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The Game Plan

What to do

Picture this: On nearly 500 acres of rolling green, footpaths meander around glacial ponds. Tree boughs relax into the yawning landscape, shading a collection of curious marble sculptures. And what’s that you hear? Silence.

This is the magical slice of scenery you’ll find at Green-Wood Cemetery (yes, cemetery) in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

While touring a burial ground might be a new activity for you, this place has been a destination for visitors since its founding in 1838. At that time, graveyards were typically cramped spaces attached to churches; Green-Wood, by contrast, was designed to be a peaceful retreat. It succeeded so marvelously that the cemetery inspired Central Park, Prospect Park and even Llewellyn Park in New Jersey, the country’s first planned suburb.

You’ll learn all this and more on Green-Wood’s Twilight Tour, which surveys the cemetery’s grandest grave markers and the New Yorkers who lie beneath them, all in the stillness of dusk.

At 7:30 p.m., the tour begins inside the imposing main entry gate that’s crowned by nests of escaped monk parrots. Then, with a mic-equipped guide, you’ll climb hills and hike through grass to access the sweetest art and the strangest stories. You might learn about the secret life of Leonard Bernstein, the shady dealings of Boss Tweed, and the wars between two men who claim to have invented the sewing machine.

The sun fades as the tour winds on, prompting a swirl of fireflies to light their lamps. When the sky is utterly black, you’ll venture down into the catacombs. As you cross back under the gate around 9:30 p.m., you’ll leave with fresh air in your lungs and history in your head, and perhaps, as the cemetery’s architect intended, having found a new “place of quiet repose.”

Pro tip: Reserve your Twilight Tour tickets in advance by calling 718-210-3080.

Get directions to Green-Wood Cemetery. Admission is free outside of special programming, and free maps are also available.

Where to eat

Nieves Tia Mimi turns a sleepy block of 5th Avenue into a total weekend social scene. On the sidewalk, crowds gather to sample a dozen-odd Mexican sweets, many powered by the chewy-tangy-spicy miracle ingredient chamoy. Inside, families dig into fresh-from-the-steamer tamales and sorbet-like nieves, made in-house in flavors like mango, jicama and watermelon. (Your Summer correspondents stan the bright, pleasingly astringent hibiscus.) But you might as well go all in with a fully loaded chamoyada, which is composed of the nieve of your choice packed in a cup licked with that tamarind-tart chamoy sauce, then topped with an Edible Arrangements-esque bouquet of fresh fruit, cookies and tamarind candies.

Kofte Piyaz took up residence in a former diner in 2011 and has since provided Sunset Park with admirable Turkish kebabs and a shockingly good red lentil soup. In warmer weather, though, the cold appetizers are the thing: herb-flecked yogurty cacik, baba ghanouj and homemade-tasting stuffed grape leaves.

See the restaurants on our Google Map.

Where to drink

Judy’s, an airy all-day cafe-cum-bar that opened in December, is right down the block from Kofte Piyaz, and miracle of miracles, it allows outside food. So pony up at the bar with your grape leaves and shepherd’s salad, and order a glass of beer or wine. The draft selection rotates, but the $7 glass of grüner was entirely enjoyable, especially for its seven-dollars-ness. Also enjoyable: the generous daily happy hour from 2 to 7 p.m.

Candelas is a mullet of an establishment: a steam-table Dominican restaurant in the front, open blessedly late, and a lit Latin dance club in the back, replete with hookah, inexpensive drinks and thrumming bass lines. Shimmy onto the dance floor after your cemetery tour to shake any lingering spirits off your trail.

See the bars on our Google Map.

What to check out nearby

Botanica 7 Potencias makes a fun stop any time, but it’s a must before you visit the cemetery. At this family-run Santería store, rainbows of incense and prayer candles line the walls, ready to help you kick-start luck in money and romance or commune with loved ones past. Discuss the benefits of various products in Spanish, or just browse and decide for yourself.

Sunset Park is a lovely spot to relax before the tour, ideally with some snacks and a ball of some sort. You’ll have lively company, with families picnicking on the grass and kids traipsing through the playground and ball fields. Set up on the hill at the southwest corner that overlooks the Manhattan skyline. Summer in the City, indeed.

Sunrise Mart, a Little Tokyo favorite, has expanded to a market inside Industry City’s Japan Village, and there’s no better place to stock up on Pocky sticks, pantry staples like ponzu sauce and packaged roe, and more varieties of instant noodles than you can shake a chopstick at. Even if you don’t intend to buy anything, wandering the aisles is a kind of therapy.

See these nearby spots on our Google Map.

3 Quick Things

Something free or cheap

Take a guided canoe trip with the Bronx River Alliance and paddle through the Bronx River Forest, New York Botanical Garden or part of the Bronx Zoo. Itineraries vary in price and difficulty, but the full river paddle tops out at $45, and free 15-minute paddles are offered the last Friday of each month through October. Psst, that’s this week!

Something for the weeknight

Cop a weeknight res at Special Club, a new underground jazz room in SoHo that’s open Tuesday through Saturday. During one of its two nightly seatings, you’ll sip sake and nibble on spiced popcorn and pickles while you take in slick jazz in an old-world, floral wallpapered cellar. The whole affair lasts only about an hour and a half, so you might even make it home by bedtime.

Something from a reader

Swim at the Red Hook Pool, which opens tomorrow along with New York City’s other outdoor pools. Dana B., a Summer reader from Park Slope, recommends taking a dip at 11 a.m., right when the Olympic-size pool opens, then heading to lunch on the patio at Fairway Market, which offers a “great view of the Statue of Liberty and terrific grill selections.” And if you still have energy (or an appetite), Dana notes that Ikea and Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pies are right there.

Share your favorite seasonal thing to do at [email protected], and your idea might be featured in our next newsletter.

Happening This Week (and Beyond)

Tonight: There’s Big Gay Roller Skate at Prospect Park. Tap our earlier guide on an evening at the Dreamland Roller Disco for recs on what to eat, drink and do nearby.

Tonight: Take a free H.I.I.T. course with the Mile High Run Club in Hudson River Park.

Tonight: It’s Girl World, a WorldPride NYC dance party at the lesbian bar Henrietta Hudson.

Thursday: Learn how to vogue at Lincoln Center’s Midsummer Night Swing.

Friday: Hit up MoMA PS1’s Queer Joy party, featuring performances by DJ Haram, LOKA, SHYBOI, Slayrizz and AJA; a zine-making workshop; and visuals by Nitemind. P.S. We’ll include even more Pride events in this week’s bonus newsletter.

Friday and Saturday: Catch “Claremont Illuminated,” an outdoor photography festival that projects media from a yearlong documentary project around a stairwell at Nycha’s Claremont Village in the Bronx.

Saturday: Celebrate Puerto Rican culture at the Boricua Festival at the Brooklyn Army Terminal. Dancing guaranteed.

Monday: Join a three-hour figure-drawing class at the Old Stone House in Park Slope. Tickets are only $12 if you buy in advance.

This edition of Summer was written by Margot Boyer-Dry and Max Falkowitz. In real life, Margot writes the newsletter Lorem Ipsum on what’s cool and why in culture, while Max reports on food and travel for The Times and other publications. Both root for whatever team is playing the Yankees.

Margot: Twitter | Instagram

Max: Twitter

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