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Gothamist Winter Guide: 16 Fun Things To Do In NYC This January

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Somehow, finally, against all odds, 2017 has arrived! And while the weather is bound to be cold, dark, and inhospitable for pretty much the entire foreseeable future, the five boroughs are already set to pop off like that $5 bottle of Andre you shook up and guzzled on the train. We're talking late night jazz shows, surreal hotel parties, tributes to Bukowski, low-grade dynamite, and world-class cinema. Let's make some plans.

flickr/Adrian Cabrero

Nowhere does it say you have to wait until summer or <a href="http://http://gothamist.com/2016/09/03/photos_costumed_revelers_invade_ran.php#photo-21">wear silly and revealing costumes</a> to enjoy a music festival. Now in its 13th year, the <a href="http://www.winterjazzfest.com/">NYC Winter Jazzfest</a> has grown into a six-day jazz celebration with over 140 acts performing on 13 stages that will not only inject some much-needed improvisation into the monotony of cold commute season, but preview where jazz is headed in 2017. This year's edition will celebrate Thelonious Monk's 100th birthday, as well as pay tribute to social justice and Black Lives Matter in both performances and scheduled talks. A show by saxophonist Pharoah Sanders with opener Shabaka and The Ancestors kicks off the festival at Le Poisson Rouge Thursday night. But Friday and Saturday's Jazzfest Marathon anchors the schedule, with dozens of performances throughout lower Manhattan, including the festival's artist-in-residence, avant-garde drummer and composer Andrew Cyrille, performing Friday with tenor saxophonist Bill McHenry. (Joshua Keefe) Thursday, January 5th - Tuesday, January 10th // Downtown Manhattan (locations vary) // <a href="http://www.winterjazzfest.com/tickets/">Tickets:</a> $20-160

Quantic will perform live at Winter Jazzfest 2016

Maybe you've been to House of Yes for a <a href="http://gothamist.com/2016/06/20/lust_party_bushwick_photos.php#photo-1">dinner sex party</a>, a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/323393781381302/">robot sex party</a> or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1791628087717160/">poetry sex party</a>. The Bushwick DIY-space-gone-legit regularly invites fetishists and voyeurs to come in and get it on, but the truth is that each month, their best party is all about giving back. House of Yes's regular <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/thank-you-for-everything-hoy-turns-one-tickets-29845737404">Thank You For Everything </a> night will feature aerialists, pumping beats, wild crowds, no cover, inventive drinks, bright streamers, balloons, and other random party favors as the venue's staff celebrates their one year anniversary of opening on Wyckoff Avenue. Nothing will be too serious (or too out there); the only agenda is a nonstop dance party with no need for harnesses or safewords. If you've never been to House of Yes, this is most definitely the night for you. Friday, January 6th, 10 p.m. - 4 a.m. // <a href="www.houseofyes.org">House of Yes</a>, 2 Wyckoff Avenue, Brooklyn // <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/thank-you-for-everything-hoy-turns-one-tickets-29845737404">Free with RSVP</a>

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The ICP Museum's brilliant first exhibition is soon coming to a close, and your image-obsessed, media-addled brain needs to see it. Dubbed <a href="https://www.icp.org/exhibitions/public-private-secret">Public, Private, Secret,</a> the show is made up of photography, posters, and video pieces that showcase how technology has led us down a dark path of capturing, editing, sharing, and deleting our images and ourselves. From self-made Snapchats to unsanctioned CCTV footage, the pieces here are both seductive and deeply dark. You'll see gorgeous celebrities at parties, nameless lovers in cramped apartments, and everyday people spilling their guts out at home in front of webcams. As ICP's <a href="http://gothamist.com/2016/06/22/new_bowery_icp.php#photo-1">curator-in-residence told us</a>, "People are going to come in here and see parts of themselves they wouldn't want others to know about." It's a powerful, unsettling, and beautiful display. Show ends Sunday, January 8th // <a href="https://www.icp.org/facilities/museum">ICP Museum</a>, 250 Bowery, Manhattan // <a href="https://www.icp.org/facilities/museum">Tickets $10-14</a>

Scott Heins/Gothamist

This month, the Cornelia Street Cafe will <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/685310558297783/">pay tribute to everybody's favorite literary shitbag, Henry Charles Bukowski</a>. With a mix of poems and short story readings, video screenings, and door prizes that we can only imagine are half-drunk bottles of Old Granddad and paper plates of cigarette ash, the night will be dedicated to the literary genius and deranged hedonism of one of America's greatest writers. Bukowski was always rooting for the strange outcasts of society, so if you've been feeling a bit at odds with the world (or you own a beloved dog-eared copy of Factotum), get yourself a barstool. With award-winning playwrights and monologists handling the readings, Bukowski biographers retelling stories of his own wildness, and bartenders pouring plenty of wine, it'll be an evening both profane and profound. Friday, January 13th, 6 p.m. // <a href="http://www.corneliastreetcafe.com/">Cornelia Street Cafe</a>, 29 Cornelia Street, Manhattan // <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/685310558297783/">$15 (includes a free drink)</a>

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The Bronx Documentary Center's new exhibit, <a href="http://bronxdoc.org/exhibitions">'Whose Streets? Our Streets! New York City, 1980 - 2000</a> showcases two decades of NYC protests, marches, and riots, from violent confrontations like the Tompkins Square Park and Crown Heights Riots to non-violent civil disobedience movements. The exhibit features work from more than 30 photographers, including Sandra-Lee Phipps, Richard Sandler, and Corky Lee and runs until March. (Gaby Del Valle) Exhibit runs from Saturday, January 14th until March 5th // <a href="http://bronxdoc.org/">Bronx Documentary Center</a>, 614 Courtlandt Avenue, the Bronx // <a href="http://bronxdoc.org/exhibitions">Free</a>

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Professional and amateur chefs will face off at Jimmy No. 43's ninth annual <a href="http://jimmysno43.com/events/9th-annual-cassoulet-cookoff/">Cassoulet Cookoff</a>, where you can either show off your culinary prowess or stuff your face with French food (or both!). A ticket gets you unlimited cassoulet (which, by the way, is like a casserole but better) samples from participating chefs, which include chefs from the Chefs' Consortium and Chef Alana Szemer, who won last year's competition in the traditional cassoulet category. If you want to showcase your take on the classic dish, you can email [email protected] to enter the competition for the chance of winning prizes from Anolon Cookware and WUSTHOF. Local ingredients will be sourced by Chefs Consortium, and a portion of all ticket sales benefit the Brooklyn Rescue Mission, a food pantry/community garden in Bed-Stuy. (Gaby Del Valle) Sunday, January 15th, 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. // <a href="http://jimmysno43.com/">Jimmy's No. 43</a>, 43 East 7th Street, Manhattan // <a href="http://9thannualcassouletcookoff.brownpapertickets.com/">Tickets: $20</a>

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If you haven't gotten a chance to see Pipilotti Rist's <a href="http://www.newmuseum.org/exhibitions/view/pipilotti-rist-pixel-forest">Pixel Forest</a> exhibition at the New Museum, this is your last chance. Crowds have been <a href="http://gothamist.com/2016/12/14/pipilotti_rist_new_museum.php#photo-1">flocking to the exhibition</a>, which occupies the museum's three main floors and is the most comprehensive exhibition of Rist's work to date, since October. You may have to wait on line to get in, but it's worth it: the exhibition features pieces from Rist's three-decade-long career, including her 1997 video <a href="http://www.phaidon.com/agenda/art/articles/2016/april/25/is-the-new-beyonce-video-a-tribute-to-pipilotti-rist/">"Ever Is Over All,"</a> which probably inspired Beyonce's latest album; a machine which emits giant bubbles; and the eponymous Pixel Forest, a psychedelic installation featuring more than 3,000 color-changing LED lights. (Gaby Del Valle) Runs until Sunday, January 15th // <a href="http://www.newmuseum.org/">The New Museum</a>, 235 Bowery, Manhattan // <a href="https://buy.acmeticketing.com/orders/177/calendar?eventId=54dd1260e4b04334833fe94e&cart">Tickets: $18</a>

Courtesy of New Museum

Film Forum will liven up a 90-year-old masterpiece this month when they screen <a href="http://filmforum.org/events/event/variety-with-live-piano-accompaniment-by-steve-sterner-event">Variety</a>, the German tale of a retired trapeze artist who drops everything when a beautiful orphan dancer lures him back into the business. Widely censored in its initial release and rarely screened today, the film is considered to be far ahead of its time, filled with breathtaking acrobat stunts and practical effects. Recently-restored thanks to special nitrate prints found in both the US Library of Congress and Austria's Filmarchiv, the special engagement is a must-see for both long-time Variety fans and rookies who have yet to delve into pre-Depression cinema. Film Forum is also upping the old-timey ante by bringing in live piano accompaniment during both special screenings. Tuesday, January 17th at 6 p.m. and Sunday, January 29th at 1 p.m. // Film Forum, 209 West Houston Street, Manhattan // <a href="http://filmforum.org/events/event/variety-with-live-piano-accompaniment-by-steve-sterner-event">Tickets $8-14</a>

Still from 'Variety'

If you're tired of stale interpretations and reinterpretations and analysis of the same five Shakespearean tragedies or the song-and-dance routines of Broadway, check out the <a href="http://www.nyneofuturists.org/">New York Neo-Futurists</a> risky new show <a href="http://www.nyneofuturists.org/great-american-drama/">The Great American Drama</a>. An interactive performance piece that takes its nightly cues from audience surveys, interviews, and reviews, this "ever-changing theatrical experiment" is intended to "test the validity of the American Dream; that anyone, regardless of their given circumstance, can achieve prosperity and success through hard work and determination." And if you fill out <a href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/W6KHCDP">this survey</a> about 'how you like your theater,' you'll be entered for free tickets. (Erica Siudzinski) Tuesday, January 17th to Sunday, February 4th, Tues.-Sat. 7:30 p.m., Sat. and Sun. 2:30 p.m. // <a href="http://www.art-newyork.org/theatres">A.R.T./NY Jeffrey and Paula Gural Theatre</a>, 502 W. 53rd St. // <a href="https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/966999">Tickets $18</a>

The New York Neofuturists (via facebook)

The latest installation of the IFC Center's <a href="http://www.ifccenter.com/series/shorts-from-the-sundance-film-festival/">Short Attention Span Cinema</a> screening series features five short films from the 2016 and 2017 Sundance Film Festivals. The screening series is basically a pregame to another movie; the shorts screen before the theater's regular features. Although two of the films are only screening in December, three are showing in January: Glove, directed by Alexa Lim Haas and Bernardo Britto, tells the true story of a glove that's been flating through space since the '60s and runs until January 5th; William Caballero's Victor and Isolina focuses on an elderly couple that's decided to cut ties and live separately and screens from January 6th to the 12th; and British filmmaker Shola Amoo's Dear Mr. Shakespeare, which explores Othello's origins from the perspective of contemporary, multicultural Britain, screens from January 13th to the 19th. (Gaby Del Valle) <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="468" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/193406013?color=ff9933&title=0&byline=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="640"></iframe> Runs until Thursday, January 19th // <a href="http://www.ifccenter.com/">IFC Center</a>, 323 Sixth Avenue, Manhattan // Various showtimes // Tickets: $15

Still from 'Dear Mr. Shakespeare'

You may not have heard of the New York Science Film Festival, which is having its inaugural run this year, which is all the more reason to check it out. Beginning on January 20th, the new fest includes more than 50 screenings of sci-fi and horror films, most of which have come out within the last year. On the 20th, the <a href="http://nyork.cervantes.es/en/default.shtm">Instituto Cervantes</a> in Midtown is screening nine sci-fi shorts from Spain, France, Mexico, and the U.S. from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday is the biggest day of the festival by far, with seven total block screenings, including an early afternoon screening of Ovnis en Zacapa, a Guatemalan feature making its U.S. debut; a block of animated sci-fi shorts; and a virtual reality program at the <a href="http://www.roxyhotelnyc.com/event-venues/the-roxy-cinema/">Roxy Hotel Cinema</a> which features five short films. The finalists will be announced on Sunday, January 22nd at the <a href="http://anthologyfilmarchives.org/">Anthology Film Archives</a>. You can check out the full <a href="http://www.newyorksci-fifilmfestival.com/program.html">program here</a>. (Gaby Del Valle) January 20th - January 22nd // Various locations // Tickets: $10 - $20, <a href="http://www.eventbee.com/v/dan999/event?eid=130351954#/tickets">three day pass $35</a>

Still from 'Teleios'

With songs that gradually swell from soft blips into breakneck techno epics, Plaid is probably the best electronic group you've never heard (much) of. Comprised of Londoners Andy Turner and Ed Handley, the group began making <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_dance_music">IDM</a> in the late 90s, and have been putting out consistently weird and brilliant material ever since. Whether they're scoring an entire anime film with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrgyB7GXgII">haunting motives</a> or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZOiTWXLifg">experimenting with intergalactic dubstep</a>, Plaid always pushes towards the outermost boundaries of dance music's conventions. Given all that, plus the fact that they hardly ever tour, their <a href="http://www.axs.com/events/327765/plaid-tickets">upcoming concert at Music Hall of Williamsburg</a> is a can't-miss for those seeking something new, exciting, ornate, and unsettling. Friday, January 27th, 9 p.m. // <a href="http://www.musichallofwilliamsburg.com/">Music Hall of Williamsburg</a>, 66 North 6th Street, Brooklyn // <a href="http://www.axs.com/events/327765/plaid-tickets">Tickets $20</a>

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Celebrate the beginning of the Year of the Rooster with Chinatown's <a href="http://betterchinatown.com/upcoming-events/">New Year's Day Firecracker Ceremony</a> in Sara D. Roosevelt Park. Lunar New Year 4715 kicks off with a bang with on January 28th, the eighteenth year of this <a href="http://gothamist.com/2015/02/19/chinatown_firecracker_ceremony.php#photo-1">annual Chinatown tradition</a>. Expect firecrackers, drumming, lion dancers, and <a href="http://gothamist.com/2016/02/07/8_auspicious_foods_lunar_new_year.php">plenty of lettuce</a> (the Cantonese word for lettuce sounds like "growing fortune," and lettuce is a staple in Lunar New Year celebrations). Celebrations continue for a full week, concluding with a parade and festival on February 5th. (Gaby Del Valle) Saturday, January 28th, 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. // Sara D. Roosevelt Park, Grand Street and Chrystie Street, Manhattan // <a href="http://betterchinatown.com/upcoming-events/">Free</a>

Rabi Abonour/Gothamist

The concept behind <a href="http://cochon555.com/2017-tour/nyc/">Cochon555</a> is simple: five chefs prepare five whole pigs for consumption with wine by five winemakers. This year's 555 will have chefs competing to produce the best head-to-tail deconstruction, and the audience will get to judge the results. The Sunday evening feast and tasting at the Weylin event space in Williamsburg will kick off the event's national 2017 tour, which ends with an October national championship in Chicago. Started in 2008, Cochon555 is a celebration of heritage breed pigs, which are tasty, purebred swine from the Old World that are in danger of being lost due to commercial farming practices. (Joshua Keefe) Sunday, January 29th, 4 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. // <a href="http://weylin.com/">Weylin</a>, 175 Broadway, Brooklyn // <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cochon555-new-york-city-tickets-4211627090">Tickets</a>: $125-400

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Brought up through the New York City downtown art-music scene, the genre-defying trio of <a href="http://www.mmw.net/index.php/home">Medeski Martin & Wood</a> has fused classical jazz training with a experimental sensibility. Virtually uncategorizable, their music is impossibly improvisational: what started in the early aughts as a more recognizably jazz-oriented, if also blues-attuned, setlist ('<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb-dEI7bbGY">Shine It</a>', '<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj68KYYpmHE">Uninvisible</a>', and '<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHlWOs6Ca50">End Of The World Party</a>' are classic examples) has morphed in recent years into a mash-up of nameless and unnamable influences that the group describes as 'avant-noise' (the whole of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ilcpf2wTGpU&list=PL3IzsqUZBh6dmykwAPiYx5nOaop-CCn0O">Woodstock Sessions</a> sounds more like a spacey, heavy metal or grunge record than any jazz production). The music carries the listener along on a wave of effortless cool, weaving these countless origins into a new musical fabric. The relentlessly original group will be playing a <a href="http://lpr.com/lpr_events/medeski-martin-wood-january-16th-2017/">three-day engagement</a> at (Le) Poisson Rouge in mid-January for those who wish to broaden their musical horizons in the new year. (Erica Siudzinski) Monday-Wednesday, January 16th-18th, doors: 7 p.m., show: 8 p.m. // <a href="http://lpr.com/">(Le) Poisson Rouge</a>, 158 Bleecker St. // <a href="https://www.venuepilot.co/events/11153/orders/new">Tickets $30-35</a> // 18+

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If 2016 wasn't surreal enough for your tastes, suit up in your finest Twenties garb and step into the penthouse of the Roger Smith Hotel for a night worthy of Dali at <a href="http://www.atlasobscura.com/events/nyc-dream-reservoir-surrealist-hotel">Dream Reservoir: A Night at the Surrealist Hotel</a>. Come dressed as your favorite Surrealist artist (or in any Twenties attire, or even as whatever qualifies for a 'Surrealist dream-vision'), and immerse yourself in an open bar serving specialty cocktails, cabaret dancers, roaming performance art pieces, film and poetry readings, and the chance to have your subconscious read. This one's put on by Atlas Obscura, which excels at producing unique parties in unusual places <a href="http://gothamist.com/2015/10/26/greenwood_cemetery_halloween.php#photo-1">like Green-Wood Cemetery</a>. (Erica Siudzinski) Saturday, January 28th, doors: 7 p.m., event: 7:30 p.m. to 12 a.m. // <a href="http://www.rogersmith.com/">Roger Smith Hotel</a>, 501 Lexington Ave. at 47th St. // <a href="http://www.atlasobscura.com/events/nyc-dream-reservoir-surrealist-hotel">Tickets $160-$840</a> (A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Planned Parenthood or the U.N. Refugee Agency.) // 21+

courtesy of Atlas Obscura