NYC Life: Store Openings, SummerStage, Plywood, Quick Trips, and More
As everything opens, the excitement is palpable. You’ll find this plywood sculpture in honor of Black Lives Matter in the Bronx, which is part of the Plywood Protection Projection Project. You’re going to want to checkout the new Harry Potter store in Flatiron. SummerStage is back with some awesome events. Take a daytrip to the lavender fields on the East End of Long Island. Love ice cream? Check out our roving photographer’s mouthwatering photos. Make sure to read Sandi Durell’s interview with the legendary Marilyn Maye. Valerie Smaldone has the scoop on theatre events to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids.
The Plywood Sculptures
As businesses boarded up their storefronts in the summer of 2020 with plywood due to the pandemic and the protests, worthless studios, a non-profit that provides space, materials, technical assistance, and resources for aspiring artists of all backgrounds, saw an opportunity to protect the plywood itself and turn it into art. A fascinating story and a great project. You will see these awesome plywood sculptures in all five boroughs of New York.
After combing through over 200 applications, five artists were selected by worthless studios’ jury. Each has received studio space, tools, fabrication and installation assistance, along with a $2,000 artist stipend and a $500 material budget to create their new works. The sculptures were installed, one in each borough of New York City, this May and will remain on view until November 1, 2021.
Harry Potter Opens Flagship Store in Flatiron
Harry Potter New York, the first official Harry Potter flagship store in the heart of New York City next to the iconic Flatiron building at 935 Broadway opened this week.
It houses the largest collection of Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts products in the world from pocket money items to rare collectibles. Spanning three floors and over 20,000 sq. ft., the flagship store promises to create a magical experience. Get the details.
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The Lavender Fields on Long Island
This is an amazing sight…Lavender By The Bay, located on the East End, North Fork of Long Island, is a 17-acre lavender farm that is home to over 80,000 lavender plants. The fields usually bloom in June and July and you’ll walk through magical fields of purple and experience lavender in its most natural form. They also have wonderful, handcrafted lavender products. It’s a great day or weekend trip and you can also visit the vineyards of the Northfork. Learn more and stay tuned for when the lavender is in full bloom.
Dreaming of Ice Cream
With the temperature rising, Nicole Freezer Rubens, our roving photograper and author of The Long Pause and the Short Breath, says: “All day I dream about ice cream. It’s simply my favorite food. Luckily New York City is loaded with a vast and delicious selection from ice cream trucks to gelaterias to a wide resurgence of artisanal ice cream parlors. We even have a Museum of Ice Cream in Soho! Some of my favorites shown here are from: Ample Hills, Baskin-Robbins, Butterfield Market, Carvel, Davey’s, Milk & Cream, Mister Softee, Morgenstern’s and Ralph’s. I challenge you to try them all!
SummerStage is Back!
SummerStage officially launches on June 17th at Central Park with “Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra With Wynton Marsalis.” And is a great lineup of FREE shows in all of our city parks. Picture this: Gloria Gaynor singing “I Will Survive” at Coney Island Park. Yep, that’s happening on July 17th and it’s just one of many free performances by SummerStage at her city’s parks. Get details and the full lineup.
Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage is New York’s largest free outdoor performing arts festival. In a typical year, SummerStage presents approximately 100 performances in 15-18 parks throughout the five boroughs. With performances ranging from American pop, Latin, world music, dance, and theater, SummerStage fills a vital niche in New York City’s summer arts festival landscape. Since its inception 35 years ago, more than six million people from New York City and around the world have enjoyed SummerStage. In 2020, Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage Anywhere was launched in response to the global pandemic, presenting 80 free digital performances, spanning all genres, available to viewers around the world.
Check in every Saturday to get fun ideas on things to do in NYC from events to fundraisers, and lots of free things to do too NYC Events.
