New York Thought: Smart Things to Do in NYC This Weekend

Qawwali music in a cathedral, the science of decision making, and a birthday tour for Edgar Allan Poe highlight our picks for the best smart things to do in NYC this weekend.

Friday, January 18

Draw up a way to attend the Park Avenue Armory’s annual Winter Show, an art, design, and antiques fair benefiting the East Side House Settlement.

Max Boot, one of the highest profile conservative defectors from Trump’s Republican party, speaks on his book The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam. Soldiers’, Sailors’, Marines’, Coast Guard and Airmens’ Club.

Saturday, January 19

Musicians from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, representing multiple spiritual backgrounds, come together in the Riyaaz Qawwali ensemble. The influence of Eastern and Western classical music will be present in an evening of devotional songs at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

Catch a one-evening-only tour in honor of Edgar Allan Poe’s 210th birthday that passes through the Greenwich Village of the 1840s, where Poe lived and worked at the height of his fame. Boroughs of the Dead. 

Sonia Marciano, a Clinical Full Professor of Management and Organizations at NYU Stern, leads a session on “enterprise literacy” and the interconnections within personal economies: Making Better Choices: The Art and Science of Rational Decision Making.

Sunday, January 20

The Sunday Platform at the New York Society for Ethical Culture presents the provoking question: Would Offering a Price Tag on Bodily Organs Help to Alleviate the Organ Shortage Crisis? Andrew M. Flescher, Ph.D., Professor of Family, Population, and Preventive Medicine and Professor of English SUNY Stony Brook, leads the conversation.

On the eve of Martin Luther King Jr. Day join a free Apollo Uptown Hall with Brian Lehrer and Jami Floyd, celebrating “Unsung Champions of Civil Rights From MLK to Today.”

Beyond things to do in NYC this weekend, keep up with all kinds of talks, lectures and activities in the big city. Sign up for Thought Gallery’s weekly Curriculum, the best of smart New York delivered right to your inbox.