My summer bucket list, 2026.

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.

Bryant Park Summer Film Festival is the most popular outdoor movie series in the city, screening classic films on Monday evenings in July and August on the lawn behind the library. The setup is simple. Arrive by 5pm to get a good lawn spot, bring a blanket and food, the movie starts at dusk around 8pm. It is free and it is very good.

The films are always ones you have seen or should have seen – Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Casablanca, Roman Holiday, Annie Hall – and watching them on a big screen with several thousand people in the middle of Manhattan is a specific experience that I find both sentimental and genuinely enjoyable. Location: Bryant Park, between 40th and 42nd St behind the library

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

Smorgasburg is an outdoor food market that runs on Saturdays at Prospect Park in Brooklyn and on Sundays at the Williamsburg waterfront from April through October. It is the largest outdoor food market in the United States and the quality of the vendors is consistently very good in a way that outdoor food markets are not always.

I go most Saturday mornings in summer and treat it as a meal. The ramen burger from when it first appeared here is now elsewhere, but the spirit of trying things from multiple vendors and eating while standing in the sun is the correct approach. Get the dumplings from whichever dumpling vendor has the longer line; they are usually at the Prospect Park location and they are worth waiting for. Prospect Park location: Breeze Hill, enter at East Drive and Lincoln Rd

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