The Strand Hotel Opens in Midtown Manhattan new, modern tower featuring 20 intimate floors housing 177 deluxe guest rooms and junior suites at 33 W. 37th St. (between 5th and 6th avenues). Read more at Strand Hotel Opens in New York City

Gray Line New York Offers Two New Tours: "Freestyle New York Double Decker Bus Tour" and "Statue by Night" The Freestyle New York Double Decker Bus Tour is 48 hours of hop-on, hop-off fun that will take you to New York City's top attractions, museums and shops, with stops to over 50 locations throughout the city. The spectacular Statue by Night Tour offers customers the chance to see New York City when it sparkles. Read more at New Gray Line NYC tours

Enjoy Restaurant Dining from Food Kiosks in World Financial Center Plaza in Battery Park Three new alfresco food kiosks – featuring the culinary stylings of some of New York City’s best-known restaurateurs – are open for business at the World Financial Center Plaza in Battery Park City, just outside the Winter Garden atrium fronting the Hudson River. Read more at Ed's Lobster Bar, Harry's Italian, and Quality Burger bring their kiosks to Lower Manhattan

Kitchen of the Year returns to Rockefeller Plaza in New York City on July 19th House Beautiful's Kitchen of the Year returns to Rockefeller Plaza in New York City on July 19th, featuring an all-new design by Jeff Lewis. As the premier authority on American design and decoration. Read more at Explore Dream Kitchens at Rockefeller Plaza

International CringeFest - "BAD" Plays, Musicals & Films You Don't Want to Miss CringeFest '10, from Monday, July 19, to Sunday, August 8, takes place in the Grand Theatre at the Producers' Club, 358 W. 44 St. These are not really "bad" plays, more like works that are irreverent, politically incorrect, politically satirical, naughty, and perhaps a bit bizarre. Read more at CringeFest 2010

ACES Offers New Contests just for Summer The Atlantic City Express Service (ACES), offering the only direct train service between New York City and Atlantic City, celebrates the start of the summer travel season by offering riders the chance to win exclusive prizes to mark the “100 Days of Summer.” Read more at 100 Days of Summer Contests

New York City Beaches are Open for Fun City beaches span a total of 14 miles and include Orchard Beach in the Bronx; Coney Island and Manhattan Beach in Brooklyn; Rockaway Beach in Queens; and Midland Beach, South Beach, and Wolfe's Pond Beach in Staten Island. All City beaches are free to the public. Read more at Beach fun in NYC Malaysian Restaurant Week - New York City, June 14th through 20th From June 14th through June 20th restaurants around the city (Queens certainly included) will be offering $20.10 price fixed menus, and other places are offering special two-course dinners. Read more at Malaysian Restaurant Week

Red Bull Air Race Championship In New York City Look to the skies over the Hudson River on June 19 and 20. There, 15 of the world’s best pilots will race individually against the clock for the fastest time through a racetrack made up of inflatable pylons. The occasion will mark the fifth Red Bull Air Race Championship season in 2010 and the first time in 100 years that an international air race is held in New York. Read OffbeatNewYork arts contributor Denise Matia report at Red Bull Air Race

Antony Gormley Exhibit From now until August 15th - enjoy Gormley's art by Denise Mattia. Read about the exhibit and where to find his extraordinary sculptures at Antony Gormley in New York City

Brooklyn Botanic Gardens celebrates 29th Annual Sakura Matsuri Cherry Blossom Festival: May 1 and 2, 2010 Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s peerless collection of more than 200 Japanese flowering cherry trees—the most diverse array outside Japan—creates an explosion of blossoms in spring worthy of a major celebration. Read more at Cherry Blossom Festival

Russian Tea Room Restaurant Will Offer Guided Tours of Famous Upper Floors Along with its Food During Restaurant Week - 2010 The Russian Tea Room, one of New York City's most iconic and storied eating establishments, announced that, for the first time ever, it will be offering exclusive guided tours of its celebrated four-story facility for dining guests and visitors during New York City Restaurant Week. Read more at Tour New York City's Famous Russian Tea Room

February 8th through 28th, 2010: Enjoy Two-for-One Off-Broadway Tickets Make your reservations NOW. Read more at Off-Broadway Promotion

Empire Fulton Ferry State Park Closing for Renovation Beginning January 1, 2010. Will reopen Spring 2011 Read more at Empire Fulton Ferry Park Closes for Upgrades

2010 Nightclub & Bar Awards Program Finalists Announced - and in New York, the finalists are... The Nightclub & Bar Magazine has just announced the finalists in the 2010 Nightclub & Bar Awards program, and New York City is represented. See if you know and have enjoyed these local finalists. Read more at New York City Finalists for Award-winning Bars and Nightclubs

2009

The Theatre Museum presents the exhibition Brooklyn Sees Stars at the LIU Campus Library (Brooklyn) November 16th – December 18th, 2009 the exhibition paints a portrait of Brooklyn’s thriving theatre scene from the late 19th century through the first half of the 20th – a time when the biggest stage and screen stars made Brooklyn theatres a major stop on their pre- and post-Broadway tours. Read more at Brooklyn Sees Stars by the Theatre Museum

Union Square and Columbus Circle Holiday Markets open November 25th Shoppers can once again enjoy the outdoor sights and sounds of the New York holiday season as they stroll through Urban Space's 6th annual Columbus Circle Holiday Market and 14th annual Union Square Holiday Market. Read more at Holiday Markets

Peoples' Symphony Concerts Fall Schedule - Affordable Music for Everyone With three packages of six concerts each for as little as $32 or $5.33 per ticket on 12 Saturday nights and $37 or $6.17 on 6 Sunday afternoons, the City's oldest and most beloved concert series offers what the New York Times described as "Top Music for Bottom Dollar." Read more at Peoples Concert Series

Film About New York City's Favorite Hawk - Pale Male- Debuts New York City Audubon will host the premiere of The Legend of Pale Male on November 6th. Read more at Film on Pale Male debuts

Art In Odd Places - October 1st through 26th - 2009 When you walk down 14th Street this October, watch for signs that life isn’t as it has been. For the second year, Art in Odd Places, NYC’s free annual public art and performance festival, gives daily life from Avenue C to the Hudson River an artistic twist. Under the rubric ‘SIGN”, over 60 artists, from New York and beyond, creatively engage the street, using ideas, imagination, humor, and politics to encourage its residents, workers, and visitors to experience it anew. Read more at Art in Odd Places

Atlantic City Express Service (ACEs) Rolls out Direct Train service Between New York City and Atlantic City on February 6, 2009 The Atlantic City Express Service (ACES), a joint venture of Caesars Atlantic City, Harrah's Resort Atlantic City and Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa, announced today that weekend train service between New York's Penn Station and Atlantic City will officially launch on February 6, 2009. ACES will offer customers direct service between the two cities. Read more at Atlantic City and New York City Express Train

Celebrity Greeter for a Day Program pairs tourists with famous New Yorkers Visitors to New York City could find themselves exploring New York's most authentic, off-the-beaten path neighbourhoods, accompanied by some of the city's best-known celebrities, business leaders, and elected representatives under a program announced today by Big Apple Greeter called the "Celebrity Greeter for a Day Program." Read more at Big Apple Celebrity Greeter for a Day

2008