Things to Do in Manhattan

Take a floral safari through 39 acres of eclectic gardens on Queens Botanical Garden's map. Stop to smell the sweet, sweet honey in the bee garden, or hold hands in the beauteous meadow. To further blossom your budding brain, swing by Saturday or Sunday at 12:30 p.m. for the free, first-come, first-served 90-minute garden or building tour. Likewise, you can also enjoy specially scheduled events such as the upcoming MillionTreesNYC tree-care workshops; the workshops held on various dates will detail a citywide program aimed at planting and caring for one million new trees in the next decade (free for members). Other events include dance performances and, on June 20, a tribute class to the tree's greatest gift since sliced paper: origami (free for members).

Argentina–born soccer enthusiast Gustavo Szulansky opened Super Soccer Stars to provide the boroughs with a program that championed the personal development of youngsters rather than solely a skill-based focus. Since its debut in 2000, it's grown throughout the city, helping countless youngsters learn teamwork, boost confidence, and decrease arguments during home games played on the dining-room table. This rapid growth is due in part to the positive values Gustavo instilled from the first class. His coaches are carefully selected for their ability to cultivate a noncompetitive, sensitive approach to learning the game, and they dole out their knowledge in both classes and camps. As a grand monument to positivity-based childhood soccer, Gustavo built the 4,500-square-foot flagship facility in Manhattan, where it stands as one of New York's first soccer gyms catering solely to youth players.

Super Soccer Star's Kick & Play program features family-friendly classes that help tots 12–24 months old develop pre-soccer skills and physical skill sets simultaneously. During classes, a team of talented and enthusiastic instructors and an athletic duo of puppet friends named Mimi and Pepe buoy budding soccer players with positive reinforcement, individual attention, and the merry clickety-clack of cleated tap dances. Designed with the help of early-childhood specialists, each age-specific class helps players build skills at their own pace with positive reinforcement, individual attention, and engaging original music.

All instructors at Cosmic Kites Kiteboarding boast certifications from either the International Kiteboarding Organization or Professional Air Sports Association, and instill others with the knowledge they've gained during land- and water-based kiteboarding lessons. During land classes, students launch trainer kites, while water-based lessons allow pupils to skip wakes and mow overgrown seaweed while learning fundamentals. For more advanced or specialized instruction, the staff also teaches participants how to perform special maneuvers, tricks, and jumps on water. Additionally, the staff can introduce clients to a range of complete kitesurfing packages, as well as new or used boards and kites, and boots and wetsuits.

Helming additional locations in North Carolina and the Dominican Republic, Cosmic Kites currently sponsors two Dominican riders in their global quest on the World Kitesurfing Tour. When not supervising adrenaline-soaked adventures, Cosmic Kites maintains existing kiteboarding locations, works to open new ones, supports youth sporting events, and develops new ideas for boarding safety that aren't as costly as installing inflatable beaches.

In 1929, three highly regarded patrons of the arts joined forces to found an institution that would break away from the conservative archetype of an art museum. Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, Lillie P. Bliss, and Mary Quinn Sullivan could hardly have guessed that their mutual brainchild—The Museum of Modern Art, or MoMa—would someday transform into an archetype all its own. The museum’s original director, Alfred H. Barr Jr., moved to create the first-ever multidepartmental structure, with various departments devoted to architecture and design, film and video, and photography. These were in addition to the standard painting, sculpture, and visual-arts exhibits found in nearly every other museum to date. The public's response was overwhelmingly positive. After outgrowing two spaces, MoMA moved to its Midtown location, where it stands to this day. MoMA's initial gift of eight prints and one drawing has exploded to encompass a collection of more than 150,000 paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photos, and design pieces. This collection continues to offer a wide-angle view into modern art and has spilled over into a massive library that houses more than 300,000 volumes. Every day, art lovers from around the world make their way through the museum’s structure, stopping at galleries that house iconic works by Picasso, Bourgeois, Warhol, Rauschenberg, and others. A constant influx of exhibitions keeps MoMA's many walls alive in the spirit of its progressive founders.

Over the past 140 years, boating around The Lake in Central Park has transformed from a popular pastime to an enduring tradition. In 1872, a small Victorian-style structure was built to meet the need for housing the boats. Replaced in 1924 by a rustic wooden structure that remains largely mysterious to historians, by the 1950s, the boathouse was in dire need of repair. It was then that investment banker and philanthropist Carl M. Loeb and his wife contributed a sizeable donation to help create The Loeb Boathouse. The structure, officially opened in March of 1954, still stands and today it houses the famous New York landmark, Lakeside Restaurant, immortalized in When Harry Met Sally. The Boathouse, of course, still rents out rowboats during the warmer months, and has also recently begun offering bicycles for cruising about Central Park.