Categories: Eat & Drink; Travel & Events

Labor Day Means We Do What in New York?

By aliciak
updated 3 months ago

Labor Day is a strange bird: it's a cause for summer celebration, but at the same time, it signifies the END of summer, and for kids, the beginning of the school year. It's like celebrating Halloween the day before a dentist appointment: sure it's fun, but the axe is going to fall! I also never cared for Labor Day because as a Catholic School student, we always started back at least a week BEFORE Labor Day. So, while you public schoolers were bumming around and barbecuing, I was busy buying another Trapper-Keeper and covering my textbooks with brown paper. Sticking to tradition, I will be staying put come Labor Day Weekend, so what in God's name should I do?

A Labor Day Lesson

Wait, what are we celebrating again? “Labor”? That sounds terrible! No, we’re actually celebrating a LACK of labor (name change please? “Lack of Labor Day” is so much cooler), or “a day off for the working citizens.” Wait, what about the non-working citizens? Oh right, it’s just another normal day for them, no punch cards or soggy mid-day sandwiches or “team-building” meetings.

But really, we’re celebrating the end of the summer season (which is silly!), so it’s all about barbecues, swimming, picnics, parades, fireworks and various summer activities that will be no more. If you’re choosing to stay in New York, you can still have all those things!

But I CAN'T Barbecue, silly, I Live in New York!

Oh, true. A marshmallow on a fork waved above the blue stovetop flame really doesn’t cut it, does it? Well, you know what, I didn’t want to work for my Labor Day food anyway! Why should I cook on this American day of rest? Americans like to eat out, only lifting a finger to get more ketchup packets or capitalize on free refills.

“We are going out to eat!” (A Christmas Story, anyone? Chinese food for dinner? Oh wait, wrong holiday, my bad!) I already did a little round-up of bbq joints around town, but I couldn’t possibly get them all, and there are some new arrivals!

Peaches Market

393 Lewis Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11233

Hailing from the folks who brought us the delectable Smoke Joint fare, Peaches is way out yonder…in Bed-Stuy. And I don’t mean rubbing up against hip Fort Greene, but 20+ blocks east of Pratt student-central. So, it’s a hike, which I realize goes against the no-labor rule, but for BBQ Shrimp and Blackened Tilapia, wouldn’t you go the extra mile?

Georgia's Eastside Bbq

192 Orchard St, New York, NY 10002

New Yorkers like to argue about the authenticity of all cuisines, and BBQ tends to be a particularly touchy subject. Why is that? At the end of the day, it should be about finding good, well-made food. Period. Is Georgia’s really “Southern”? Is this “real” bbq? Who cares! It’s tasty, okay?

The BBQ truck at Beer Island

1310 Surf Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11224

The name tells it like it is! Beer Island is a big pile of sand with umbrella-ed tables near the Coney Island boardwalk, and I LOVE it! This was my 15-mile bike ride pit stop, so I celebrated with pulled pork and a Killian’s (must hydrate). Now, “bbq truck” may sound lame, but the proprietor is a Blue Smoke veteran, so you’re getting the good stuff. Just, you know, out of a truck instead of a fancier Gramercy restaurant.

Habana Outpost

757 Fulton St, Brooklyn, NY 11217

The library is sponsoring—no, keep reading (pun)! I know, “the library?” On Lack of Labor Day? At Habana Outpost, they will be holding a Back To School Bash complete with eco-friendly crafts, dancing and the regular Habana fare and frozen mojitos you’re used to. If you’re free between 12-5 and could really go for some stellar face painting, the library party has got you covered.

Wave Hill

675 W 252nd St, Bronx, NY 10471

Oh Wave Hill, how I love thee. Don’t let the word “Bronx” scare you because Riverdale, Wave Hill’s hood, looks like Westchester or a wealthy suburb. So yeah, not Jenny-on-the-block territory. If you’re really ambitious and want to experience one of those this-can’t-be-New-York places, arrive in time for the 11am Garden Walk.

Bingo at Bowery Poetry!

Now we’re talking! Catholic School=Lots of bingo playing. Our Church carnival was always in mid-August, so more than anything, the winding down of summer meant sitting in a smokey bingo hall with all the parents of my friends, hoping against all hopes I would win $8 to buy flea market treasures or a funnel cake.

I’d like to recreate that scene (minus the smoke I guess) some day soon at Bowery Poetry Club. Doesn’t sound quite Pittsburgh/blue collar enough though…

Labor Day=Museum Monday

Museums are typically closed on Mondays (weekends are busy and there needs to be a day to set up exhibits!), but on holidays, something peculiar happens. They open their doors! If you are part of the “public,” this is great news because you have the day off! Wheeee, dinosaurs and Monet and historical documents!

If you work at a museum, like I used to, it means no holiday weekend for you, herds and herds of families and their sticky-fingered children, and no time for your 15-minute lunch in the basement. So yeah, I hated Museum Mondays, but now I am back to being part of the “public.” Muwahahaha!

Metropolitan Museum of Art

1000 5th Ave, New York, NY 10028

If you haven’t made it to the Jeff Koons exhibit on the roof, you only have till October, but a warm summer day is ideal…for looking at a giant metallic balloon animal dog sculpture? Something like that.

Museum of the City of New York

1220 5th Ave, Manhattan, NY 10029

Pet Peeve #4758: there shouldn’t be two “of”s in a Museum’s title. Okay, now that I got that off my chest! This is one of those overlooked museums (probably because of the aforementioned “of” issue!), but if you’re staying put this weekend, go learn about your environs in a cultural way.

New York Botanical Garden

2694 Dr Theodore Kazimiroff Blvd, Bronx, NY 10458

(Disclaimer: I used to work here! Go!) No really, if for anything, go now (until the fall) for the gigantic Henry Moore sculptures that came from across the ocean. (HUGE CARBON FOOTPRINTS but it’s okay).