If you’re looking for a great way to keep cool this summer while soaking in some fantastic skyline views, look no further than Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Perched on the East River, the park offers perfect views of the Manhattan skyline and the Brooklyn Bridge. Partially opened in 2010, with several phases of construction completed since then, the park is a multi-cultural and multi-generational centre, complete with several play areas for children.

Aside from the usual views and picnic possibilities, the park has a great programme, with concerts and film nights taking place regularly.  Here is just a taste of some of the upcoming events:

Yoga; Daily at 7:30am. An hour-long yoga session each morning on the expansive lawn. With experienced instructors from Dodge YMCA, this class integrates postures, breathing and meditation, catering to all skill levels.

Jazzmobile; Tuesday, August 21 at 7pm. The second annual jazz concert in the park, this one featuring the fantastic trumpet player Jeremy Pelt, a veteran on the New York City jazz scene. Not to be missed for jazz lovers!

Volleyball Clinic; Wednesday, August 22 at 3pm. Taking place on Wednesdays and Thursdays throughout the summer, this clinic, with Metro Beach Sports, will have you spiking with the best of them!

Pilates; Daily at 7pm. A group Pilates class taking place daily throughout the summer and hosted by Michael Feigin. Registration begins at 6:30 pm.

{Lime&Tonic Tip: Looking for a more private park? Check out these pocket parks!}

New Yorkers looking to hear some great music this summer would do well to check out some of these fantastic summer concert series, featuring world-class performers in a number of genres. There are dozens to choose from throughout the city, but here are a few of our favourites.

Naumburg Orchestral Concerts
This free outdoor concert series is the oldest in the U.S. Taking place on select Mondays and Tuesdays in Central Park’s Naumburg Bandshell, the series includes classical and symphonic music from an international selection of groups. Whether you’re a classical buff or you don’t know Handel from a door handle, this is a great chance to hear some wonderful music in open air.

Mostly Mozart
Until August 25, this summer concert series at Lincoln Center features fantastic classical groups playing the best of Mozart’s music. Typically catering to an older crowd, this series is a great way to hear some of the best music ever composed. Mostly Mozart has become very well-known over the years, so early reservations are recommended.

Central Park SummerStage
Located at the SummerStage in Central Park, this summer music series in the center of Manhattan features a wide array of genres, from rock to classical. Many of the concerts are free and those that aren’t are reasonably priced. Bring a blanket to sit on and a picnic basket and make an evening of it with friends or that special someone.

Celebrate Brooklyn!
Taking place each summer at the Prospect Park Bandshell, this summer series is a great place to hear some of the best indie bands, like Balkan Beat Box and Dirty Projectors. Picnicking is allowed, but wine and beer is available for purchase and therefore not allowed from outside. A great way to hear what’s new!

With summer officially here and the city broiling in temperatures above 90 degrees, many New Yorkers are looking for a way to cool off – and with good reason. For those with time (and car keys) on their hands, the beach is the only answer. But for those stranded in the city, there are plenty of artisanal ice cream shops and gelaterias using the finest and freshest ingredients and offering a cool scoop or three to make the heat more bearable.

Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream Truck; 632 Manhattan Ave between Bedford and Nassau Aves, Greenpoint, Brooklyn; Google Map

Using only hormone- and antibiotic-free milk and cream, locally produced eggs, cane sugar and environmentally friendly cups, the brothers Van Leeuwen have been serving ice cream in New York since 2008. With a Greenpoint shop and also a fleet of yellow refurbished mail trucks parked on street corners throughout the city dispensing fresh ice cream in flavours like roasted banana, Ceylon cinnamon and Earl Grey as well as the ubiquitous chocolate and vanilla, Van Leeuwen offers something for even the most discerning tastes.

Griff’s Gelati; 157 Duane St, between West Broadway and Hudson St; Google Map

A walk-up gelateria that puts a haute-cuisine spin on the traditional neighbourhood ice cream shop, Griff’s Gelati offers a distinctively high-class selection of flavours, including chocolate-orange, lemon meringue, sesame brittle, Devonshire clotted cream and strawberries, and, for the kids, smores, bubblegum and peanut butter-malted milk balls. But make no mistake, this is Italian-style gelato. Lighter and fluffier than ice cream, it just might be the perfect summer treat.

Grom Gelato; 233 Bleecker St; Google Map

The New York branch of an authentic Italian gelato maker, Grom Gelato is perhaps the most authentic gelato in the city, as the lines of customers often stretching onto the sidewalk attest. With a list of seasonal flavours, including red grapefruit, tiramisu and pistachio, Grom’s doesn’t offer the wacky flavours of many of the city’s other artisanal ice cream and gelato shops, but instead specialises in classic flavours based on real fruit and other fine ingredients.

{Lime&Tonic Tip: A good place to relax and enjoy these ice creams is to check out these parks and gardens.}

Lebanese/Armenian fusion cuisine may sound like a new concept restaurant birthed here in the city but, in fact, the combination of the two cultures on the plate has a long history in Beirut. That’s where, in 1996, the Alexandrian family tried the formula at their very first Almayass Restaurant. It was not only a hit there, but the rest of the world seems to like to like their self-described “Lebanese á l’armenienne mezzé recipes and specialties” as they’ve since expanded to Los Angeles, Kuwait and Abu Dhabi (and soon Qatar and Riyadh). April of this year finally brought the family-run empire to Manhattan and, as you might imagine, the mostly small mezze plates that are the signature at Almayass have been a big hit with New Yorkers.

There are, in fact, about 50 different mezze-style offerings to choose from, along with a handful of mains. But we advise skipping a formal main course, getting a group of friends together and sharing the night away. Standouts include any of the five types of hummus; the meat-filled, yogurt topped dumplings known as manti; and the kibbe tartar. Or come at lunch, where a $22 special lets you choose two mezzes and one kebab served with rice. That’s pretty cheap considering that it’ll take your palate to two culinarily rich countries in just an hour or so.

Almayass; 24 E 21st St; 212.473.3100; Google Map

In 2007, New York’s Farm Distillery Law was revised to lower the licensing fee aimed at booze makers from $50,000 to $1,500 per year. This has opened the tap wide on the creation of new distilleries in the city, which is now home to about 26 different production facilities. One of the most “buzz-worthy” of these is Williamsburg’s New York Distilling Company which opened earlier this year, because in addition to creating their own rye and gin, the operation allows visitors to enjoy creative cocktails at their onsite bar known as The Shanty.

Here, while peering up through a glass wall at the still where the alcohol alchemy takes place, drinkers who want to get in on the “farm to glass” movement can enjoy such cocktails like the deceptively named Innocenti (Perry’s Tot Navy Strength Gin, Noilly Prat, Lillet Blanc and Benedictine), The Acerbic Mrs. Parker (Dorothy Parker Gin with lemon and hibiscus syrup), or The Lonesome Hero (rye whiskey, Becherovka, Combier cherry liqueur, orange bitters and a lemon twist). If you prefer to keep it simple, you could go for a Beer and a Shot, which is a can of Brooklyn (of course) Lager served with a shot of the house-made Pink Gin served from the antique still behind the bar.

There’s live music on Wednesdays and Sundays and two tours of the facility are run daily after 5pm, (so go easy on the ordering until you’ve at least had a chance to look around—without anything spinning other than the liquids in the stills!).

The Shanty, 79 Richardson Street; 718.878.3579; Google Map

Photo courtesy nuchas.com

If you’re like a lot of guys throwing a Super Bowl party, your idea of catering the event will likely consist of heading to the 7-11 for a bag of Tostitos and some canned “cheese” spread about an hour before kick-off. But this year, why not up your game and get something people actually want to eat (we do have a team in this thing after all).

Enter Nuchas. No not nachos. Nuchas. They’re a Times-Square-based outfit that makes super-yummy empanadas that are certainly the right fit for a super sports event (they actually fit great in one hand, so you won’t even have to put down your beer while chowing).

You can get the flaky pastry pockets in a variety of flavours including: short rib (beef braised in red wine with onions peppers, potatoes & fresh herbs); spicy chicken (chipotle, tomatoes, onions, peppers and fresh basil in paprika dough); or pulled pork (rosemary dough filled with pork that’s been cooked with white wine and oranges). For those who prefer their carnage on the gridiron instead of on their plates, there are two veggie empenadas to choose from: spinach dough filled with portabello mushrooms, spinach, mozzarella and fresh herbs, or white Parmesan dough stuffed with assorted cheese and caramelized onions.

And you know what the best part is? They’re starting a delivery service just in time for the big game! Just call in your order by noon on the 5th and you’ll have plenty of dough to keep you going through the day–even if you lose a bunch of it on that football pool at the office.

Nuchas; Broadway Plaza between 44th & 45th St.; 646.477.8274; www.nuchas.com

Original invite to the tunnel’s opening. Courtesy brooklynrail.net.

In 1861, a shady NYC contractor known as Electus Litchfield was hired by the city to close up a 17-foot-high, 21-foot-wide, 1,611-foot long tunnel running under Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. The tunnel had been the home to the first-ever underground railway constructed in the world. It had been built by the Long Island Railroad in 1844 as an attempt to alleviate the deaths that were occurring on the streets above, as the train that ran there took about 8 blocks to stop—not the best way to protect the life of a pedestrian who might have stumbled onto the tracks. The tunnel was built entirely with hand tools, took seven months to complete and cost $66,000—a grand sum in those days, but not really for the tunnel’s backer, Cornelius Vanderbilt.

But it is to our advantage that Litchfield was not the most ethical of men, because he only filled in each end of the tunnel, rather than the whole thing (saving himself a good deal of cash).

Fast forward to 1981, when a young engineering student’s search through old moldy papers led him to surmise that the long-forgotten railway tunnel did in fact exist (rumors had circulated for years—including those involving German spies, vampires and John Wilkes Booth’s lost journal, but that’s fodder for another post). He eventually convinced the city to allow him to open a manhole over on Atlantic Avenue and, after clawing through some dirt with his bare hands, then smashing through a shoddily constructed brick wall, the young man—Bob Diamond—found what he had been looking for.

For nearly 30 years, Diamond led tours through the tunnel, regaling visitors with tales of politics, murder and corruption. Now, he may have fallen prey to the same treatment from the city (sans the murder part), as the NYC Department of Transportation shut down the tunnel in 2010 (they claim safety issues, Diamond claims otherwise).

Diamond continues to fight the decision though and you can get updates on his website that’ll tell you everything you’ve ever wanted to know about this hidden part of New York’s past.

BAM (the Brooklyn Academy of Music) is so associated with bringing modern cinema, theater, dance and music into the heart of Fort Greene, that it’s easy to forget that John Wilkes Booth played in Shakespeare’s Richard III here in 1863 or that Mark Twain entertained audiences with his storytelling prowess in 1884.

BAM is, in fact, the nation’s oldest performing arts center and is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. You can attend part of its 16-month-long birthday party (it’s been in full swing since September) by checking out “From Brooklyn to the World: A History of BAM,” an exhibit broken into to three periods. Until March 30, the collection of rare video, photographs and ephemera focusses on 1864-1967; from April 26 till June 1, the attention turns to 1867-1983; and from June 8 till August 31, the exhibit will spotlight BAM’s history from 1983 to present day.

Not only will the exhibition focus on the various performances held at BAM, it will reveal the icon’s impact on the community that has always embraced it enthusiastically. For example, you’ll be able to see samples of the stamps the center sold in 1864 to help raise $400,000 for the Union Army. You’ll also get to examine other “crazy swag” (as told to Time Out New York by Sharon Lehner, director of the BAM Hamm Archives) as a Viewmaster created for composer Philip Glass and director Robert Wilson’s Einstein on the Beach as well as “wow, I’m getting old” photographs of such stage and screen luminaries as Meryl Streep and Morgan Freeman—when they were much younger.

It’s a true “behind the curtains” look at one of New York’s most defining performing arts centres—and best of all, it’s FREE!

Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM); 30 Lafayette Ave (between Ashland Pl and St. Felix St) Fort Greene, Brooklyn; 718.636.4100; bam.org

Photo Courtesy Harley's Smokeshack

It looks like New York’s hot love affair with barbecue is due to get even smokier in 2012 with a redesign of a Williamsburg favorite and the launch of two new places into which you can sink those sharp canine teeth of yours …

You might not be able to put lipstick on a pig, but you can certainly do a nice makeover on a place that serves a lot of pig. That’s exactly what’s happening at Fatty ‘Cue in Williamsburg. The cousin ‘cue joint of Fatty ‘Cue in the West Village shuttered itself on January 3 in order to redo the front bar space in the same way they’ve spiffed up the back area. The owners promise not only a new look, but new menu items and cocktails as well, and predict a reopening in mid-March.

While you work up your appetite for that, there are two new BBQ restaurants to put some sizzle in these cold January nights: Blue Smoke and Harleys’s Smokeshack & BBQ.

Blue Smoke in Battery Park City is the second outlet of the restaurant (its other half can be found at 116 E 27th Street), and promises to keep dishing up barbecue that spans styles found from Missouri to Memphis. The main spotlight is on their “real pit barbecue”: meats smoked “low and slow” over hickory and apple woods. This being New York, they get a little fancy too with starters like barbecued muscles and toasted pork ravioli with smoked tomato sauce.

Harley’s makes their meat sing in a Jumbo Southern Pride Smoker that turns out turkey, brisket, pork and other victuals for carnivores as easily as a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet turns out cornbread. We’re particularly excited to try the BBQ Frito Pie: Fritos topped with chopped beef, pulled pork (or roast turkey), cheddar, slaw, grilled jalapenos and sour cream. It’s a dish that just might keep you full till mid-March!

Fatty ‘Cue; 91 South 6th Street (bet. Bedford & Berry); Brooklyn; 718.599.3090;  www.fattycue.com/home
Blue Smoke Battery Park City; 255 Vesey St.; 212.889.2005; bluesmoke.com
Harley’s Smokeshack and Barbecue; 355 East 116 St; 212.828.6723; www.harleyssmokeshack.org