Bryant Park Outdoor Activity / Park / Square

Crowd

Business people and midtown office workers on weekday afternoons, and students, young professionals, and tourists on evenings and weekends, all ages.

Entertainment / Music

Activities always available include chess, pétanque, ping pong, and a carousel. Organized events include tai chi and yoga on the lawn, free knitting lessons, and tournaments for chess, backgammon, and pétanque.

Cultural activities include writing workshops, poetry readings, musical performances, a reading room, and game nights. Ice skating on the pond from the end of October to February. Over one hundred holiday shopping kiosks selling specialty items from around the world open in the winter.

Summer events include Broadway in the Park featuring Broadway and Off-Broadway casts performing hit musical numbers, and the HBO Bryant Park Summer Film Festival for open-air movie screenings. Free Wi-Fi.

Food / Miscellaneous

Restaurants include The Bryant Park Grill and Roof Terrace for American cuisine, Bryant Park Café, The Southwest Porch, and Celsius and its Ice Bites snack shop (winter only). ’wichcraft food kiosks by chef Tom Colicchio serve soups, salads, and sandwiches.

Prices

The Bryant Park Grill: appetizers $9–$17, entrées $24–$40.

Bryant Park Café: entrées $13.75–$22, wine $8–$16, margaritas $10/glass or $35/pitcher, cocktails $10–$13. The Southwest Porch: snacks $3–$10, beer $7, wine $8, cocktails $9.

‘wichcraft kiosks: sandwiches $6.95–$9.75, salads $4.95–$9.50.

Celsius: entrées $9–$18. Ice Bites: snacks $2–$5.50. Ice skating free, skate rental $13. Chess $3/hour, backgammon $4/hour. Le Carrousel $2/ride. Most activities free.

What to Wear / Dress Code

Anything goes: jeans, suits, sneakers, heels.

Hot Nights / When to Go

Any sunny afternoon or for one of the many special events. Weekends are typically crowded with people unwinding after a hard work week.

Close By

Times Square one block west offers Broadway shows and some of the best people-watching in the city.