The best outdoor activities in New York this month.
Looking for the best outdoor activities to enjoy in New York this month? Fill your Spring with much-needed outdoor time in NYC parks, exciting exhibits, epic installations and beyond.
Note: As New York slowly eases into normality, venue opening times and activities on offer are subject to very quick change. Please check ahead before you go.
The sun is starting to become a more regular feature in daily life for New Yorkers - and, with the welcome return of warmer days, more and more of us are stepping outside into the city. Sure, it’s hailed as the concrete jungle… But that doesn’t mean there aren’t countless ways to soak up the sun and indulge in outdoor opportunities.
Whether you’re into parties in the park, outdoor yoga, perusing modern art or theatre al fresco, there really is something for everyone. Here’s our roundup of some of the best outdoor activities in NYC this month.
Soak up the Winter Sound Works at Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
Credit: Michael Stewart/BBG
Unwind and relax at Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, where you’ll find a new series of nature walks and sound works.
These original compositions and audio walks have been created for visitors to absorb at their own pace. Choose from three works - Gelsey Bell and Joseph White’s "Meander," Ben Rubin and Brian House’s "Terminal Moraine," and a reprisal of Michael Gordon’s "Loved" - as you meander through this zen space.
The works are part of the Art in the Garden series and are available to the public until May 9 2021.
Enjoy yoga with The Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
Credit: StJohnDivine.org
Yogis will want to take a visit to The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, where virtual yoga and meditation classes are being streamed from inside the cathedral’s incredible architecture.
These grounding, therapeutic classes will be streamed on the 2nd and the 4th Monday of the month, and taught by Mia Michelson-Bartlett - a RYT-200 and the Cathedral’s Manager of Visitor Services. All skills are welcome and no equipment is required… Just you, the movement and your breath.
Get your groove on at RebootNYC.
Credit: RebootNYC Instagram
Fancy a socially-distanced dance party in the park? We do, too!
RebootNYC is a masked and socially-distanced party that takes over McCarren Park in Brooklyn every week. You’re all spaced six feet apart with hula hoops marking out your ‘safe dancing space’. The idea is to enjoy free-flowing music and movement, to release tension and to lose yourself in the power of dance… Something most of us need right now!
Snap up tickets for ‘KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature’.
Credit: NYBG.org
This month will see the world-renowned Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama launch her 2021 exhibition at the New York Botanical Garden. This wonderfully bizarre outdoor installation is spread across the garden’s 250-acre landscape, with everything from monumental sculptures to mirrored structures, interactive greenhouse installations and trees wrapped in polka-dotted fabric (we did say wonderfully bizarre, didn’t we?).
KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature showcases her lifelong fascination with the natural world, with artistic concepts of obliteration, infinity, and eternity.
Take a deep breath in Downtown Brooklyn.
Credit: Breathing Pavilion, Ekene Ijeoma (2021). Photo: Kris Graves
Sometimes we need a gentle nudge to actually pause, take stock and breathe. A new futuristic art installation in Downtown Brooklyn is designed to do just that.
The installation is based at The Plaza at 300 Ashland and features 20, nine-foot tall columns that glow and alter their brightness to take you through a calm, nourishing breathing experience. It’s called ‘Breathing Pavilion’ and was created by the artist Ekene Ijeoma in the midst of both the pandemic and the systemic racial injustice facing the U.S.
It aims to offer sanctuary and meditative stillness when “the act of breathing itself is under siege.”
Find the 20 painted planets in Long Island City.
Credit: Long Island City Queens
Go on the hunt for the 20 painted planet - titled LIC is a Galaxy - art installation in Long Island City.
The installation comprises 20 fiberglass spheres slotted into tree pits across the district. Five Queens-based artists were chosen to design and paint four planets using their own love and inspiration from their vibrant, creative neighborhood.
Experience outdoor performances at the Lincoln Center.
Credit: NYCgo.com
The Lincoln Center is set to create 10 outdoor performance and rehearsal spaces for the general public as part of an initiative called Restart Stages. This exciting step for the Center will see them hosting a vast programme with concerts, cabarets, dance workshops and film screenings.
The outdoor performance centers launched on April 7th - World Health Day 0 with a special performance for healthcare workers.
Take a stroll through Central Park.
No New York outdoor activities list would be complete without mentioning Central Park - spanning 868 acres right in the heart of Manhattan, it’s a wonderland bursting with lush pathways, picturesque features and regular events. Springtime sees the park bursting into bloom, with rows of trees and flowers beginning to blossom. It’s the perfect spot for a stroll with a loved one or a run, with that unbeatable skyline as a backdrop.