The September Calendar: Events for Each Day This Month

By Troy Segal

“Life begins all over again in the fall,” F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote. Complement your calendar with this cornucopia of offerings — a guide to the top talks, tastings, tours, and screenings in NYC this September.

September 1. On the unofficial final day of summer, turn up the heat at the New York Caribbean Carnival’s annual Labor Day Parade and party, a daylong happening along Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway.

September 2. Please do touch the art as you ramble among an artist-designed mini-golf course, tree house and interactive, outdoor sculpture — all part of Figment NYC’s sculpture program on Governors Island.

Bill Cunningham’s Editta Sherman, Subway (1970s). New-York Historical Society, Gift of Bill Cunningham

September 3. Enjoy a rare sighting of photographer Bill Cunningham, whose “on the street” shots of well-dressed folk have graced The New York Times for three decades, as he chats with clothing authority Fern Mallis (best-known as the creator of what became NYC’s Fashion Week, back in the 1990s). 92nd Street Y.

September 4. Listen up as director Werner Herzog (Aguirre, the Wrath of God; Nosferatu the Vampyre; and the upcoming Queen of the Desert), engages in conversation with the New York Public Library’s director of public programs. Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Nam June Paik. Li Tai Po, 1987. 10 antique wooden TV cabinets, 1 antique radio cabinet, antique Korean printing block, antique Korean book, 11 color TVs. 96 x 62 x 24 in. (243.8 x 157.5 x 61 cm). Asia Society, New York: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Harold and Ruth Newman, 2008.2. Photo: 2007 John Bigelow Taylor Photography, courtesy of Asia Society, New York

September 5. Marvel at the medium-blending vision of Nam June Paik (1932–2006), aka the “father of video art,” in this exhibit opening today. Asia Society and Museum.

Photo: pigisland.com

September 6. Feel free to pig out on savory pork dishes, along with a host of Hudson Valley hard ciders, Finger Lakes region vinos and Sixpoint’s brewed-in-Brooklyn craft beers, at the Pig Island food festival. Erie Basin Park Waterfront.

Photo by: Dana Edelson/NBC

September 7. Laugh at up-and-coming comedienne Vanessa Bayer — you know her, she’s skewered everyone from Hillary to Miley on Saturday Night Live — as she and her brother chat with Jack Antonoff. 92nd Street Y.

September 8. Explore the concept of worlds within worlds, from microscopic bacteria colonies to entire galaxies, on this cosmic lecture tour guided by astrophysicist and author Caleb Scharf. American Museum of Natural History.

Erwin Schrott in the title role of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. Photo: Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera

September 9. Open your ears as, in-between musical excerpts from the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Le Nozze di Figaro, Met Opera General Manager Peter Gelb talks the talk with the opera’s Tony Award-winning team: director Richard Eyre and set designer Rob Howell. Guggenheim Museum.

September 10. Travel way, way back in time to the Garden of Eden — or at least, to contemporary artists’ visions of it — in this tour of the exhibit Back to Eden, guided by the curator who put together the show. Museum of Biblical Art.

September 11. Try to stop your mouth from watering, as a panel of food editors and writers dissects the unprecedented role various media play in creating gustatory trends and stimulating appetites. 92nd Street Y.

September 12. The concept of childhood evolved greatly in the 1800s, and with it, ideas of proper schooling for both sexes. Get a crash course in 19th-century education at this lunchtime lecture. Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden.

September 13. The neighborhood known as Chelsea is chock-a-block with art galleries, making it the epicenter for contemporary art in NYC (and hence, the world). Improve your artistic IQ with this gallery tour of the West 20s, led by a docent with a doctorate in arts ed.

September 14. Nobody ever expects the Spanish Inquisition — or the off- off-, off-beat humor of Monty Python, even if one’s seen their films 100 times. Make it 101 a double feature of Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Monty Python’s Life of Brian. Symphony Space.

September 15. Is it possible to sum up Jewish life in a brief phrase? A panel of wordsmiths, led by writer Piper Kerman (Orange is the New Black) and husband Larry Smith (creator of the six-word memoir), is going to try at this tongue-twisting event. 92nd Street Y.

September 16. Delve into the depiction of gods and goddesses, and how these mighty images cast in stone and bronze formed the backbone of Hindu, Buddhist and other ancient South Asian religions, at this lecture by an expert Asian Art curator. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

September 17. Spend an evening with two different Japanese artists — a master of tea and a master architect — as they discuss philosophers from Sen Rikyu to Marcel Duchamp. Japan Society.

Charles James Ball Gowns, 1948. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photograph by Cecil Beaton, Beaton / Vogue / Condé Nast Archive. Copyright © Condé Nast

September 18. Watch closely as Homer Layne — assistant to designer Charles James — demonstrates the famously intricate draping technique that gave James’ dresses their libidinous lines. Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Gold Diggers of 1933

September 19. Go ahead and tap your toes, as songs are sung, scores are played, and backstage tales are about the Golden Age of Movie Musicals. 92nd Street Y.

September 20. Let’s have a brew! After its 57th annual march up Fifth Ave., the German-American Steuben Parade hosts an Oktoberfest (ok, it’s a bit early), mit live folk music and Teutonic beers. Rumsey Playfield.

September 21. Absorb yourself and the kids in Bad Magic, the new book by Pseudonymous Bosch (The Secret Series) — just remember, he’s the most unreliable of narrators… Symphony Space.

September 22. Ponder how, even after eight years, the issues embodied in the Duke University lacrosse team scandal — teenage drinking, sexual misconduct and protections for college athletes — still push hot buttons. Hunter College – Roosevelt House.

Images from Charles Atlas’s Because We Must (1978). Credit

September 23. Feast your eyes on some fascinating footage by Charles Atlas (no, not the bodybuilder, but a veteran documentary filmmaker specializing in dance and music), as he discusses his 40-year-long career. Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

September 24. Get a glimpse of the little-known work of a master — specifically, Merce Cunningham’s ballet Un Jour Ou Deux (One or Two Days), with music by John Cage and set by Jasper Johns — at this screening of a filmed revival of the piece. New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Photo by Angela McConnell/thenewyorkburlesquefestival.com

September 25. Brush up the old bump ‘n’ grind at this Teaser Party to kick off the 12th Annual Burlesque Festival. The Bell House.

September 26. Chow down on pizza, pork dumplings and other delights while walking and taking in the sights of some historic immigrant neighborhoods (hey, at least you’ll burn off some of the calories), at this SoHo / Little Italy / Chinatown Lunch Food Tour.

September 27. Understand the unique characteristics of, and challenges of curating, art from the Arab world at this discussion among academics, dealers, and curators. New Museum.

September 28. Focus on the future of female political involvement with two famed femmes — author/activist Gloria Steinem and the junior United States Senator from New York, Kirsten Gillibrand. 92nd Street Y.

September 29. Make the acquaintance of Seymour Bernstein, a piano prodigy-turned-teacher, in Seymour: An Introduction, a bio-pic directed by actor Ethan Hawke, being screened as part of the New York Film Festival. Francesca Beale Theater.

September 30. BYOB — Bring Your Own Binoculars — and enjoy the sights up above at an Autumn Skies Telescope Party, thrown by the American Museum of Natural History.