Google completes "things to do in nyc alone" with "at night", "during the day", "tonight", "this weekend" and "reddit". This page is sorted the same way, by someone who lives here, with the honest note about where being alone feels normal and where it does not.
During the day#
- Museums with pay-what-you-wish hours: several of the big ones have them one evening or day a week; alone is the best way to see a museum anyway.
- The Staten Island Ferry: free, 25 minutes each way, the skyline and the Statue of Liberty; ride it back without getting off.
- The High Line, Central Park, Prospect Park: a long walk is the city's oldest solo activity.
- Governors Island (in season): a bike, a hammock, the harbour.
- The New York Public Library main reading room, then Bryant Park.
- A borough on foot: Jackson Heights and Flushing for food, Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, Sunset Park in Brooklyn.
- A matinee: Broadway rush and lottery tickets are easiest for one.
At night#
- Comedy cellars: walk-ins, bar seats, nobody cares that you are alone; the Village has several.
- Jazz: a set at a small club in the Village or Harlem; solo is normal.
- A bar seat at a restaurant: the city's great solo-dining institution; order the thing you would never order for two.
- Late museum nights: one evening a week at several museums.
- The Brooklyn Bridge after dark, or the ferry again.
- A repertory cinema (Film Forum, Metrograph, BAM).
- A night game: Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Nets, Rangers, Liberty; single tickets are easy.
Tonight#
If it is already 7pm: a comedy walk-in or a bar seat at a restaurant within three subway stops. If it is later: the bridge, the ferry, a 24-hour diner.
This weekend#
Pick one borough you have never been to and spend Saturday there on foot with no plan. Sunday, a park and a long book. Things to do in NYC like a local has the borough-by-borough version.
Where alone does not work#
Big group restaurants, clubs, some rooftop bars, and anything that sells tables rather than seats. Everywhere else in this city, being alone is the default and nobody looks twice.
Or not alone, for an afternoon#
On Roavi you can hire a Local Friend, a New Yorker, for a few hours at a rate they set (most list $15 to $50; New York at the top), platonic and in public: the borough you were going to walk anyway, with someone who knows it; a game with a fan; a night out where people actually go. Roavi lists seven in New York; messaging is free. Rent a friend in New York.
One afternoon with someone who lives here.
Meet local guides in New YorkRead next: solo travel in New York, New York nightlife, lonely in NYC.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it weird to do things alone in NYC?
No. New York is the easiest big city in America to be alone in: half the people at a museum, a comedy show, a jazz set or a restaurant bar are on their own. Only a few places (big group restaurants, clubs, some rooftop bars) feel awkward solo.What can I do alone in NYC at night?
A comedy cellar (walk-ins, bar seats), a jazz set in the Village, a bar seat at a restaurant, a late museum night (several run late one evening a week), the Brooklyn Bridge or the Staten Island Ferry after dark, a film at a repertory cinema, a Mets or Yankees night game.What are free things to do alone in NYC?
The Staten Island Ferry, the High Line, Central Park and Prospect Park, Governors Island in season, the pay-what-you-wish hours at several museums, the New York Public Library reading room, the Brooklyn Bridge, free summer concerts and outdoor films, and simply riding the subway to the end of a line.