Fourth of July
This Independence Day, America celebrates 250 years, and Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks turns a baby-faced 50. More than 60,000 effects are slated to light up the skies from the East and Hudson Rivers and around the Brooklyn Bridge. Viewing areas along F.D.R. Drive open to the public in the late afternoon, but lines form hours beforehand, so plan accordingly. Or stay home and watch it on NBC and Peacock beginning at 8 p.m., with performances by Noah Kahan, Post Malone, Salt-N-Pepa and others.
Start the day at the National Lighthouse Museum on Staten Island, which hosts a $100 breakfast with a waterfront view to take in the Parade of Tall Ships. It travels up the Hudson River from the Verrazzano Bridge to the George Washington Bridge starting at 9:30 a.m.
World Cup
On July 19, gather with some 50,000 soccer fans to watch the World Cup Final on the Great Lawn at Central Park. The gates to the viewing area open at noon; tickets are free and are being distributed through a lottery by Global Citizen, an anti-poverty organization.
Classical Music
The Orchestra of St. Luke’s and the mezzo-soprano Erin Wagner present an all-Mozart program on July 21 at the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park. Admission is free, and the program is airing live on WQXR.
Pop Music
Once is not enough for the biggest of big stars at Madison Square Garden: Bon Jovi is doing nine shows, starting on July 7; Phish’s five-night gig begins on July 22; and it’s Rush for four starting on July 28.
There’s more: Jay-Z performs three times at Yankee Stadium (July 10-12). Ariana Grande is doing five nights at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, starting on July 12. And one venue isn’t enough for Shakira: She’s at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on July 14; at Barclays on July 20 and 21; and at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y., on July 23.
Diva Worship
At the Bronx Museum in Concourse Village, there is no dancing on your own on July 10, when the institution hosts “This Party Is Killing You,” a free high-energy dance party dedicated to the Swedish pop star Robyn. The museum is providing complimentary cocktails and keeping galleries open late.
Jazz
Throughout July and August, the Queens Jazz Trail Concert Series offers free concerts on Thursdays at 7 p.m. in parks across the borough, rain or shine. It kicks off on July 9 at Travers Park in Jackson Heights with the flutist Itai Kriss, who blends Israeli musical traditions with Afro-Caribbean rhythms.
Dance
Mark Morris returns to the Joyce Theater in Chelsea with “Dances to American Music,” a three-program repertory series that explores jazz and pop, country and the West Coast composers Henry Cowell and Lou Harrison (July 14-25).
Make Me a Match
If you have a trusted pal who is better at selling you to prospective partners than you are, sign up for Pitch and Pair. It’s simple: Your friend puts together a five-minute slide deck outlining your best qualities and presents it to the single people in the audience. Fingers crossed, you’ll catch someone’s eye. The next chance is on July 31 at Sony Hall in Midtown. If it sells out, there will be a waiting list.
Darn It
“Mending in a group is great. Mending on a boat is extra.” That’s the tagline for Mendathon, a night of sewing, patching and repairing that takes place on July 12 aboard the Manhattan II. The ticket price includes supplies, food and drinks and a sea shanty singalong, as well as access to a dozen experts at workshop tables. Nautical dress is encouraged.
“Richard Estes: My Camera Is My Sketchbook,” an exhibition centered on images the 94-year-old master of photorealism took of New York and Maine, is at the Schoelkopf Gallery in Lower Manhattan from July 15 to Aug. 21.
Comedy
Davram Stiefler and Jason Selvig of the comedy duo the Good Liars are best known for their videos of cringe man-on-the-street interviews that make the current political divide funnier than it has any right to be. On July 7, you can see them live at Littlefield in Gowanus, Brooklyn.
Poetry
Presented by the Poetry Society of New York, the 15th annual New York City Poetry Festival brings the spoken word to Nolan Park on Governors Island on July 18 and 19. Admission is free.
Film
Japan Society in Midtown is hosting its 19th annual Japan Cuts, a festival dedicated to contemporary Japanese cinema (July 8-18).
My pick at the Museum of Modern Art’s Silent Movie Week (July 29-Aug. 3) is D.W. Griffith’s “Way Down East,” which features Lillian Gish freezing her buns off in a stunning scene set on an ice floe. The film will be shown with a live orchestral performance of a MoMA-commissioned score reconstructed and conducted by the musicologist Gillian B. Anderson.
Kids
If you know Jodi Platypus and Prince Wednesday like they’re members of your own family, check out Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood at the Bronx Zoo. This new interactive experience brings the PBS series to life through live shows, learning activities and exhibits like the Tunnel of Make-Believe, where a life-size Daniel greets children in English and Spanish. Running through Sept. 7, the exhibition is free with zoo admission.
Free Fun
The 34th Avenue Open Streets Coalition offers free outdoor classes along 26 blocks in Jackson Heights, Queens, all summer long. This month try your hand at the hula hoop and the jump rope on Thursdays, Mexican folk dance on Fridays and cumbia on Saturdays.
Books
On July 8, Ilyasah Shabazz, one of Malcolm X’s daughters, and the filmmaker Spike Lee talk about Shabazz’s new book, “Malcolm in the Desert,” at Joe’s Pub in the East Village.
On July 14, Sigrid Nunez, the National Book Award-winning author of “The Friend,” joins the memoirist Vivian Gornick for a discussion of Nunez’s first collection of short stories, “It Will Come Back,” at 92NY on the Upper East Side.
Last Call
Two Critic’s Picks are wrapping up soon: Eliya Smith’s play “Dad Don’t Read This” ends on July 18 at the Greenwich House Theater in the West Village. “The cast’s a miracle,” Helen Shaw wrote in her review. And “Double Exposures,” the first museum survey dedicated to the New York City photographer Sophie Rivera, closes on Aug. 2 at El Museo del Barrio in East Harlem. Holland Cotter called the show “long overdue.”
