Hot Town

August in New York. I believe every summer is hotter than was the summer before, although I don’t have any evidence to corroborate that feeling. I do remember walking home at midnight from a girlfriend’s house in July and August of 1970, sweltering but grateful for any hint of breeze which touched my face as I traversed a deserted Park Avenue towards home. In those days the only air conditioning in our apartment was in my mother’s bedroom; luckily she was usually out of the city in the summer so I and whichever brother and/or friend was around tended to crowd into her king sized bed to take advantage of the cool.

Still, summer in the city is always fun once the sun goes down. Here are a few of my favorite things to do:

• Outdoor concerts. I love the Philharmonic in the Park concerts early in the season, which offer a varied program almost always including Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” complete with fireworks and booming cannons at the end. Similarly the Metropolitan Opera performs in the parks, going to all the boroughs. And now the Met also shows outdoor movies from its “Met in HD” series on the plaza at Lincoln Center as the summer winds down. 3000 free seats are available every night from August 25^th through Labor Day.
• Swing Dancing. From mid-June through mid-July, you can dance under the stars, also in the plaza at Lincoln Center, most evenings. Dance instructors are available for those of us with klutzy feet. Make a note for next year!
• Outdoor dining. I love eating al fresco. Columbus Avenue seems to have more sidewalk seating than anyplace else north of 42^nd St, with multiple options encompassing all ethnic varieties on every block. This embarrassment of riches provides the outdoor diner with the opportunity to enjoy another one of my favorite summertime activities: people watching. Are those platform shoes really that high? Where do you suppose those tattoos end? Somewhere beneath the incredibly skimpy wife beater, I guess. Does that guy spend all day EVERY day in the gym? Etc etc
• Food trucks. Yes, they are around all year long, but they seem so much more appealing when the weather is warmer. Almost anything is available. A few times a summer I will allow myself a black and white milkshake or a root beer float, but in general I stick to chicken or souvlaki. My personal favorites: Tony’s Dragon Grill on 62^nd and Madison, offering your choice of grilled meats or salmon with salad or, my favorite, arugula; and Uncle Gussy’s, where your chicken can be piled onto a top-notch Greek salad and where the young proprietor recently warned me away from a Coke (“That stuff is terrible for you!”) and sold me a water instead.
• Movies in Bryant Park. Wonderful older films in the tranquility of the wonderful park behind the Public Library on 42^nd between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. Two more to go this summer: “Thelma and Louise” on Monday August 13^th and “The Terminator” on Monday August 20^th.Like the “Met in HD” series, they start late, after it gets dark.

Of course, when the heat gets too intense, we can all still head for the movies, with their frigid air conditioning and, if you choose your theater right, bucket seats and elaborate junk food options; or one of the jazz or alt or classical venues which dot Manhattan and Brooklyn; or Broadway or Off Broadway or Off Off Broadway (my personal favorite) where you can see and hear groundbreaking work in any medium you choose. But mostly, once it’s dark, I’d rather be under the stars. What about you?