New York Spring Calendar 2018

SEE UPDATED CALENDAR FOR 2019 HERE.

2018 dates:
Let's spring forward to blooming times in New York City, the best locations for witnessing spring's beginnings, and springtime events. While the occasional snow could blow through the city, we're just weeks now from callery pears in bloom and opening day at the ballpark.

Riverside Park. Mid-April.

Blooming Times

• Central Park Conservancy's website lists blooming times within the park. During the month of March we begin to see crocus, daffodils, forsythia, snowdrops, witch-hazel, and hellebores. Species tulips will emerge in several places, but the Shakespeare Garden and Conservatory Garden are particularly good places to catch the beginning of spring blooms.

Central Park near E. 72nd St., saucer magnolia, typically end of March.

• Citywide Blooming Calendar from New York City Department of Parks & Recreation

April is usually the month when full blooms appear in New York City, and this NYC Parks website provides a handy monthly guide to the specific locations of blooming trees, flowers, shrubs, and buds.

• Heritage Crabapple Trees. New York City Department of Parks & Recreation

Celebrating the great beautiful flowering crabapples, this page on the NYC Parks site explains why you can't buy and plant a crabapple today and expect it to look as beautiful as those in Central Park.

• By late March or the first week of April, the callery pears should be in bloom, providing a soft white canopy on many New York streets. These trees can withstand urban pollution, but storms can wreak havoc on them.

Callery pear trees in bloom in front of the Rubin Museum of Art

High Line. Spring Cutback

• Check out The Orchid Show, a special presentation of a dazzling collection of orchids brought to you by The New York Botanical Garden in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. Bronx River Parkway at Fordham Road Bronx. The special show continues through April 22, 2018.

• Walking Off the Big Apple's favorite annual spring walk is wandering in The Ramble in Central Park.

• The High Line features plantings around the seasons.

• Million TreesNYC. See how you can help this citywide, public-private program to plant and care for one million new trees across the City's five boroughs over the next decade.

• Visit the Prospect Park Alliance website for interactive guides to the park, seasonal events, and more. When visiting in person, locate the park's Audubon Center for a quick orientation.

American Museum of Natural History. Mid-late April.

• While many of the city's parks sponsor events for the season, Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan offers particularly good fitness opportunities in a spectacular setting. Consult the Fort Tryon Park Trust website for more information.

• While in Fort Tryon Park, visit The Cloisters. The Metropolitan Museum of Art's medieval branch is one of the best places to see varieties of plants in bloom.

• For those seeking to understand the ecology of the city's landscapes, explore the Wildlife Conservation Society's Welikia project, the city-wide expansion of their popular Mannahatta.

• According to the Victory Seeds website, the average last frost in New York City is April 13.

• Try forest bathing in Central Park. Or locating the past in Riverside Park. Sakura Park, too, is pretty in cherry blossom time.

Spring Events for March, April, and May 2018

Prospect Park, Brooklyn, in late April

• Saturday, March 17, 2018 St. Patrick's Day Parade. Fifth Avenue, from 44th to 79th Streets. Consult this St. Patrick's Day post that includes Walking Off the Big Apple's awesome bar and parade map, plus bonus Judy Garland song.

• March 21-25, 2018. Affordable Art Fair. Metropolitan Pavilion. Website.

• March 25 -April 8, 2018. Macy's Flower Show. Website.

Pillow Fight Day
Spring silliness

• March 29, 2018 at 1:10 p.m. Home opener. Cardinals at New York Mets. Citi Field, Flushing, Queens. Official site.

• March 30 - April 8, 2018. New York International Auto Show. Jacob Javits Center.

Easter Parade, Fifth Avenue.

• Sunday, April 1, 2018. Easter Parade. Fifth Avenue, beginning near St. Patrick's Cathedral. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 49th to 57th Streets.

• April 2, 2018. Home opener. Rays at New York Yankees. 1:05 p.m. Yankee Stadium, Bronx. Official site.

• April 5-8, 2018. The Photography Show. AIPAD. Pier 94. Website.

• April 7, 2018. Pillow Fight Day. 3 p.m. Location TBA.

Coney Island attractions open April 8-9, 2017.

• Opening day, Coney Island attractions. April 9, 2018. 10 a.m. Read more on this site about Coney Island's landscape and history. Website

On the High Line, walking toward the Whitney Museum of American Art

• April 18 - April 29, 2018. Tribeca Film Festival. Some of the special events take place outdoors.

Cherry blossoms on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fifth Avenue.

• Sunday, April 22, 2018. 1 pm. Greek Independence Day Parade. Fifth Avenue. 64th to 79th Streets.

• April 28 - April 29, 2018. 10 am - 6 pm, Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival - Sakura Matsuri 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Rain or shine. Free with admission. Celebration of Japanese culture and the blossoming of the garden's cherry trees. Also, consult the garden's Cherry Blossom Status Map for opportunities to visit.

• Take a look at all the Spring 2018 art exhibitions in New York museums!

• Wednesday, May 23, 2018 #FleetWeekNYC (website with events): Parade of Ships 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. NY Harbor to George Washington Bridge. See related story for uptown viewing.

Isham Park in Northern Manhattan. Mid-April.

Religious Holidays

• Sunday, March 25, 2018. Palm Sunday, beginning of Holy Week.

• Passover begins at sundown on March 30, 2018 and continues for 7 days until April 7, 2018.

• Easter Sunday falls on Sunday, April 1, 2018. (note: not an April Fools' Day joke.)

First Day of Spring

• Vernal Equinox in New York City, First Day of Spring. March 20, 2018. 12:15 p.m. EDT

The Weather

• The National Weather Service can and does predict the weather, issuing long-range maps and outlooks for the months ahead. Their monthly and seasonal color maps for the upcoming months indicates that New York City will see above average temperatures, not just for spring but for most months ahead.

Animal Life

• Several good blogs and websites keep track of the city's animal life. Among them - Urban Hawks is especially observant of the adventures of our red-tailed hawks; The City Birder is a good source of information for birdwatching in the big city. Follow the continuing adventures of the hawks in Washington Square Park and other areas with Roger Paw.

• New York City Birding: See the home page of NYC Audubon for events, trips, classes, and programs. Also learn about Birding in Central Park on the Central Park Conservancy website.

Birding in Central Park

Images by Walking Off the Big Apple. Clicking on the pictures above enlarges them.

25 Things To Do Near the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

(updated 2016) The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) at 11 W. 53rd Street is near many other New York City attractions, so before or after a trip to the museum, a short walk in any direction could easily take in additional experiences. Drawing a square on a map with the museum at the center, a shape bounded by 58th Street to the north and 48th Street to the south, with 7th Avenue to the west and Park Avenue to the east, proves the point of the area's cultural richness. (A map follows the list below.) While well-known sightseeing stops fall with these boundaries, most notably Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and the great swath of famous Fifth Avenue stores, cultural visitors may also want to check out places such as the Austrian Cultural Forum, the 57th Street galleries, the Onassis Cultural Center, and the Municipal Art Society. The image above shows an intriguing glimpse of the tops of two Beaux-Arts buildings through an opening of the wall inside MoMA's scu

25 Things to Do Near the American Museum of Natural History

After visiting the American Museum of Natural History, explore attractions on the Upper West Side or in Central Park. Visitors to New York often run around from one major tourist site to the next, sometimes from one side of the city to the other, and in the process, exhaust themselves thoroughly. Ambitious itineraries often include something like coffee in the Village in the morning, lunch near MoMA, a couple of hours in the museum, a ride on the Staten Island Ferry in the afternoon, cocktails at the midtown hotel, a quick dinner, and then a Broadway show. It's a wonder people don't pass out at the theater. While sitting on the steps of the American Museum of History, consider exploring the Upper West Side and nearby sites of interest in Central Park. There's a better way to plan a New York trip. Consider grouping attractions together geographically. Several posts on this site address this recommended approach. The Wild West of the Tecumseh Playground Groupin

25 Things to Do Near the Metropolitan Museum of Art

(updated) Sitting on the steps in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of those iconic things to do in New York City. On a sunny day, the wide steps can become crowded with the young and old, the tourist and the resident. It's tempting to stay awhile and soak in the sun and the sights. Everyone has reasons for lingering there, with one being the shared pleasure of people watching along this expansive stretch of Fifth Avenue, a painting come to life. Certainly, just getting off one's feet for a moment is welcome, especially if the previous hours involved walking through the entirety of art history from prehistoric to the contemporary. The entrance to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fifth Avenue The Metropolitan Museum of Art should be a singular pilgrimage, uninterrupted by feeble attempts to take in more exhibitions along Museum Mile. Pity the poor visitor who tries "to do" multiple museum exhibitions in one day, albeit ambitious, noble, and uplift

Museums in New York Open on Mondays

Please see this post for current announcements of reopenings . Please consult the museum websites for changes in days and hours. UPDATED September 23, 2020 Advance tickets required for many museum reopenings. Please check museum websites for details. • The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) reopened to the public on August 27 , with new hours for the first month, through September 27: from 10:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday to the public; and from 10:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. on Mondays for MoMA members on ly. Admission will be free to all visitors Tuesday through Sunday, through September 27, made possible by UNIQLO. See this new post on WOTBA for a sense of the experience attending the museum . • New-York Historical Society reopened on August 14 with an outdoor exhibition, "Hope Wanted: New York City Under Quarantine,” in the rear courtyard. The exhibit by activist Kevin Powell and photographer Kay Hickman will highlight how New Yorkers weathered the quarantine

14 Useful Mobile Apps for Walking New York City

Texting and walking at the same time is wrong. Talking on the phone while strolling down the street is wrong. Leaving the sidewalk to stop and consult the information on a cellphone, preferably while alone, is OK. What's on Walking Off the Big Apple's iPhone: A List Walkmeter GPS Walking Stopwatch for Fitness and Weight Loss . While out walking, Walkmeter tracks routes, time, speed, and elevation. This is an excellent app for recording improvised or impromptu strolls, especially with many unplanned detours. The GPS function maps out the actual route. The app keeps a running tally of calories burned while walking, useful for weight loss goals. Another welcome feature is the ability to switch over to other modes of activity, including cycling. An indispensable app for city walkers. $4.99 New York City Compass , designed by Francesco Bertelli, is an elegant compass calibrated for Manhattan, with indications for Uptown, East Side, Downtown, and West Side. While facing a cert

Taking a Constitutional Walk

A long time ago individuals going out for a walk, especially to get fresh air and exercise, often referred to the activity as "taking a constitutional walk." The word "constitutional" refers to one's constitution or physical makeup, so a constitutional walk was considered beneficial to one's overall wellbeing. (Or, as some would prefer to call it, "wellness.") The phrase is more common in British literature than in American letters. As early as the mid-nineteenth century, many American commentators expressed concern that their countrymen were falling into lazy and unhealthy habits. Newspaper columnists and editorial writers urged their readers to take up the practice of the "constitutional" walk. One such essay, " Walking as an Exercise," originally printed in the Philadelphia Gazette and reprinted in New England Farmer , Volume 11, 1859, urges the people of farm areas to take up walking. City dwellers seemed to have the

10 Short Walks from Grand Central Terminal

(updated March 2017) Famously crowded Grand Central Terminal functions as a major crossroads for the city, hosting busy commuters as they come and go from the suburbs via the Metro-North Railroad or within the city via a few subway lines, but the terminal also happens to be a good place to launch short walks. With its south side fronting E. 42nd Street and its massive structure interrupting Park Avenue, Grand Central provides quick access to many of the city's most well-known attractions. The New York Public Library and Bryant Park are only a couple of blocks away from the terminal, a quick jaunt on 42nd Street. And from there, Times Square is just another block or two farther west of the library, its neon shimmering in the distance. One wonders, standing near the intersection of 5th Avenue and 42nd Street, how many souls have been lured away from their well-meaning library studies by the beckoning lights of the Theater District. Grand Central Terminal : Before setting

The High Line and Chelsea Market: A Good Pairing for a Walk

(revised 2017) The advent of spring, with its signs of growth and rebirth, is apparent both on the High Line , where volunteers are cutting away the old growth to reveal fresh blooms, and inside the Chelsea Market, where new tenants are revitalizing the space. A walk to take in both can become an exploration of bounty and surprise, a sensual walk of adventure and sustenance. A good pairing for a walk: The High Line and Chelsea Market Walking the High Line for a round trip from Gansevoort to W. 30th and then back again adds up to a healthy 2-mile walk. Regular walkers of the elevated park look for an excuse to go there. Especially delightful is showing off the park, a model of its kind, to visitors from out of town. A stroll through Chelsea Market. Time check. If you haven't stopped into Chelsea Market lately, you may want to take a detour from the High Line at the stairs on W. 16th St. and walk through the market for a quick assessment or a sampling. Among the sampli

Visiting New York on a Monday

Mondays are OK. Let's have a look at some of the museums open Mondays - • American Museum of Natural History • Jewish Museum • Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) • National Museum of the American Indian • Neue Galerie • Guggenheim Museum • South Street Seaport Museum Any of these museums could be paired with a nearby restaurant or bar, making a complete full afternoon or day in New York. Monday is especially good for a museum visit, because the crowds tend to be thinner, and restaurants, too, tend to be less busy than on a weekend. A fun museum and bistro walk on the Upper West Side would be a combination of the American Museum of Natural History and the nearby Cafe Lalo on W. 83rd St. I also would suggest a pairing of the Neue Galerie with a nearby cafe, but the two cafes inside the musuem are so good, why go anywhere else? Image above: The Guggenheim on left and Beaux-Arts townhouse on right. View from E. 88th St. by Walking Off the Big Apple.

The City That Sometimes Sleeps, and I Am Legend, the Movie

Look at this photo I took of the Washington Square Arch at 7 a.m. this morning. Do you see anyone? I don't see anyone. I'm looking forward to the upcoming Will Smith vehicle, I Am Legend, scheduled for release on December 14. During the shooting of the production in Washington Square Park, I encountered all kinds of stretched cables, fake trees that blew around in bad weather, burned-out cars, and weird greenish lights. Fortunately, I knew it was just a movie. The premise of I Am Legend is that the lead character, Robert Neville, a scientist played by Smith, finds himself the only person (maybe!) living in New York, immune somehow to a deadly virus in the wake of an epidemic. In the trailer of the film, we see the character trudging through the grassy High Line, driving a sports car past empty skyscrapers, and walking his likewise immune dog through the streets. As someone who lives the lonely life of a morning person in New York, with two dogs, I know exactly how he feels. I

Walking Off the Big Apple

Search This Blog