How to have the best New York summer ever
It's pretty easy.
Never in my life has summer been one of my favorite seasons.
Although I’m a Cancer, I simply have never felt a connection to the warmest months of the year. My birthday was never during elementary, middle, or high school, and in college I was missing half of my friends. I hate to sweat. If your vacations don’t align, you could go a whole month without hanging out with anyone. And don’t even get me started on camp.
This is the first summer I’ve been genuinely excited for that I can remember in my life. When I think about it, I get butterflies that I can tell are butterflies and not an anxious stomach ache. I feel calm. I feel ready. The beauty of a summer birthday as an adult is shining through, bright enough for me to ignore that 80% of my summer will be spent at my desk.
New York City is one of the best places you can spend a summer. It gets a bad rap for the steaming garbage smell, the burning hot pavement, and the inevitable pit stains that will ruin every shirt in your closet.
While all of this sucks, there are so many things that make the months of June to August in NYC so magical. All of the assholes are out in the Hamptons, you can enjoy dinner outside, it stays light until what feels like 10 PM, and there are some days you leave your house at 8 AM and don’t come home until 2 AM. There’s something amazing in the air, and we all feel it.
Here’s the official Olivia Hawkins guide to all of the best places to visit, all of the food to eat, and all of the best things to do in New York during the summer.
