Things to Do in New York in January: Events for Each Day This Month
By Alison Durkee
Happy 2020! The new year is nearly here—and if you’re looking for fun and interesting ways to kick things off, New York City certainly has you covered. Start 2020 by learning about everything from self-care to Siberia at these upcoming talks and events.
Wednesday, January 1. Become well-versed in the new year by starting things off at the annual New Year’s Day Poetry Marathon. St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery.
Thursday, January 2. Tune in to the Aesthetic Realism Foundation and the musicians, singers, and educators that come together for What Music Says About Our Lives–A Celebration!
Friday, January 3. Ring in the 2020s by going back to the Roaring Twenties on this tour of the Museum of the American Gangster and the remnants of a 1920s speakeasy.
Saturday, January 4. Heal in the new year with this meditation, manifestation, and energy healing workshop. The Three Jewels.
Sunday, January 5. Preach at this talk on the powerful women in the Bible. Museum at Eldridge Street.
Monday, January 6. Write up a way to attend this performance of Oscar & Walt, a play centered on an encounter between Oscar Wilde and Walt Whitman. The National Arts Club.
Tuesday, January 7. Worlds will collide at the Story Collider, which features true, personal stories about science. Q.E.D.
Wednesday, January 8. Set boundaries for this talk with former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on gerrymandering and how to protect voting rights. The Greene Space.
Thursday, January 9. Radicalize at this book event for William Rosenau’s Tonight We Bombed the US Capitol, which tells the story of the women-led American terrorist group M19. The Strand.
Friday, January 10. Enjoy Siberia—without the cold—at this Sounds of Siberia concert evoking the Russian region. Rubin Museum of Art.
Saturday, January 11. Escape the crowds by enjoying the Brooklyn Museum on this special after-hours tour.
Sunday, January 12. Play a tune at this concert featuring the flutists of the New York City Ballet. Baruch Performing Arts Center.
Monday, January 13. Look at the lighter side of couplehood with New Yorkers Roz Chast and Patricia Marx as they launch their new book, You Can Only Yell at Me for One Thing at a Time: Rules for Couples. Greenlight Bookstore.
Tuesday, January 14. Enter an uncanny valley with Anna Wiener, author of a new memoir on the ground level of the digital age. McNally Jackson Williamsburg.
Wednesday, January 15. Draw up a way to attend this conversation between graphic novelist and Kim Deitch and jazz critic and historian Gary Giddins, focused on the real and fictional NYC geography Deitch created in his latest book, Reincarnation Stories. Museum of the City of New York.
Thursday, January 16. Feel like you’re in the room where it happened as educator Barbara Chernow discusses the importance of historical research in general and Alexander Hamilton in specific. Fraunces Tavern Museum.
Friday, January 17. Build things up at this discussion on Tokyo’s shifting urban landscape with leading architects Fuminori Nousaku and Mio Tsuneyama. Japan Society.
Saturday, January 18. Harken to the next in the Salon/Sanctuary Concerts series, which turns back the clock to a more courtly time with the French-Florentine duo of mezzo-soprano Lila Hajosi and lutenist Giovanni Bellini. NYU (Other).
Sunday, January 19. Relax at this full-day workshop on how to break free of anxiety and stress. 92nd Street Y.
Monday, January 20. Pay tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. at this annual celebration of King’s legacy, featuring activists, public figures, and civic leaders alongside musicians and other performers. Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM).
Tuesday, January 21. Migrate to this deep-dive discussion on immigration in 2020. The Greene Space.
Wednesday, January 22. Turn the page at this Selected Shorts event bringing together authors and actors to celebrate the works of Toni Morrison. Symphony Space.
Thursday, January 23. Be counted at this panel discussion on the 2020 census from those on the front lines of the mammoth undertaking. Museum of the City of New York.
Leah Hennessey and Emily Allan. Photo by Azikiwe Mohammed.
Friday, January 24. Embark on a “Star Odyssey” with playwrights Emily Allan and Leah Hennessey, who present a newly commissioned work exploring slash culture. MoMA PS1.
Saturday, January 25. Cram a semester into a day as One Day University hosts two talks on medicine: “The Amazing/Terrifying Future of Medicine” and “Forever Young: How Scientists Are Learning to Keep Us From Getting Old.” New York Institute of Technology.
Sunday, January 26. Embark on an “Age of Innocence” on this walking tour of Edith Wharton’s New York. The Municipal Art Society of New York.
Monday, January 27. Practice self-care by attending this talk on the Japanese concept of me-byo, or preventive care. Japan Society.
Tuesday, January 28. Delve into an owning up of racism as Layla F. Saad presents her book Me and White Supremacy. The Strand.
Wednesday, January 29. Explore gay identity at this conversation between producer and writer Richie Jackson and Queer Eye star Antoni Porowoski on Jackson’s new book, Gay Like Me: A Father Writes to His Son. 92nd Street Y.
Thursday, January 30. Exit the figurative world for the opening reception of Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s–1980s. Grey Art Gallery.
Friday, January 31. Believe in this conversation centered on Believe Me, a new book that asks: What would happen if we didn’t just believe women, but acted as though they matter? Books Are Magic.
For a printable PDF of this calendar, click here.
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