The Lexington Avenue Festival was supposed to happen on Sunday, September 27. The 92nd Street Y had the date on Community Board 8's calendar for months, with Lexington from East 79th to East 96th Street reserved from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Then a nor'easter canceled the fair, and Patch reported on September 25 that it had been rescheduled for October 18.
That Sunday was already taken. The Carl Schurz Park Conservancy had booked its Harvest Festival and its Halloween Howl & Healthy Hound Fair for the same afternoon. October 18 is also the last day of OHNY Weekend, which runs October 16 to 18 and opens more than 300 sites across the city. Three calendars that usually fill separate weekends now fall on one day, and their hours line up from west to east. If you plan the day as a single crosstown walk, you can catch nearly all of it.
Three calendars, one Sunday
Here is the day by place and hour, using what each organizer has published as of October 4.
| What | Where | Sunday hours |
|---|---|---|
| OHNY at ISAW, with a tour of "Cursed! The Power of Magic in the Ancient World" | 15 East 84th Street | 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., tour at 11 a.m. |
| Lexington Avenue Festival | Lexington Avenue, East 79th to East 96th Street | 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. |
| Harvest Festival | Carl Schurz Park, East End Avenue and East 88th Street | 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. |
| Halloween Howl & Healthy Hound Fair | Carl Schurz Park basketball/hockey court and John Finley Walk | 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. |
| OHNY at Tzu Chi Center for Compassionate Relief | 229 East 60th Street | 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. |
The fair is open for eight hours. ISAW is open for seven. Carl Schurz Park has two hours of programming. Everything else on the day can move around the park, and the park can't move around anything.
The two hours that set the day
The Harvest Festival is in its 11th year, according to the Yorkville Ledger's events listing. The Conservancy puts the pumpkin patch on Gracie Oval at East End Avenue and East 88th Street. You can pick a pumpkin and decorate it while supplies last, so the patch does better early in the window than late. The afternoon also has arts and crafts, temporary tattoos, the Spooky Trail and a family concert in the playground with Patrick and the Rock-a-Silly Band. One listing puts the festival on Mayor's Lawn instead. Head for East End and 88th and you'll find it either way.
The Howl runs at the same time, a short walk south, on the basketball/hockey court and along John Finley Walk. The Conservancy describes it this way:
"Over 200 creatively costumed pups strut their stuff before a blue-chip fashion industry coven of judges!"
Both events run from 1 to 3 p.m. Families with kids and a dog in costume will want to choose a starting point, because the patch and the costume parade compete for the same two hours.
Morning goes to the west end
With the afternoon fixed at the park, the morning goes to the west end of the route. ISAW, NYU's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, is at 15 East 84th Street and is free for OHNY drop-ins from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. It also runs an 11 a.m. tour of "Cursed! The Power of Magic in the Ancient World." ISAW stays open until 6, but the tour runs only once. That makes 11 a.m. the natural first stop on the day, since you'll be heading east afterward.
From 84th Street, Lexington is a short walk east, and by late morning the fair has been open for over an hour. The 92nd Street Y's festival covers 17 blocks with what Patch calls hundreds of vendors. Lexington is closed to traffic from 79th to 96th Street during the fair, though police officials told Patch the closures are "at the discretion of NYPD." Leave a buffer if you're crossing the avenue by car or cab between those blocks.
The fair runs from 79th to 96th Street, and the park events sit at 86th to 88th, so the middle of the fair is the best place to break off. Walk Lexington to the high 80s by around 12:30, then head east.
The walk east, with lunch on the way
The crosstown blocks between Lexington and East End are where the past month's new openings help.
- Kuriya, 219 East 85th Street. This soba restaurant opened September 6 between Second and Third Avenues. It comes from the team behind Suki Desu. It sits right on an 85th Street walk from Lexington toward the river, about where a late lunch fits.
- Goop Kitchen, 346 East 92nd Street at First Avenue. This is the brand's first walk-in New York storefront. Until now its New York kitchens were delivery-only. It works for people leaving the fair from its northern blocks and coming down First Avenue to the park.
- East End Avenue and East 88th Street. The Conservancy lists this entrance for the pumpkin patch. Aim to arrive close to 1 p.m.
After 3 p.m. the park winds down, but Lexington stays closed for fair traffic until 6. If you skipped the northern blocks of the fair at midday, there's still time to walk back west and finish them.
Choosing a different afternoon
Not everyone has a pumpkin to decorate or a dog in costume. For those readers, the 1 to 3 p.m. window opens up something else. The Tzu Chi Center for Compassionate Relief at 229 East 60th Street is free for OHNY drop-ins from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Tea ceremony and flower arrangement run every hour starting at 1 p.m., and Chinese calligraphy runs continuously through the afternoon. Tzu Chi is at the south end of the neighborhood and the fair is at the north end. Going from one to the other means walking a long way down the avenue, which suits anyone who wants a quieter second half of the day.
The Met is another option. Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous opened October 4 at The Met Fifth Avenue. It brings together more than 120 works and follows the two artists' careers side by side through January 31, 2027. The show runs for months, so it doesn't need to compete with a Sunday that ends at 6. On a crowded weekend, it may be the one event worth saving for a quieter day.
Moving some of it to Saturday
October 17 takes some pressure off Sunday.
- Carl Schurz Park volunteer workday, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., meeting at East 86th Street and East End Avenue. Children must work with an adult.
- "50 Years of Dieu Donné at The Grolier Club", a free OHNY drop-in from 1 to 5 p.m. at 47 East 60th Street.
- Andrew Carnegie Mansion tour at Cooper Hewitt, with sessions at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. OHNY lists both as sold out.
The workday and the Grolier Club don't overlap on Saturday, so you can do both. That leaves Sunday for the fair, the park and ISAW.
After six, and getting there
When the fair closes, La Sardine at 1614 Third Avenue and East 91st Street is a block and a half from Lexington. The seafood-focused wine bar opened September 9 and comes from the team behind Bar Vivant and Alison. Its location makes it a short walk for anyone finishing at the fair's northern end.
The subway changes for the weekend matter for anyone coming to the fair from outside the neighborhood. As of October 4, the MTA lists the 4 running local in both directions between 125th Street and Grand Central–42nd Street from October 16 to 18. On October 17 and 18, the 5 also runs local on that stretch, every 20 minutes. The listed 6 suspension covers only Hunts Point Avenue to 125th Street, north of the Upper East Side. Planned work can change before the weekend, so check the MTA's alerts on Saturday night.
The October 18 date comes from Patch's September 25 update, so check the 92nd Street Y's site before you head out.
Weekends like this one show how differently the blocks between Lexington and the river live: which streets close, which corners get crowded, which new spots open a short walk from your door. Heather Sells NYC follows those details as closely as the buildings on the same blocks. If you're thinking about a move within the Upper East Side, or wondering how being closer to the park or to the avenue affects what a home is worth, schedule a complimentary market consultation and we'll go through it block by block.
