You know it’s Memorial Day weekend when the fleet arrives in NYC and the Thunderbirds are at Jones Beach. If you don’t want to head to a beach, check out these fabulous rooftop hotels where you can get a day pass. In honor of the centennial anniversary of the Museum of the City of New York as the city’s storyteller, there’s a fabulous exhibit, This Is New York: 100 Years of the City in Art and Pop Culture. If you like books and you like pickles, our roving photograph says head over to Sweet Pickle Books. If you’re looking for at home entertainment this week, check our Broadway Babe’s YouTube picks.

 May 27-28. Air Show U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds at Jones Beach

Head to Jones Beach today or tomorrow for a spectacular show. The United States Army Golden Knights Parachute Team will make their 17th appearance, other military performers joining the lineup include the U.S. Navy F-35C Tac Demonstration Team, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the 106th Rescue Wing NY Air National Guard HC – 130 / HH 60 Demonstration Team…

Jessy Panzer, a widely-known female aerobatic pilot, is flying for the second time at Jones Beach, along with the American Air Power Museum Warbirds, Long Island’s own David Windmiller and the SUNY Farmingdale State College Flying Rams, who plan to fly 22 of their college-owned aircraft…  Civilian performers on the list include the world-famous Skytypers and their flight squadron of five vintage WWII aircraft and Mike Goulian, the most decorated aerobatic pilot in North America.

SAT & SUN – May 27,28 – 10AM to 3PM

Admission Price: FREE
Parking Cost: $10.00
Parking to be paid at the Field, not toll booths.
Official Air Show website: www.bethpageairshow.com

Now – May 30. Fleet Week is Back

This is a wonderful celebration of our Navy, Marines, and the U.S. Coast Guard. Nearly 2,400 uniform personnel are expected to participate in the week-long, highly anticipated event. This year, expect three U.S. Navy ships, two U.S. Coast Guard vessels and four U.S. Naval Academy boats. Three ships from U.S. NATO allies will join the full-week party, and ships from Canada, Italy and the UK will get in on the parade as well. Here are locations for ship tours and other events. Get full details here.

Ship and Pier Locations

Ship tours will be conducted throughout the week in Manhattan and Staten Island from 8 a.m. to 5
p.m. Tours on the Intrepid at Pier 86 will be conducted daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• Manhattan, Pier 88 South: (Tours will be closed Sunday)
  • Amphibious assault ship, USS WASP (LHD-1) from Norfolk, Virginia
• Manhattan, Pier 88 North:(Tours will be closed Sunday)
  • Ocean survey vessel HMS Scott (H131) from Plymouth, United Kingdom
• Manhattan, Pier 90 North:
  • HMCS Glace Bay (MM 701) from Nova Scotia, Canada
  • ITS Virginio Fasan (F 591) from La Spezia, Italy
• Manhattan, Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, Pier 86:
  • Four U.S. Naval Academy YPs, Annapolis, Maryland
  • Fast response cutter USCGC Warren Deyampert (WPC-1151) from Boston, Massachusetts
• Homeport Pier, Staten Island:
  • The Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship USS Oak Hill (LSD-51) from Norfolk, Virginia
  • Spearhead class fast transport USNS Newport (T-EPF 12) from Norfolk Virginia
  • Medium Endurance cutter USCGC Legare (WMEC-912) from Portsmouth, Virginia

June 2-11. Spirituality Week

Founded by former CEO of the Open Center, Ross Guttler and Peter Corbett, Spirituality Week is an answer to these changing and often stressful times, and was founded on the mission to enhance the spiritual lives of New Yorkers and its visitors by offering workshops, community based celebrations and immersive experiences for all.

The event will take place from June 2-11 with over 200 sessions including meditation, sound healing, breath work, sex and spirituality, finding inner harmony, celebration of life after death and much more, hosted by emerging practitioners and at major spiritual centers.  The Festival will open on Friday, June 2nd at 4 PM at the Rubin Museum.  A  listing of the events and further information at www.spiritualityweek.org.

Our friend, Sonia Satra, will conduct an interactive workshop on Sunday, June 8th, from 3 to 5 PM at the beautiful Tibet House.  Her topic is “Manifestation through Movement”, a 7-step approach to align the body, mind and spirit to identify strategies to create your “best life”.  Sonia is the CEO/Founder of Moticise and author of “What If It Were Easy: Using Movement and Mindset to Create Success in Life, Love, and Business.”  Sign up here.

Roving at Sweet Pickle Books

If you like books and you like pickles, our roving photographer, Nicole Freezer Rubens, says to head over to Sweet Pickle Books. The proprietress Leigh Altshuler opened this unique bookstore in 2020 after losing her job to the pandemic. She was able to combine all of her passions into an empty, cozy storefront at 47 Orchard Street on the Lower East Side. She sells used books and homemade pickles as a way to highlight older authors and her Jewish background. Pickles and the Lower East Side go way back, like everything else in the store.

People can donate their old books in exchange for some craft pickles. The store also accepts records and sells vintage items that dictate the retro vibe of this welcoming shop and reminds me of combing through a great, old, moody, treasure filled attic.  Visit their website.

Nicole Freezer Rubens is the author of poetry/photo book, “The Long Pause and the Short Breathe.” Follow her on https://www.instagram.com/nfrconsult/

A “Beach” Getaway in NYC

Did you know there are several hotel rooftop pools where you can get a day pass? The Beach at Dream Downtown Hotel, in Chelsea has a 5,000-square-foot summertime space featuring a glass-bottom pool, full-service bar, pool deck, sand beach, two private cabanas, and plenty of chaise lounges. A casual poolside café offers an all-day menu, and there’s a seasonal cocktail menu. Rates range from $50 to $150 a day, per person, depending on the day of the week. Cabana reservations are available, and hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Check out 6SqFt’s listing of the best pools with day passes.

This Is New York: 100 Years of the City in Art and Pop Culture 

In honor of the centennial anniversary of the founding of the Museum of the City of New York as the city’s storyteller, This Is New York: 100 Years of the City in Art and Pop Culture explores the many ways that the city has inspired storytelling across art forms. It features both famous and lesser-known depictions of New York in film and television, visual and performing arts, music, poetry and literature, and even fashion, painting a collective, moving, and sometimes funny version of a city that has captured the imagination of the world.

The full-floor exhibition is organized around the types of urban spaces where the stories of New York are told. “Tempo of the City” explores the ways in which artists have depicted life in the city’s streets and subways, and the emotions that the experience of joining the public crowd often evoke, whether joy or alienation, fear or pride. The gallery also features “Songs of New York,” an interactive installation that allows visitors to explore the richness and diversity of each borough through songs it has inspired. In the Tiffany & Co. Foundation Gallery, “At Home in New York” spotlights literature and art works that animate the unique challenges and opportunities of making a home in a city of eight million people. The third gallery, “Destination: NYC,” showcases work about the city’s spaces for gathering and spectacle, its dynamic unique nightlife spots, as well as its iconic parks and waterfronts.

A special gallery, “You Are Here,” dedicated to New York on film, provides an immersive 16-screen experience drawn from hundreds of movies about the city made over the past century. The film immersive also includes an introductory installation, “Scenes from the City” explores how New York has been used as a movie set for the past century. GET THE DETAILS.

Nostalgic Musical Treats

Julie Andrews in live broadcast of Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “Cinderella.”

Our Broadway Babe, Randie Levine-Miller, has found some wonderful nostalgic musical treats this week– including a star-studded tribute to ASCAP with some of the best singers of the last century singing the songs of some of the best songwriters of the last century. Also, included: Ethel Merman and Agnes Moorehead on the “Dick Cavett Show” with the Merm and Dick singing together; a behind the scenes documentary about the making of the 1957 TV Musical “Cinderella”; and a Henry Mancini concert with Robert Goulet and Vikki Carr. WATCH NOW.