Sunny Friday to Sunday, cool mornings. Get outside.
Friday is sunny with a high near 58 and a north wind gusting to 20 mph. Saturday is sunny, high near 60, and Sunday is sunny, high near 64. Nights are clear and cool, with lows around 42. No watches, warnings or advisories were listed when the National Weather Service forecast was issued on Wednesday evening, so check it again before you go.
Sunset 6:04pm. Full forecast (National Weather Service)
Three sunny days in a row, in late October, in New York. Nobody panic. Mornings start in the low 40s, so the hats stay on until about 11, then everyone takes them off and hands them to you.
About 20 minutes on the Metro-North Harlem local from Grand Central to Botanical Garden station, which is directly across the street from the Mosholu Entrance
Allow most of a day with a five-year-old, and get there for 11am, when the puppets come out.
Where: Everett Children's Adventure Garden, New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Boulevard, Bedford Park, The Bronx. The Mosholu Entrance (2950 Southern Boulevard) is the one nearest the trains.
Subway: Metro-North Harlem local to Botanical Garden (a City Ticket is $5.25 off-peak), or the B, D or 4 to Bedford Park Blvd, then the Bx25 or Bx26 bus east, or a 20-minute walk down the hill. Check the MTA's accessibility list and elevator status before relying on an elevator, because they do go out of service.
NYBG's Día de los Muertos season has its Procession of Puppets this weekend: giant monarch butterfly puppets made by Mascara Viva roam the Everett Children's Adventure Garden on Saturday and Sunday, 11am to 3pm, and you can get up close, take photos and learn how monarchs migrate to Mexico. On the same days there is a papel picado and silk flower workshop (11am to 3pm), folk music from Son Pecadores at 11am, noon and 1pm by the entrance to the Adventure Garden, and Mariposas and Marigolds, with marigold potting and a story trail, from 11am to 5pm. It is all outdoors, and Saturday and Sunday are both sunny and around 60, which is exactly the weather for chasing a butterfly the size of a sofa.
The event page lists it under the All-Garden Pass: on weekends adults $39, children $17, under 2 free. New York City residents can buy a cheaper Grounds Access Pass onsite only, with proof of residency (adults $15, children 2 to 12 $4), but check at the gate whether it covers this program. Through 2026 the Metro-North overpass to the southbound platform is closed, so the trip home means a detour over the Bedford Park Blvd bridge and around the parking garage; allow 10 to 15 extra minutes. Grab a garden map as you go in and find the nearest restrooms before anyone needs them, because someone will.
Brooklyn Heights Library, Craft Room, 286 Cadman Plaza West, Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn Free, 5 to 12
Halloween-themed science experiments at the library's monthly STEAM lab, no registration needed. Expect something to fizz, ooze or glow, and expect to be asked on the way home if you can do it again in your kitchen. The answer is "we'll see". Details and booking
South Street Seaport Museum, 12 Fulton Street, Financial District, Manhattan Free general admission, book ahead, All ages
Rescheduled from September after a nor'easter forecast, so this one has been waiting. Pick up a bingo card and collect stamps across the campus: cyanotypes, a food sensory station, rebus puzzles aboard the tall ship Wavertree, Lenape games and a scavenger hunt through the Maritime City exhibition. Finish the card for a prize. Free tickets must be booked in advance for this date. The KidZone at the Taste of the Seaport festival next door is separately ticketed. Details and booking
Sat, Oct 24, 10am to 5pm; BMX demos at 11:20am, 12:30pm, 2:30pm and 4pm
Brooklyn Children's Museum, 145 Brooklyn Avenue, Crown Heights, Brooklyn Included with museum admission, Families
A new exhibit on how bike setup, track design and safety gear help riders, opening with BMX demonstrations by Matty Cranmer and Chad Douglas up on the roof, helmet decorating with Transportation Alternatives, bike raffles from the BMX Foundation, and an On Our Bikes storytime and singalong with author Dan Saks at 11:30am and 2pm. Do not let anyone attempt the tricks on the walk back to the subway. Details and booking
Pier 1 Pavilion, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn Free, All ages
Park educators look for warblers, sparrows and maybe a flycatcher passing through on the way south. There are 30 spots, first come, first served, and preregistration is encouraged. Binoculars can be borrowed on site. The route is mostly paved with a few steps on one path (there is a detour), and the restrooms are at the Pavilion. The pigeons will insist they count. Details and booking
Tenement Museum, 103 Orchard Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan Adults $15, children $5, 5 to 12 and their families
Two harvest holidays told through two real families who lived on the Lower East Side: a Jewish family in the 1910s and a Chinese family in the 1970s. There is storytelling, citron cake from food historian Sarah Lohman, and mooncakes from Daronghua and Double Crispy Bakery. Cake before lunch, for educational reasons. Register on the museum's ticketing site. Details and booking
Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden, Chapel Road and Gazebo Road, Livingston, Staten Island $10 and under, Families
Snug Harbor's Director of Horticulture, Greg Lord, who has looked after these grounds for more than 30 years, walks you through the formal gardens and meadows explaining the trees and their histories. Fall color, sunshine and somebody who actually knows which one is the oak. Buy tickets on the event page and confirm the start point there, since the listing also mentions the Visitor Info Booth. Details and booking
Sun, Oct 25, line up 12:45pm, parade 1pm, band 1:15 to 2pm
Starts at Greenwich and Beach Streets, ends at Washington Market Park, Greenwich and Duane Streets, Tribeca, Manhattan Free (donations welcome), All ages
A neighborhood parade run on volunteer power: costumes on, follow the Queer Big Apple Corps marching band down Greenwich Street, then a concert on the park lawn. Mommy Poppins reports that strollers are not allowed in the park during the event and that there is a free stroller check at Duane and Greenwich, so plan your carrying arm accordingly. Details and booking
Porch of Lefferts Historic House, Prospect Park, Brooklyn Free, RSVP, Families with older children; the full story includes references to slavery
A community reading of Washington Irving's story on the porch of Lefferts Historic House, followed by a chat with staff about the Lenape and the people the Lefferts family enslaved. The headless horseman is scarier when read aloud on a porch. RSVP through the event page. Details and booking
Colden Auditorium, Kupferberg Center for the Arts, 153-49 Reeves Avenue, Flushing, Queens $30 plus fees, Ages not listed; check the page
The Montréal troupe is back after a sold-out run in 2024, with acrobatics, live music, storytelling and song drawn from African culture. Tickets are through Ticketmaster, and the center says fees are lower if you buy in person or by phone. Expect a lot of handstands in the living room on Monday. Details and booking
Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum, 895 Shore Road, Pelham Bay Park, The Bronx Free, preregistration required, Open to all
Learn the Duke of Kent's Waltz, the Haymaker's Jig and the Hole in the Wall at the Bartow-Pell Mansion with instructor Amy Frey. No partner needed, which is handy, because your seven-year-old will not be partnering you. Register through the museum's page. Details and booking
Bryant Park, Midtown, Manhattan Free admission; skate rental from $18.72; free skating with your own skates by reservation, All ages
Yes, it is still October. The rink opens next week, open 8am to 10pm daily. Bring-your-own-skates tickets are free but are released a week ahead, one session per day, and sessions are about 50 minutes, starting 20 minutes after your ticket time. Details and booking
Audubon Center, Prospect Park, Brooklyn Free, Families
A morning-to-afternoon Halloween for nature fans: borrow a sketchbook and look for spiders and bats, dissect owl pellets from 11am to 2pm, try the nature chef's treats from noon to 3pm, and join a creepy crawly walk at 1pm or 3pm. A fine plan for Halloween daylight before the trick-or-treating shift begins. Details and booking
Free
Outdoors
Tip. Three dry days means everybody else has the same idea, so do the popular stuff before 11am and save the afternoons for the smaller things. Also, sunset is just after 6pm now, which is roughly when the playground gets cold and the snacks run out at the same moment.
Free, one short email a week. Thursday, 7am: the weather call, one proper day out and the family events worth leaving the apartment for this weekend, checked with the organizer. Read the latest one first.
Thursday, 7am: the weather call for the weekend, made for you.
One proper day out: with the subway stop, the stroller verdict and where the restrooms are.
The family events worth it: each one checked with the organizer and linked, famous and lesser known side by side.
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