Summer sears the city early this year.
Temperatures are expected to hit over 90 on Saturday and Sunday — part of a heat wave that will strike the Northeast and Deep South. Typically, Central Park is around 72 in May, according to CNN.
But there’s no reason New Yorkers can’t take the heat. In addition to drinking more water, wearing light colors and staying away from the midday sun, The Post recommends sweating it out by grabbing a to-go frozen cocktail, indulging in a decadent ice-cream treat or catching one of the season’s hottest movies in an air-conditioned theater.
Here are some of the coolest ways to avoid getting scorched this weekend.
Freeze the day
The one good thing to come out of the pandemic: to-go booze. Thirsty New Yorkers can now legally chill outside with a cocktail all over the city. Sip on a frozen margarita ($16) at Jibs on the West Side or at Flatiron’s Hill Country, where the spot’s classic margarita ($12) can be flavored up with passion fruit, peach, strawberry or mango for an extra $2. Slurp up a frozen Aperol spritz ($13) at Greenpoint’s Broken Land. Meanwhile, in Astoria, Blend offers frozen sangria, margaritas, piña coladas and blue Hawaiians ($12).
Jibs, 350 11th Ave., JibsNY.com; Hill Country, 30 W. 26th St., HillCountry.com; Broken Land, 105 Franklin St., BrokenLandBar.com; Blend, 37-17 30th Ave.; 718-606-6383, BlendAstoria.com
Beauty and the bloom
At Hudson Yards’ Edge, cherry blossoms — a symbol of renewal — festoon an archway offering the opportunity to stop and smell the flowers, and, of course, take a picture. Admission to see the display, which is located indoors at the Edge on the 100th floor of 30 Hudson Yards, is included in the price for the observation deck: $38 if booked online beforehand or $40 at the site. Two specialty cocktails ($19 each) and a glass of Champagne ($21) can be purchased at the event, which runs until the end of May.
Book at HudsonYardsNewYork.com
Pool pass
The city’s outdoor pools are closed until June 28, and beaches won’t open until May 28. (Swimming is not permitted at closed beaches.) But bathers can still make waves at Life Time Sky, a “luxury athletic resort” on the West Side. A weekend one-day membership ($100) includes access to the rooftop pool, the SkyDeck, as well as other fitness amenities that include equipment, classes, a basketball court and dry sauna.
Life Time Sky, 605 W. 42nd St.; 212-564-1300, Lifetime.Life
Delectable delight
Doughnut Plant is offering indulgence on top of indulgence. The beloved sweets shop with locations in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn has just launched the Wonder Wheel ice cream sandwich: a doughnut is split; filled with ice cream, which is made in-house; and then lightly coated with milk, dark or flavored white chocolate, according to the shop. Flavors include coffee, green matcha, tres leches, strawberry, dark chocolate and peanut butter-milk chocolate. For other ice-cream cravings, the Mister Dips truck is back in action this weekend with an array of floats, shakes and their sweet Boozy Doozy alcohol-spiked offerings.
For locations and to order online, go to DoughnutPlant.com; for Seaport and Brooklyn locations and hours, go to MisterDips.com
Catch a cool flick
There is always that one movie that everyone you know talks about. Currently, that film is “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” So as temperatures soar, watch that flick or “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” or “Downton Abbey: A New Era” at Nitehawk Cinema Prospect Park. The theater was renovated and reopened in 2018. The in-theater menu includes movie-themed specials such as a tequila cocktail called “The Bar With No Doors,” an homage to “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.” Bonus: Take a walk in Prospect Park before or after.
Nitehawk Cinema, 188 Prospect Park West; NitehawkCinema.com/ProspectPark
Take a walk on the light side
Bella Dea, a sustainable seafood restaurant, opened last week in the West Village. “It’s definitely a Mediterranean style of eating seafood,” chef and co-owner Brian Bornemann told The Post. The menu offers seafood — oysters, bass, scallops, tuna — that are sourced in and around the New York area, he said. “It’s hyper hyper local,” said co-owner Leena Culhane. Bornemann recommended the restaurant’s halibut crudo paired with a glass of bubbly. “It’s one of our most refreshing dishes,” he noted. “That is really going to feel good this weekend.”
Bella Dea, Wednesday to Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m., 27 Morton St.; BellaDeaNYC.com
