NEW YORK, April 11, 2011 — There are plenty of reasons to head to NYC in the spring — beyond just baseball. Here are four big-league events for movie buffs, car enthusiasts, art aficionados, and yes, even cocktail connoisseurs.
TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL, April 20 to May 1
This year marks the festival’s tenth since Robert De Niro founded it in response to the events of 9/11. As it’s grown, the organization has undergone many changes — including paring down its slate and making many films available to stream online, in the Festival Screening Room.
But, like Sundance, to truly experience the event you have to be there. The flicks themselves are the main draw – everything from docs about the Kings of Leon (Talihina Sky: The Story of The Kings of Leon), Carol Channing (Carol Channing: Larger Than Life), and schoolyard bullying (The Bully Project) to more commercial fare (Ed Burns‘ Newlyweds; Tony Kaye’s Detachment with the voluptuous Christina Hendricks). And notables like Martin Scorsese, Doug Liman, Alec Baldwin, and Michael Collins will taking part in a slew of panel discussions.
Porsche’s Panamera S Hybrid on view at the NY International Auto Show. Photo courtesy Porsche.
The most important key to navigating TFF is to be flexible: Tickets for the big-name movies sell out fast, so take a chance and discover some of the lesser-known films or directorial debuts. You can take in a free outdoor screening, too — The Muppets Take Manhattan and Fame are on tap.
Single tickets for American Express Cardmembers go on sale April 12; for the general public, tickets are available April 18, and prices start at $8.
NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW, April 22 to May 1
Do you spend a good two hours every weekend washing and buffing your car? Do you pay almost as much attention to the car commercials as to the game? Would you choose a date with a Ferrari over one with Angelina Jolie?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then get thee to the New York International Auto Show, where you’ll find the Javits Center’s four floors (that’s 846,000 square feet) filled with 1,000 cars, from brand-new models to classic cars to concept cars to hybrid vehicles from around the world. Among the offerings, The LF-Gh (which stands for Lexus Future Grand Touring Hybrid) and Porsche’s Panamera S Hybrid. You can also meet the characters of Disney’s Cars 2, NBA legend Earl Monroe, and, for reasons we’re unsure of, Jerry Springer. Tickets, $14, adults, $4, kids.
FESTIVAL OF IDEAS FOR THE NEW CITY, May 4 to 8
The cutting-edge New Museum mounts this inaugural fest, which brings together disparate communities in a collaborative environment with the goal of making cities better places to live.
Artists, architects, writers, environmentalists, economists, techies, and community leaders are among the groups who will participate in a variety of forums including cooking demonstrations with urban farmers, rooftop gardening classes, walking and biking tours of the city, art installations, oral history projects, and screenings in a solar-powered movie tent.
Poetry projected on NYC buildings, part of the Festival of Ideas. Photo courtesy POEMobile by Bowery Poetry Club.
Get a taste of everything at the outdoor StreetFest on Saturday, May 7, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., stretching all along the Bowery. You can take in unique, city-based art projects (including projections of poems in endangered languages on Lower East Side buildings), see a prototype of an urban campground; sample yummy local food from the vendors at Brooklyn Flea; silkscreen your own tote or T-shirt; and explore all sorts of ways cities are becoming greener.
Many events, including the StreetFest, are free; some panel discussions require tickets.
MANHATTAN COCKTAIL CLASSIC, May 13 to 17
Get educated about your alcohol! This annual celebration of cocktails and culture — with more than 100 events — spreads out across all five boroughs and features everything from an 80s dress-up party with DonQ Rum concoctions, to high-brow discussions of mixology, to a Mad Men-themed cocktail party on the rooftop of Ogilvy & Mather (the rumored inspiration for Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce).
Discover an obscure Japanese whisky, sample various mezcals and tequilas in different settings, learn how to update those old-fashioned spirits (Lustau: Not Your Grandmother’s Sherry!), and visit some of NYC’s premier lounges, where you’ll learn about their cocktail philosophy. Even though it’s a month away, these events are selling out. Most events are $50.
Jennifer Ceaser is a veteran lifestyle and travel writer and editor and her wordsmith talents can be enjoyed in The New York Post, Gotham Magazine,Delta Sky Magazine, Tribeca Film and elsewhere.
Read more from Jen in Out And About NYC in the Communities in the Washington Times.
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