Rain on NYC's Long Weekend: When It Clears and What to Do Instead

The forecast for the long weekend

Rain is forecast to cut across New York's long weekend, and Gothamist is tracking when it will clear. Treat the dry window as your outdoor slot and keep one indoor fallback for each day. Museums fill quickly when it pours, so arrive near opening instead of at midday, and book timed entry in advance where a venue offers it. Bridge crossings and park loops lose most of their point in a downpour, so move those to the clearer hours. If your flight lands in the worst of it, plan a slow first afternoon rather than a dash to a rooftop, because views are the first thing rain takes away.

Where to eat while it rains

Gothamist's round-up of 10 North African restaurants works as a wet-afternoon map. Egyptian, Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian cooking is scarce in this city, which makes the shortlist genuinely short. Book dinner ahead, since many of these rooms are small, and expect roughly 25-45 USD a head before drinks at the mid-range end. Lunch is the easier walk-in. If you are staying in Manhattan or Brooklyn, check the list against your subway line first, because a crosstown detour in the rain is not the pleasure it sounds.

Ghost stories for a grey afternoon

The Bowery Boys' new collection of scary old New York stories fits the season, with a haunted school, Houdini's grave in Queens, and assorted tales from the city's older buildings. Halloween turns historic houses and cemeteries into ticketed events, so check opening days and any tour fee before you travel out. The written version costs nothing and reads well from a hotel room while the rain comes down.