Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
early on, when your ticket allows you to wander the outside
courts. Call
&
866/OPEN-TIX
(it's always busy) or 718/760-
6200 well in advance; visit
www.usopen.org
or
www.usta.com
for information. Two weeks around Labor Day.
September
West Indian-American Day Parade.
This annual Brooklyn
event is New York's largest and best street celebration. Come for
the costumes, pulsating rhythms (soca, calypso, reggae), folklore,
food (jerk chicken, oxtail soup, Caribbean soul food), and two
million hip-shaking revelers. The route can change from year to
year, but it usually runs along Eastern Parkway from Utica Avenue
to Grand Army Plaza (at the gateway to Prospect Park). Call
&
718/467-1797,
or visit
www.wiadca.org
. Labor Day.
October
Big Apple Circus.
New York City's homegrown, performing-arts
circus is a favorite with children and anyone who's young at heart.
Big Apple is committed to maintaining the classical circus tradi-
tion with sensitivity, and only features animals that have a tradi-
tional working relationship with humans. A tent is pitched in
Damrosch Park
at
Lincoln Center.
Call
&
800/922-3772,
or
visit
www.bigapplecircus.org
. Late October through January.
Greenwich Village Halloween Parade.
This is Halloween at its
most outrageous. Drag queens and other flamboyant types parade
through the Village in creative costumes. The route has changed
over the years, but recently it has started after sunset at Spring
Street and marched up Sixth Avenue to 23rd Street or Union
Square. Call the
Village Voice
Parade hot line at
&
212/475-3333,
ext. 14044, visit
www.halloween-nyc.com
, or check the papers
for the exact route so you can watch—or participate—if you have
the threads and the imagination. October 31.
November
New York City Marathon.
Some 30,000 runners from around the
world participate in the largest U.S. marathon, and more than a
million fans cheer them on as they follow a route that touches all
five New York boroughs and finishes at Central Park. Call
&
212/
423-2249
or 212/860-4455, or visit
www.nyrr.org
, for info and
applications. First Sunday in November. November 2, 2008.
Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular.
A rather gaudy
extravaganza, but lots of fun, this event stars the Radio City Rock-
ettes and a cast that includes live animals (just try to picture the
camels sauntering into the Sixth Ave. entrance!). For information,
call
&
212/307-1000,
or visit
www.radiocity.com
; you can also
