By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com
This summer, you can again visit iconic museums, cultural organizations and performing arts venues for new experiences and exhibitions – just in time to host out-of-town family and friends after a year of lockdown. New York City’s museums, like the Metropolitan Museum of Art are adhering to the latest health protocols; some may still restrict capacity and require advance purchase ticketing.
The New-York Historical Society has just opened an exhibit celebrating the extraordinary life and career of Katharine Graham (1917-2001), who made history leading the Washington Post at a turning point in modern American life. Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the publication of the Pentagon Papers, Cover Story: Katharine Graham, CEO charts how Graham’s life trajectory changed in the wake of her husband’s death, as she went on to become one of the most influential figures in 20th-century American journalism, business, and politics. The monumental publishing decisions Graham made at the helm of the Washington Post—helping to end a war and a corrupt U.S. presidency—are brought to life through photographs, letters, costumes and objects. On view May 21 – October 3, 2021 in the Joyce B. Cowin Women’s History Gallery. Open Friday through Sunday; timed tickets are required which can be reserved online, https://tickets.nyhistory.org/ (The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West at 77th Street, New York 10024, 212-873-3400, nyhistory.org)
Beginning June 6, experience Cézanne Drawing at MoMA, showcasing more than 200 works on paper—including drawings, sketchbooks, and rarely seen watercolors— alongside a selection of related oil paintings from modern artist Paul Cézanne. This is the first major effort in the US to unite drawings from across the artist’s entire career, exploring his methods and revealing his most radical works on paper (through Sept. 25, Moma.org)
Two immersive art experiences opening June 10 celebrate Vincent Van Gogh. Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit New York features Van Gogh’s work in a captivating digital art exhibit, giving guests the rare opportunity to “step inside” Van Gogh’s art at Pier 36, 299 South Street (tickets are $39.99/off peak, $49.99/peak, ordered online. The second, Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience, opening on June 21, will be a 360º digital art exhibition at the Skylight on Vesey in Lower Manhattan (www.vangoghnyc.com).
The Guggenheim Museum is the first place in New York to show Jackson Pollock’s famous “Mural” painting in more than 20 years, with Away from the Easel: Jackson Pollock’s Mural, on display through September 19. The mural marked a pivotal moment in the evolution of Pollock’s artistic style as he began to move into more abstract art styles and non-traditional painting techniques like his signature drip method (www.guggenheim.org).
The Whitney Museum of American Art is debuting Day’s End by David Hammons in May, as a permanent public art project located in Hudson River Park, directly across from the museum, that will pay homage to Gordon Matta-Clark’s 1975 artwork of the same name in the same location, and change with the light of day and atmospheric conditions. Day’s End will allude to the history of NYC’s waterfront from the heyday of the City’s shipping industry in the late 19th century to its role as a gathering place for the gay community in the 1970s (www.whitney.org).
Beginning August 27, The Obama Portraits Tour will be presented at the Brooklyn Museum on its five-city tour. This special presentation enhances conversations surrounding the power of portraiture and its role in engaging communities, and will be in display through October 24 (www.brooklynmuseum.org).
The Metropolitan Museum of Art will bring back The Costume Institute’s next major exhibition in September, a two-part show on view from September 18, 2021 through September 5, 2022. Part one, In America: A Lexicon of Fashion, will open on September 18 celebrating The Costume Institute’s 75th anniversary while exploring a modern vocabulary of American fashion. Part two, In America: An Anthology of Fashion, opening on May 5, 2022, will explore the development of American fashion (www.metmuseum.org).
The Frick Collection recently opened the Frick Madison, its temporary new home while the main building is under a years-long renovation. Located at the Marcel Breuer-designed building—the former site of the Met Breuer and the Whitney Museum of American Art—the Frick Madison features new acquisitions and highlights from the collection organized chronologically and by region (www.frick.org).
The completely redesigned Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals opens at the American Museum of Natural History in June. The halls feature 5,000 specimens from 95 countries—including two amethyst geodes that are among the world’s largest on public display—which tell the fascinating stories of how mineral diversity arose, the environments in which minerals form, how scientists classify them, and how humans have used them throughout history (www.amnh.org).
For the first time in decades, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum is allowing visitor access to its pilot escalator, which has recently been restored, and later this year, visitors will have the opportunity to peek into one of Intrepid’s bomb elevators, which transported weapons to other parts of the ship where they were assembled, armed and loaded onto airplanes (www.intrepidmuseum.org).
KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature premiered at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx earlier this month featuring new work by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, including two new outdoor monumental sculptures Dancing Pumpkin and I Want to Fly to the Universe, as well as Infinity Mirror Rooms and colorful flowers and floral sculptures that will change seasonally through October 31 (www.nybg.org).
Broadway is planning to return to live performances this September with classics like Aladdin, Chicago, The Phantom of the Opera and more, and newer productions including Hadestown, Jagged Little Pill and Moulin Rouge. Brand-new shows will also debut, including Thoughts of a Colored Man, Diana and Mrs. Doubtfire. Tickets are on sale (www.broadway.com).
Restart Stages at Lincoln Center launched earlier this month with a performance for healthcare workers by the New York Philharmonic on World Health Day. Restart Stages is an outdoor performing arts center with 10 outdoor performance and rehearsal spaces created to help kick-start the performing arts sector by featuring events by organizations from across the five boroughs. The NY Philharmonic has been doing “pop up” performances through its NY Phil Bandwagon: https://nyphil.org/concerts-tickets/explore/2021/season-highlights
New Attractions and Tours
The recently opened Friends Experience offers fans of the TV show two floors of interactive experiences including the iconic orange couch, show props and costumes. Visitors can also grab a coffee at Central Perk which is open to the public daily.
On Location Tours is now offering a Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Sites Tour, a private tour of 1950’s NYC in a 1957 Studebaker Commander as seen on the show, highlighting iconic locations from the series.
The Phoenix Family Thrill Roller Coaster will rise this summer at Coney Island. Standing 68 feet tall, the new ride will reach speeds of 34 miles per hour and guarantees a thrilling new addition at Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement Park, celebrating its 100th season this year.
Opening in the fall, SUMMIT will be NYC’s newest observation deck and immersive experience at the crown of One Vanderbilt. SUMMIT will take visitors to the highest vantage point in Midtown with views of The Chrysler Building, Empire State Building and north to Central Park, and glass floor ledges that overhang Madison Avenue. The observation deck will also offer food and beverage options.
The Hudson River Park (550 acre riverfront park and estuarine sanctuary spanning four-miles long along the river, running parallel to New York City’s other new favorite attraction, the Highline vertical park), is one of my favorite places in the world. The newest addition is the stunning Little Island, a 2.5-acre fantasy with lush landscaping, entertainment venues including an amphitheater, lawns to sprawl, and a plaza for dining experiences. Free, but limited space and anticipated voluminous popularity means you may have to get timed reservation to visit. Along the way are important attractions, like the memorial to the Irish Famine, the Holocaust Museum, Chelsea Piers, Pier 62 carousel, trapeze, tennis, free kayaking, adjacent to a bikeway down to the southern tip of Manhattan that now connects to the Empire Trail Network, extending north to Canada (https://hudsonriverpark.org).
Meanwhile, the TD Five Boro Bike Tour is coming back! Bike New York and city government partners will once again welcome bike lovers on its new date, Sunday, August 22, 2021. The event, which typically has drawn up to 32,000 riders, opens 40 miles of NYC’s busiest roadways for the riders. Details of this year’s ride and how people can enter have still to be determined.
More information about what’s happening in New York City at NYCGo.com.
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