Deals in Long Branch

School may be back in full swing, but this week brings plenty of chances to enrich your mind outside of a classroom too. You can take in Pulitzer-winning images at Photoville, learn to make lanterns at the Morningside Lights festival, or have a revelatory theatrical experience at the much-discussed play “This Is Our Youth.” As always, don’t forget to check Groupon for more things to do in New York City. This Is Our Youth Midtown West | Ongoing Kenneth Lonergan’s caustic coming-of-age comedy—about a teen deciding what to do with the $15,000 he’s stolen from his abusive father—has plenty of complex emotional terrain to explore. Luckily the cast is up for the job: Michael Cera, Kieran Culkin, and Tavi Gevinson have all received raves for their performances. (Cort Theatre, 138 W. 48th St.; $89–$96 on GrouponLive; buy tickets here) Morningside Lights Morningside Heights | Saturday, September 20, to Saturday, September 27 This weeklong art event has quite the payoff: participants in its daily workshops will produce more than 100 lanterns, which will then be displayed during a grand procession on the final day. The process is collaborative and takes the entire week, meaning you may start a lantern someone else will finish or pick up where someone else left off. (Morningside Park; free) Photoville Brooklyn | Thursday, September 18, to Sunday, September 28 Repurposed shipping containers serve as the display space for this large-scale photo exhibition, which will show off such works as Jeff Bauman’s acclaimed Boston Marathon photo essay “Beyond the Finish Line.” When you’re not browsing the exhibits or attending the hands-on workshops, you can grab a bite at the Smorgasburg Beer Garden. (Pier 5, Brooklyn Bridge Park; $3 suggested donation) Rock of Ages Midtown West | Ongoing One-time American Idol semifinalist Constantine Maroulis recently returned to the jukebox musical that earned him a Tony nomination in 2009, but he won’t be back long. If you want to catch him in character singing “I Wanna Rock,” “Don’t Stop Believin’,” and other ‘80s hits, you’ll have to do it by October 26. (Helen Hayes Theatre, 240 W. 44th St.; $49–$99 on GrouponLive; buy tickets here) The Haunted Pumpkin Garden Bronx | Saturday, September 20, to Friday, October 31 Kids in costumes populate the daily parade during this family-friendly festival, which features some of the most intricate gourd-based sculpture you’re likely to encounter this fall. Certain weekends promise special events, such as a live-bat animal program and a display of gigantic pumpkins from all over North America. (New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Blvd.; $8–$25; buy tickets here)

This week’s agenda includes a poet-led rock band, a 40-mile bike ride, indie-pop handclaps, and frothy pints of craft beer. If that’s not enough to keep you busy, you can always check Groupon for more great things to do in New York City. New York City Poetry Festival Governors Island | Saturday, July 26, and Sunday, July 27, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. If you’ve ever dreamed of seeing a Pulitzer Prize–winning poet front a rock group, here’s your chance. The fourth annual NYC Poetry Festival brings Paul Muldoon’s folk-and-roots band Wayside Shrines to Governors Island to headline a weekend that will include readings from more than 250 poets, including Mark Doty, Joyelle McSweeney, and Matthea Harvey. In-between sets, browse indie crafts and booksellers’ wares, fuel up with snacks from food vendors including Morris Grilled Cheese and Mud Coffee, or quaff pints in a beer garden sponsored by Brooklyn Brewery. (free; register here) The Epic Ride Greenpoint | Sunday, July 27, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Cyclists zip along 40 miles of picturesque waterfront during this Brooklyn Greenway Initiative–sponsored ride, which loosely follows the path of the proposed Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway. Starting in Greenpoint, riders pedal their way along the Queens shoreline to Rockaway Beach, where they can celebrate their feat with a dip in the ocean or a beachside after-party with food vendors. ($30 BGI members, $40 general admission; register here) Ingrid Michaelson Central Park | Wednesday, July 30, at 6 p.m. This spring, singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson’s “Girls Chase Boys” became her highest-charting single in eight years, buoyed in part by a Robert Palmer–esque music video full of made-up male models. But Michaelson's back catalog is full of even more sweet, upbeat pop. This Wednesday at Central Park Summerstage, the concert crowd can look forward to clapping along with her 2006 hit “The Way I Am” or whipping out their best air ukulele during the chilled-out ballad “Be Ok.” (at Central Park SummerStage; $30, $25 in advance; buy tickets here) Good Beer SoHo | Thursday, July 31 Sponsored by Edible Manhattan, the sixth annual Good Beer festival lets suds aficionados celebrate the end of July Good Beer Month in style. Guests match pints from craft brewers such as Brewery Ommegang, Oskar Blues Brewery, and KelSo Beer with bites from the likes of Luke’s Lobster, Brooklyn Cured, and Roni-Sue’s Chocolates. (at 82Mercer, 82 Mercer St.; $65 general admission; buy tickets here) Finding Fela West Village | Friday, August 1 Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti may have a hit Broadway musical to his name, but there’s always more to his life story than can fit onstage. Academy Award–winner Alex Gibney’s documentary Finding Fela, which opens at the IFC Center this weekend, attempts to fill in the gaps left by FELA! by delving deep into Kuti’s legacy as a performer and political activist. The result may feel a little like program notes for the musical (whose scenes feature prominently in the film), but for fans of Kuti, it’s still worth a look. (323 Sixth Ave.; $14 adults, $10 children and seniors, $9 IFC members; tickets not yet available) Photo of Ingrid Michaelson by Shervin Lainez.

It’s just past 9 p.m. on a Thursday, long after most of Manhattan’s trendier donut shops have closed for the night. But The Donut Pub will be open all night long, neon sign a-blazing—just as it has been every evening since 1964. Inside the shop on 14th Street in Chelsea, “Magic Mike” stands behind the back counter with his magician’s supplies spread out before him, ready to perform tricks and illusions for the steady stream of customers who will come through the door. He’s been a regular at the Pub for 38 years—“Can’t you tell I love donuts?” he asked, pointing to his belly—and after he retired from the New York City Fire Department, he took up magic, bringing his act to his favorite neighborhood hangout. (He also performs private shows and sells magic supplies at the Pub and elsewhere.) But Magic Mike is only one of many regulars at the 24/7 shop. There are also the dozens of businessmen who appear every morning with their copies of the Wall Street Journal and New York Times to order the Sip & Dip special (coffee and a donut for $2.90) to accompany the day’s news. Operations manager and baker Gus Markatos started working at the Pub while in high school in the 1990s and has held his current role since 2002. He’s a regular sight behind the counter every morning and not an unusual one in the evenings, either. Most anyone who visits the Pub on the regular knows Gus, and the feeling is mutual—though “there are so many regulars [he] can’t even count,” he knows them all by sight and many by name. Gus isn’t the only familiar face behind the counter. There’s also Buzzy Geduld, the retired Wall Street multimillionaire who founded and still owns The Donut Pub. Patty, who works from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. every weekend, has been at the Pub since it opened and has the stories to prove it. (More than a few late-late-late-night revelers come in asking for a beer with their donuts, not realizing that the “pub” name isn’t quite literal, she said.) Sammy, who works various afternoon and evening shifts during the week, has been at the Pub since 1980. Other counter staffers come and go regularly with the seasons. Though the Pub and its clientele seem unchanged through the decades, its neighborhood is not. Just a few blocks uptown, a much-changed Chelsea Hotel now houses the Doughnut Plant, a decidedly froufrou spot whose signature crème brûlée donuts cost upwards of $3 each. You’d think that with all this gentrification, The Donut Pub would have seen some hard financial times. But according to Gus, it’s been the exact opposite. “We’ve put two Dunkin’ Donuts out of business,” he said. “One on 14th Street a few blocks down and another around the corner.” And he doesn’t think that “artisanal” donut shops have anything on the Pub, either, no matter how trendy their flavors or presentation may be. “We are better than the competition: always fresh, and they are made with love.” There’s lots of love to go around here. The Village Voice named the Pub’s chocolate cake donut among the city’s best. CBS NY7 did the same for its honey dip donut, whereas both Gothamist and Tasting Table ranked its jelly-filled donut among the best. (My personal favorites are the boston creme and the sugar-raised, but I’d take any of them before walking out empty-handed.) Gus isn’t stingy with the love on the baking side of things, either. It’s not unusual to see him coming out of the back room with a rack of freshly baked croissants that he happily shares with regulars, sometimes on the house. (Yes, The Donut Pub has a full line of pastries, including muffins, cookies, biscuits, bagels, and bialys.) He has even developed his own version of the crazy-popular cronut, which some daresay is better than the one you-know-who makes (and people wait on line for hours for). Gus’s black-and-white cookie is among the best in the city—I can vouch personally for its ability to single-handedly soothe even the worst sort of New York heartbreak. That includes at least one romance that both began and ended at The Donut Pub, with Gus and company as witness. To their professional credit, they didn’t take sides, and the cookie was on the house. But the best part about working at The Donut Pub? Sammy and Gus agree: it’s the donuts. “I eat a donut every day,” Gus said. But as he stands there framed by racks and racks of tempting sweets, it’s hard to believe he stops at just one. No one else I know is able to. The Donut Pub is open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, and is located at 203 W. 14th St., just west of 7th Avenue. Photos by Amy L. Hayden. Check Groupon for deals on coffee and treats in New York City.