The 2022 New York Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks, Presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer, will take place June 14–17, 2022, marking the return of the beloved series following two years of cancellations due to the pandemic. Music Director Jaap van Zweden conducts four free outdoor concerts, which take place at Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx (June 14); the Great Lawn in Central Park, Manhattan (June 15); Cunningham Park, Queens (June 16); and Prospect Park, Brooklyn (June 17). All four outdoor performances will begin at 8:00 p.m. and conclude with fireworks.
The program will include Wagner’s Prelude to Act I of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with Bomsori Kim as soloist, Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7, and works by New York Philharmonic Very Young Composers: 14- year-old Naama Rolnick’s Keep Walking, and 17-year-old Alexander Rothschild Douaihy’s A Human Rhapsody.
In addition, Musicians from the New York Philharmonic will perform a Free Indoor Concert, on Sunday, June 19, 2022, at 4:00 p.m., at St. George Theatre in Staten Island. Program to be announced. Tickets are free but required and will be available at a later date.
“Like so many New Yorkers, Didi and I missed tremendously the Concerts in the Parks these past two summers,” said Philharmonic Chairman Emeritus Oscar S. Schafer. “We love the parks, and we love this orchestra, so we’ve been eagerly awaiting their return. We look forward to seeing people come together in these beautiful parks across the boroughs to enjoy magnificent music performed by this virtuosic orchestra. It will truly mean that New York City is back!”
“What a joy to be returning to the Parks of New York after two years of not being able to perform for the Parks’ audiences,” said Music Director Jaap van Zweden. “Music speaks to our hearts better than any language, and the New York Philharmonic players and I cannot wait to reconnect with the thousands and thousands of people throughout the Boroughs of New York who come to the Parks to hear us.”
“We are so excited to welcome back the New York Philharmonic for the iconic Concerts in the Parks series!” said NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue. “This series brings together people from all backgrounds to enjoy world class music for free, in some of our most picturesque parks — this is summer in New York at its best!”
The New York Philharmonic’s free parks concerts have become an iconic New York summer experience since they began in 1965, transforming parks throughout the New York area into a patchwork of picnickers, and providing music lovers with an opportunity to hear classical music under the stars. More than 15 million listeners have been delighted by the performances since their inception. All programs are subject to change.
New York City — NYC & Company, New York City’s official destination marketing organization and convention and visitors bureau, today announced details of NYC Winter Outing, presented by preferred payment partner Mastercard, running from January 18 through February 13, 2022, offering visitors and locals an opportunity to enjoy vibrant wintertime experiences at an attractive price point across hotels, dining, Broadway, museums, cultural institutions, attractions, performing arts and tours. The program will bring together NYC & Company’s three signature programs, NYC Restaurant Week, NYC Broadway Week and NYC Must-See Week, and introduce a new program, NYC & Company’s first-ever NYC Hotel Week—which reservations opened for today at nycgo.com/hotelweek—creating ultimate value across the five boroughs. Further details on NYC Winter Outing are available at nycgo.com/winterouting, and deals will include:
· 22 percent off hotel stays across the City to welcome the year 2022
· 2-for-1 tickets to Broadway shows, attractions, museums, cultural institutions, performing arts and tours
· Prix-fixe menus at hundreds of exceptional restaurants and neighborhood favorites across the five boroughs.
Give the gift of New York City this holiday season with a trip this January or February, and begin booking accommodations at 22 percent off the standard retail rate for NYC Hotel Week, January 4 through February 13, at nycgo.com/hotelweek. There are currently 115 hotels across all five boroughs participating in NYC Hotel Week, covering a wide range of hotels for every visitor, from major brands to unique independent hotels, and options for every price point from moderate to luxury. Bookings for NYC Restaurant Week, NYC Broadway Week and NYC Must-See Week will open January 11.
“We encourage travelers to give the gift of New York City this year, by taking a trip during a time with lesser crowds and incredible value on premier hotels, exceptional dining, Broadway, world-class arts and culture and more,” said Fred Dixon, President and CEO of NYC & Company. “We look forward to reintroducing visitors to our vibrant city during NYC Winter Outing this year and reminding locals of the incredible opportunities at their fingertips.”
Mastercard cardholders can enjoy early access from January 6–9 to tickets and reservations for NYC Restaurant Week, NYC Broadway Week and NYC Must-See Week. Additionally, when dining with a preregistered card during NYC Restaurant Week, all Mastercard cardholders will receive an exclusive $10 statement credit (for up to 10 transactions, totaling a $100 rebate) when spending $39 or more on-site at participating restaurants, subject to NYC Restaurant Week Winter 2022terms and restrictions.
“Bringing locals and visitors together to explore New York City’s iconic experiences is truly Priceless,” said Cheryl Guerin, Executive Vice President of North America Marketing & Communications at Mastercard. “Together with NYC & Company, Mastercard is providing people meaningful ways to connect to their passions, whether culinary or travel or arts and entertainment, and create once-in-a-lifetime memories that no other city can offer.”
The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainmenthas partnered with NYC & Company as a sponsor of NYC Winter Outing, to offset participation fees for businesses across the boroughs in response to New York City’s ongoing tourism recovery.
“As we continue along the path of recovery, the Mayor’s Office is proud to support NYC Winter Outing, a program showcasing the best of the City’s dining, arts and culture, and hospitality, as it returns this winter after a one-year hiatus due to the pandemic,” said Anne del Castillo, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment.
Further details are available today at nycgo.com/winteroutingand a full list of NYC Winter Outing offers and participants will be available in the coming weeks. Reservations for NYC Hotel Week deals are open now at nycgo.com/hotelweekfor hotel stays from January 4 through February 13. Bookings for NYC Restaurant Week, NYC Broadway Week and NYC Must-See Week will open January 11, for experiences from January 18 through February 13.
The highly anticipated December 31 Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration is inviting revelers back to Times Square to safely watch the Ball Drop in person with proof of full vaccination and valid photo identification. Organized by The Times Square Alliance and Countdown Entertainment, the festivities will also be broadcast for television and internet audiences, and will include a virtual multi-media experience.
“This year, we are ready and thrilled to welcome a full house of revelers back to Times Square to celebrate the New Year,” said Tom Harris, President, Times Square Alliance. “Now more than ever we need to come together to revive our favorite traditions with our loved ones – reflecting on a tough year behind us while looking forward to a new year with hope.”
All in-person revelers are required to be vaccinated. Attendees who are age 5 or over must present proof of COVID-19 vaccination to enter the event. Proof of vaccination must include an FDA or WHO approved COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca/Oxford, Sinopharm or Sinovac). Unvaccinated minors under the age of 5 must be accompanied by a vaccinated adult to enter the event. Face coverings are required for unvaccinated minors who are medically able to tolerate a face-covering.
Persons who are unable to get vaccinated because of a disability will be required to present proof of a negative COVID PCR test taken within 72 hours prior to the event and if medically able to tolerate a face-covering, wear a mask for the entire duration of the event.
A Times Square New Year’s Eve commercial-free webcast will cover the action and festivities in Times Square, beginning with the Ball Raising at 6 p.m. EST, plus live musical performances, hourly countdowns, behind-the-scenes stories, and star-studded interviews as anticipation builds towards the midnight countdown and the famous Ball Drop. The webcast will be streamed live on multiple websites, including TimesSquareNYC.org, NewYearsEve.nyc, LiveStream.com/2022 and TimesSquareBall.net. Embedding codes and additional webcast info is available at: https://www.timessquarenyc.org/times-square-new-years-eve/nye-live-webcast or LiveStream.com/2022.
Additionally, Jamestown, the owner of One Times Square (home of the iconic New Year’s Eve Ball Drop Celebration) will bring back its virtual New Year’s Eve experience with the VNYE app. Through the VNYE app, people from across the globe can explore the virtual world of Times Square, play games, and livestream New Year’s Eve celebrations in Times Square and around the world. Broadcast networks also will be airing elements of the Times Square celebration.
Revelers began celebrating New Year’s Eve in Times Square as early as 1904, but it was in 1907 that the New Year’s Eve Ball made its maiden descent from the flagpole atop One Times Square. Seven versions of the Ball have been designed to signal the New Year.
New York in 1904 was a city on the verge of tremendous changes – and, not surprisingly, many of those changes had their genesis in the bustling energy and thronged streets of Times Square. Two innovations that would completely transform the Crossroads of the World debuted in 1904: the opening of the city’s first subway line and the first-ever celebration of New Year’s Eve in Times Square.
This inaugural bash commemorated the official opening of the new headquarters of The New York Times, at the time, Manhattan’s second tallest building. The newspaper’s owner, German Jewish immigrant Adolph Ochs, spared no expense to ensure a party for the ages. The night was such a rousing success that Times Square instantly replaced Lower Manhattan’s Trinity Church as “the” place in New York City to ring in the New Year. Before long, this party of parties would capture the imagination of the nation, and the world.
When two years later, the city banned the fireworks display Ochs arranged to have a large, illuminated seven-hundred-pound iron and wood ball lowered from the tower flagpole precisely at midnight to signal the end of 1907 and the beginning of 1908.
On that occasion, and for almost a century thereafter, Times Square sign maker Artkraft Strauss was responsible for the ball-lowering. In 1914, The New York Times outgrew Times Tower and relocated to 229 West 43rd Street. By then, New Year’s Eve in Times Square was already a permanent part of our cultural fabric.
The Ball has been lowered every year since 1907, with the exceptions of 1942 and 1943, when the ceremony was suspended due to the wartime “dimout” of lights in New York City. Nevertheless, the crowds still gathered in Times Square in those years and greeted the New Year with a minute of silence followed by the ringing of chimes from sound trucks parked at the base of the tower—a harkening-back to the earlier celebrations at Trinity Church, where crowds would gather to “ring out the old, ring in the new.”
The Ball is a geodesic sphere, 12 feet in diameter, and weighs 11,875 pounds, covered with a total of 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles of varying sizes, and illuminated by 32,256 LEDs (light emitting diodes). For Times Square 2022, 192 Waterford Crystal triangles introduce the new Gift of Wisdom design represented by a central wheel with wedge cut petals of knowledge growing ever forward.
Today, New Year’s Eve in Times Square is a bona fide international phenomenon. Each year, hundreds of thousands of people still gather around the Tower, now known as One Times Square, and wait for hours in the cold of a New York winter for the famous Ball-lowering ceremony. Seeing it live is an experience that should be had once in a lifetime.
Thanks to satellite technology, a worldwide audience estimated at over one billion people watch the ceremony each year. The lowering of the Ball has become the world’s symbolic welcome to the New Year.
More information at TimesSquareNYC.org and TimesSquareBall.net.
Cozy Igloos by Prime Video are heated, clear structures decorated with seasonal decor that provide an intimate setting to enjoy festive food and drinks in a private space with some of the best views of the iconic Bryant Park skating rink and Bank of America Winter Village (Photo Credit: Angelito Jusay for Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park)
NYC’s celebrated Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park, featuring the city’s only free-admission skating rink, holiday market and delicious food offerings, has returned for its 20th season, Friday, October 29, 2021 – Sunday, March 6, 2022.
As the first-ever ICELESS curling experience, the Curling Café offers guests a dedicated curling lane where two teams of up to 4 people each can experience “street” or iceless curling for 90 minutes. Each lane is accompanied by a private, heated dome where their teams can warm up and share seasonal drinks and bites between games.
Cozy Igloos by Prime Video are heated, clear structures decorated with seasonal decor that provide an intimate setting for family and friends to enjoy festive food and drinks – including mulled wine and hot chocolate – in a private space with some of the best views of the iconic skating rink.
More information and reservations for the Curling Café and Cozy Igloos by Prime Video at Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park can be found at wintervillage.org.
Curling Café and Cozy Igloo adult and family packages, for either 1-4 or 5-8 guests, will be available and must be reserved online. Hours for Cozy Igloos are Monday through Friday from noon to 9:30pm and from 11:30am to 11pm on weekends. Hours for The Curling Cafe are from 3:30pm – 9pm Wednesday through Friday, 11:30am – 9pm on Saturday, and 11:30am – 7pm on Sunday.
All igloos and equipment will be sanitized by the park’s dedicated team between each and every booking. Please note that reservations cannot accommodate parties larger than 8 people unless you book more than 1 dome. For more information on Bryant Park’s safety practices, visit wintervillage.org.
While still proceeding with an abundance of caution for the safety of its guests, Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park is thrilled to be welcoming back its most popular attractions this winter season:
The Rink: the only free-admission ice skating rink in NYC is open daily. The Rink is completely outdoors, and skate time and rentals can be reserved in advance online. New skate reservation dates will be released on a rolling basis throughout the season. Masks are encouraged, and Bryant Park is continuing to implement additional cleaning protocols throughout the day to ensure high-touch surfaces and shared rental equipment are sanitized and safe for use.
Holiday Shops: the open-air holiday market are open daily through January 2, 2022, and features more than 170 new and returning merchants.
Small Business Spotlight presented by Bank of America: four New York City minority-owned small businesses with annual revenue of $1 million or less will have the chance to showcase their products in a rent-free booth, made possible by Bank of America, as part of this season’s Holiday Shops.
NYC’s celebrated Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park, featuring the city’s only free-admission skating rink, holiday market and delicious food offerings, has returned for its 20th season, Friday, October 29, 2021 – Sunday, March 6, 2022. While still proceeding with an abundance of caution for the safety of its guests, Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park is thrilled to be welcoming back its most popular attractions this winter season:
The Rink: the only free-admission ice skating rink in NYC is open daily. The Rink is completely outdoors, and skate time and rentals can be reserved in advance online. New skate reservation dates will be released on a rolling basis throughout the season. Masks are encouraged, and Bryant Park is continuing to implement additional cleaning protocols throughout the day to ensure high-touch surfaces and shared rental equipment are sanitized and safe for use.
Holiday Shops: the open-air holiday market are open daily through January 2, 2022, and features more than 170 new and returning merchants.
Small Business Spotlight presented by Bank of America: fourNew York City minority-owned small businesses with annual revenue of $1 million or less will have the chance to showcase their products in a rent-free booth, made possible by Bank of America, as part of this season’s Holiday Shops.
Last year’s featured small businesses were sustainable candle and soap company TREE*STAR, Brooklyn-based bakeshop Annie Mae’s Bakery, custom-designed hat shop Harlem’s Heaven Hats, and Tibet Tree of Life, a business selling incense, shawls, and other products made in the Himalayan region.
The Lodge by Prime Video: a covered, outdoor après skate escape is where visitors can cozy up with a festive cocktail, enjoy delicious food, watch the ice skaters or admire the tree.
By Laurie Millman, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com
One of the hottest places to be this summer is on Governor’s Island for the hot jazz of Michael Arenella and his Dreamland Orchestra, as they return for an encore of the immensely popular Jazz Age Lawn Party on August 14-15, 11am – 5pm.
The 15th annual festival is a multi-generational, friends and family affair where for a brief time you are transported back to the Roaring 20s. Attendees dress up to the nines in 1920s lawn party fashion – dapper linen suits, suspenders and straw hats; sequined and beaded flapper-style dresses, chandelier earrings and feathers in the hair, or lawn party styles with dropped waists and white satin ribbons. Many bring an elegant picnic lunch complete with fine china, silver utensils, flowers in vases, and fluted wine glasses.
The Governors Island ferry (https://www.govisland.com/plan-your-visit/ferry) runs from Lower Manhattan (in the Battery Maritime Building at 10 South Street; indoor parking across the street) and from Brooklyn (Pier 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park). Roundtrip fares are $3/adult; free for seniors, children under 12, military. There is currently no additional surcharge for bringing on a bicycle (you can also rent bikes, surreys, pedal cars, and scooters on the island). All passengers ride free on departures before noon on Saturday and Sunday. The ferries, which are wheelchair accessible, now have extended service back to Manhattan until 10pm on Saturday
Registration has just opened for the TD Five Boro Bike Tour taking place on its new date of Sunday, August 22, 2021, when 20,000 cyclists ride through New York City on 40 car-free miles.
Bike New York and its city government partners announce that the popular ride will once again welcome bike lovers from across New York and around the country.The event, which typically draws 32,000 riders, still affords the headiest experience of biking 40 car-free miles of New York City’s busiest roadways, seeing all the spirit and diversity of the five boroughs’ neighborhood.
Bike rentals and lodging blocks with special discounted rates at select hotels are available for riders coming from out of town. The New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge is offering special rates for bookings through July 20.
Standard registration is $112; VIP registration is $350.
With only 20,000 spots, register as soon as possible.
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