both early and contemporary music, performed by such groups as Clarion Music Society, Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Downtown Voices, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, and Gotham Early Music Scene. Now through Wednesday, Jan. 6, see schedule for details, many performances are free.
Benefiting the Poetry Project, the annual Marathon Poetry Reading stretches from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. This year, more than 140 poets, including Philip Glass, Lyric Hunter, Amy King, Eileen Myles, Sarah Schulman, and Emily XYZ, are scheduled to appear, "together revealing not just that a better life could exist, but that it already does, sexy and wise, rancorous and sweet, big-hearted and mad as hell." Friday, Jan. 1, 2 p.m., $20, tickets required.
Now that Christmas is over, the crowds at the New York Botanical Garden's Holiday Train Show should have dissipated somewhat, making this weekend the perfect time to hang out among the more than 150 landmarks recreated using nuts, seeds, leaves, and other plant matter. The adults-only Bar Car Night includes a complimentary cocktail, live jazz, ice sculpture demos, and performances by Cirque de Light. Saturday, Jan. 2, 7 to 10 p.m., $35, tickets required, must be 21 or older.
New year, new jokes. The 10th Annual 50 First Jokes features 50 comedians -- both veteran and just-starting-out -- taking the stage to tell their first joke of the new year. That's right: each and every one will share the first joke written since the clock chimed 12 a.m. on Jan. 1. Hurry! This knee-slapping, back-slapping event tends to sell out. Saturday, Jan. 2, 7 p.m., $12 at the door, tickets required, must be 21 or older.
