Friday, April 3
Opening Friday at Brooklyn Museum is Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks, the first major exhibition of Jean-Michel Basquiat's notebooks. Born in Brooklyn in 1960, Basquiat had a prolific career, producing over 600 paintings, 1,500 drawings, and a small group of sculptures and mixed-media work before his untimely death in 1988 at the age of 27. The show features 160 pages of his notebooks, which include poetry fragments, wordplay, sketches, and personal observations on topics ranging from street life and popular culture to themes of race, class and world history. The exhibition also shows related works on paper and some large-scale paintings. 200 Eastern Parkway, Prospect Heights. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. $16
The New York International Auto Show opens Friday, running through April 12. The show will be previewing over 60 new car and truck models, including the all-new Chevrolet Malibu, Jaguar XE S, Aston Martin Vulcan and McLaren 675LT. The Fire Department of New York City is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year by bringing vintage and modern fire trucks to the show for a special exhibit. The West Point Band will perform live every day of the show (except Sundays) on the North Concourse at 2 p.m. Javits Center, 655 W. 34th St., Chelsea. 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. $16
Saturday, April 4
Saturday is the 7th annual International Pillow Fight Day. Around the world fighters will be gathering to knock the stuffing out of their friends and enemies. Pillow Fight NYC 2015 is taking place at Washington Square Park at 3 p.m. and organizers are requesting that players bring only soft, feather-free pillows. Free.
Visit the place where Edgar Allan Poe spent the last years of his life, from 1846 to 1849, in the Bronx at Poe Cottage. It was here that America’s legendary author, poet, editor and literary critic penned many of his most enduring works. Regular tours are offered of the cottage, which has recently been restored to its original appearance. $5. 2640 Grand Concourse, (Fordham—E Kingsbridge Rd.), Bronx.
Sunday, April 5
Easter Parade and Easter Bonnet Festival is a New York City tradition that stretches back to the 1870s. Paraders, their families and often pets too, wander along Fifth Avenue from 49th to 57th Streets in various Easter bonnets and their Sunday best. A great place to catch the action is at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Fifth Avenue (between East 50th and 51st Streets.) From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Free.
New York was a special place for Frank Sinatra, and not just because he gave the city its unofficial theme song. On the self-guided Sinatra Walking Tour, walk the streets of Manhattan and stroll past some of Frank's favorite hangouts and venues where he performed. Or you could take a short trip across the river to Frank's hometown of Hoboken to see his neighborhood and places he lived as a child and rising star. Also, catch Sinatra: An American Icon, now showing at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, Lincoln Square.
