Despite what one might think, this post is about literally hot as in high temperatures summer, so if you are hoping for some steamy content, I will disappoint you, but if you want to know how I battled way too hot NYC summer with the random combination of beaches and museums, read right on.
Fire Island dreaming
Now, I know that beach and museum is not a traditional pairing, but somehow looking at the summary of my NYC summer time - that’s what it came down to. New York is the city I am lucky to call home and I am forever grateful to be living here, but every time I am staying in for a summer I am left with the question - what to do? There is something about summer time, you always want to feel that you made the best out of it, long awaited, when it is finally here you want to soak up every beat, but it just does not feel real summery if you don’t go on vacation or some kind of adventure, plus it gets stupid hot in NYC - just try to take a subway on a regular summer day - it will feel like you are in a sauna. Your most prized possession and best friend will be an AC, it also becomes high point in advertising - “We have AC” will be scribbled across all the chalk boards in front of every possible bar/restaurant/cafe…
So how do you escape summer heat? Go to the beach or go somewhere with good AC…
Cousin IT enjoys the Beach
Step one. Beach.
All things considered we are lucky to have number of beaches all around NYC. Coney Island in Brooklyn, Rockaway in Queens, Fire Island, Hamptons and Montauk.
Rockaway beach is a nice option, since it is easily accessible by public transportation, but less crowded then say Coney Island one.
I really wanted to take advantage of a new Ferry service they opened up www.ferry.nyc/routes-and-schedules/route/rockaway/, for $2.75 a ride it seamed like a nice, scenic route option, but when I got to the Wall street the line turned out to be enormous, so I had to quickly abandon this idea and got to the plan B - subway. Luckily you can take A to 67th street (for example) quick walk and hooray you are at the beach. Helpful tip if you are planing on taking a subway on a weekend check this site - tripplanner.mta.info/MyTrip/ui_web/customplanner/TripPlanner.aspx. New York subway on weekends like to play games and trains often suffer from the identity crisis … so A, runs like C on E track, you get the idea…
Robert Moses State Park
The Rockaway beach is in general nice - it is clean and equipped with new broad walk and fancy public restrooms, there is also a life guard on duty. What they dont have is any kind of cafe or bar or any place on site where you could get some kind of food, which is really disappointing, since picnic on a beach is generally a really nice idea, so come prepared, or make a stop at the grocery store (there is a Stop and Shop close by the subway) on the way to the beach.
Lighthouse on the way to the beach. Fire Island
Much less crowded and more scenic would be Fire Island beaches. You will need to rent a car or get on a Ferry for that one, it is harder to reach but it is worth it.
If you decide on a car - drive to Robert Moses State Park. You will need to pay a fee, at the parking lot this being a state park, but there are plenty of parking places and the beach is lovely, although keep in mind there might not be a life guard on duty …
If you opt for the Ferry - www.fireislandferries.com www.sayvilleferry.com/index.php - you will be guaranteed nice views on a ride and will dock down at the very cute town with beach vibes, which is always fun to explore, also you will feel like you are far far away from NYC…
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Step 2. Museums. While there are plenty of places that offer AC as an escape from NYC heat, I chose museums. Mostly because come summer time many of them feature nice events, so you can not only soak up culture and cool down but also listen for live music for example.
Life imitates art at MoMA
I went down to MOMA for a life performance in there garden as a part of there Summer Thursdays and it was lovely. The concert is included in your museum admission price, which is a nice touch as well. You can find upcoming events here -www.moma.org/calendar/?happening_filter=All+events
same thing at Met
Come Friday you can take advantage of MetFridays - www.metmuseum.org/events/programs/met-fridays that offers wide range of evening activities, some of which you might need to book a spot for in advance (you don’t need to pay extra, it is included with your museum admission) or simply come up to the roof and get a glass of wine. Art, wine, rooftop and views of Central Park - here is your summer living full swing.
MetFridays
You can also get out of town and into a museum on a weekend.
This summer I finally got to visit Dia:Beacon -www.diaart.org and it was an incredible experience, honestly I do not remember last time I was so excited by the museum, took me around 4 hours to explore everything and while sometimes you get simply overwhelmed by the amount of information that is thrown at you in the museums like lets say Met for example, that contains it all, and it is hard to filter through, at DIA everything works perfectly together, exhibitions blend seamlessly permanent and temporary displaces coexist cohesively guaranteeing beautiful experience. I am not gonna describe what you will find there, so not to spoil anything, but if you choose to go, there is plenty to see and do, and the building itself is a whole different story, Dia used to be a factory and it is still contains original walls, beams and most importantly windows, there are enormous amount of windows. Dia:Beacon uses only natural light and there is plenty of it coming from floor to ceiling windows and many many skylights, whole building gets this open space, airy feel and it is safe to say that everyone gets a different experience depending on a time of a day they come in, from cool morning light to the golden hour hues.
Dan Flavin at Dia:Beacon
The great thing about Dia is also the fact that it is really easy to get to even without the car. Take advantage of Metro-North’s One-Day Getaway Package which includes a round trip tickets to Beacon from Grand Central and the museum ticket. All around win win win situation.
Stop by the Beacon on a way back and explore cute town, if you are happen to be a “Doctor Who” fan - which I am not- stop by www.thepandoricarestaurant.com
Even if "Doctor Who" is not your cup of tea, there are plenty of charming places to grab a bite at all conveniently located on a Main Street of course. One coffee shop even offers wine smoothies, which is a frozen wine blended in with fresh fruit, now tell me that doesn’t sound like fun.
So this is a short recap of my New York summer, beaches, art and wine :) Hope you enjoyed reading this.
Happy last days of Summer
<3 Dinara
Dia:Beacon
