Cheap Thrills in NYC During the Spring and Summer

I might be a little high on vitamin D right now, but I’m bouncing up and down on my kitchen stool while I think about all the things I want to do in New York now that spring is almost here. (I also just got my legs waxed, so sitting kinda hurts). Spring and summer are my favorite times to be broke in New York, because so many of my favorite warm weather activities in the city are absolutely free.

Biking

I’ve talked about my love of biking before. There is no better way to get psuedo-fresh air, sun exposure, and sculpt your muscles at the same time. But the best part of biking as transportation is never waiting for trains and cutting down on your commute time. Going to a bar in the middle of nowhere will be all fun, instead of mostly fun followed by 45 minutes of waiting for a bus and then a train in the cold.

Stoop/Roof Time

It’s easy to forget that you live in a giant metropolitan area when you’re sitting inside your windowless/basement apartment curled up in front of your space heater. But in the summer, you can go up to your roof and stare out at the sea of buildings. If it starts to get old, you’ve officially become too jaded for your own good. The urban landscape views aren’t as good from a stoop, but the people watching can’t be beat.

Running Through Sprinklers and Fountains

This is my favorite thing about summer in any city.

No Pants O’Clock!

Shortly after I graduated college, I went through a brief period of time when I thought I was too old to wear short shorts. Then I moved to Brooklyn. It got really hot, and the very idea of wearing shorts that hit a few inches above the knee made me sweat. I also realized that no matter how short my shorts were, someone else’s would be shorter.

Being a Shiftless Layabout/Making Out in Parks

There is no better way to spend a summer afternoon than laying in a park with your friends and watching puppies, people playing sports, children on bikes, and terrible fashion choices. And I’m not suggesting you should turn the great lawn into a middle school make out party, but finding a nice chunk of grass for some quality spooning isn’t something you can do all year.