Your LIC Summer Isn't Winding Down Yet: What's Still Happening on the Waterfront

Most guides to Long Island City are written for tourists who need a Pepsi sign selfie and a subway back to Midtown. If you already live between Vernon Boulevard and Jackson Avenue, you know the good stuff runs on a different calendar. Three local institutions carry most of it, and one of them quietly reserves free tickets for people with your ZIP code. Here is what is still on the board for August, who runs it, and where to eat between stops.

The Fridays that belong to residents first

MoMA PS1's Warm Up is the loudest thing happening in the courtyard at 22-25 Jackson Avenue this summer, and it is also the event most residents forget they get a discount on. The 2026 season runs six Fridays from July 24 through August 28, now in its 28th season, with sets from 4 to 10 p.m. General admission is $25 in advance and $35 the day of, with a season pass at $95, or $75 for MoMA members. Here is the part outsiders miss: residents with proof of address in ZIP codes 11101, 11106, or 11109 get one complimentary ticket per event on a first-come, first-served basis, with a limited allocation per date. Bring an ID that matches the ZIP, arrive early, and you are in for free.

The remaining August Fridays each have a distinct sound. If you pick one, this is roughly what you are walking into:

One other 2026 change worth knowing before you go: MoMA PS1 introduced free general admission for all visitors this year, so you can explore the museum's exhibitions at no extra cost on the same day as Warm Up. That turns a Friday ticket into a full afternoon if you want it to.

What's still running at Hunter's Point South through mid-August

The Hunters Point Parks Conservancy is the organization behind almost everything happening on the grass and gantries a few blocks west. HPPC runs over 200 free programs a year for the community, including yoga and fitness sessions, kids programs, movie nights, and art classes. Two of their marquee series are still active this month.

Summer Kids on the Waterfront runs through August 16, in its 11th year, with a free family-friendly program every day at 10 a.m. in Hunters Point South Park and Gantry Plaza State Park, weather permitting. If your calendar is set by a toddler, the rotation to watch for includes:

• Wonderspark Puppets, the non-profit art gallery Blue Bus Project, and Andy and Suzanna, a husband-and-wife duo specializing in early childhood music education
• McManus Irish Dance hosting "Jiggy Tots" to encourage kids to try out dancing
• City Owlets running OWLbert Einsteins science demos and art sessions
• Teaching Artist Collective's Tots Sing and Play, plus Yogi Beans children's yoga
• The Blue Bus Project, where children work with recycled and upcycled materials, turning "trash" into a material that is ripe for creativity

Register through HPPC's Eventbrite; the sessions are free but capacity is real. For context on the scale, more than 3,700 people attended HPPC's free children's programming throughout Long Island City last summer. That is not a niche crowd.

Movies in the Park has also returned to Hunter's Point South this summer. HPPC is partnering with Rooftop Films to provide a state-of-the-art viewing experience featuring a 30' inflatable screen with enhanced video projection equipment. Conservancy President Rob Basch put it plainly in the announcement:

"Nothing says summer better than movies on the LIC Waterfront. We are very happy to once again bring the community together for movies at the best theatre anywhere."

One logistical note that trips up first-timers: no alcoholic beverages are permitted in the park, and alcohol cannot be consumed outside of a designated picnic area outside Ottomanelli's by the Water. Pack accordingly.

The weekday rhythm most newcomers don't know about

The Friday and weekend headliners get the press. The reason long-term residents defend the waterfront so hard is the weekday programming that fills in around them. None of it costs money, and most of it repeats.

Watercolors on the Waterfront. HPPC has been working for several summers with local artist Donna Levinstone at the picnic tables next to the Park Ranger Station in Gantry Plaza State Park at Center Blvd. and 47th Rd., a family-friendly event for all ages where participants can paint the NYC skyline at sunset. Register through the HPPC Eventbrite before you show up.

Outdoor fitness on Tuesdays. HPPC brought Outdoor Fitness back Tuesdays at 6:00 p.m. with The Trinity, a local gym run by the team from Clann Health. Yoga runs every Sunday and Tuesday at 7 p.m. with Yoga instructor Joy Chen. Zumba classes are in the rotation as well.

Nature Journaling. For adults and teens, HPPC partners with scientific illustrator Monica Schroeder for "Nature Journaling" programs which combine art and science, taking place both in the parks and at the Queens Landing Boathouse and Environmental Center, including art theory, instruction, and an overview of an environmental topic from the neighborhood.

If you have lived here a year and never used any of these, that is the gap this post is asking you to close.

What you missed in July, and why it matters for next year

City of Water Day landed on July 25 this year, hosted at Queens Landing Boathouse by the Newtown Creek Alliance, Hunters Point Park Conservancy, and Long Island City Community Boathouse, with LIC and North Brooklyn Community Boathouse running a walk-up public paddle from noon to 3 p.m.. Inside the boathouse, the Newtown Creek Alliance ran a drop-in Creek Animals station where guests could meet animals from the aquariums that live in Newtown Creek and learn about water quality issues, pollution, and restoration efforts.

Worth logging for next July. Kayaking off the LIC seawall for free is not a thing most New Yorkers can casually do; it is a thing you can do because you happen to live here.

Where to eat between events

The dining side of LIC has been shifting all year, and the openings are clustered on a small stretch of Jackson Avenue and Davis Street that is easy to hit before or after Warm Up.

Lou & Bev's is expected to open at 45-57 Davis Street in Winter 2026, transitioning from a charming bakery by day to a pizza and wine spot by night, with seasonal menus from acclaimed local chefs. That is the one to watch for a fall date-night rotation.

For right now, The Infatuation flagged a Long Island City ice cream shop specializing in tea-infused gelato and soft serve in flavors like longjing and oolong, with waffle cones made in-house. If sweet cones are not your thing, there is a dessert truck stationed at 26-19 Jackson Ave serving deep-fried dough balls that look similar to Greek loukoumades, gelato, and kunafa cups.

For a sit-down meal that has been anchoring the neighborhood for years, Casa Enrique remains highly touted, with the chef keeping his focus on family and flavor. Add SculptureCenter and the craft breweries that dot this Queens waterfront neighborhood and you have a full evening without leaving a ten-block radius.

Getting there without a car

If you are already in LIC, this is muscle memory. If you are hosting friends from Brooklyn or Manhattan for a Warm Up Friday, MoMA PS1 recommends taking the 7, E, or M to Court Square, or the G to 21 St-Van Alst. Both put you within a five-minute walk of the courtyard, and either lets you drift toward Gantry Plaza afterward for the skyline view most out-of-towners are actually after.

A quick note on the sponsors keeping this free

None of the HPPC programming runs on air. Summer Kids is sponsored by TF Cornerstone, Hunter's Point South Living, Council Member Julie Won, and the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development. If you enjoy any of it, HPPC has a volunteer program and a donation page, and the LIC Waterfront 5K is their signature fundraiser. Attendance is the easiest way to keep the calendar full next year.

If you are house-hunting, renting, or thinking about listing a place near Gantry Plaza and want an agent who actually lives this calendar instead of quoting it off Wikipedia, Nelson Aybar is bilingual in English and Spanish, veteran-led, and works this corridor daily under Keller Williams NYC. Get help in a New York minute. Contact Nelson.