Brooklyn has a new underground club, French chefs get serious with a massive cassoulet cookoff and more things to do in NYC this Presidents Day Weekend.
Feel the Power of Love & Resistance
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, a turning point that took the LGBTQ civil rights movement went from a handful of activists to a national movement. Beginning in February through August, the New York Public Library is commemorating the events at the Stonewall In, kicking off with its Library After Dark party on Friday night featuring Drag Queen Story Hour for adults, curator talks, trivia, special guests and more. Feb. 15, 7 p.m., free-$15 for priority entry, nypl.org
It’s Ladies Night at the Barclays Center
Whether or not you had someone to cuddle up to on Valentine’s Day, some of the biggest throwback stars of slow jams are coming to the Barclays Center to take care of you with the Ladies Night R&B Super Jam. Headliners Brian McKnight and Faith Evans are joined by Jagged Edge, Musiq Soulchild, K. Michelle, Mario, Lil’ Kim, Marsha Ambrosius, After 7, Jon B., Silk, and Chaka Demus & Pliers. Feb. 15, barclayscenter.com
New York Through a Cartoonist’s Eyes
The city’s museums are honoring the cartoonists who have lampooned, skewered or called out the absurdity of daily life in New York, first with Roz Chast and now renowned New Yorker cartoonist Mort Gerberg. His first major museum exhibition opens this Friday at the New-York Historical Society with over 120 cartoons, drawings and “sketch reportage” chronicling and commenting on life in the city as well as social issues from women’s rights to old age and politics. Feb. 15-May 5, 170 Central Park West, $20, nyhistory.org
Stay Warm With Hot Techno
The 2019 music festival season kicks off with Cityfox LIVE Festival, spanning three rooms of Avant Gardner in Brooklyn. No DJs, all live performances from house and techno acts including John Tejada, Reggie Watts, Mathew Jonson, RJLA and Giorgia Angiuli, plus many more never seen before in North America. As always, expect festival-level production effects. Feb.16, 10 p.m.-4:30 a.m., 140 Stewart Ave., Brooklyn, $40-50, residentadvisor.net
Two Nights of Moody Music
San Francisco’s Red Room Orchestra comes to Symphony Space for two nights of music from two of cinema’s moodiest filmmakers: David Lynch and Wes Anderson. On Feb. 15, be haunted by Twin Peaks all over again, while on Feb. 16 it’s the faux cheerful music of Anderson from Rushmore to Isle of Dogs. 8 p.m., 2537 Broadway, $30-$40, symphonyspace.org
Valentine’s Day Rolls Into Night
Start your foreplay before getting home at Lust, Abby Hertz’s long-running night of tempting every one of your senses. Lot 45 will be transformed into a garden of earthly delights, starting with dinner served on naked bodies, followed by a night of sexually provocative performances and erotic art, play areas, live music and one-on-one experiences. $45-$175, Feb. 15, 7 p.m.-3 a.m., 411 Troutman St., Bushwick, lot45bushwick.com
It’s Warm in the Moroccan Room
Forget it’s winter inside the Moroccan Room. This cozy temporary space inside Chefs Club comes courtesy of its latest residency Lev, created by Israeli chefs Loren Abramovitch and Daniel Soskolne. It’s their first project after working under chef Eyal Shani at his acclaimed restaurants HaSalon and Miznon. It’s around for just two weeks, so enjoy the warm desert vibes while you can. Through Feb. 27, 275 Mulberry St.
Drink Like a Founding Father
The American Revolution was hatched in Lower Manhattan, largely in unofficial spots like Fraunces Tavern. This Friday in honor of Presidents Day Weekend, a new bar next door Porterhouse Brew Co. is resurrecting George Washington’s favorite drink, the Hot Ale Flip, which also happens to be the first recorded mixed drink in history. Porterhouse Irish Red Ale, is mixed with Lemon Hart & Son 151 and demerara sugar, heated tableside to create a frothy foam. Feb. 15-18, 36 Water St., porterhousebrewconyc.com
Spend a Night at the Museum
Maybe sensing that adults are getting cabin fever too, grown-up sleepovers are back at the American Museum of Natural History. The overnight adventure begins with a champagne reception and music by the 12th Night Jazz Trio, then you’re set free to wander the deserted halls discovering old favorites and new treasures. The actual sleeping happens in sleeping bags under the blue whale in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life — but no one’s going to call lights out if you want to keep exploring. Feb. 15, $350, must be 21+, amnh.org
Brooklyn’s New Underground Club
DeKalb Market Hall’s live performance space DeKalb Stage is finally ready for prime time on Saturday night. It all begins with a Soul Summit dance party — expect a wide variety of events, from concerts to performance art and even theater. Stay hydrated at the speakeasy-inspired cocktail bar Understudy. Feb. 16, 8 p.m.-2 a.m., 445 Albee Square W., $10-$12, eventbrite.com
Check into the Heartbreak Hotel
You won’t check out unsatisfied from the Heartbreak Hotel, where Dances of Vice will put on a Valentine’s Night in their signature noir style. Enjoy a night of provocative live performances, live your voyeuristic fantasies at the peepshow cabaret, and if you’ve got a kinkier side, spring for the VIP BDSM suite. But come dressed to impress, no exceptions. Feb. 16, 9:30 p.m.-3 a.m., 130 Bowery, $69-$149, dancesofvice.com
A new New Year
If the official calendar new year hasn’t been working out for you, the Lunar New Year is an opportunity for a second fresh start. Watch as lions and dragons, as well as fan dancers, floats, giant puppets and community performers march through Chinatown on Feb. 17 starting at Mott & Canal streets and ending at Sara D. Roosevelt Park, with all the requisite street party fun. Feb. 17, 1-4:30 p.m.
Fight Winter With Cassoulet
When chefs compete, we all win — and nobody brings it like French chefs when one of their traditional dishes is on the line. This Monday is the fifth annual Cassoulet War, when 30 chefs from the tri-state area as well as Chicago and D.C. cook for honor and glory at The Kimpton Hotel Eventi. Judges will crown the Most Authentic and Most Daring champs of this rich and meaty French stew, while it’s up to attendees to pick their own favorite. Feb. 18, 7-9:30 p.m., 851 Sixth Ave., $75, eventbrite.com
Where Wars Were Fought
This Presidents Day, take a tour of Central Park’s military history. The park’s northern end was home to several British forts from the Revolutionary War and American outposts during the War of 1812. Recent archaeological investigations revealed new information and led to restoration of the sites, which you’ll see on a guided tour with a Central Park Conservancy. Feb. 18, 11 a.m. & 2 p.m., neet at Charles A. Dana Discovery Center, $15, centralparknyc.org
Thing to Do in NYC: Ongoing
See what’s new Off Broadway
The producers of Broadway have to play it safe to keep tourists happy, but there’s plenty of innovative and risky theater happening Off Broadway. See 34 shows, from the new musical Alice By Heart from the creative team behind Spring Awakening to the cheerleading horror story We Are Tigers during Off Broadway Week, when tickets are 2-for-1. Feb. 11-24, nycgo.com
Extended: Bumper cars take to the ice
Cruise the ice at Bryant Park’s Winter Village in something new this year: ice bumper cars! Now extended through Sunday, Feb. 24, they’re $15 for 10 minutes of driving time — which should be just enough to rattle your teeth. Available Mon-Wed from noon-5 p.m. Thurs-Sun from 2-8 p.m., wintervillage.org
Make life more colorful
One of our favorite Instagram pop-ups of the year, Color Factory, just extended its SoHo run through Feb. 28. If you’ve got visitors in town, it’s a great bonding experience instead of just taking photos of each other. And who doesn’t love a ball pit? 251 Spring St., $38, colorfactory.co
Chill out, dude
Immersive screening masters BBQ Films is starting a Green Screen series “celebrating cinema, cannabis and community.” For four Sundays beginning Feb. 10, they’re bringing nostalgia like an arcade and cartoons, stand-up comedy and trivia to Chelsea Music Hall, leading up to a good-vibes-only way to watch some of your favorite movies, costumes or comfy PJs encouraged. This weekend’s feature is Half Baked. Feb. 10, 17, 24, March 3, doors at 4:20 p.m., Chelsea Music Hall, 407 W. 15th St., $20-$50, bbqfilms.com
Dive into a black hole
Fresh off dazzling the Sundance crowds, Spheres is a three-part virtual reality movie that takes you inside a black hole (via an Oculus Rift headset). Your captains (narrators) are Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown, Jessica Chastain and Patti Smith, so enjoy the ride! Through March 3, Mon-Fri 2-8 p.m., Sat-Sun noon-8 p.m., 600 Fifth Ave., $50, rockefellercenter.com
Beyond the Campbell’s Soup cans
Who is Andy Warhol? The Whitney Museum goes on a vast journey to find out in its major winter exhibit Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again, opening Nov. 12. The show peels back his carefully crafted persona, the show looks at how Warhol changed the role of artists in society, including new materials discovered after his death in 1987. Through March 31, 99 Gansevoort St., included with admission: $25 adults, free for kids 18 and under; whitney.org
What does your selfie say about you?
A fascinating new exhibit at the International Center of Photography analyzes the selfie. Your Mirror: Portraits from the ICP Collection looks at how people present themselves for the camera, as well as who photographers choose to portray and how through everything from 19th-century daguerreotypes to Instagram. Feb. 8-April 28, 250 Bowery, $14, icp.org
Where technology and humanity meet
Whether it’s helping paralyzed people walk again or helping us see in the dark, technology is becoming a partner to our biology. In Bionic Me at the New York Hall of Science, step into full-body experiences and hands-on displays like moving a ball with your mind and using a robot arm to explore the next phase of human evolution. Feb. 11-May 5, nysci.org
Meet Frida Kahlo all over again
The largest exhibit of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo’s works in the U.S. in 10 years is coming to the Brooklyn Museum. Alongside her famous paintings, drawings and photography, the show includes rarely seen clothing, accessories and possessions discovered in 2004 that give a personal look into how politics, gender, national identity and disability played a part in her work and life. Feb 8-May 12, brooklynmuseum.org
A fantasy legend gets a real-world tribute
J.R.R. Tolkien stoked a love of fantasy in generations of readers before his films revived the genre onscreen. Tolkien: Maker of Middle-Earth at The Morgan Library reveals his original illustrations, maps, draft manuscripts and more from The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, plus personal photographs and memorabilia. Through May 12, 225 Madison Ave., $20, free for 12 and under, themorgan.org
What’s the deal with Jerry Seinfeld now?
After a two-year run of sold-out shows at the Beacon Theater in 2016-17, Jerry Seinfeld is back in residence. The stand-up comedian known best for pulling back the veil of glamour from New York and more recently drinking a lot of coffee with fellow comedians will appear for 10 nights with two shows each. Feb. 8-June 7, msg.com
An unflinching survey of Mapplethorpe’s legacy
Few photographers can claim to be equally acclaimed as controversial, but then there’s nothing conventional about Robert Mapplethorpe as the Guggenheim’s new retrospective Implicit Tensions: Mapplethorpe Now shows. The dozens of works include examples of all the ways he challenged the world to see beauty in places it wasn’t looking — chief among them black men and BDSM scenes — while also stripping celebrities of their glamour, images that remain provocative even today. Through July 10, 1071 Fifth Ave., $25, guggenheim.org
The sexy side of punk rock
Punk culture protested pretty much everything about what it saw as the mass-produced, repressed lives we were leading, often by using sexuality to transgress and defy expectations. New York’s lusty playground the Museum of Sex just opened a new exhibit Punk Lust: Raw Provocation 1971-1985, an immersive gallery with over 300 artifacts spanning various archives and private collections. Through Nov. 30, 2019, 233 Fifth Ave., $19.50, museumofsex.com
