February 14th is coming, and all the lovebirds anxiously await. However, single people should not be left out, especially those in New York City. What makes this Valentine’s Day more special is that it immediately precedes President’s Day, leaving you with a long weekend full of various activities. Heart-shaped chocolate and restaurants are nice, but why not try some new things? No matter what your relationship status is, check out the below recipe for a legendary Valentine’s Day experience.

Play Any of These Unconventional Romantic Movies (Netflix & Chill)

That’s right, we don’t mean sappy romantic films such as A Walk To Remember, The Notebook, or Serenity! Love comes in all shapes and sizes, and some motion pictures highly utilize this to their advantage. If you want to watch a couple that had a bad breakup and consequently erased each other from their memories, go for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, starring Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey. Aside from winning an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, the film effortlessly blends romance, comedy, drama, and science fiction with a nonlinear narrative. The main characters might have forgotten one another, but you’ll remember this film for years to come.

 In Her Shoes is a hilarious and dramatic portrayal of the bond between two completely different sisters (who wear the same shoe size), played by Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette, and how they reconnect with their grandmother (Shirley MacLaine). Aside from a stellar cast, one of the film’s best features is its realism, particularly when the sisters argue. Although it is lengthy for a ‘dramedy’, the scenes are appropriately paced to showcase the layers of each character.

Another one-of-a-kind romance movie would definitely be the delightful About Time. The plot revolves around Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson), who possesses the gift of time travel (like his father and all the men in his family), and uses it to win the heart of Mary (Rachel McAdams). Cheesy? Don’t be fooled. The main storyline is the friendship between Tim and his father (Bill Nighy), revealed by the latter’s time travel lessons and events following his terminal cancer diagnosis. Nevertheless, the film maintains a light, bittersweet mood while squeezing in a few laughs. For those who consider Sunday a family day, watch this with your folks.

Watch Your Love, Our Musical!

Are you a musical fan in need of a hilarious comedy show? Don’t miss this musical-comedy improv at Littlefield on Saturday, February 13! The talented and witty pair, Rebecca Vigil and Evan Kaufman, select a couple from the crowd and ask them how they fell in love. Then, they use the unusual experiences from the story to produce an impromptu musical performance. Buy your tickets now for $10-12 here!

Feel The Love In Times Square

Whether you’re looking for a new romance, planning to propose to your longtime partner, or simply love witnessing romantic gestures, head over to Times Square, Duffy Square this Sunday in order to see live marriage proposals, vow renewals, and wedding ceremonies! Not to forget, you can kiss in private using the Heart of Hearts kaleidoscopic kissing booths. Finding love in the big city just got easier.

Slow Jam The Night Away

Go back to the good ol’ ’70s on Saturday with this musical event presenting five supreme soul artists: The Stylistics (“You Are Everything,” “Break Up to Make Up,” and “You Make Me Feel Brand New”), Dramatics (“In the Rain” and “Whatcha See is Whatcha Get”), New Birth (“Dream Merchant,” “It’s Been A Long Time,” “I Can Understand It”), Ray, Goodman and Brown (“Special Lady”), and Jobie Thomas’s Enchantment (“Gloria,”“Sunshine” and “It’s You That I Need”). Upper West Side residents who enjoy the powerful and social messages of soul music have to immediately reserve for the 3pm or the 8pm show at The Beacon Theatre. Prices range from $49.50 to $79.50, which is a great deal given the amount and quality of performers!

Have a Bloody Valentine

Horror fans (or anti-Valentine activists), add Varick Street to your weekend destination! Blood Manor, the city’s leading haunted attraction, is organizing the 2016 Bloody Valentine from Friday until Sunday. Enjoy scaring your friend/sweetheart while walking through the haunted house. You can also trade candy and flowers for bloody hatchets plus gore-stained chainsaws. American Horror Story and The Walking Dead have got nothing on this! Several ticket packages include one black rose in memory of your ill-fated love. Click here to see the event times for each day and purchase your tickets (Tip: Prices are reduced by $5 for both General Admission and RIP Express Entry!).

Which activities will you go with? Answer in the comments below.

The post 5 Recommendations for a Unique Valentine’s Day appeared first on NYC Luxury Apartments for Rent | Glenwood Management.

Hot time, summer in the city means lots of different things to different people–including those folks who leave town for beaches and/or mountains for long stretches–but for those of us who stick around with the back of our necks getting hot and gritty, one of the great NYC traditions are all the free concert series. Like everything else public and cultural, the NYC free summer concert series have grown to enormous proportions over the past decade or so, with newcomers popping up all over the five boroughs, and old stalwarts continuing to draw big crowds. And while its literally impossible to do everything this amazing city has to offer (especially, it seems, over the summer), here's a quick overview of the best NYC free summer concerts, just in case you want to try.

Central Park’s Summerstage

Now in its 30th year, the SummerStage free performing arts festival in Central Park is one of the most venerable of the city's concert series, especially if you tack on all those years of free shows at Wollman Rink that (old man alert!) I loved as a teenager in the late 1970s. Like most of these things, the free concerts at SummerStage are paid for by a handful of fairly pricey "benefit" performances by, this year, the likes of Phil Lesh (9/16), Ingrid Michaelson (6/29), and Basement Jaxx (7/1), but the lesser-known acts are almost always worth a listen, too, especially considering the generally good vibe in and around Rumsey Playfield, at about 69th Street in the park. 

Prospect Park’s Celebrate Brooklyn

Another (and the better) of the NYC summer concert elders is Celebrate Brooklyn, which was launched back in 1979 as a way to bring people back into then-neglected Prospect Park. The park is definitely no longer neglected (on nice days it seems like all of Brooklyn is here), and the concert series has some of the best free shows in town, including opener Chaka Khan (6/3; should be a HUGE dance party); the excellent New Pornographers (7/11, lines will be long, get there early to get in); and always-a-blast Tune-Yards (8/8). Even as it gets bigger, often overflowing its home at the Bandshell, Celebrate Brooklyn always has a neighborly atmosphere to it, as well as great food by the Farm on Adderly and The Good Batch, sold at prices that are shockingly reasonable.       

Hudson RiverRocks, Seaport Music Festival & More

Other NYC free summer concert series include Hudson RiverRocks at Pier 84 (just south of the Intrepid), with one of my personally most-eagerly-anticipated free shows of the summer, Waxahatchee and Speedy Ortiz on July 9. The Today Show's Rockefeller Center Concert Series isn't for everyone–you have to like waking up really early and listening to screaming tweens–but they do always get fun acts. For this, the 20th year of the series, pick hits include James Taylor (6/15, maybe not so many tweens at this one), the amazing Janelle Monae (6/23), and Carly Rae Jepson (7/10; talk about tween screaming!). The Seaport Music Festival hasn't announced their lineup yet, but there's usually at least a few interesting acts playing here every year.  Finally, both the Red Hook Park and the Herbert Von King Park outposts of SummerStage have some fun free shows in June, including Scarface (6/2), Unlocking the Truth (6/7), and Biz Markie and Masta Ace (6/17).

The post Your Guide to NYC’s Best Free Summer Concerts 2015 appeared first on NYC Luxury Apartments for Rent | Glenwood Management.