Leave the gun.

Take the cannoli.

The other night, hundreds of New Yorkers dragged their blankets, picnics and wine hidden in metal water bottles to Central Park. I was among them.

New York has a bad reputation in summer. For me, it’s the best time of year here. Everything is outside. The days are long. So much stuff is free. One of my favorite free things to do during a New York City summer is to go to the movies. With movies at the cinema costing $19.99, free outdoor film is definitely an appealing alternative.

Picnic!

This particular night I saw The Godfather—all 3 hours and 13 minutes of Coppola gold—in Central Park. Earlier in the summer, I saw a really quirky and, alas, deservedly unknown French film on a pier on the Hudson River. Another night I was out to dinner with a friend sitting in the restaurant’s garden when the waiter pointed up. On the wall of the adjacent building, someone was screening Help! starring the Beatles.

If there is blank space, a movie can and will be shown. In every boro. For every taste.

As the summer draws to a close this Labor Day weekend, I think fondly of the fabulous movies that were seen and of the well behaved New Yorkers (and knowledgeable tourists) who make going to the movies an event worthy of this great city.

Al Pacino going to the dark side…

Of course, we brought cannoli to The Godfather. It was a dessert idea we couldn’t refuse.

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