Good afternoon, this is W42ST Lifestyle Editor Sarah Beling with “Make Way For The Weekend” — your curated guide to the best of New York events in one convenient newsletter!
OK team, I went out into the field to test out a few of our recurring events 🫡 — and while I’m not trying to pit one against the other — I really did enjoy singing along to Cell Block Tango in the club alongside a bunch of other theater kids at the late-night Broadway Rave — I must admit that the 5-10pm time slot of the Matinee Social Club 90s-00s hip-hop dance party was maybe more my speed these days lmao (also the vibes were 10/10). TLDR: whether you’re a night owl or an early bird, there’s plenty of fun to be had!
Have a wonderful weekend <3
…when you can only think as far ahead as Monday!
💻 internet rabbit hole club
“Are you a sucker for a good Wikipedia spiral? Do you love crushing the competition at trivia night? Are you determined to be the most interesting person at every party you go to?” Then make your way to The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week February 8 at Caveat, where hosts Rachel Feltman and Jess Boddy of the eponymous podcast present wild true tales through interactive presentations and games. As someone who used to stay up until 4am surfing my way through niche Facebook groups in 2006, I am ALL IN.
🧧 lunar new year!!
There’s more Lunar New Year fun ahead — you can enjoy live lion dance performances, arts and crafts, and vendors fairs at at both the Queens Botanical Garden Lunar New Year Celebration February 8 and the Pearl River Mart’s Lunar New Year Extravaganza February 9 and more food, performances and mahjong games at the Chelsea Market Lunar New Year celebration February 9!
🌲 poetry in motion
Commemorate Black History Month outdoors at Nature Poetry February 8 in Fort Greene Park, and join park rangers in a spoken word session and nature-focused poetry workshop!
🎞️ fasten your seatbelts
If you’ve heard All About Eve — screening February 8,9,13 at the Metrograph — referenced here, there and everywhere but haven’t yet seen it…it’s time. A showbusiness diva! A conniving upstart! It’s the original The Substance (or what I imagine The Substance to be because I’m too scared to watch it).
☕ city bakery returns (briefly)
If you, like me, are still mourning the truly singular hot chocolate from the late, great City Bakery (which, btw, does appear in a pivotal Sex and the City episode / weeks at this workplace without a SATC reference:0), I have GOOD NEWS. There will be a City Bakery hot chocolate pop-up February 8-9 from 12-3pm at the Magnolia Bakery Upper West Side location — and btw you also know that Magnolia appears in…lol.
🎭 roger, this is your mother
“If it’s not one thing, it’s your mother” is the tagline of the brand-new play Conversations with Mother premiering February 7-May 11 that explores the five-decade relationship and “outrageously funny and sometimes completely infuriating dynamic” between an Italian matriarch Maria and her gay son, Bobby. Considering that Maria is played by Caroline Aaron AKA Shirley Maisel from The Marvelous Mrs Maisel and Bobby is played by Tony Award winner Matt Doyle, I am intrigued!!
🥐 donut miss it
The Bombolone Fest is BACK February 8, which means you can once again feast on your favorite Italian donuts as different bakers compete for the crown at Essex Market and everyone wins, because bombolone are so damn good y’all. Mangia!
🧊ice ice ferry
Pop over to Governors Island for the fourth annual Ice Sculpture Show February 8 to watch artists carve ice sculptures from 12-2pm and take part by voting for the “People’s Choice” award at the ceremonial celebration from 2-3pm. And if you’re so inspired, you can also take part in ice carving workshops from Okamoto Studio, make crafts with the Red Hook Art Project, jam to live performances from disco-infused Afrofuturist funk duo The Illustrious Blacks and enjoy the sounds of NYC-based all-women, trans and non-binary drumline Fogo Azul, all while snacking on treats from the Makina Café and food trucks Nao Caribbean Flavors, The Original Soupman and Deploy Coffee! What a DAY!
🥞 downstate diner
Call me a basic b* blah blah blah but I too waited in line to eat at the ever-so-trendy Phoenicia Diner when I went to the Catskills. And ya know what? IT WAS WORTH IT! And in even better news, upstate is coming down, temporarily — there’s going to be a Phoenicia Diner pop-up at various Talea Beer locations February 8-9! Let’s go pancakes!!!!!!!
🎶 lost in your eyes
Feeling nostalgic? 1980s pop queen Debbie Gibson — who remains the youngest female artist to write, produce and perform a #1 hit — will serenade you with a night of “romance and timeless classics” at Debbie Gibson’s Love Songs Live February 7-8 at 54 Below!
🏈 hut hut hike
If you’re wondering where to watch the Super Bowl in Hell’s Kitchen February 9, my colleague Dashiell has put together this handy guide! And yes, it includes everything from places to chow down on a Philly Cheesesteak to a “non-Super Bowl” event at the Purple Tongue if you’re not partaking lol.
🦉 we love u flaco
While his life as an unofficial city mascot was unfairly cut short, Flaco the Owl’s legacy looms large on the city. Pay tribute to the little owl that could at the new exhibition, The Year of Flaco February 7-July 6 at the New York Historical Society that features tributes left at the late owl’s tree and educational information on how we can be better neighbors to the animals who call New York home.
🎭 like and subscribe
Do you think I should investigate why I still feel guilty muting people who stress me out from my anonymous burner TikTok in therapy??? Pls weigh in. And until then, make your way to Soho Playhouse for Louise Orwin’s FAMEHUNGRY “a helter-skelter nosedive into social media” playing now through February 8 that fuses “performance art and very real and very live TikTok experiences” in a mission to “make art and find beauty and hope in the relentless, Almighty Algorithm-feeding attention economy.”
…what’s happening before and just after I hit your inbox next!
💕 diy
Valentine’s Day is coming up, people! And if you’re struggling with a gift for that special someone, why not try to charm them like a small child who presents their parents with a homemade card instead of a present (those “one free chore” coupons were purely spiritual, I’m sorry Mom lmao). Annnnnyway if you want to give your SO a card (and maybe a gift too lol) you can craft mixed-media collage Valentine’s Day cards with Max Colby at the Museum of Arts and Design February 11!
👯♂️ cunningham and cage
Check out a evening of dance from choreographer John Scott and composer Mel Mercier inspired by legendary contemporary artist Merce Cunningham and composer John Cage in Begin Anywhere playing Feb 12 at the Irish Arts Center and featuring their world premiere Roaratorio as well as Cunningham pieces Changeling, Solo and excerpted solos from RainForest and Travelogue.
🩰 speaking of dance
Jeté your way over to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts for a discussion with Marian Smith and Doug Fullington on Five Classic Ballets Then and Now February 13, where Smith and Fullington will chat with dance writer Marina Harss about how ballets like Giselle, Paquita, Le Corsaire, La Bayadère and Raymonda have changed over the years to address some of their, er, less-than-appropriate aspects.
🎭 teeny tiny theater
Theatrelab’s Minifest February 13 celebrates “the miniature, all things tiny but exceptional and transformative power of art seen in good company” through an evening of five-minute-and-under multimedia works, craft workshops, immersive installations and an interactive wish-making ceremony!
🎶 west side groove
Pregame Valentine’s Day with a romance-themed concert, The Lover in You at the Live from Co-op 54 series February 13 at Prime Produce and featuring performances from Perri Jones, Natalie Tenenbaum, Brother Soulful and Kobie. Bonus — there will be tasty treats from Cafe 424!
🎶 jinkx at carnegie
Fresh off of her successful runs in Chicago and Little Shop of Horrors, Drag-Race-winner-turned-Broadway-darling Jinkx Monsoon heads to Carnegie Hall February 14 to play an evening of “original songs and inspired covers that range from cabaret, blues, show tunes and torch songs to high-energy rock and pop”!
…for when you need to secure those hot tickets before they sell out!!!
🎭 a streetcar named paul
Two things can be true at once: Paul Mescal is a truly fantastic actor AND I am recommending his appearance in A Streetcar Named Desire beginning February 28 at BAM sight unseen because he is also extremely hot (🎶sue me sue me what can you do me, I love cute guys) ANYWAY I’m clearly not alone because it’s already almost sold out 😱. Give us an extension, Paul!!
🔥 Hot tip
One of my more emo qualities is that I love to lament having missed out on some of the more glamorous parts of 60s-70s-80s New York (does anyone still wear a HAT et al). Lucky for me, there’s a distinctively old-school, sky-high, spinning (!!) Danny Meyer restaurant called The View opening next week atop Times Square and promising a glitzy, glamorous place to enjoy nostalgic favorites. Should we get all gussied up and go?!
⚠️ Omg I forgot to tell you
The Westminster Kennel Club show is February 10-11 at Madison Square Garden
If you’re feeling really free and easy there’s a Cupid’s Undie Run on the Lower East Side February 8
The folks at Gertie are doing a bagel pop-up in BK every Friday in February
It’s still cold as hell and there’s a multi-label cashmere sample sale happening now through February 9
Dot’s Cafe is now serving brunch!
The Harlem Chamber Players are at Brooklyn Museum for Black History Month February 9
🕵️ special end-of-the-newsletter song lyric reveal
This week’s subject-line lyric is, of course, from the legendary Salt-N-Pepa’s Shoop which also, of course, was a huge hit when the DJ played it at the Matinee Social Club party.
That’s it for now! Call me beep me if you want to reach me! (sarah@w42st.com)
If you were forwarded this email, why not get the exclusive? Sign up here!
