Beat the Heat in NYC this Summer with These Tips
During the summer, New York City couldn’t get any hotter, and you couldn’t possibly cool down fast enough. But start spreading the news and check out these fun ways to battle the heat New York style:
Go on a museum date.
Be it with your friends, classmates, your special someone, or with yourself, visiting a New York City museum will most likely do you some good—a little dose of culture never hurt anybody. As you all know, New York is home to some of the finest museums, like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim, and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), to name a few. All you have to do is throw in some dollars and voila! You have found a way to avoid the day’s killer heat while successfully traveling through time.
Read your favorite book… in the library!
Better yet, read an entire series or anthology! Not only does being in the library help you concentrate more, but you’ll benefit from free air-conditioning in one of the most iconic buildings in the city if you go to the main library on 5th Avenue. The longer your reading list, the cooler you’ll be!
Host an ice cream party.
Ice cream is always the answer. And while you could grab a few pints of Ben & Jerry’s, a better option might be to hunt down the Mr. Softee truck with your best friends. But there are plenty of other great places to get ice cream in NYC, including the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck, all of the carts in Central Park, Melt Bakery, Serendipity 3, and the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, which also comes with an awesome view of downtown.
Catch a movie… Err, movies.
It’s about time you stopped watching Blu-rays or torrent downloads. Be more adventurous and try catching as many films as you can during day. Get out of bed and go on a movie marathon with your best friend—a real one. New York has some pretty cool theaters, too–not just your standard chains. Check out The Angelika, the Ziegfeld, the Paris Theatre, and Sunshine Cinema. And once the sun goes down, check out the movies shown under the stars at Bryant Park every Monday night.
Get onto the water. Or at least near it. 
When the air in the city gets stale and unbreathable, get to the water, where the fresh breezes will cool you down. There are plenty of options to get onto the water itself–sightseeing cruises, kayak rentals, and even the (free!) Staten Island Ferry. If you don’t have your sea legs, hop on a Citi Bike and take a cruise up and down the West Side Highway, stopping for a bite near the 79th Street Boat Basin. And then there’s always the South Street Seaport, where you can dine al fresco on the water and take in all of the gorgeous sights of downtown.
