Good evening New York City,

I hope you and your family had a phenomenal Fourth of July! What a wonderful time to celebrate summer, spend time together, and see some fireworks. I’m proud of our city for having the safest pre-July 4th weekend in the last two decades, where the holiday didn’t fall on a weekend. We saw a 79% decrease in shooting incidents on this Independence Day too – a remarkable achievement.

Because we’re the city that never sleeps, neither do our efforts to Get Stuff Done for you on a holiday weekend.

Here’s how we Got Stuff Done at City Hall this week:

Public package lockers are coming to a street near you! Free to use 24/7, these lockers will reduce package theft, number of truck trips, and vehicle emissions.
Pool season is here! Find a free outdoor pool near you and cool off with friends and family this summer. NYC Parks also offers free aquatic fitness programming for New Yorkers of all ages.
We’re setting up the next generation of New Yorkers to thrive by investing $2 billion in early child care, improving both affordability and accessibility. From making assistance easy to find on the MyCity portal to expanding the Child Care Tax Credit eligibility, this is how we Get Stuff Done for our youngest community members.
NYC Ferry service to Rockaway is increasing in anticipation of a busy NYC summer! “Rockaway Reserve” started on 7/1, headed to the beach from Wall Street and Sunset Park. Starting on 8/12, the “Rockaway Rocket” returns for four weeks to take you from Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 6 to the Rockaways. Both options cost $10 for a speedy, guaranteed trip.

🚣‍♂️ 🏖️ 🎞️ About Summer ‘23... 🎞️ 🏖️ 🚣‍♂️

If you ever wanted to explore islands in the Bronx via canoe, visit a museum dedicated to dogs, or see an outdoor movie nearly every day of the week, why not do it for free? It’s all possible this summer in New York City, and I’ll tell you everything you need to know below.

↳ Three initiatives to know:

Putting a lid on it – To rat out NYC rodents’ favorite late-night hangouts, restaurants, supermarkets, bodegas, and other food-related businesses will begin securing garbage in lidded bins. That’ll cover roughly 4,000,000 pounds of trash every single day! When we lid our trash, we bid farewell to rats.
Making health care fair – I signed legislation to improve health care pricing transparency in New York City and establish our country’s first Office of Health Care Accountability. Health care is a human right, and you shouldn’t have to break the bank to get the care you need.
Getting Stuff Clean – Litter-free streets are coming to a block near you thanks to the Clean City Alliance, led by the Department of Sanitation and Sanitation Foundation. By focusing on high-traffic areas without Business Improvement Districts to assist with cleaning, these busy locations will get full street sweepings and more.

↳ In case you missed it:

Free Summer Meals – We're serving delicious and nutritious free meals to all New Yorkers ages 18 years and younger through our Summer Meals program. At schools, pools, parks, and food trucks, our convenient locations are open throughout week in all five boroughs. Check out this week’s lunch menu here.

↳ Don't forget:

Public questions for public safety – New Yorkers like you can submit questions for the weekly Friday public safety briefing here. Our leaders will answer these during the Friday livestream, available on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.

↳ FREE events this weekend:

Bronx: Canoe to islands near Orchard Beach
Brooklyn: Make your own beaded jewelry
Manhattan: Attend a sketching workshop
Queens: Take a yoga class on the beach
Staten Island: Listen to live zither and dulcimer music

☞ Of note: Free outdoor movie season is in full swing. Nearly every day of the week, there’s a film al fresco in New York City this summer. Here’s where to watch and what you can expect to see:

Weekly series:

Mondays: Bryant Park Movie Nights | School of Rock, Mean Girls, Zoolander

Wednesdays: Summer on the Hudson | Enchanted, The Terminal, My Cousin Vinny

Thursdays: Brooklyn Bridge Park Movies With A View | E.T., Goodfellas, Despicable Me

Movies on various days:

Rooftop Films | Back To The Future, Chungking Express, Do The Right Thing

Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City | The Host, Friday, Wild Style

Seaport Cinema | Jaws, Step Up, Pitch Perfect

Central Park Movies Under the Stars | Elvis, Turning Red, The Life Aquatic

🖼️ NYC museums for $0.00

When you sign up for a free Culture Pass, you can go to 80+ cultural institutions across the five boroughs. From a vibrant variety of performance venues to an eclectic offering of museums, there’s something for everyone. See which organizations near you are participating!

✨ Where to see fireworks

I know it was just July 4th, but our city has fantastic fireworks all summer long! Here's a running list of registered fireworks displays across the city. This Friday, you can catch some spectacular sparkles in the sky in Co-Op City and on Coney Island. If you live nearby and have a pet who gets anxious with fireworks, watch our video on best practices to ease your pet’s firework fears.

⛳ Free youth golfing lessons

The City Parks Foundation has a six-week novice golf program for youth ages 7-17 years old. Students will learn the basics of playing golf and important life skills introduced by the game. You can still register for classes at the Flushing Meadows location, which begins instruction next week (7/12).

🍳 Learn to cook at Essex Market

The historic Lower East Side market offers free bilingual cooking and nutrition workshops in Spanish and English. You’ll learn how to turn affordable seasonal produce into delicious bites during the one-hour lesson. The next class is Thursday (7/13).

Before you go, did you know…

New York City has more than 3,600 public water fountains? Whether you want to refresh with a sip or go for a dip, we have thousands of options to beat the heat across the city. You can view all public drinking fountains, spray showers, outdoor pools, and leafy shaded areas on this interactive map from NYC Parks.

🚰 🚰 🚰

I hope you and your family have another fabulous weekend ahead, New York City! Stay safe and stay cool.

Your Mayor,

Eric

P.S. Have a question, comment, or request? Contact my office here. I look forward to hearing from you.