5 fun things to do in NYC during the summer

One of the biggest perks of doing your Grad Visa in New York City is that you will likely get to spend a full summer as an official NYC resident.

While millions of tourists visit the city every year to tick off the Empire State Building, get a picture in Times Square and queue for a slice of Joe’s Pizza, living in the Big Apple just hits different. The best part? You have months, not days, to explore everything the city has to offer.

So buckle up and open your notes app – whether you're on a Grad Visa, a J1 Visa or simply looking for inspiration for your summer in NYC – here are five unforgettable things to do in New York City during the summer.

Watch a movie under the stars at Bryant Park

• FREE
• Midtown Manhattan
• From June until mid-August

Bryant Park plays host to a series of movie nights throughout the summer (typically every Monday evening). It’s free but you will need to get there early to secure a spot. The lawn typically opens at 5pm, which triggers a crazy dash of movie enthusiasts with picnic blankets determined to get the best seats. You can bring your own food and snacks, or else buy from the park vendors. The movie typically doesn’t start until around 8pm so you’ve loads of time to catch up with your mates (or your picnic blanket neighbours).

The movies are always crowd pleasers. We saw Gladiator and Titanic. Picture it, sitting in the pleasant summer evening air, watching a great movie with your friends, with a 360 view of some of the city’s most iconic skyscrapers, including the Empire State Building.

Top Tip: Picnic blankets are allowed, but chairs aren't. And trust me...take your shoes off before stepping across someone else's blanket, or prepare for death by a thousand dirty looks.

Explore NYC's best hidden streets

New York is full of quirky and unique streets full of great food spots and shops you won’t find in any tourism guide. It isn’t an exaggeration to say you could spend most of the day exploring a single street.

As a rule of thumb, I’d recommend setting aside about 3 hours every weekend to hit up a new street and discover for yourself all the hidden gems the city has to offer. You can find everything from quality thrift shops, bookstores and independent coffee shops.

Top tip: I’d recommend Smith Street in Brooklyn or literally any street in the East Village. Greenwich Village is also amazing, and if you do find yourself there, I’d recommend popping in to ‘Greenwich Letterpress’ for some really cool postcards to send home.

Get tickets to New York talk shows

• FREE
• Midtown Manhattan
• All year

Most talk-shows offer tickets through a lottery system, which you can typically register for through 1iota. Once you register, you can just select which shows you’d be interested in attending. Think The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, The View, The Kelly Clarkson Show or Saturday Night Live.

If you’re lucky enough to be selected, you’ll be offered tickets for a specific day which you generally can’t change. This one is definitely worth doing as tickets are generally offered very randomly and at short notice, so it never really suits the schedules of seasonal holidaymakers.

Catch a broadway show

• From $29
• Broadway
• All year

If you’re planning on seeing all that Broadway has to offer, download TodayTix and get access to the best value tickets on offer. Theatres don’t like to see empty seats, so apps like this give you access to last minute tickets for as low as $29.

Plus the more shows you see, the bigger discounts you can get through the app. I went to 12 shows during my time there. Amateur numbers compared to my housemate who saw 34. Yes, 34. Wrapping up a stressful week in work? Why not decompress by seeing Hamilton on your way home on a Thursday evening?

Escape the city for a weekend adventure

How ironic to finish an article titled ‘5 Fun Things to do in NYC during the Summer’ by recommending you leave the city. But hear me out for a minute. The East Coast of the US is surprisingly compact with other major cities only a relatively short train journey away. Philadelphia is about a 90-minute trip, DC is just over 3 hours and Boston roughly 4 hours (all departing from Penn Station).

You could pack all of these into your 30 days travel at the end of your visa, or plan a long weekend over the summer with your friends. If you’re looking for a beach break during the summer, you can also grab a train to the Jersey Shore! The train is also a really cool way of seeing so much of the East Coast (and economy on Amtrak is low-key really nice).

Top tip: If an artist you really want to see is performing on tour, tickets for their Philly or DC dates tend to be a lot cheaper than their NYC shows.

So there you have it! A New York summer can truly offer you so much if you take full advantage of it. The added bonus is that lots of these activities are free, so you don’t need to break the bank either to make some great memories. Honourable mentions too for Coney Island, Gov Ball or mini-golf along the pier in Williamsburg. Enjoy!

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