The June Calendar: NYC Events for Each Day This Month

By Troy Segal

Complement your calendar with this guide to the top talks, tastings, tours, events, and screenings in New York City this June.

June 1. Focus on abstract artists Ad Reinhardt and Agnes Martin — whose work is, incredibly, a half-century old — at this lecture by a noted British art historian. Brooklyn Museum.

Bobby Steggert, Grayson Taylor, Frederick Weller, Terrence McNally, and Tyne Daly of Broadway's "Mothers and Sons." Photo credit: Joan Marcus

Bobby Steggert, Grayson Taylor, Frederick Weller, Terrence McNally, and Tyne Daly of Broadway’s Mothers and Sons. Photo credit: Joan Marcus

June 2. Listen as Tyne Daly, winning raves for her performance in the Broadway drama Mothers and Sons, discusses the production with its playwright Terrence McNally and its director Sheryl Kaller. 92nd Street Y.

June 3. Let lyrical verse wash over you at an al fresco Word for Word Poetry reading. Bryant Park Reading Room.

Neil deGrasse Tyson in Cosmos

Neil deGrasse Tyson. Fox Broadcasting Company.

June 4. Explore the universe with a preview of the final episode of the hit series COSMOS: A SpaceTime Odyssey, augmented by host and renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. Paley Center for Media.

June 5. Ponder whether the Civil War could have been averted with a peaceful way to abolish slavery at this discussion among a trio of period historians. The New-York Historical Society.

June 6. Get real at a dialogue between Will Eno and Tracy Letts, playwright and star, respectively, of the play The Realistic Joneses, currently on Broadway. The Drama Book Shop.

June 7. Take a Greenwich Village Art Gallery Tour, led by a guide with a doctorate in arts education, and get a glimpse of not just great works, but one of the town’s cutest ‘hoods. New York Gallery Tours.

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June 8. Jive along as Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, the drummer for The Roots and a serious foodie, dishes about cookin’ both on-stage and in the kitchen. 92nd Street Y.

June 9. All you’ve got to do is ride around — and ride along with Lynn Sherr, author of a new biography of America’s first female astronaut, Sally Ride. 92nd Street Y.

June 10. Learn about John Quincy Adams — the sixth President of the U.S., who held surprisingly progressive views for his mid-19th9-century times, in this discussion. New-York Historical Society.

June 11. If you suffer from sleeplessness, try the Tibetan approach to insomnia as Dr. Anasurya Weil diagnoses three volunteers on stage. Rubin Museum of Art.

June 12. Sip away the Japan Society’s annual sake tasting, as expert John Gauntner speaks on paring the delicate rice wine with food (not just Japanese, either).

June 13. Embark with on a walking tour of the historic Financial District and the haunts of the wizards of Wall Street. Museum of American Finance.

June 14. Dance under the stars on an island — Staten Island, where the 19th-century Alice Austen House is holding its Annual Gala.

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June 15. Let your mouth water as food journalist Laura Silver, author of Knish: In Search of the Jewish Soul Food, discusses her fascination with the savory stuffed pastry. Museum of Jewish Heritage.

June 16. Gain insight into the real Lawrence of Arabia, and how he shaped the Middle East during World War I at this lecture. Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs.

John Naar; mcny.org

Jon Naar; mcny.org

June 17. Get a new appreciation of street art, as photographers Martha Cooper, Henry Chalfant, Flint Gennari, and Jon Naar describe how they went about documenting graffiti in the 1970s and 1980s. Museum of the City of New York.

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June 18. Laugh along as actress Jenny Mollen reads aloud from her memoir I Like You Just the Way I Am: Stories About Me and Some Other People, aided by her husband and fellow thespian, Jason Biggs. Bryant Park Reading Room.

June 19. Thrill as a trio of Chinese-born opera singers raise their velvety voices in praise of Western classical music. Asia Society and Museum.

June 20. Discover a fascinating footnote of history: how, in 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt armed the U.S. against the Nazis with the help of the Detroit auto industry. 92nd Street Y.

June 21. Let your ears experience an exotic sound: the centuries-old songs of the Dimen Dong Folk Chorus of Guizhou Province in China, preceded by a discussion of this unique music. Asia Society and Museum.

Babe Paley in a Charles James gown, 1950. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photograph by John Rawlings, Rawlings / Vogue / Condé Nast Archive. Copyright © Condé Nast

Babe Paley in a Charles James gown, 1950. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photograph by John Rawlings, Rawlings / Vogue / Condé Nast Archive. Copyright © Condé Nast

June 22. Gaze at the libidinous lines of the gowns of designer Charles James in this lecture by a costume curator lecturing on he made ‘em, inspired by the human bod itself. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

June 23. Resist the urge to sing along as theatre columnist Scott Siegel hosts a celebration of numbers from The Broadway Musicals of 1990-2014. The Town Hall.

Installation view: Italian Futurism, 1909–1944: Reconstructing the Universe, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Photo: Kris McKay © SRGF

Installation view: Italian Futurism, 1909–1944: Reconstructing the Universe, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Photo: Kris McKay © SRGF

June 24. Catch up to the dynamic style of Italian Futurism, a movement whose design lauded “the beauty of speed”, with this gallery talk. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

June 25. Virtually experience earthquakes in this Hayden Planetarium program, which explains what they are, why they happen, and the effects of these seismic waves coursing through our planet. American Museum of Natural History.

June 26. Get a sense of the vision of designing duo Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta, founders of the label Eckhaus Latta, as they describe their radical clothes, abstract groupings of textiles and fibers that merge into garments. Museum of Arts and Design.

June 27. Participate in a workshop led by a theatrical director that uses scenes from the works of playwright/ philosopher Fred Newman to explore questions of identity. East Side Institute.

Skanks The Movie – Trailer from David McMahon on Vimeo.

June 28. Get an elevated perspective (literally) on the cinema at a screening of new indy Skanks, atop Industry City, part of the Rooftop Films: Underground Movies Outdoors series.

June 29. Look up at the structures designed by the Guastavinos (a father-and-son duo famed for their vaulted tile ceilings) in a walking tour around upper Manhattan. The Museum of the City of New York.

June 30. Explore the curative properties of engaging with and making objects, using pieces designed by contemporary artists, at this half-day conference. Museum of Modern Art.