UWS Weekend: Great Things to Do in (and Around) the Neighborhood

By Tracy Zwick

January 23rd through 25th

Early Voting: Poll sites and hours here

We’ve got a special election on February 3rd  for Senate District 47, which encompasses much of the UWS as far north as about West 103rd Street, and you can start voting this weekend. Most of the UWS will be voting to fill the vacancy created when Brad Hoylman-Sigal was elected Manhattan borough president in November. Voters must be registered by January 24th to participate.

Free Karaoke Night: Friday, January 23rd from 5 to 7 p.m. at Gertrude Ederle Recreation Center, 232 West 60th Street, between 10th and 11th avenues; free

Everybody’s welcome to embrace their inner rock star and take a turn singing along to pre-recorded music at this Friday event, hosted by NYC Parks, starting at 5 p.m. Register using this link.

Explore the Met Cloisters: 99 Margaret Corbin Drive, Fort Tryon Park, open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every day except Wednesdays (closed Wednesdays); pay-what-you-wish admission for NY residents and NY, NJ and CT students with valid ID.

This superb, but often quieter uptown branch of the Metropolitan Museum has a slate of great-looking programs this weekend. Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m., you can spend “An Afternoon with The American LGBTQ+ Museum at The Met Cloisters” exploring the exhibition “Spectrum of Desire: Love, Sex and Gender in the Middle Ages” through a series of tours and special presentations. There’s also a free talk Friday at 3 p.m. on “Marriage, Earthy and Divine” that will focus on medieval images of marriage, from earthly acts of devotion to mystic visions of divine love. Finishing out the weekend, the museum will host a workshop on crewel embroidery Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. ($150, registration required).

“Go Fact Yourself”: Live taping Saturday, January 24th at 7 p.m. at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at West 95th Street; tickets $30

The Public Radio show and podcast “Go Fact Yourself” will tape a show live at Symphony Space this weekend, featuring in–person celebrity guests. The guests compete in quizzes centered on their self-proclaimed areas of expertise, blending surprising facts and pop-culture insight. Guests this Saturday will include Dorinda Medley (“The Traitors” and “The Real Housewives of NYC”) and Jackie Cox (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”).

Deliver a Winter Package to Older Neighbors: Sunday, January 25th from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; 171 West 85th Street, near Amsterdam Avenue; register using this link

Dorot is offering UWSers an opportunity to deliver warmth and connection to older adults this cold winter, through a social visit or a phone call, and a seasonal package. Feelings of loneliness or isolation can increase during the winter season, so Dorot has created this program to foster connections and community, saying “it’s not about the package, it’s about the connections – for volunteers and recipients alike.” Families with children can volunteer together. Dorot says the time commitment is one-time only, and about 90 minutes.

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