Photograph by Emmanuel Abreu Courtesy of United Palace

This weekend marks the unofficial start of summer as we celebrate Memorial Day. Over the upcoming three day weekend and into the week ahead there are tons of ways to welcome the summer season in NYC. From outdoor movie screenings and walking tours in the park, to neighborhood food markets and free kayaking, check out our Untapped Picks:

Friday, May 24th

Kick off the outdoor summer movie season at Randall’s Island with a screening of the Incredibles 2. This free, family friendly screening will be preceded by arts and crafts and there will be free popcorn while supplies last! Check out all of the other best places in New York City to watch an outdoor movie this summer in our roundup.

Saturday, May 25th

Summer is unofficially here with the celebration of Memorial Day weekend! From outdoor movie screenings on an aircraft carrier, to ship tours and a Navy dunk tank, check out our list of alternative ways to celebrate during this long holiday weekend.

Discover the hidden-in-plain-sight remnants of the 1939/40 and 1964/65 World’s Fairs with playwright and Untapped Cities Chief Experience Officer Justin Rivers on Untapped Cities Tour of the Remnants of the World’s Fairs at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. Visit the monument to a 5000-year time capsule, view the original guidebooks from each of the World’s Fairs and get a comprehensive history of the past, present, and future of Flushing Meadow-Corona Park, with Insider information from our partners involved with the preservation of the New York State Pavilion.

Tour the Remnants of the World’s Fairs at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park

Sunday, May 26th

Go back in time to the halcyon days of Times Square when 42nd Street was the Deuce, Eighth Avenue was the Minnesota Strip and the Great White Way was a red light district on Untapped Cities Tour of the Remnants of Gritty OId Times Square. On this journey into the past, guests will visit locations from the seedy side of Times Square, as seen in HBO’s hit series The Deuce. You will visit the sites of former peepshows, dive bars, hotsheet hotels, sex clubs, porno theaters, and massage parlors–not to mention all three locations of the New York Times. Plus, hear about the crazy characters of gritty Times Square, like the King of the Peeps; the reclusive genius behind the McDonalds of Sex; and the woman who built a gay and S&M porn empire.

Gritty Old Times Square

Catch one of the first Rooftop Films outdoor movie screenings of the season at the New Design High School in Manhattan. Tonight the film being presented is the HBO documentary Running With Beto, a look into the senate campaign of Beto O’Rourke as he ran to unseat Senator Ted Cruz. The film will be preceded by live music from Las Rosas and followed by a Q&A with director David Modigliani and producer Rebecca Feferman and an after-party.

Celebrate the 136th anniversary of the Brooklyn Bridge on Untapped Cities Secrets of The Brooklyn Bridge Walking Tour! On this trip across the iconic span, guests will learn about the bridge’s old Cold War fall out shelter, hidden champagne vaults, an abandoned park on the bridge’s perimeter, a tucked away statue of the allegedly cursed family of engineers who built the bridge, and so much more!

The Secrets of Brooklyn Bridge Walking Tour

Photograph by Emmanuel Abreu Courtesy of United Palace

Explore the stunning United Palace Theater on a behind-the-scenes tour. This 3,400-seat entertainment palace was originally built as one of the five Loew’s Wonder theaters in the New York City during the 1920s and 1930s. Designed by architect Thomas Lamb (Cort Theatre, the former Ziegfeld Theatre) and styled by Harold Rambausch (Waldorf Astoria, Radio City Music Hall), the landmarked theater looks almost identical to its original form thanks to various restoration projects throughout the years. You can join this free tour if you are an Untapped Cities Insider! Not an Insider yet? Become a member today to gain access to free behind-the-scenes tours and special events all year long.

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Photo by Marco Shalma via The Bronx Night Market

Attend the first Bronx Night Market of the season at Fordham Plaza. The free food festival starts at 4:00PM and runs until 10:00PM. The market is the largest food market in The Bronx, Westchester County and Uptown Manhattan, featuring over 40 food, drink, and artisan vendors that represent the city’s diverse culinary and cultural offerings.

Monday, May 27th

Enjoy the day off with a kayak trip taking off from Socrates Sculpture Park. From 1:00PM until 4:00 PM the LIC Community Boathouse will offer free kayaking and canoeing from Socrates’ beach at Hallets Cove (enter at 31-10 Vernon Blvd). Participant sign up on first come, first served basis. No prior boating experience is required and equipment is provided. All ages, and even well-behaved dogs, are welcome.

Tuesday, May 28th

Discover the LGBTQ+ history of Greenwich Village at the New York Historical Society talk, Greenwich Village: The LGBTQ Community Finds a Haven. The presentation will be given by architectural historian Barry Lewis who will trace how the city’s gay community found safe haven among New York’s “free-love” bohemians of the early 20th century, then blossomed again in a new era’s openness in the post-Stonewall New York of the 1970s. Advanced tickets are required.

Wednesday, May 29th

Find a new way to deal with the despair associated with contemplating the dire prospects of climate change at the Rubin Museum’s talk and guided meditation, The Power of Hope in a Changing Climate. Author Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, an urban sustainability policy expert and guest host Jungwon Kim of the Rainforest Alliance will lead a conversation about to how to stay fully engaged in the fight for our planet while also dealing with despair in a constructive way. They will also share their own practices, developed to “build emotional resilience, ignite effective action, and stay connected to the love we have for the Earth and for each other.”

Thursday, May 30th

Learn the history of the Drag March at one of Village Preservation’s Stonewall50 events, A Drag March Storyslam: Tales of Glamour and Resistance! This year marks not just the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riot, but also the 25th Anniversary of Drag March, which was founded in response to Stonewall 25’s rejection of Drag, gender-nonconforming, fetish, and others marginalized within the queer community. This multimedia storytelling event that will “illuminate, titillate, and educate” with a celebration of 25 years, the creation of a Drag March archive, and a collection of memorable storytelling performances. This event is free.

See our full list of upcoming public tours and Insider events.