New York Wire

Bronx Zoo Holiday Lights returns November 21, 2026, and for the first time, tickets include park entry from 1 p.m. and nighttime access to three animal exhibits. The festival runs on 28 select nights through January 3, 2027, with lantern trails lighting up at 4:30 p.m. and final entry at 8 p.m. Key Takeaways The Children’s Zoo Farmyard, World of Darkness, and World of Reptiles stay open during Holiday Lights for the first time. Holiday Lights tickets now grant park entry starting at 1 p.m., turning the evening event into a full afternoon and night at the zoo. Deal Days tickets start at $29.95 for adults and $14.95 for children ages 3 to 12, and children 2 and under enter free. The event skips Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. A Sensory Inclusive Night is scheduled for Thursday, December 3, 2026. Holiday Lights Tickets Now Cover an Afternoon at the Zoo The change most likely to reshape a family’s plans at Bronx Zoo Holiday Lights this year is the entry time. Tickets now open the park at 1 p.m., several hours before the lanterns switch on at 4:30 p.m. In past seasons, the festival worked as an

Bryant Park Winter Village extends its rink hours to midnight from November 19, 2026, through January 3, 2027, two extra hours a night beyond the usual 10 p.m. close. Admission to the 17,000-square-foot rink stays free for skaters who bring their own skates and reserve a session in advance. Key Takeaways The rink and The Lodge food hall stay open from 8 a.m. to midnight daily between November 19 and January 3. Free own-skate tickets are released daily for dates one week out, with one session per skater per day. Skate rentals cost between $18.72 and $64.48, including fees, and prices drop during off-peak times. Helmet rental and shoe check are free, and skate aids are free before 10:30 a.m. while supplies last. The Holiday Shops close for the season on January 3, while the rink stays open until February 28, 2027. The Midnight Window Adds Two Hours of Skating for Six Weeks Bryant Park Winter Village opened on October 28 for its 25th season, with the rink running from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. The schedule shifts on November 19, when the rink and The Lodge, the rinkside bar and food hall, both stay open until midnight. That

John Procario: Freeforms opened October 27, 2026, at the Museum of Arts and Design at 2 Columbus Circle, giving the American designer his first solo museum presentation. The show fills two galleries with hand-bent ash light sculptures, sconces and furniture lit from within, and runs through April 4, 2027. Key Takeaways John Procario: Freeforms, Sculptural Explorations in Wood and Light is on view at the Museum of Arts and Design from October 27, 2026, through April 4, 2027. The exhibition is the first solo museum presentation of Procario’s work. Flexible LED strips are embedded inside strips of hand-bent ash, so the wood itself becomes the light source. A second gallery is dedicated to furniture, including pieces from Procario’s Sculptural Seating series. Procario has worked LED lighting into his wooden sculptures since 2012. General admission is $20, with Pay What You Wish entry from 5 to 8 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month. John Procario Bends Ash Wood Close To Its Breaking Point John Procario builds each piece in Freeforms from strips of ash wood that he twists and shapes by hand into open, looping forms. The technique is a type of bentwood lamination, in which thin layers of

The 53rd annual Village Halloween Parade steps off Saturday, October 31, 2026, at 7 p.m., marching north on Sixth Avenue from Canal Street to 15th Street under the theme “Body & Soul.” A new Firehorse puppet performance by Basil Twist leads the procession, Joey Arias serves as Grand Marshal, and watching is free. Key Takeaways The Village Halloween Parade begins at 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 31, 2026, runs rain or shine, and is expected to wrap around 11 p.m. The route runs north on Sixth Avenue from Canal Street to 15th Street, and spectators can watch from either side of the avenue. Costumed marchers join the lineup at Canal Street and Sixth Avenue between 6:30 and 9 p.m. Performance artist Joey Arias is the 2026 Grand Marshal. Spectrum News NY1 carries the parade live beginning at 8 p.m. Organizers estimate the parade generates about $120 million in tourism spending for New York City each year. Body & Soul Theme Puts Skeletons And Dance At The Center The Village Halloween Parade’s 2026 theme grows out of the procession’s own tradition. Artistic and producing director Jeanne Fleming points to the skeletons that lead the parade each year, figures that move between

New York’s exploratory committee for a 2042 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid and New York City held its first full meeting on October 19 in Manhattan, with nearly 90 members now named. The state also committed $2.5 million to a Miracle on Ice monument. The yearlong study is not a formal bid. Key Takeaways The Lake Placid–New York City Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Exploratory Committee met for the first time at the New York Athletic Club in Manhattan. The committee works through five subcommittees: Games Operations, Finance, Legal, Community Engagement and Strategic Advisors. The study runs about one year, and its findings go to state leadership for review. Lake Placid hosted the Winter Games in 1932 and 1980, and more than $750 million in state investment has modernized its Olympic venues. The $5.2 million Monument to a Miracle at Herb Brooks Arena is scheduled for unveiling in February 2030, with $2.5 million coming from the state. No decision has been made to pursue hosting the 2042 Winter Olympics. 2042 Winter Olympics Committee Brings Nearly 90 Members To The Table The 2042 Winter Olympics committee was first announced in June with a leadership group and subcommittee co-chairs. Its full roster