Midtown West and Hell’s Kitchen are blessed with an embarrassment of cultural riches. The area encompasses Broadway, Radio City Music Hall, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and Carnegie Hall—and that’s just for starters. Below are a few lesser-known attractions worthy of attention.
credit: Kate Glicksberg/NYC & Company
Hell’s Kitchen encompasses Piers 76 through 97 of this West Side park, as well as a stretch of the Hudson River Greenway, which runs from Battery Park up to Inwood. Catch a Circle Line sightseeing cruise at Pier 83, take paddleboarding lessons from Manhattan Kayak Co. at Pier 84, explore the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum (and the Intrepid aircraft carrier itself) at Pier 86, and enjoy free kayaking at Pier 96. Or simply picnic on the Clinton Cove Lawn, admire the Pier 84 Community Garden, and stroll along the waterfront.
Intrepid. credit: Hudson River Park
Just shy of six acres in size, this Hell’s Kitchen park was named after the governor who was the driving force behind the construction of the Erie Canal—which explains why the park’s playground is called the Erie Canal Playground. The park also includes dog runs, basketball and handball courts, and baseball, football, and soccer fields. Among the other attractions is Maria Clinton’s Perennial Garden, home to flora popular in the 19th century and a favorite of birds and butterflies as well as human visitors.
DeWitt Clinton Park. credit: NYC Parks
Every other Thursday night, this intimate venue hosts Broadway Sessions, where performers from the Great White Way perform favorite songs, chat with the audience, and even play trivia games. The venue is also the home of the popular Drunk Shakespeare, which is pretty much what the name implies: A troupe of five actors perform a Shakespeare play—except one of the five has consumed numerous shots of whiskey beforehand. On any given night the Green Room 42 also presents cabaret shows, solo concerts, and drag performances.
Perhaps the most dramatic aspect of RiseNY, which opened in March 2022, is the flight-simulation ride that allows you to experience an aerial tour of the city. Equally engaging is the special-effects-laden documentary about the history of Times Square, co-created by acclaimed filmmaker Ric Burns. And let’s not forget the interactive galleries dedicated to Broadway, fashion, music, and other aspects of culture that the city has heavily influenced.
RiseNY. credit: Ted Shaffrey/AP
As you might expect, the recently expanded Irish Arts Center offers classes in Celtic harp, step dancing, Irish language, and other aspects of Irish culture. But it’s also the site of concerts, dance performances, readings, and art exhibits by Irish and Irish American talents. Recent events included concerts by Irish indie rockers Pillow Queens; Céilí, a dance collaboration from Seán Curran and Darrah Carr; and the U.S. premiere of The Same, a play by Enda Walsh, the Tony Award-winning writer of the musical Once.