Planning a trip to New York? Get ready for new attractions such as Vessel, a climbable structure that could become Manhattan's answer to the Eiffel Tower; events such as WorldPride; and exhibits celebrating Leonard Cohen and Frida Kahlo.
So much is happening that the city tourism agency, NYCGo, has dubbed 2019 "a monumental year."
Vessel opens this spring in Hudson Yards, a new Manhattan neighborhood near the High Line. The building resembles a honeycomb and has 2,500 steps. Also opening at Hudson Yards: Mercado Little Spain, a food hall created by chef Jose Andres.
At JFK Airport, the TWA Hotel gives new life to Eero Saarinen's TWA Flight Center, a 1962 landmark. The new site will offer 512 rooms, restaurants, bars, a rooftop observation deck and a museum.
In June, the city hosts the WorldPride festival, marking the event's U.S. debut, along with the annual LGBT Pride march, June 30. June also marks 50 years since the Stonewall Riots, which sparked the gay rights movement. Related exhibits include the New-York Historical Society's "Stonewall at 50" and Robert Mapplethorpe at the Guggenheim.
Several new museums are taking shape, one at the Statue of Liberty and another celebrating dogs.
The Whitney Biennial runs May 17 to Sept. 22; the Jewish Museum opens a show about Leonard Cohen on April 12; the Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute looks at "camp" in fashion in May; and the Museum of Modern Art expands its gallery space by 30 percent. The Brooklyn Museum hosts the largest Frida Kahlo exhibit in the U.S. in 10 years, Feb. 8 to May 12, with art, photos, film footage and personal items such as hand-painted corsets and embroidered blouses.
For theater lovers, 2019 brings revivals of "Kiss Me, Kate" and a reimagined "Oklahoma!"; a new Temptations jukebox musical; stage versions of the movies "Beetlejuice," "Moulin Rouge" and "Tootsie"; and intriguing new Broadway shows: "Be More Chill," aimed at Gen Z and millennials, and "Hillary and Clinton," starring Laurie Metcalf and John Lithgow.
For shoppers, new Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom stores debut in Manhattan, and Staten Island gets Empire Outlets.