The Weekend Edit: Brooklyn & NYC, October 16–18, 2026

This is the weekend the city opens its doors. Literally.

Open House New York Weekend runs Friday through Sunday, October 16 to 18. Hundreds of buildings that stay locked the rest of the year are open to anyone curious enough to walk in. Across the river, an 1839 Greek Revival townhouse in Brooklyn Heights has been dressed room by room by some of the best designers in New York. Add a street fair on Smith Street, open studios in Gowanus and the last of the fall flowers in the Bronx, and you have a weekend that rewards anyone who loves how people live.

I've spent more than 40 years in Brooklyn, and mid-October is my favorite stretch of the year. The light goes gold on the brownstones. The stoops get their pumpkins. Everyone is outside one more time before the cold comes in. Here is where I'd spend this weekend, borough by borough.

Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Heights Designer Showhouse

If you see one thing this weekend, make it this. The house at 1 Monroe Place is an 1839 Greek Revival a few steps from the Promenade. It has a double parlor with 13-foot ceilings, original period details, five landscaped outdoor spaces and a roof deck with views of the city and the water. Designers from New York and Brooklyn have each taken a room.

Walk it slowly. Notice how each designer handles the same old bones. It is the best lesson in brownstone living you will get all year.

When: Friday 11am–7pm; Saturday and Sunday 10am–6pm. Open through November 1. Tickets: $50, or $40 for Brooklyn Heights Association members. Get tickets.

Smith Street Fair, Cobble Hill

Smith Street goes car-free on Saturday, October 17, from Bergen to Union Street, 10am to 6pm. Shops spill onto the sidewalk. Restaurants set up outside. A free Kids Zone runs from 11am to 2pm with games, building projects and crafts. Kids Zone RSVP.

Open House New York in Brooklyn

Most sites are drop-in. A few need tickets, so check before you go. Two Brooklyn stops worth your time:

• Brooklyn Navy Yard Open House — Saturday, October 17, 12pm–5pm. Free. Enter at Building 77 and walk into working studios in fashion, design and tech. Details.
• Powerhouse Arts, Gowanus — a restored power station turned art workshop. While you're there, the virtual Museo del Prado experience is running through December 20.

Full list of sites: ohny.org.

Arts Gowanus Open Studios

Gowanus Open Studios turns 30 this year. On Saturday and Sunday, October 17 and 18, artists across the neighborhood open their workspaces to the public. It is the borough's biggest celebration of local art, and a good way to see how Gowanus has grown up around the canal. Learn more.

Harvest Festival at Brooklyn Bridge Park

Pier 6 closes out its season on Saturday, October 17, 11am to 3pm. Live music, face painting, a mini pumpkin patch and a kids' corn maze, all with the Manhattan skyline behind you. Free. Costumes welcome. Details.

BRIC JazzFest, Downtown Brooklyn

Two nights of jazz on multiple stages, Friday and Saturday, October 16 and 17. The lineup includes Bilal and Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra. Saturday ends with a late dance party.

Manhattan

Siena: The Art of Bronze at The Frick

About 40 bronzes from 15th-century Siena, including work by Donatello. Many of these pieces rarely leave Tuscany. It is a quiet, close-up show, and the renovated Frick is worth the trip on its own. Tickets run $17 to $30. Details.

Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians at Park Avenue Armory

The week's big cultural night. Reich turned 90 this month, and the piece turns 50. The Armory is staging it in the vast Drill Hall, and the run ends Sunday, October 18. If you have never heard it live, this is the way to do it.

NYC Wine & Food Festival at the Seaport

The festival runs through Sunday, October 18, at Pier 16 and the Rooftop at Pier 17. On Sunday night, October 18, The Cookout brings chef JJ Johnson and Angela Yee to the rooftop, with a live set from Method Man. Food, sunset and the Brooklyn Bridge. Hard to beat.

Manhattan Vintage Show

Friday through Sunday, October 16 to 18. Dealers bring racks of clothing, jewelry and accessories from across the decades. Come for a jacket. Stay for the tailoring lesson.

Ghostbusters in Concert at United Palace

Saturday night, October 17, the 1984 classic plays on a giant screen while a live orchestra performs the score. Doors at 6:30pm, film at 8pm. Tickets from $29. United Palace is a 1930s movie palace in Washington Heights, so look up. Details.

Disability Pride NYC Parade

Sunday, October 18, at 11am, starting at Madison Square Park and heading to Union Square. A free block party follows from noon to 3pm. No registration needed to watch.

Grand Bazaar, Upper West Side

Every Sunday, including October 18, 10am to 5pm, at 77th Street and Columbus. More than 150 vendors selling vintage, antiques and handmade goods. Profits support local public schools. Details.

Fall Outside the City Grid

Some of the best of this weekend happens outdoors. A few to put on the list:

• Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade — Saturday, October 17, at 11am in the East Village. The dog lineup is full, but anyone can watch. The costumes are serious business.
• Flower Power at NYBG — final weekend. The garden's '60s-themed show of blooms and art closes Sunday, October 18.
• Classic Harbor Line Fall Foliage Cruise — sails up the Hudson toward the Palisades through Sunday, October 18. Leaf peeping without the drive.
• Maze by Moonlight at Queens County Farm Museum — Saturday, October 17, 6pm to 10pm. The city's only corn maze, after dark. Tickets $29. Bring a flashlight.
• Luna Park Halloween Harvest, Coney Island — open Friday through Sunday, October 16 to 18, with rides, pumpkins and ocean air.
• Green-Wood Cemetery After Hours — guided night walks Friday and Saturday, October 16 and 17, through one of Brooklyn's great landmarks. Details.
• Haunted Hotel at Lakeside, Prospect Park — a 25-minute walk-through for ages 13 and up. Younger kids can stick to the pumpkins and games outside.

Before You Head Out

Check each organizer's page before you leave. Times and tickets change fast this time of year.

And if you walk through that Monroe Place parlor and start picturing your own furniture in it, you're not alone. A weekend like this one is really a weekend of open houses. You get to stand inside the kind of homes people dream about and see what makes them work.

When you're ready to find your own, I'd love to help. I know these blocks from Brooklyn Heights to Park Slope, and I can tell you which ones are moving and why.

Laurie Savino | The Savino Team at The Corcoran Group 718-309-4054 | laurie.savino@corcoran.com | savinoteam.com