New York City Fall Calendar 2018

Vernon Duke (1903-1969), né Vladimir Dukelsy, wrote the music and lyrics for "Autumn in New York," the jazz standard that originated in the 1934 Broadway musical Thumbs Up!. The bittersweet lyrics call forth the sight of autumn in the big city, "the promise of new love," and a grateful acceptance of inevitable change and loss.

Autumn in Central Park, New York City

No wonder Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Billy Holiday, Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Tormé, and a hundred of other crooners wanted to record such a wistful song. The notes themselves, falling like leaves, were enough for the likes of Charlie Parker and the Modern Jazz Quartet. Read more, and listen.

The calendar includes most major events through the fall season. A New York City Winter Calendar will be published in December.

Seasonal Changes

• Peak fall foliage
The peak fall foliage in NYC usually occurs in late October and the first two weeks of November, coinciding with Halloween festivities and the New York City Marathon.

The NYC Parks website maintains a list of fall foliage events around the city’s parks.

Autumn colors uptown. At the Met Cloisters with a view of the George Washington Bridge

Great places to enjoy fall colors include the Bronx Zoo, Wave Hill, Fort Tryon Park, Inwood Hill Park, Central Park, and Prospect Park.

• First frost date
According to the Victory Seeds company website, the average first frost in NYC is October 27.

• Fall bird migration
September and October are the months to watch for fall bird migration. Keep an eye our for hawks and bald eagles as well as song bird migration.

• Weather maps
The National Weather Service has issued 3-month probability maps for temperature and precipitation in the U.S. The maps indicate the probability of a warmer and wetter season than normal.

Major Fall Events in NYC 2018

• Metropolitan Opera
The 2018-2019 season opened September 24, 2018 with Opening Night Gala for Samson et Dalila at 6 p.m. website

The Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center

• New York Film Festival
Film Society of Lincoln Center
September 28-October 14, 2018 website

• Bronx Zoo’s Boo at the Zoo
weekends, September 29 - October 28, 2018 website

normal attire at the Medieval Festival in Fort Tryon Park

• Medieval Festival
Fort Tryon Park
September 30, 2018 website

• 15th Fall for Dance Festival
NY City Center
October 1-13, 2018 website

New York City Center

• New York Film Festival
Film Society Lincoln Center
September 28-October 14, 2018 website

• New York Comic Con
Javits Center
October 4 - 7, 2018 website

• Rockefeller Center Skating rink opens
October 8, 2018

The famous rink at Rockefeller Center

• Columbus Day Parade
October 8, 2018

• New York City Wine & Food Festival
October 11-14, 2018 website

• Open House New York
October 12-14, 2018 website

• White Light Festival
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
October 16 - Nov. 18, 2018 website

• Wollman Rink in Central Park opens for ice skating
October 20, 2018

A jack-o'-lantern contest in Isham Park in the Inwood neighborhood of Northern Manhattan.

• Winter Village Bryant Park
October 27, 2018 - January 2, 2019 website

• Halloween in Central Park: Pumpkin Flotilla
October 28, 2018 4 to 7 p.m. website

• Halloween
Village Halloween Parade
October 31, 2018 7–10:30 pm. website

Spooky Halloween decorations on the Upper West Side

• Daylight Saving Time ends
November 4, 2018

• New York City Marathon
November 4, 2018 website

Winter Village Bryant Park opens October 27

• Election Day
Tuesday, November 6
Voter information at NY State Board of Elections

• Veteran’s Day
November 11, 2018

• Grand Central Holiday Fair
November 12 - December 24, 2018 website

Balloon inflation on the eve of the parade

• Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Thursday, November 22, 2018 website
On Wednesday, November 21, 2018 watch the balloon inflation near the American Museum of Natural History, Columbus Ave. & W. 74th St.

• Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting
November 28, 2018 website

Religious Holidays

• Sukkot Sep 24-25, 2018 M‑Tu and Sep 26-30, 2018 W‑Su.

• The first Sunday in Advent falls on December 2, 2018.

• Chanukah December 3-10, 2018 M‑M

Fall Museum Exhibitions of note:

Delacroix on the Met Steps, Fifth Avenue

• Delacroix
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Fifth Avenue
Through January 6, 2019

• Sarah Lucas: Au Naturel
The New Museum of Contemporary Art
Through January 20, 2019

• Charles White: A Retrospective
The Museum of Modern Art
Through January 13, 2019

• Andy Warhol - From A to B and Back Again
Whitney Museum of American Art
November 12, 2018- March 31, 2019
First Warhol retrospective in the U.S. since 1989

• Chagall, Lissitzky, Malevich: The Russian Avant-Garde in Vitebsk, 1918-1922
Jewish Museum
Through January 6, 2019

Additional exhibitions listed here.

Grand Central Terminal at holiday time

More:

• Breakfast at Tiffany’s, the novella by Truman Capote, begins in October and follows Holly Golightly through the four seasons. See this walk from the WOTBA archives to visit her New York.

• You want more wistful with your autumn in New York? When December rolls around, you’ll want to remember September. So says this great song from The Fantasticks (1960) sung by Jerry Orbach, the original El Gallo in the Sullivan Street Playhouse production.

Winter is coming to a city near you. The New York City Winter Calendar 2018-2019 will be published in time for the winter solstice, Friday, December 21, 2018 at 5:22 pm.

• Plan a fall foliage day cruise up the Hudson River. See Sailing Off the Big Apple for details.

Images by Walking Off the Big Apple.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

From Penn Station to New York Landmarks: Measuring Walking Distance and Time in Manhattan

(revised 2017) How long does it take to walk from Penn Station/Madison Square Garden to well-known destinations in Manhattan? What are the best walking routes ? What if I don't want to see anything in particular but just want to walk around? In addition to the thousands of working commuters from the surrounding area, especially from New Jersey and Long Island who arrive at Penn Station via New Jersey Transit or the Long Island Rail Road, many people arrive at the station just to spend time in The City. Some have questions. Furthermore, a sporting event may have brought you to Madison Square Garden (above Penn Station), and you want to check out what the city offers near the event. This post if for you. The map below should help you measure walking distances and times from the station to well-known destinations in Manhattan - Bryant Park , the Metropolitan Museum of Art , the Empire State Building , Times Square , Rockefeller Center , Washington Square Park , the High Line

Walking Off the Big Apple

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