With an average high temperature of 71° Fahrenheit, according to the National Weather Service, May is the time when New Yorkers finally shake off winter and get outside. Visitors can too. The city has a myriad of outdoor activities during the not-too-cold and not-too-hot month of May.
Anyone looking for a few pleasant hours outdoors in New York should visit either of the city's crown-jewel parks: Central Park in Manhattan or Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Both are green and alive this time of year. The Central Park Conservancy offers free walking tours of the park, or you can explore on your own and see such sites as the Central Park Zoo, Strawberry Fields or the Belvedere Castle.
Outdoors New York is hardly limited to those parks. A fine sunny day in May is the perfect time to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge in either direction, for example (you can ride the subway back). On a clear May day, the views are outstanding. Visitors who want a view of the city rushing past can board one of the many double-decker tour buses and ride on top, take a Circle Line sightseeing boat completely around Manhattan, or ride a Statue Cruises tour boat to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. A cheaper option on the water--free in fact--is to hop on the Staten Island Ferry and ride it both ways.
New York is a great city for walking any time of the year, but in May it's just about perfect. Visitors can stroll down Fifth Avenue and see the shops or take in Chinatown, Little Italy or Greenwich Village in Manhattan. Or they can ride over to Brooklyn or Queens for a look at their many and diverse neighborhoods.
Festivals and other events really gather steam in May in New York. Early in the month is Cinco De Mayo, which is celebrated in bars throughout the city. Bicycle enthusiasts can sign up for the Five Boro Bike Tour along the streets, bridges and highways of the five boroughs, beginning in Lower Manhattan, on the first Sunday of May.
The Dance Parade, first celebrated in 2007, showcases a wide variety of dance from around the world, performed on the streets of Manhattan for all to enjoy. An event of a different kind, but equally lively, is the Ninth Avenue Food Festival, held every May between 37th and 57th streets on Ninth, only two blocks from Times Square. It has food (naturally) from the far reaches of the world, along with music and dance.
On Memorial Day weekend, the nation remembers its heroes, and so does New York. There's a parade in Manhattan to mark the occasion, but Memorial Day is also the reason for Fleet Week in the city. During Fleet Week, various events honor the men and women of the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps. Events include a parade of ships on the Hudson River, and the public is invited to tour some of the Navy ships visiting New York.
The cultural and entertainment options of the great New York indoors are available any time of year, and even in spring visitors will want to take advantage of those rainy-day options. First-time visitors should do the things that everyone should do in New York: go to the top of the Empire State Building, spend some time in the incredible halls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art or see a Broadway show. There's a reason these things are worldwide icons of New York.
For travelers who have done most of iconic New York, the city still offers endless variety. Check with a reliable local source--a native New Yorker or the listings in The New Yorker magazine--and follow your inclinations. Love TV? (Admit it, you do.) Go see a show being taped. Need a laugh? Catch a comedian at one of the city's comedy clubs, and maybe see a future star. Craving something classical? Lincoln Center has it. For the curious traveler, there's no end to the choices that the city offers.
