Late-night and buzz-free options abound in New York City, whether you’re avoiding alcohol for health or religious reasons, or simply need a switch up from sitting at the pub on a Saturday night.
Many restaurants stay open late, of course—Katz’s Delicatessen (open 24 hours on the weekends) and Roll-n-Roaster will fill your belly with smoked meat and milkshakes until well after midnight. But if you’re looking to burn energy rather than consume it, the City offers up activities like roller disco, late-night spas, evening museum hours and more, in addition to our storied live music and comedy scene. Read on for fun ideas that get you out of the bar and, perhaps, literally up the wall for an evening rock-climbing session.
Courtesy, Nitehawk Cinema
For the couple looking for something different after dinner
At brick-and-mortar music store Village Revival Records in Greenwich Village, browse rare CDs and vinyl curated by owner Jamal Alnasr, who’s been at it for 30 years. Or, check out the 18 miles of books at the Strand Book Store and buy your date a bestseller. If you happen to be near Lincoln Center Thursday through Saturday, Dizzy’s Club hosts late-night jam sessions starting at 10:45pm, where jazz musicians and vocalists of all levels share the stage.
And don’t discount the classics: catch Midnite Movies at Nitehawk Cinema in Brooklyn or bowl a few frames. Whitestone Lanes in Queens stays open until 1am most nights, and Frames Bowling Lounge in Manhattan keeps the pins falling until 2am on weekends. When the weather’s right, Queen’s Night Market (open mid-April–October) brings out up to 100 vendors slinging everything from Taiwanese popcorn chicken to Turkish gözleme (stuffed flatbread), as DJ sets keep things lively until 11:30pm some nights.
Sands of Persia Lounge & Restaurant. Photo: Jordana Bermúdez
For the crew that wants to dance and sing
Finding a place to groove without drinking can be tricky, but the sober-curious movement is making inroads. RebootNYC hosts booze-free, New Age-y dance parties around town; follow them on social for locations and times. Daybreaker’s early morning pop-up sauna raves remain one of the best sober dance parties in the City (they occasionally throw evening events around 9pm too, if dawn seems ambitious).
In Astoria, one of the City’s most culturally diverse neighborhoods, hookah cafés line Steinway Street. Sands of Persia is a perennial fave for its Friday and Saturday night belly dancer and DJ sets. And karaoke is always a winner. Karaoke Shout, also in Astoria, serves up themed rooms and a songbook in 16 languages, while Koreatown in Manhattan has plenty of spots to rent a private room for the evening. Gagopa takes last-minute reservations and is budget-friendly, while Space Karaoke and the adjacent Space Billiards, located one floor above, has food and drink packages along with some out-of-this-world decor.
Spa Castle. Photo: Andres Inga
For those seeking solitude
If you want to get out at night without drinking or actively socializing, spend an evening in companionable silence at a spa. Korean Spa Club in Manhattan is open until midnight; relaxing in the baths, wearing a traditional hanbok (robe) and letting your body purge impurities in the red clay room is all included in your basic entrance fee. Or head to 24-hour Juvenex Spa for hydrotherapy massages, scrubs, body wraps and facials. For slightly less tranquility, Spa Castle in Queens (open until 9:30pm) is a theme park of a spa—a sprawling complex of saunas, baths, outdoor and indoor pools, and massage rooms.
If you crave self-reflection, participate in a cherished New York City pastime: feeling the particular peace that comes with public transport anonymity. The free Staten Island Ferry runs all night. Ride it 25 minutes each way to see the Statue of Liberty (sit starboard when leaving from Manhattan) and the glittering Lower Manhattan skyline.
Whitney Museum of American Art. Photo: Lucía Vázquez
For the culture seekers
“Late night” is subjective—9pm might be kickoff for some, a daring hour for others. If you’re the former, The Met is open until 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays, a great time to visit Madame X and watch Washington cross the Delaware. It’s quieter and more serene than during the day, when school trips often swarm. See 20th- and 21st-century American art—including works by Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe and Willem de Kooning—at The Whitney in the Meatpacking District until 10pm on Fridays, for free. (The museum is also always free for anyone under 25.)
Or change tack entirely: the Museum of Sex runs rotating exhibitions for those 18 and older until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays and 10pm the rest of the week. If you’d rather sit than stroll, Upright Citizens Brigade Theater has improv shows starting as late as 10:30pm—you might catch a future SNL cast member. And you’ll always find someone trying out a new tight five at New York City comedy scene staple The Stand.
Tanya Dean, Skaterobics at Xanadu Roller Arts
For people with energy to burn
There are countless ways to move your body late at night in NYC. At Flushing Meadows’ Pitch & Putt in Queens, work on your short game on the fully lit 18-hole golf course or hit the mini links with all the requisite water features. Last tee time is 11pm during the summer. Chelsea Piers on Manhattan’s west side has just about everything: indoor ice rinks, a gymnastics center, indoor turf fields, a bowling alley and a year-round driving range—all available until at least 10pm.
Work on your grip strength at indoor climbing gyms. Movement Gowanus in Brooklyn is open until 11pm most weeknights, and Brooklyn Boulders in Queens’ Long Island City stays open until 10pm most nights. Then there’s Xanadu Roller Skating in Brooklyn (open until 2am on weekends), a psychedelic live music venue with a groovy wooden rink. On club nights, the rink closes for skating at 10pm and transforms into a dance floor.
Visit our Nightlife page for additional after-hours activities or check out our Things to Do hub for even more fun to be had around the City, no matter the time of day.