Hello, Darlings! ☀️ August has arrived hot, but our recommendations this week are even hotter. Consider this your weekly excuse to flirt with the city before summer starts slipping away.

First up, you can win a three-course NYC Restaurant Week dinner for two at Ai Fiori, the elegant Italian-French restaurant inside The Langham on Fifth Avenue.

JUST ANNOUNCED

• DJ RuPaul takes over House of Yes at Industry City on Saturday, 9/26, for an enormous outdoor Brooklyn dance party. Yes, THE RuPaul is actually DJing!

• All Things Go has just released new two-day ticket options for its queer-heavy New York festival lineup in September, featuring Brandi Carlile, MUNA, Meg Stalter, Zara Larsson, and more.

• CHRISTEENE returns to Joe’s Pub on Monday, 9/14, bringing her feral underground cabaret back after a sold-out January run.

• Rebecca Black brings her Exhibitionism on Tour to Webster Hall this October. Once known for the viral hit "Friday," she's reinvented herself as one of pop's most exciting queer club artists.

QUEER NYC DATE IDEAS WITHOUT A BAR TAB

You don’t need a $20 cocktail to have a great date night in New York. Whether you’re sober, saving money, or just looking for something different, these spots prove the city has plenty to offer beyond the bar and dance floor.

• VISIT THE LESLIE-LOHMAN MUSEUM OF ART: SOHO

• BEACH DAY AT JACOB RIIS PARK: ROCKAWAY BEACH

• COFFEE AT HOUSING WORKS BOOKSTORE & CAFÉ: SOHO

• BRYANT PARK MOVIE NIGHTS: MIDTOWN

• STROLL THE HIGH LINE: CHELSEA

• PICNIC AT SHEEP MEADOW: MIDTOWN

THIS WEEKEND

LOCALS ONLY

• The Stonewall District Kept Its Gay Council Seat. Carl Wilson won the special election for the City Council district that includes Stonewall, making him the fifth consecutive openly gay person to represent the area.

• Queer-owned Polly’s Café has opened a second Brooklyn location at 241 Rogers Avenue, giving Crown Heights another daytime LGBTQ-friendly third space for coffee, food, and community.

• Haus of Femme recently arrived in Bushwick. Opened by 25-year-old Sam Diz, it’s a lesbian-owned beauty bar serving “the girls, the gays, and the theys” with services like The Top + Bottom (a pair of matching manicures: long nails for one partner and short nails for the other), and The Bowling Special (your classic lesbian manicure).

WIN STUFF

FEATURED