What's New in New York City: Hotels, Restaurants & Culture in Manhattan – Spring 2024

The Empire City is looking forward to a season filled with exciting new hotel and restaurant openings and thrilling exhibitions and cultural events—proof that New York never stops. Just a few of the highlights: a new Tribeca hotel hot spot; a reborn Upper East Side treasure; sister restaurants to Don Angie, Cote and Wildair; photography by Paul McCartney; and the Piano Man’s last performance at Madison Square Garden. Read on for the full city update for the spring.

The development boom that began in 2021 and brought over a dozen spectacular new luxury hotels to the city (among them the Aman, Nine Orchard, the Fifth Avenue Hotel, Hôtel Fouquet’s New York and the Ritz-Carlton NoMad) continues this spring. The new Tribeca sister property to The Whitby and Crosby Street Hotel, The Warren Street Hotel, opened in February; already the bright cerulean exterior has become a fixture of the neighborhood. Of the 69 rooms and suites, the best ones are equipped with private garden terraces, with layered, textured interiors, lovingly (and playfully) curated by Kit Kemp (standout details include Pierre Frey wallpaper and a global selection of artworks). There’s also a buzzy restaurant, bar and lounge.

Later this year, The Twenty Two—a hotel, restaurant and members’ club that made a splash in London’s Mayfair when it launched last spring—is expected to arrive in Manhattan with the same bold design and insider atmosphere.

By the end of 2024, in a lofty perch above the High Line (in the XI Towers by Bjarke Ingels), Faena will open its fourth property—expanding beyond Buenos Aires and Miami—with 120 rooms and suites designed by Gilles & Boissier and river views. Locals should keep an eye on the area (between Chelsea and Meatpacking), as the hotel is expected to host a variety of entertainment, nightlife, arts and retail outlets, including a 5,000-square-foot restaurant and a 17,000-square-foot spa.

Uptown, the historic Surrey hotel will be reborn as a Corinthia property by the end of the summer (it's expected to open in July). First established in 1926 on 76th and Madison Avenue (and frequented by the likes of John F. Kennedy and Bette Davis), the new Corinthia New York will have 70 guest rooms, 34 suites and 14 residences. The dining program is rumored to be crafted by the trendy Casa Tua group.

One of Manhattan’s underdog neighborhoods, Midtown, is claiming a renewed place in the culinary lexicon. Chef Michael White (who created Marea, Osteria Morini and Ai Fiori) will open a new Italian restaurant at 520 Madison Avenue—while just a few blocks away, Jean-Georges Vongerichten has launched Four Twenty Five on Park Avenue. Occupying 14,000 square feet over the bottom two levels of an office building, the restaurant was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect ​​Sir Norman Foster, with a show kitchen, cocktail lounge and specially commissioned artwork. Simon Kim (of the Michelin-starred Korean mainstay Cote) will open another multilevel dining space at 550 Madison Avenue after launching Coqodaq, a Flatiron restaurant dedicated to fried chicken and Champagne. Iron Chef star David Burke also recently debuted an all-day modern-American brasserie, Park Ave Kitchen, on 47th.

The interest in private clubs and club-like restaurants continues, with the creation of Frog Club in the West Village (in the former Chumley’s space) from chef Liz Johnson (behind Horses in Los Angeles). Calling itself the New Yorkiest Room in New York, the restaurant has a list of rules—including “no photos”—and quirky, frog-themed décor. Within a two-floor private members’ club in Hudson Yards designed by Ken Fulk, Major Food Group’s ZZ’s Club and Carbone Privato were unveiled just before the end of the year. And London nightlife magnate Robin Birley is opening a private dining club, Maxime’s, in the former Westbury Hotel at 828 Madison Avenue, on the Upper East Side.

Meanwhile, several beloved brands are launching new projects:

• San Sabino is an Italian pasta and seafood restaurant in the West Village, from the owners of Don Angie.
• Also in the West Village, chef Quang Nguyen, formerly of Wildair, has opened Demo, a wine bar with a serious culinary focus, on Carmine.
• Chef Fidel Caballero, formerly of Contra, has created Corima, in Chinatown, exploring the relationship between northern Mexican and Japanese cuisine.
• The creators of Crown Shy and Saga are starting a new concept on Park Avenue South at 26th Street, with a seafood-focused menu (and a bakery during the day).
• From over-the-top omakase restaurant Sushi Noz, Chez Fifi opens this spring on the Upper East Side, serving French cuisine in a vintage-styled town house.
• Actor Michael Imperioli (of The White Lotus and The Sopranos) has returned to the bar world with a new Art Deco lounge on the Upper West Side, Scarlet, which evokes the speakeasies of the Prohibition era.
• Alexandra Shapiro has revived her father’s 1980s Upper East Side restaurant, Hoexters, as a “neighborhood brasserie” (the double smash burger is a must-try).
• A new Thai restaurant called Sappe, from the team behind Soothr, debuted in Chelsea, with neon lights and inventive cocktails.
• The minds behind top Indian restaurants Dhamaka and Semma have launched a Filipino tasting menu at Naks.
• The chef of wine bar Parcelle opened a Chinese restaurant on Canal Street, Tolo (Parcelle wines will also be served).
• Alumni of Copenhagen’s Noma are taking the city by storm. Cofounder Mads Refslund established Ilis in Greenpoint this past fall, and Empirical Spirits, a liquor brand from Lars Williams and Mark Emil Hermansen, is expected to open soon with a tasting room and distillery in Bushwick.

On May 6, the Upper East Side kicks off the spring culture season with the Met Gala—this year, themed around “The Garden of Time.” The accompanying Costume Institute exhibition, “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” will open on Fifth Avenue with a display of over 200 rare (and even centuries-old) pieces from the permanent collection, including designs by Schiaparelli, Givenchy and Dior.

The 2024 Whitney Biennial, “Even Better Than the Real Thing,” began on March 20, featuring 71 artists and collectives; it is the longest-running showcase of American art.

This year, the New York Botanical Garden unveiled a rebrand—and on May 18, it will show it off with “Wonderland: Curious Nature,” which will bring the fantasy of Alice in Wonderland to life with a transformation of the garden’s 250 acres. There will be mad tea parties, explorations of mushrooms and even an exhibition that dives into the history and botany of Lewis Carroll’s tale (including mind-altering plants that were popular during the Victorian era).

At the Brooklyn Museum, “Giants” presents the first major exhibition of the private art collection of Alicia Keys and Swizz Beats, featuring pieces from such artists as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kehinde Wiley and Gordon Parks (through July 7). This spring will be a big season for the museum: “Hiroshige’s 100 Famous Views of Edo (Featuring Takashi Murakami)” went on display on April 5, marking the first time in over two decades that Utagawa Hiroshige’s complete set of prints capturing 19th-century Tokyo will be on display, and starting May 3, “Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm” will gather more than 250 photos taken by the legendary musician at the peak of Beatlemania, during the group’s first U.S. tour. (The photos were recently rediscovered in McCartney’s archives.)

History lovers may also enjoy “New York Before New York: The Castello Plan of New Amsterdam” at the New-York Historical Society, a celebration of the 400-year anniversary of the founding of Manhattan by Dutch settlers (through July 14).

Later this year, the Frick Collection will reopen at 1 East 70th Street after a $160 million renovation that began in 2020. The new museum will be expanded to open the mansion’s second floor to the public (where a gallery of decorative panels by François Boucher will be reinstalled to their original location back when Henry Clay Frick lived there). There will also be new exhibition spaces, an improved garden and better accessibility—and more than a dozen bars and restaurants, according to recent reports.

After selling out its season at The Public Theater, the musical Hell’s Kitchen, featuring the music and lyrics of Alicia Keys and a script by Pulitzer finalist Kristoffer Diaz, moves to the Shubert Theater on March 28 (through September).

A headlining revival of Cabaret will fill seats at the August Wilson Theatre, with Eddie Redmayne starring as the Master of Ceremonies and introducing Gayle Rankin as Sally Bowles (opens April 21).

The traveling circus of the best-selling novel Water for Elephants takes the stage at the Imperial Theatre, starring Grant Gustin and Isabelle McCalla (opened March 21).

In another novel adaptation, S.E. Hinton’s edgy coming-of-age story The Outsiders brings Ponyboy and Johnny to Broadway, with Angelina Jolie as a producer (through September 8).

An acclaimed revival of the 1970s Tony Award–winning gospel-and-rock musical The Wiz comes to Broadway, with choreography by the creator of Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” and “Formation” routines, JaQuel Knight, and set design by Hannah Beachler, who worked on Black Panther (opening April 17).

Steve Carell makes his Broadway debut at the Lincoln Center Theater in Uncle Vanya alongside Alfred Molina. The Anton Chekhov drama, set in the Russian countryside, digs into unrequited love and resentment (opening April 24).

At the New York City Ballet, the spring season presents new performances from choreographers Justin Peck and Amy Hall Garner alongside masterworks by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, as well as recent crowd-pleasers by Kyle Abraham and Gianna Reisen. And at the Joyce Theater, more than 20 companies will take up residence by the end of the year.

The New York Philharmonic is getting settled into its new state-of-the-art home at the renovated David Geffen Hall, with upgrades including a "grand promenade" on Broadway for public performances and an in-the-works “patrons lounge.”

At the Metropolitan Opera, the centenary of Puccini’s death is celebrated with La Rondine, Turandot and Madama Butterfly. New productions include Carmen by Georges Bizet (through May 25) and El Niño by John Adams (through May 17). There is also a revival of the acclaimed 2021 production of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones (through May 2).

The Rolling Stones come to MetLife Stadium from May 23 to 26—followed by summer shows around the New York area for Chris Stapleton, Noah Kahan, the Foo Fighters and Jennifer Lopez. And it’s your last chance to catch the Piano Man at Madison Square Garden: on July 25, Billy Joel will end his residency in Midtown with his 150th show, after performing there monthly for the last decade.