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Your Last-Gasp-of-Summer Bucket List

By Nicole Levy | August 30, 2016 3:45pm | Updated on August 31, 2016 1:28pm
 The Olympic Lyons pool in Staten Island also features sprinklers.
The Olympic Lyons pool in Staten Island also features sprinklers.
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New York City Department of Parks & Recreation

The end of your summer in the city is drawing nigh.

Whether you dread or welcome the first day of fall, which arrives Sept. 22, three weeks gives you plenty of time to cross off all the remaining items on your summer to-do list.

DNAinfo New York has few suggestions about activities to add to that itinerary as the year's hottest and sunniest season winds down.

► Go for a dip in a city pool

city pool

The Olympic Lyons pool on Staten Island (NYC Department of Park & Recreation)

This is the first year the city is extending pool season past Labor Day for an extra week. Overheated New Yorkers can bathe in all intermediate- and Olympic-sized pools through Sept. 11. Smaller pools will still close on Labor Day, Sept. 5.

► Check out one of the last few SummerStage shows

With the exception of an abridged staging of the musical "Chicago," these concerts are ticketed. The festival staged in 16 city parks is winding down with musical acts like Band of Horses and the Beach Boys. Yes, tickets may cost as much as $75, but keep in mind that your money will support more than 100 free performances across the five boroughs next year.

► Get out on the water in a kayak

You can launch from two sites in Queens, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Red Hook, South Beach on Staten Island, Midtown West and TriBeCa. Of course, boating puts you in perilously close proximity to the East or Hudson Rivers, so paddle at your own risk.

► Drink on a rooftop in the shadow of the "PsychoBarn"

 

A photo posted by The Met (@metmuseum) on

You have until Oct. 31 to admire Cornelia Parker's installation in the roof garden of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a 30-foot sculpture that was built from a deconstructed red barn and resembles the Bates home from Hitchcock's 1961 thriller, "Psycho." To take in the glorious view of the sun setting over the Manhattan skyline and Central Park while sipping themed cocktails like the "Corpse Reviver," go on a Friday or Saturday, when the garden remains open until 8:15 p.m. 

► Putt your way to victory

Tap into your inner child at 18-hole mini-golf courses on Pier 25 in TriBeCa's Hudson River Park, at Shipwrecked in Red Hook, at Brooklyn Miniature Golf in Coney Island or at Randall's Island Golf & Entertainment Center

► Gaze at stars on the High Line

high line stargazing

(High Line/Liz Ligon)

The city's light pollution often makes it difficult to see the night sky's celestial majesty, but high-powered telescopes at this Chelsea tourist magnet can sharpen your view. On Tuesdays through Oct. 25, the telescopes provided by the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York are available on the deck near 14th Street from dusk until 30 minutes before the park closes. 

► Watch a movie outdoors

The air may get crisper in September and October, but that shouldn't stop you from enjoying a classic movie like "Shaft" or "The Rocky Horror Picture" al fresco. Screenings continue through October in parks around the city. Bring a picnic and a blanket — or two — for the perfect cinematic evening.

► Enjoy a night at the opera en plein air

The Metropolitan Opera is presenting free outdoor opera screenings from its "Live in HD" series at Lincoln Center Plaza every night this week through Labor Day. Early birds can snag one of the more than 3,100 seats available in the square. Screenings include everything from staples of the opera cannon like "Le Nozze di Figaro" to rarer productions like Bizet's "Pearl Fishers."

► Go to the beach

We recognize that not every New Yorker is a beach-goer, but if you've been avoiding sand and waves all summer, you have through Sept. 11 to change your mind. "The People's Beach" at Jacob Riis Park in the Rockaways might be a trek from parts of the city, but hear us out: the salty breeze off the Atlantic Ocean is way more restorative than the gust of air that assails you every time your train rolls into the subway station.

► Climb "The Hills" on Governors Island

These four waterfront hills, rising to heights of 80 feet above sea level, made their public debut in July. Constructed from recycled materials and fill materials, they offers sweeping views of New York Harbor and Lower Manhattan, scenic picnic spots, and giant slides, including one that's 57 feet long and three stories high. Excuse us, we have some sliding to do.