Things NYC is Looking Forward to in 2015
Image source: Amodiovalerio Verde on Flickr
There’s never a shortage of things to look forward to in New York City. Every year the five boroughs play host to a bevy of world-class events, and every day you can see something you never have before. It’s part of what makes NYC so special. With that in mind, we’ll be focusing on brand new happenings that have New Yorkers looking forward to 2015.
Sports
NYCFC — New York City Football Club
An expansion sports team is a big deal, even if it is America’s most undervalued major sport (soccer). That being said, the NYCFC is partially owned by English Premier League champions Manchester City. The other owner is the New York Yankees, with whom they’ll share Yankee Stadium. And no NYC team is complete without its star athlete. Luckily for the NYCFC, they are already poised to make an opening season splash with a couple of international superstars — forward David Villa of Spain and midfielder Frank Lampard of England. It’s a classically ‘New York’ convergence of new and old — and it should be fun to watch as soccer continues to gain credibility in the States.
NBA All-Star Weekend
For the first time in NBA history, All-Star Weekend will be held in two different NBA arenas. Brooklyn’s Barclays Center will host events Friday and Saturday, including the the dunk contest and celebrity game, while Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden will host the All-Star Game on Sunday for the first time since 1998. The NBA is taking advantage of the occasion, putting together lead-up events in all five boroughs, including dedicated fan headquarters near each arena.
Bars/Restaurants
Momofuku Ko
As any NYC food-lover can attest, Momofuku Ko is far from new. David Chang’s prix-fixe-only restaurant is a legend at this point, but it did just get a brand new location at 8 Extra Place in the East Village, complete with a menu upgrade to 17 courses. Although we’re cheating a bit by including this on a 2015 list, the restaurant’s late-2014 opening guarantees almost no one will be able to snare a table until after the New Year. To help your chances however, the Momofuku empire just launched an online reservation tool. At Ko, bookings are allowed two weeks in advance, and get picked up quick, so jump on it!
Wassail
Beer is enjoying quite a movement at the moment. Craft beer is a must at every restaurant and bar worth its salt. But what about cider? Yes, that “sweet apple stuff” the Brits drink is a real beverage. It’s starting to gain its rightful recognition too, although be it on a much smaller scale. Fortunately for cider fans, Wassail is here to lend some legitimacy to our sweet friend, when they open their doors at 162 Orchard Street as NYC’s first cider bar.
Broadway
Broadway is as iconic as the Statue of Liberty, but thankfully not as stagnant. 2015 has a number of great new plays coming up, with some big names making their first appearances on the Great White Way. Given Larry David’s sheer volume of creative output, it’s a bit surprising his work has never graced Broadway. That will change on March 15 at the Cort Theater when he stars in Fish in the Dark, which he penned. New Yorkers can also look forward to seeing a bonafide movie star on Broadway when Jake Gyllenhaal stars in British playwright Nick Payne’s Constellations at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater. The two have already worked together off-Broadway with If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet, but will both be making their Broadway premiere in January.
Transportation
The city’s transit authority has already announced a 4 percent fare hike in 2015. Despite this misfortune, Citibike has announced it will be doubling its fleet, only further legitimizing it as an alternative form of transportation. By the end of 2017, bike stations will connect faraway corners of the city — from Harlem to Astoria to Gowanus. And starting as early as 2015, Greenpoint and Long Island City will get their first stations, with Williamsburg adding many more.
Other
Perhaps the most exciting thing to look forward to in 2015 is the addition of LinkNYC stations sometime late in the year. If you’re not familiar with LinkNYC, it’s a bold initiative by the city to replace all existing phone booths relics with state-of-the-art Wi-Fi stations. This will make NYC home to “the fastest and largest free municipal Wi-Fi deployment in the world.” It doesn’t end there. The Wi-Fi stations will boast blazing fast 1GB speed, house USB charging ports, an Android tablet with city directories, and will have the ability to make free domestic phone calls. And it does not end there. LinkNYC will be completely free, paid for by neighborhood-specific advertisements broadcasted on their LCD screens.
New York City is always full of pleasant surprises, and 2015 will be no different.
