I was continually seeing ads for Luna Luna pop up in my social media feed, so I checked out the…read morewebsite and was in awe of the carnival, larger-than-life vibe it appeared to offer. I gathered some friends, found a 20% off discount code, and we all headed over to The Shed's sprawling, modern space to check it out. Upon entering The Shed, we were basically in a large lounge, which also had a bar and various seating arrangements. My friend and I grabbed a drink at Cedric's, the downstairs bar, and waited for the rest of our group to arrive (please see separate review for Cedric's at the Shed - https://www.yelp.com/biz/cedrics-at-the-shed-new-york-3?hrid=CELSOa2pnnpkj01Q1f57fQ). When we were all settled up, we headed up the escalator into the 2 large showrooms. The story of the exhibit was interesting, in that the amusement park art display from various talents had debuted in Germany in 1987. There had been plans for it to travel the world, but after the curator, André Heller, passed away, many of the pieces had been tucked away in shipping containers to only be discovered recently. Overall, the exhibit was full of colorful and fun pieces, though I wish there had been even more interactive elements. If I had not been there with a large group, I probably could have made it through the two spacious rooms in a half hour. However, we took our time, as there were some circus-type performers that would wander around every so often, and we wanted to witness the show. All in all, we were there for about an hour, which was more than enough. I felt that Luna Luna was definitely lighthearted and amusing, but I would not really call it a must-see.

I like looking at random things and partaking in random activities so this was right up my alley…read more From having gone to a variety of interactive and non interactive art situations this is a little on the pricier side. I bought the tickets at the venue to avoid the random online fees. There was a lot of cool info about the history of Luna Luna, artists, pieces. I was super confused about Drake being involved but then again not surprised...diversify your portfolio LOL. There were a couple of things to walk into and experience, a lot of reading, you can't actually ride any of the rides. The view from the Butterfly Bar on the fourth floor was super cool! I'm a fan of infinity type of rooms so to see the 2 rooms that you could go into and interact in be that type...I enjoyed! Took us about an hour and a half to walk thru it and read things. Kids were there but I don't know if it makes sense to bring younger kids, I would probably pass on doing that.

I've been here a few times over the last decade and every time has been equally enjoyable. Easy to…read moreget in and out simply follow the crowd on concert nights or afternoon afternoons. I have brought my young children at night and never felt unsafe walking through the park. The venue is pretty small so very intimate. I find the acoustics fabulous for an outdoor venue. Included two videos for reference. Depending on who is performing, you can certainly bring a blanket to sit on the turf, but if the concert is super popular, there will be nowhere to sit. Just expect to be standing and dancing.

It's more oversold than the usual outdoor venue, which turns the whole GA area into an inadvertent…read moremosh pit. And it means there's no escape from all the shouters. I expected better from the New Found Glory audience; the Gaslight Anthem crowd was better. Venue entry was quick and painless.

The Quick: Such an interesting concept. Amazing chefs create dishes inspired by famous artwork by…read morelegends such as Andy Warhol. The Details: This event featured unlimited tastings and alcoholic beverages, at least until they ran out. There were plenty of expensive sashimi, fish, and high quality meat dishes to devour. Multiple wine and champagne options. Gorgeous artwork to stare at. The event did get crowded, but you could still maneuver around with caution. Overall such a delight! The Damage: I believe each ticket was $130 and is donated to charity. Cheers Yelp! Instagram.com/SkinnyGirlFatFood

Thanks to CM Ruggy and Yelp I was able to hobnob with the "well to do" and "artsy fartsy" UES crowd…read moreat the Our Town Art of Food soiree! Sotheby's Auction House Art of Food gala had it all going on. Celebrity chef Michael White. Famous fashion designer Nicole Miller. Over 25 culinary titans, many from the local area, serving up unique mouthwatering dishes inspired by artwork from Sotheby's wide range of eclectic offerings. Even Mr and Mrs Zagat themselves were on hand and gave out this year's Zagat Guide to all in attendence. ( sorry Zagat, it was a nice gesture, but I'm a Yelp guy first and will keep using the ap on my phone when looking up a place to eat. The guide is kind of fun to read but is really something for the older over 60 crowd at this point. ) Specialty dishes were prepared by top chefs from the following restaurants: Atlantic Grill, August, Bella Blu Ristorante, BKB restaurant, Cafe Boulud, Candle 79, The Cecil & Minton's, Crave Fishbar, East Pole Kitchen & Bar, The Flex Mussels, Freds at Barneys New York, Il Mulino, JoJo, Le Cirque, Magnolia Bakery, Maya, The Meatball Shop, Parlor Steak & Fish, The Penrose, Philippe by Philippe Chow, Pizza Beach, The Regency Bar & Grill, Shake Shack, T-Bar, Vaucluse, Writing Room. We made sure to get there early for the 7:30 start, and even though the line was crazy long were able to get in quickly and start noshing within 20 minutes or so. Tables were set up and spread througout the rooms with pieces of art hanging on the walls behind them. The dishes prepared were inspired by the art. Some were a home run, some were just good, and a few were just ok. Problem is this event was way oversold and the crowd was maddening at times. Most of the food was gone by 8:45 - 9pm which was kind of bad planning since the event went until 10pm. Some unhappy people here who paid full price for their tickets, especially those who arrived after 8pm. Me and my plus one were able to sample something from every table, and even go back for seconds on some of the better ones. It paid to get there early. Oh, and the wine and champagne was plentiful at least but even those were running out by 9:30. Yet, we had more than our fill by the time we left. Entertainment was provided by a classic string quartet playing rock and top 40 tunes. Pretty cool actually. We had a blast. Again, thanks to Ruggy, Yelp, Sotheby's, and all the vendors as the food and drink were terrific. It was a different kind of event that I would surely do again. Plus, it was up in my hood - Yorkville baby!

Strong drinks good vibe , exactly what I came for , the quality of the projection is top tier tooread more

Unfortunately I really didn't like this immersive art experience. I think I was comparing it to the…read moreArte Museum, which had a number of rooms with beautiful themes...while this place had different "scenes," all in 1 large room with the digital artwork displayed on 3 walls of the room. I feel like I was bamboozled by the scenes displayed on their website, but I failed to realize there would only be 1 room to sit in and view the art. Then in this one room they have bean bags for either one or two people, BUT there weren't enough for the amount of people in the room... I count 6 bean bags...that's ridiculous. Majority of the people were just sitting on the floor. They had another small room that was supposed to be interactive, but that was lackluster and a mediocre way to get guests engaged. There was also a bar area where the drink prices were highly inflated for the look and taste of the drink. Unless you're bringing a younger child, who you don't want get lost in this 1 room place, I advise you to try the Arte Museum instead for more bang for your buck (and time.) Though I wasn't fond of the place, I added 2 videos for you to judge for yourself.

Fun pop-up event during the weekend of 8/8/26 in Washington Square Park. Got there prior to event…read morestart time as many participating food vendors were still setting up their station. Many people waited in line to get a huge inflatable Egg (looked more like a sunflower though), and get to take pictures with the Egg mascots. One of the more popular Goku Kitchen- egg waffles station had a wait time of over 20mins to prepare their food items- I still lined up to purchase their cute eggy waffles. This egg themed food fest had quite a lot of food vendors ranging from egg pasta/fried rice/ boba drinks served in egg shaped tumblers. There were even adorable egg-shaped crochet keychains for sale. Overall, this was a good food pop-up street fest

Man I love this convention to death and anyone who says crappy things about it are mad about…read moresomething so simple

As a newcomer to cons (a new-con-er if you will), I had a pretty fantastic time at Anime NYC!…read more Anime NYC pretty much takes over Javits Center so prepare to spend the entire day walking around the center. We arrived at around 12pm, had no wait in line to enter, and escaped around 6pm the same day. Inside there are artists stands, food stands, company stores, concerts, and signings galore. In addition, there is a surprising amount of free merchandise you can score! For a quick survey or social medial follow, you'll be bestowed stickers, pins and posters galore. We were even given totes bags and a giant manga book, courtesy of Kinokuniya! The food there, surprisingly, is quite good! You do have your standard fair food like "fresh" lemonade and Nuts 4 Nuts. But also expect tempura, grilled squid, takoyaki, and other fare strewn about the place. The fans (for the most part) are quite lovely! Everyone was thrilled to have their cosplay costumes photographed (with permission of course!) and you can really tell there was a general enthusiasm over anime all across the place. With that being said, there are a few cons (heh) to be mindful of. Of course, for the company booths (Viz, Kinokuniya, etc) and autographs, prepare to wait on line. We went on a Friday, and didn't even bother visiting the most popular VAs because of how long the lines were. Can only imagine those lines over the weekend. But once you get to artist alley, lines are non-existant and mobs take their place. So for popular artists, it may take a bit of exertion in order to finally (finally!) purchase your merch. Also indoors can be quite warm due to the sheer amount of people attending. The heat can also lead to that con stench of BO. Which I can confirm is still a thing. Rare. But a thing! Overall, for first timers I would recommend! On a Friday, with a water bottle, some snacks and a comfortable bag and shoes present. For avid con goers, YMMV but its a good way to spend a day!

Rib King NYC was such a whole vibe! Industry City was the perfect backdrop for a day full of BBQ…read moregreatness, and every vendor pulled up with their A+ game. The ribs? DELICIOUS. Fall-off-the-bone, saucy, smoky, sweet, spicy--whatever your rib style, it was there and it was hitting. The energy was high, the cocktails were flowing, and the weather came through. It honestly felt like the kickoff to a perfect NYC summer. Already looking forward to doing it all again next year. If you love BBQ, music, and good vibes, put this on your radar ASAP!

It was my first time at the Rib King festival and it was a fun. On a slightly cold day, I headed…read moreover the VIP entrance and saw a long line (12pm, open and 1pm open to general public ticket holders). You check in and collect your (dried) beans, then off you go. There were multi lines of people trying different booths... but the general consensus was one continuous line starting on the right side and it eventually turns/curves to the left side. If you don't want something from a certain booth, you can skip and move on (hence the multi-lines but that looks like skipping lines)... so I usually just step slightly to the side but still on line- allowing those behind me to get closer to the booth I'm not interested in. There were many different vendors proudly showcasing their booths and most have some awards on display from previous festivals. Looks cool! If you love their ribs and wish to vote, you drop a bean in their pile. It is an all inclusive eating/drinking festival once you are inside. At a suggestion of a friend ("bring tupperware") and seeing multiple people bringing service trays (easier to carry more food to sample), I brought a large disposable aluminum pan to hold all the food I collected. I wanted to feast at the same time rather than just standing in line- but that did mean some food got cold. That's alright with me. It was getting crowded and more so, once they open to general public ticket holders at 1pm. I was in there roughly from 12:09pm to 1:15pm because of the long lines. I only went back twice to 1 booth and they turn out to the winner! I visited every food booth and sampled 1 beverage booth. Food was delish! I'm glad I also brought my "outside food festival gear"- zip lock bags of utensils, plates, napkins and gloves. I use the gloves to rip the meats off the bones and ate (no dirty sauce hands) at a table on the side (outside the festival gate). Also thank you Mike's Hot Honey! There was a swag bag of shirt, hat, free hot honey and stuff. There were bags of chips but I didnt get them

Last weekend, I came here to the New York Botanical Holiday Train show for the first time in my…read morelife with my daughter and her school. There were so many people but luckily there was enough space to walk all around the tracks and set ups. We first walked a trail to the conservatory building where the main train show was held. There was a pre train show on the trail that was very nicely set up. There were large big boulders to represent mountains with green moss on top of it. My daughter kept staring in awe of the bumblebee train that kept going back and forth on the track. Once we were inside, we were amazed at how many Christmas trees there were against the walls. These Christmas trees are all covered in snow and large ornaments in snow. There were also baby and mother deer next to the trees that my daughter was in love with. After my daughter was playing with the deer, we started to take pictures and enjoy the train show. There were multiple rooms of trains and buildings. The first room had Grand Central Station and Penn Station buildings with trains going back and forth. They were so nicely created with lots of grass. Too bad there were no people and platforms. It was just tracks, trains, buildings, and bridges. I thought the train show was tiny until I landed into the next room. We were deep in the conservatory with all the palm trees like we were literally in a forest. It was humid too. In the palm tree conservatory room, there were little ponds of water and trains with the NYBG logo! There were different colored NYBG trains rolling around everywhere. It was hard to capture pictures of the whole train clearly because they kept going really fast! What amazed me was the bridges. It was so cool how they were towering over the people. I love the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg bridges a lot! They looked like the real bridges! All in all, the train show was really cool with all the miniature set ups of New York City. Everything almost looked like the real thing in the city. This was my first time here and I will be sure to go next year to check out the train show again if there is anything new compared to this year's train show.

As a slightly needy engineer who loves trains, the Holiday Train Show at the New York Botanical…read moreGarden makes my brain very happy. But for me it's also personal. My mom discovered this event years ago and turned it into a yearly tradition for us. She passed away a few years ago, but every time I visit it still feels like a small way of keeping that tradition alive. If you've never been, the craftsmanship here is honestly incredible. The miniature NYC landmarks aren't just tiny models -- they're built entirely from natural materials like bark, twigs, leaves, and pinecones. As someone with an engineering brain, I find myself staring at these things way longer than I probably should, trying to figure out how they engineered some of these structures. My favorite pieces are always the bridge replicas, especially the George Washington Bridge towering above the trains as they roll across it. Toward the end there's also a miniature NYC skyline with iconic buildings like the Empire State Building that makes for a pretty great finale. This year I went on Black Friday since my sister and 10-year-old nephew were visiting for Thanksgiving. It was his third time seeing the show and he still loved it. He kept spotting things I missed -- a Thomas the Tank Engine train, a ladybug-themed train, and buildings like St. Patrick's Cathedral. He was especially fascinated by the massive bridges towering over the trains. A few honest notes if you're planning a visit: * It's pricey. Tickets have peak and off-peak pricing, and you can pay about $10 extra for a flex ticket. Going on a holiday definitely pushes the price up. I'd love to make this an every-year tradition again, but the cost makes that a little tough. * Timed entry is strict. Double check your date and time. I've seen people show up at the wrong slot and get turned away. * Even with timed entry it can get very crowded. This year honestly felt a bit like a cattle call. At certain points staff were telling people to keep moving, which made it hard to stop, take photos, and really appreciate the details. For the price you're paying, that part felt a little rushed. * The exhibit itself is smaller than you might expect. The train show is contained within one dedicated section of the conservatory. You can explore other areas of the gardens inside and outside, but since this runs in winter those outdoor walks can be pretty cold. One thing I always wish for: more trains. For a train show, the focus definitely leans more toward the architectural replicas than the trains themselves. The structures are beautiful, but the train nerd in me wouldn't complain about a few more locomotives running. They did expand things slightly this year with a few trains running outside, which was a nice addition and something I hope they continue. A few practical tips: * Parking can be a pain. It's crowded and usually runs around $22-$30. This year they allowed overflow parking across the street at Fordham University, which helped -- though you still have to pay. * Strollers aren't allowed inside the train exhibit, but there is a designated stroller parking area if you're walking around the gardens. * Parents: please keep an eye on your kids. I've unfortunately seen children grab at or damage some of the trains or displays. * Bathrooms and a cafeteria are available onsite. Prices are typical NYC levels, but it came in clutch when my nephew needed a snack and a surprisingly good personal pizza saved the day. Despite the crowds and the price tag, I still find myself smiling every time I visit. Between the incredible craftsmanship, the nostalgia, and watching my nephew get excited pointing out trains and tiny NYC landmarks, it's still a really special experience. If you go in with the right expectations -- and maybe pick a less crowded time slot -- it's definitely worth seeing at least once, especially if you're even a little bit of a train nerd like me.