Flatiron Summer Series Brings Free Programming to Public Plazas

Beginning on Tuesday, June 18, the Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership Business Improvement District (BID) will hold eight weeks of free programming—fitness classes, educational talks, games, entertainment, complimentary frozen treats, and a Summer Solstice celebration—on the Flatiron Public Plazas in the shadow of the iconic Flatiron Building.

The popular Flatiron Summer Series will be anchored by three theme days—Talk Tuesdays, Wellness Wednesdays, and Throwback Thursdays—with activities taking place on the Public Plazas at the intersection of 23rd Street, Broadway, and Fifth Avenue in the shadow of the iconic Flatiron Building.

The Flatiron Summer Series runs from Tuesday, June 18 through Thursday, August 8. All activities are free.

“Our Flatiron Summer Series has become a quintessential New York City summer experience, with its engaging mix of free activities in one of Manhattan’s most vibrant public spaces,” said Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership Executive Director James Mettham. “This year we are excited to add a new series of educational and engaging talks called Talk Tuesdays to our lineup, in addition to the always-popular fitness classes, games, entertainment, and other activities that have made the series a hit with Flatiron residents and visitors alike.”

The 2019 Flatiron Summer Series will include:

Opening Week Summer Solstice Sundial Event

The BID and the National Museum of Mathematics (MoMath) will celebrate the Summer Solstice Thursday, June 20, with a giant Sundial Event in the North Public Plaza from 7:30 AM to 6:30 PM, as part of the BID’s first Throwback Thursday of the season. Taking place one day before Summer Solstice, this free event gives attendees the opportunity to cast their shadow to mark the time, help create a large-scale human timepiece, and leave their personal mark on a jumbo sundial banner.

Talk Tuesdays

New in 2019, the BID will present a series of engaging, educational talks on topics of interest, including art, culture, technology and design, led by instructors and lecturers from Uplift, General Assembly, Eataly, Pen+Brush, Baruch College, and other local institutions. Talk Tuesday events will consist of a one-hour talk on a specific topic on Tuesdays from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM. Talks arefree and open to the public. In the event of inclement weather, talks will be moved indoors to General Assembly at 902 Broadway, 4th Floor.

• June 18 – Female Empowerment 101 with Uplift Studios. Led by Leanne Shear, this class is an interactive seminar that encourages participants (women and their male allies) to explore the ways that women can get empowered personally in order to attain power societally.
• June 25 – Women’s Work: Art & Activism in the 21st Century with Pen + Brush. Women’s Work presents five global contemporary artists-activists who continue to expand the definition of women’s work and expose its complexity, nuance, and ever-evolving nature.
• July 2 – Music and Entertainment Marketing & Promotion with Baruch College. This talk is designed to introduce participants to the concept of marketing and branding and to help them gain an in-depth understanding of the interaction between marketing efforts, the target audience, sales, and public relations.
• July 9 – Book Arts: Artists, Books and Independent Publishers of NYC with the Center for Book Arts. Join Center for Book Arts to learn more about what a work of book art is, how the interplay of form and content work together, and how versatile this artform is at crossing boundaries and touching everyone.
• July 16 – Site City Future with Van Alen. This class will explore the impacts of future development on both the city’s physical character and the well-being of citizens through three lenses:The Site: Connection to Place; The City: We Live on an Island; and The Future: The Role of Design.
• July 23 – Brands as Landmarks with ThoughtMatter. Join ThoughtMatter’s director of content, Brendan Crain, for a talk and discussion about how brands can use messaging and visual identity to stand out in a crowded city.
• July 30 – User Experience Design with General Assembly. Explore the decision-making process that dictates how users interact with digital products and how you can apply those skills to your day to day life.
• August 6 – Building a 360⁰ Communications Plan with Eataly. Learn how to find your creative voice on social media, properly target with digital advertising, appropriately involve influencers, and other tactics with the PR team from Eataly.

Wellness Wednesdays

In celebration of Flatiron’s reputation as New York City’s “Fit-District,” this summer the BID will present free fitness classes on the South Public Plaza on Wednesdays from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM. The classes will be taught by instructors from local studios, including exhale Flatiron, Uplift Studios, bodē nyc, New York Health & Racquet Club, and Broadway Bodies. Classes are free and open to the public but are subject to changes due to weather.

• June 19 – Barre + Cardio with exhale. Break a sweat, pulse deeper, and burn more. All in one intense efficient, barre-meets-cardio hour.

• June 26 – STRENGTH with Uplift Studios. 45-minutes of time-based fatigue for every muscle group, interspersed with high-intensity interval sections.
• July 3 – HOT HIIT® with bodē nyc. A training system that combines High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), muscle toning, and cardio with warm temperatures.
• July 10 – DanceBody with DanceBody. Brain off, body on. This workout combines dance-inspired cardio and toning set to motivating music.
• July 17 – All-Level Yoga with Dharma Yoga. This series is designed to help advance student in their posture practice. It will support health to the entire bodily system through a series of balancing, stretching, back bending, twisting and inverted variations.
• July 24 – All-Level Street Jazz: “Womanizer” by Britney Spearswith Broadway Bodies. Learn edgy choreography to give you all the right moves for the next dance floor honored to have you. Smile, sweat, and slay in your own way! Featuring “Womanizer” by Britney Spears.
• July 31 – “The Transformation” Making the Impossible Happen with Iconoclast. This class is a fast paced 45-minute, high intensity full body workout. It will strengthen and lengthen your muscles, and burn a ton of calories.
• August 7 – Zumba with New York Health & Racquet Club. A dynamic fitness program including Latin rhythms, easy-to-follow moves, sculpting, and resistance training.

Throwback Thursdays

Throwback Thursdays lets New Yorkers and visitors of all ages eschew digital entertainment and enjoy some good old-fashioned fun. The BID will organize a nostalgic game station that is free and open to the public on the Flatiron North Public Plaza with board games, a giant Connect4, and cornhole sets available to play for free from 11:00 AM until 7:00 PM.

Local businesses and organizations will provide free entertainment and children’s activities—such as crafts with Wonder Photo Shop and Home Depot, and a children’s bookbinding activity with the Center for Book Arts—from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM on select Thursdays. At 6:00 PM each Thursday, local musical performers will entertain passersby.

Continuing this year on select Throwback Thursdays, the BID will partner with Eataly and Shake Shack for “Summer Scoops,” providing complimentary servings of Eataly's Gelato on June 20 and August 8 and Shake Shack's Frozen Custard on July 11 and July 25.

• June 20– Games, MoMath Solstice Sundial, kids craft with Wonder Photo Shop, performance by Hill Country Live, and Summer Scoops with free gelato from Eataly.
• June 27– Games, kids craft with Home Depot, and performance by The PIT.
• July 11 – Games, kids craft with Home Depot, performance by The Jazz Gallery, and Summer Scoops with free Frozen Custard from Shake Shack.
• July 18– Games, kids activity with PLAYDAY, and a performance by TADA! Youth Theatre
• July 25– Games, kids craft with Home Depot, performance by The PIT, and Summer Scoops with free Frozen Custard from Shake Shack.
• August 1– Games, children’s bookbinding with the Center for Book Arts, and a performance by North Coast (as seen at The PIT).
• August 8– Games, kids craft with Home Depot, performance by North Coast (as seen at The PIT), and Summer Scoops with free gelato from Eataly.

A full calendar of local events is available on the BID website at flatirondistrict.nyc/summer2019.