Your Ideal Week: June 23 – June 29

Happy Pride, everybody! This year it feels especially emotional, doesn’t it? After what seemed like a sudden, triumphant tidal wave of progress in the LGBTQ rights arena, we’ve been recently reminded of the terrifying degree of violent intolerance and hate that the community still faces despite all the good that has happened. It’s a battle in which we can’t yet declare victory, and it’s now as important as it ever has been to throw your support behind it so that we can all someday live in a world where love truly does prevail over ignorance and bigotry. Plus, let’s be real. . . Pride Week also means fun parties! We’ve listed a few below but the big kahuna is of course Sunday’s parade through Chelsea and the Village, which you should enjoy if you’re planning to go but not try to drive anywhere near if you aren’t.

Otherwise, it’s another Ideal Week of beautiful summer weather–the Rockaways, Governors Island, and Prospect Park beckon; bbqs abound; and the sunny days stretch to 9pm. Get outside, grab an ice cream cone, take a bike ride, or just take some time to read a book in the park. Whatever you do, make it count!

See the Metropolitan Opera for free on Friday night. Photo: Met Opera

Thursday, June 23 If you are the type who has fully embraced the leave-a-book-sitting-on-the-front-stoop-take-a-book-sitting-on-the-front-stoop routine that is so prevalent in Brooklyn when the weather is good, you’re a good candidate for the book swap that Peck’s in Clinton Hill is hosting this Thursday at 8pm. Bring up to five books that are collecting dust on your shelf and go home with as many new reads to get you through the summer– all for free! Beer and wine specials will be available too to help facilitate conversations with other bookworms about your all-time faves.

Alternatively, if you are still trying to process last week’s horror in Orlando, Thursday also presents a unique opportunity to get educated and compelled to do something about preventing further gun violence. At 6pm, New York City Public Advocate Letitia James is hosting a free screening of Making a Killing: Guns, Greed, and the NRA, a documentary that explores the economic incentives to keep guns unregulated in the face of the hundreds of thousands of tragic deaths they cause every year. The movie will be shown at Old First Reformed Church on Carroll Street and it’s recommended that you RSVP here.

Friday, June 24 Did you miss the Mermaid Parade last weekend? Don’t sweat it–you can still get a dose of all the color, oddity, and spectacle involved at the opening reception for Coney Island Mermaids, 1996-2016, a show documenting over 20 years of the iconic event in images captured by photographer Luke Ratray. This will be the first time that these photographs have been on public display; the show runs at the Urban Folk Art Gallery through July 22 and the reception on Friday is from 7-10pm.

Speaking of celebrated summer traditions, the Metropolitan Opera’s annual outdoor recital series returns to Brooklyn Bridge Park on Friday night at 7pm. Grab a blanket and a bottle of rose and treat yourself to an al fresco concert of favorite arias and duets sung by world-class talent like soprano Angel Blue, tenor Ben Bliss, and baritone Alexey Lavrov. The best part is that this high art bonanza is completely free, which is decidedly not the case with tickets to Lincoln Center performances.

Saturday, June 25 If you prefer to celebrate Pride on this side of the East River, there are two blowout soirees happening in Brooklyn on Saturday that both sound well worth the price of admission. First up, BAM is hosting Everybooty, the four-floor, glittery art party that OUT Magazine referred to as “the arty-queer event of the season.” From basement to rooftop, you’ll be treated to an expertly curated barrage of installations, performances by special guest artists, DJ sets, readings, and cocktails. Although the advance general admission tickets have already sold out, you can still buy a $75 pass to the Everybooty Rooftop Social, which grants you early entry and an hour-long sunset open bar, or queue up outside and hope to get one of the additional $25 tickets that will be released on the night of the event. Across town, the Wythe Hotel will be partnering with Gayletter Magazine for their fourth annual Pride Ball, which features DJ sets from Mike Q and UNiiQU3, performances by House of Mugler, an open bar sponsored by Milagro Tequila and Sixpoint Brewery, and a surprise special guest. Tickets are $20. Meanwhile, Brooklyn’s much beloved Kelso brewery is celebrating its 10th Anniversary starting at 5pm on Saturday with a party featuring a DJ and, you guessed it. . .  beer galore, including a special brew created just for the occasion.

Sunday, June 26 Littlefield is throwing its own Pride-themed comedy bash on Sunday night and they’ve got some killer special guests like Broad City’s Ilana Glazer, Jean Grae, and Justin Vivian Bond. Tickets are $10 and all proceeds will be donated to Everytown for Gun Safety and The Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity in light of the recent events in Orlando, with Littlefield providing a matching donation as well.

If you’re hankering for a low-key Sunday night, head to Archestratus Books & Foods, which is teaming up with Eagle Street Rooftop Farm for the first Summer Harvest Pizza Night of the season. You’ll want to arrive as close to the 5pm start time as possible, because it’s a first come, first served opportunity to make your own pizza featuring fresh and hyperlocal ingredients like radishes, kale, broccoli greens, and more. Eagle Street Rooftop farmer Annie Novak will be there to talk about the produce and her new book, The Rooftop Growing Guide, which we recently wrote about.

Behold, the Carbomb Cupcake from Prohibition Bakery. Photo: Prohibition Bakery

Monday, June 27 Here’s a surefire way to beat the Monday night blues: A Boozy Cupcake and Beer Pairing event featuring craft beers and an array of cocktail-themed cupcakes from Prohibition Bakery at Bushwick’s The Well. Although this month’s menu has not yet been finalized, past iterations have seen White Russian, Dark & Stormy, and Aperol Spritz flavored cupcakes paired with goses, stouts and ales from the likes of Sixpoint, Andersen Valley, and Evil Twin. Cupcakes are $2 each and $9 for all five varieties, the accompanying beer flight is $10, and the spread will be available starting at 7pm.

Tuesday, June 28 Whiplash, a new-ish monthly standup show with roots in UCB, returns to The Bell House on Tuesday night with a stellar lineup that you won’t want to miss. The always hilarious Aparna Nancherla hosts, and she’ll be joined by SNL’s Sasheer Zamata, Roy Wood, Jr., and Liza Treyger. Tickets are $10 if you pick them up in advance, which we urge you to do as last month’s show sold out.  

Wednesday, June 29  If you’ve read Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, Killing Yourself to Live, or any of Chuck Klosterman’s work on Grantland or as The Ethicist in the New York Time Magazine, you already know about his remarkable ability to imbue a philosophical dissertation on just about any topic, no matter how mundane, with laugh-out-loud humor, a refreshingly modern eggheadiness, and loads and loads of pop culture references that resonate with Gen Xers and Millennials alike. He released his ninth book earlier this month– But What If We’re Wrong?: Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past is a thought experiment about what textbooks in the future will say about present-day American culture that has already garnered glowing critical praise. WORD Brooklyn is throwing a release party featuring Klosterman, who lives in Cobble Hill, in conversation with New York Times critic Wesley Morris at Villain on Wednesday night. The discussion starts at 7pm and admission is free with your purchase of a copy of the book.