The Flatiron/NoMad district is home to numerous hidden cultural gems. The Center for Book Arts offers classes as well as exhibitions focused on typography, illustration, and printing; the Jazz Gallery presents as many as 300 jazz performances a year; the offerings of the Baruch Performing Arts Center encompass readings, dance performances, plays, and operas. There are better-known venues too, where you can explore everything from photography exhibits to hand-on fun for adults and kids alike. And when you need a dose of greenery, there’s the park that gives NoMad its name: Madison Square.
The 6.3-acre Madison Square Park offers just about everything you could want in an urban park. Along with lush lawns that invite you to sprawl out and soak up the sun, there is a dog run, a playground with water sprinklers, plenty of benches where you can take advantage of Wi-Fi hotspots, and statues surrounded by shrubs and flowers. Among the park’s more unusual features are five shelters where bees can safely lay their eggs, compost drop-off containers, and the very first Shake Shack.
The exterior of Fotografiska New York is spectacularly 19th-century in style—Flemish Revival, to be exact. Inside, though, the galleries are more modern, both in their minimalist design and in the photography on display. Recent exhibitions have spotlighted Janette Beckman, a chronicler of the punk rock and hip-hop scenes; groundbreaking photojournalist Ruth Orkin; and Sarah Moon, a fashion photographer best known for haunting black-and-white imagery. Fotografiska also hosts concerts, book signings, film screenings, and Midweek Mindfulness, a weekly meditation practice led by Abujahna Alveranga of the Urban Yoga Foundation.
National Museum of Mathematics
Don’t be put off by the name: MoMath, as it is called for short, offers plenty of fun for arithmetic-phobes and mathletes alike, regardless of your age and how well you did in algebra class. Here you can ride a tricycle with square wheels, race cars on a Tracks of Galileo that you can adjust in hopes of beating your companions, create tessellations, discover the secrets of optical illusions, and more.
The live entertainment offered at this venue defies easy categorization. Recent shows included indie pop performer Ricky Montgomery; Sexy Unique Podcast, in which hosts Lara Marie Schoenhals and Carey O’Donnell discussed reality TV as only they can; comedian Nimesh Patel; country/pop singer/songwriter Niko Moon; and Be Our Guest: the Disney DJ Night, a dance party inspired by favorite Disney music.
Muggles can enter the wizarding world of Harry Potter via two VR experiences: One enables you to explore Hogwarts Castle, while the other takes you on a broom ride while being pursued by Death Eaters. If none of that makes sense to you, then a visit to Harry Potter New York, which opened in June 2021, might not be for you. But if it does, know that in addition to the VR experiences, the experiential shop includes an interactive wand table, a Butterbeer Bar, and shelves stocked with everything from Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans to Slytherin scarves.
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