This week in New York City, in addition to enjoying the blooming cherry blossoms and other natural spoils of springs, check out our Untapped picks for exciting events taking place all over the city. Discover Manhattan’s maritime history, learn about sci-fi literature, test you tolerance for hot sauce and more:

Friday, April 12th

Find out how the public can contribute to plant research and conservation at the New York Botanical Garden’s National Citizen Science Day Celebration. NYBG will actually be hosting events all weekend long, but the celebrations start on Friday with a symposium, Nature at Your Doorstep: Celebrating the Public Participant in Research, moderated by Dr. Brian M. Boom, Vice President for Conservation Strategy at NYBG.

Saturday, April 13th

Get out and explore Greenwich Village on one of the many walking tours presented throughout the neighborhood by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. GVSHP is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Greenwich Village Historic District this weekend with a two day festival of tours which kicks off on Saturday at noon with a celebration in Girabaldi Plaza. Many of the tours are free and don’t require advanced registration but some cost money and do require a reservation. You can see all of the events here!

Uncover remnants of New York City’s seafaring past on our new Tour of NYC’s Maritime History. Explore early Dutch era maritime history through the stories of infamous sea captains Adrian Block and William Kidd, walk the less-charted trail along the historic east side slips including Old Slip and Coenties, learn about New York’s old buried ships on both and more!

Tour of NYC’s Maritime History

Test your tolerance for heat at the 7th Annual NYC Hot Sauce Expo in Brooklyn. Those willing to take up the challenge can compete in extreme eating competitions on the The Stage of DOOM, or you can take part in many of the other more subdued events like cocktails demonstrations, and tastings at 50 different hot sauce vendors.

Sunday, April 14th

Spend Sunday afternoon outside with Untapped Cities as we uncover the secrets of Central Park.On this expert-led tour, learn about the curious origins of the Central Park Zoo, discover the hidden meaning in Bethesda Terrace’s sculptures, see the secret bolt left behind from the creation of Manhattan’s street grid and more!

Secrets of Central Park Walking Tour

Discover how the colonial history of New York shaped the city we have today on Untapped Cities’ tour of the remnants of Dutch New Amsterdam. Walk the city’s original coast line and street grid, see the remains of Manhattan’s first City Hall, physically touch history and find out what else the Dutch left behind.

Tour of The Remnants of Dutch New Amsterdam

See Untapped Cities’ full lists of upcoming public tours and Insider events!

Monday, April 15th

Spend an evening with George Chauncey, author of the trailblazing book Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940 at the Brooklyn Historical Society. Chauncey’s book shattered the myth that gay life existed only in the closet before the 1960s, and in this presentation, George Chauncey on Gay Male Culture in Post-War NYC, the DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University will go beyond the material covered in his book to examine New York City’s post-war gay culture and politics. If you are an Untapped Cities Insider, you can attend this event for free!

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Tuesday, April 16th

Join the The General Society of Mechanics & Tradesmen and the Landmarks Conservancy for Through the Glass: The Evolution of the Window in Historic Buildings, a General Society Landmark Lecture. The lecture will be given by Michael Devonshire, the Director of Conservation for Jan Hird Pokorny Associates with forty years of experience in the field of historic preservation. He will describe a history of windows, the perception of windows in art, and examine how windows have functioned in history. Advanced registration is required.

Learn how early 19th century New Yorkers incorporated nature into home design and city planning at the New York Historical Society’s presentation, Nature and New York: Victorians “Greening” Their Homes and Cities. The talk will be given by Barry Lewis, an architectural historian who specializes in European and American architecture from the 18th to 20th centuries.

Examine the life and work of controversial writer H.P. Lovecraft at the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies, an organization named after a fictional setting that appears in Lovecraft’s work. The Shadow Over Lovecraft: Interrogating H.P. Lovecraft’s Racism will be a town hall styled discussion with featured speakers who include Lovecraft scholar Peter H. Cannon and authors Victor LaValle, Matt Ruff and Ruthanna Emrys.

Thursday, April 18th

Take a visit to The Living Museum in Queens, an extensive exhibition of art created by patients of the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center who are using art as therapy. The Living Museum contains an eclectic mix of work from over 60 artists inside what was once the cafeteria building of Creedmoor’s sprawling, over 100-year old campus. You can join this free visit if you are an Untapped Cities Insider!

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Hop aboard Madame Morbid’s haunted trolley for a One Night Only Tour with Ryan Matthew Cohn, a collector and
curator of the Oddities Flea Market. Cohn will share some of his rarest and favorite pieces from his personal collection on the Victorian trolley while you travel past locations of unmarked graves, infamous murder sites, and other haunted locations in Williamsburg, the Navy Yard, DUMBO, Boerum Hill, Gowanus, Park Slope and Prospect Park.