NYC Summer Bucket List

SummerStage in Central Park is one of the best things about summer in New York and it is free. The program runs from June through September and brings genuinely excellent artists to the Rumsey Playfield stage. The programming ranges widely – hip hop, jazz, classical, world music, indie rock – and the level of acts is higher than you would expect for something that costs nothing to attend.

Bring a blanket and snacks. Get there early enough to find a good spot on the lawn. Check the schedule at cityparksfoundation.org in June when the full lineup drops and mark the ones you want because the popular shows draw large crowds. This is the kind of summer evening I look forward to all year.

Celebrate Brooklyn at Prospect Park is the equivalent programming on the Brooklyn side, running similar shows at the Bandshell in Prospect Park. Also largely free, also worth checking, and the park in summer is one of the most beautiful places in the city to spend an evening.

Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park is a New York summer institution that has been running since 1962. The productions are free, the theater is beautiful, the casting is often extraordinary (this is where you might see a major film actor doing Shakespeare for scale), and getting tickets requires either waiting in the morning line at the Delacorte or navigating the online lottery, both of which are worth doing.

The physical tickets are distributed starting at 12pm on the day of performance. The line starts hours earlier. Bring something to do, or bring someone to talk to, and make a morning of it in the park. Even if you do not get tickets, the morning in Central Park is worthwhile.

New York has beaches, and not enough people know this or act on the knowledge. Rockaway Beach in Queens is my favorite. It is accessible on the A train (the A to Far Rockaway branch, about an hour from midtown) and the beach is wide and the waves are genuinely good for swimming or surfing. Riis Park adjacent to Rockaway has a more local feel and excellent volleyball.

Coney Island is the other major option – Nathan’s Famous hot dogs, the Wonder Wheel, the boardwalk, and a beach that has improved significantly in cleanliness over the past decade. It is more of an experience than a beach day but it is a specifically New York experience that I think is worth doing. Take the D or F train to Coney Island-Stillwell Ave.

Take sunscreen. Take water. Take the train and not a car because parking at either beach in summer is a multi-hour commitment I am not going to be responsible for recommending.

Governors Island is accessible by ferry from the Battery Maritime Building at the southern tip of Manhattan and is one of the most surprising summer destinations in the city. The island is car-free and has a network of bike paths, open lawns, art installations, hammocks between the trees, and views of lower Manhattan and the harbor from the hills in the southern part of the island.

It is free to enter on weekends. Bikes are available to rent on the island. There are food vendors and a rotating program of events and art installations throughout the summer. I go at least twice every year and it never feels like enough time. Ferry departs from Slip 7 at the Battery Maritime Building; the first ferry is usually 10am on weekends. Ferry: 10 South St, Lower Manhattan

The High Line is the elevated park built on a former freight rail line on the west side of Manhattan, running from the Meatpacking District at Gansevoort Street up to 34th Street. In summer the plantings are at their best and the views of the Hudson and the city from the elevated path are genuinely excellent.

Go early – before 9am on a summer weekend – if you want to experience it without the midday crowds, which can be substantial in July and August. The section between 14th and 16th Streets is my favorite part, where the park passes through the former rail yard and the industrial bones of the original structure are most visible. Admission is free. Enter at Gansevoort St or any staircase between there and 34th St

Free kayaking on the Hudson River is offered at the Downtown Boathouse at Pier 26 in Tribeca on weekend mornings from late May through mid-October. You can walk up, get into a kayak, and paddle in the protected cove area at no cost. This is a thing that exists and I am slightly frustrated I did not know about it for the first several years I lived here.

The kayaks are the stable sit-on-top variety rather than the enclosed touring kind, which is appropriate given that you may be doing this for the first time. The views of lower Manhattan from the water are excellent. Wear clothes you do not mind getting wet. Address: Pier 26, Tribeca Waterfront

Roosevelt Island is a long narrow island between Manhattan and Queens that is accessible by the Roosevelt Island Tramway, a cable car that departs from 59th Street and 2nd Avenue and provides aerial views of the East River and both shorelines for a price of one subway fare.

The island is quiet and residential and has a beautiful park at its southern tip with the Louis Kahn-designed Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park. The tram itself is an experience that New Yorkers take for granted and tourists find remarkable; it travels 3,100 feet over the river and has been running since 1976. Take it both ways. Tram: 59th St and 2nd Ave, Manhattan

This category could be its own post but in brief. Go to the Rooftop at the Williamsburg Hotel for the best views of Manhattan from Brooklyn. Go to 230 Fifth if you want the Empire State Building directly in front of you. Go to the Crown Shy rooftop at 70 Pine Street in the Financial District for something that feels less touristy and has very good cocktails.

The unifying principle is that summer rooftop bars are best on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, when the weekend crowds are absent and the temperatures have usually dropped enough by 7pm to make the experience comfortable. This is the insider move and it is a good one.

Spoiler alert. Most people who have lived in New York for years have never taken the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. I did it for the first time two years ago and felt genuinely embarrassed about waiting as long as I did. The ferry from Battery Park takes about fifteen minutes and seeing the statue up close from the water and then from the island itself is remarkable in a way that seeing it from the ferry as you arrive in the city is not.

Book tickets in advance at nps.gov/stli. The ferry access to the grounds is free but the ferry itself has a fee. If you want to go inside the pedestal or crown, those require separate advance reservations that sell out months ahead. The grounds alone are worth the trip. Do this in summer when the harbor is beautiful and you want to be on a boat anyway. Departure: Battery Park, Lower Manhattan