NYC Life: Our Perfect Fall Weekend Guide
It’s a perfect fall weekend to get out and have fun. NYC Open House is happening this weekend with great tours of places you can’t normally get into. And the NYC Wine and Food Festival is back. Our Long Island reporter has the scoop on fun Long Island festivals. NYC is always changing. I love our holiday markets, and there are two new ones this year, one inside Macy’s and one outside on Herald Square. Fifth Avenue is heading for a pedestrian-friendly makeover. And our roving photographer shares her perfect fall weekend in Quebec, including the Northern Lights on the way there.
Oct. 18-20. Open House New York
This is an annual festival that opens 270+ places across the five boroughs for behind-the-scenes tours and special access at skyscrapers, power plants, artist studios, and everything in between, like the tour of the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum (pictured above) on Sunday. Get a behind-the-scenes look at new buildings reshaping the skyline, public works facilities keeping the city running, parks offering respite, state-of-the-art performance spaces, manufacturing workshops, private collections, and much more. GET ALL THE DETAILS.
The Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum, the last remaining 19th-century estate in the Bronx’s Pelham Bay Park, is a cultural and educational institution that serves the broader New York City community. The Bartow-Pell Conservancy works to preserve and maintain the historic Greek Revival mansion and carriage house, as well as the museum’s collection, its gardens, and the surrounding landscape, and to interpret the site’s history with innovative and dynamic educational and public programming for students, adults, and families.
This Weekend. The Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival
This year’s festival takes place at the Brooklyn Army Terminal and will showcase the talents of the world’s most renowned wine and spirits producers, chefs, culinary personalities and America’s most beloved television chefs. The Festival supports New York City metropolitan area’s only provider of life-sustaining meals and nutrition counseling for New Yorkers living with severe illness, God’s Love We Deliver. GET THE DETAILS.
Spotlight on Long Island: Fall Festivals
Andrea Peponakis says with the gorgeous colors of the fall, the crisp air, and the many activities offered at our local farms, there is no better place to be than on Long Island. Our farmers have worked diligently to present fun festivals with plenty to do and see for all ages. They have set the stage for this spectacular season with hayrides, pumpkin picking, seasonal brews, amazing photo opportunities with natural backdrops, and more. Visiting these farms will surely create beautiful memories for you, your family, and your friends. GET THE DETAILS.
Roving in Quebec
Our roving photographer, Nicole Freezer Rubens writes:
For the long holiday weekend stateside, my family made one last trip to Quebec where they too celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving. On the road we were fortunate enough to be graced by the rare and spectacular sighting of the Northern Lights. This grand welcome show was the ideal opening act to the autumnal changing leaves and all their glory.
We spent time under the magnificent canopy of color hiking up and down the local mountains, even seeing the progression of reds, oranges and yellows deepen over the few days we were there.
Besides having cherished family time away from the hustle and bustle of New York, we participated in the spirit of the overlapping holidays of Indigenous People’s Day, Yom Kippur, and Canadian Thanksgiving, immersing us in all the glory of fall. The mornings brought cold but refreshing air. The picture-perfect days were sunny and brisk. This stretch was a final dose of a summer getaway, and the perfect threshold to the winter season ahead. Bring it on!
~Nicole Freezer Rubens is the author of “The Long Pause and the Short Breath”
New Holiday Markets at Macy’s
I know…it’s not even Halloween yet, and we’re talking about the Holiday Markets. But there are two new ones to explore this year. Macy’s Holiday Square will open on November 1st inside the store, and will feature an exciting assortment of products, holiday gifts, and food and beverage from over 30 local businesses. In addition, beginning on December 6th Urbanspace Herald Holiday Market will debut outside of Macy’s iconic store. Get more details.
Fifth Avenue to Become Pedestrian Friendly
Fifth Avenue is scheduled to get a dramatic redesign. The proposed redesign, which was announced Thursday, would span 20 blocks south of 60th Street, between Central Park and Bryant Park. It would significantly widen the sidewalks, add seating areas, and plant more than 200 trees — while taking away two of the avenue’s five traffic lanes.
Construction is expected in 2028. What do you think?
The tomato behind The Three Tomatoes.
Cheryl Benton, aka the “head tomato” is founder and publisher of The Three Tomatoes, a digital lifestyle magazine for “women who aren’t kids”. Having lived and worked for many years in New York City, the land of size zero twenty-somethings, she was truly starting to feel like an invisible woman. She created The Three Tomatoes just for the fun of it as the antidote for invisibility and sent it to 60 friends. Today she has thousands of friends and is chief cheerleader for smart, savvy women who want to live their lives fully at every age and every stage. She is the author of the novel, "Can You See Us Now?" and co-author of a humorous books of quips, "Martini Wisdom." Because she's lived a long time, her full bio won't fit here. If you want the "blah, blah, blah", read more. www.thethreetomatoes.com/about-the-head-tomato
