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A first look at the incredibly immersive Harry Potter exhibit in NYC
Muggles, take note: You won’t need to travel through Platform 9¾ to get to Hogwarts. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is right here in New York City for a limited time!
The touring show, “Harry Potter: The Exhibition,” is finally opening this week on Friday, May 19 in Herald Square, and it’s going transport you.
NYC has had its share of Harry Potter experiences, from the one in 2011 at Discovery Times Square, to the interactive games at the Harry Potter Store in Flatiron and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway.
This one, however, is different in that it is more than a display of props and costumes. Through the use of dramatic lighting, set design, interactive technology and even scent, the exhibit will make you feel like you are actually there—in Hagrid’s hut, in potions class, dining in the Great Hall, learning how to fight the dark arts, fighting the Battle of Hogwarts and more.
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Time Out New York was given a sneak peek of the exhibit on Thursday ahead of the Friday opening. And without giving it all away, we’ll walk you through what to expect when you “enroll” in Hogwarts this summer.
1. Moments come alive
Unlike previous exhibits, where visitors walk from room to room looking at displays of props and costumes set in static galleries, this exhibition showcases favorite moments from the movies all around you. Instead of something you just look at, it’s something you see, learn about, play with, sit down in and even smell.
Room after room, you’re not just looking at the actual props and costumes used in the movies from Warner Brothers, but you’re learning how they were chosen and made, seeing them in context within incredibly built sets, and you’re able to touch and be within the Wizarding settings. The show even pumps in specific scents across the galleries, from a wood-burning scent in Hagrid’s hut to an intriguing perfume in Professor Trelawney’s divination class.
“We are billed as the most comprehensive and largest touring exhibit in the world,” says Tom Zaller, the CEO of Imagine Exhibitions, which is behind the exhibit. “We want you to feel like you’re in it and set in the environment. We want you to feel like you’re making a potion in the potions classroom.”
It’s not just displays and it’s not just screens. It’s both and more.
“We took all the little spaces and made great big moments,” Zaller added.
2. You can have a somewhat personalized experience
Part of the experience is feeling like you are a student at Hogwarts yourself and to do that, the exhibit uses RFID technology. Every visitor signs into the experience (yes, you get to choose your house and patronus) gets a bracelet that they can tap on various touchpoints. In the Sorting Hat room, you get to digitally try on the hat and see your house come up. In the Marauders Map room, you get to see your name pop up on the map. You can practice your wand skills and your potion-making and get points toward your House and also fight off a Boggart. Before you leave, you see how many points your House scored during your visit and get a recap of your experience via email later.
3. You get to walk in the trio’s shoes
Throughout the experience, you’re hearing the music and clips from the movies while in the places they happen. You almost feel like you’re going through it with Harry, Ron and Hermione. That means you get to see the paintings come alive in the Hogwarts Castle Gallery, get sorted, look into a crystal ball in Professor Trelawney’s classroom, visit Hagrid’s Hut, play a basketball-like Quidditch game, walk into the Forbidden Forest, try your Patronus charm out, and actually sit at tables in the Great Hall with floating candles, where so much news is told to students over the films.
4. There are countless photo opps
6. You can learn about behind-the-scenes choices
And, of course, with so many props and costumes to see, there are ample opportunities to learn about why certain fabrics were used or how the costume and prop departments made things.
And if you want to take a piece of the Wizarding World with you, the exhibit has a gift shop full of “bespoke” merchandise specifically made for this show that you cannot get elsewhere, from fashion to home goods and more.
“Harry Potter: The Exhibition” opens on May 19 at 50 West 34th Street (34th Street and Broadway). Tickets are on sale now through October and start at $29 for adults. The exhibition also offers a VIP ticket experience with a flex schedule, a commemorative lanyard, free access to the “Harry Potter: The Exhibition” Audio Guide and a $10 credit to spend in the retail store.
Circle Line to host Beyoncé, Taylor Swift boat parties this summer
Couldn’t get tickets to the Beyoncé Renaissance World Tour? Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises is here to offer up the next best thing: a Bey-themed dance party aboard one of their famous sightseeing boats.
Not a member of the Beyhive? First, we’re judging you, and second, the “Cuff It” crooner isn’t the only diva getting the dance party treatment from the cruise line. Off the success of its Renaissance-themed dance cruise back in September 2022, the boat-tour company is rolling out a Summer Dance Series from May through August themed around the likes of Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Missy Elliott and, yes, Queen Bey.
Each cruise will feature a seasoned choreographer to teach you signature moves from the pop performers, along with costume contests and themed cocktails while you take in New York’s world-famous skyline views.
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The schedule of the 2023 Summer Dance Series is as follows.
- Thursday, May 25: Taylor Swift Night – “Bring out your best looks! A night of Swifty Themed Photo Ops, Costume Contests and Cocktails, featuring her latest and greatest hits.”
- Thursday, June 22: Lady Gaga Night – “Unleash your inner Gaga and revel in the unique allure of her chart-topping hits.”
- Thursday, July 27: Beyoncé Night – “Pay homage to the incomparable Queen Bey as you groove to her mesmerizing tunes.”
- Thursday, August 10: 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop Night – “Step into the vibrant world of hip-hop and celebrate this groundbreaking cultural movement.”
“Building upon the overwhelming success and positive feedback from last year’s event, we knew we had to introduce a whole dance series and take it to new heights,” said Craig Kanarick, CEO of New York Cruise Lines. “New York City is a vibrant hub of culture, music, and lively scenery, making the Summer Dance Series the ultimate celebration on the water.”
Tickets for each of the four dance cruises—which will sail out of midtown’s Pier 83 at West 42nd Street and will cruise for two hours, from 7:30 to 9:30pm—cost $25 and can be purchased at the Circle Line website. All aboard!
MTA Revels New Futuristic-Looking Subway Turnstile Prototypes
New subway turnstile redesign prototypes have been unveiled by the MTA, and if there’s one thing to say about them it’s that they’re pretty futuristic looking!
On display at Grand Central Terminal yesterday, Wednesday, May 17, the new prototype design is the first major redesign of the turnstiles, which was created in hopes to curb fare evasion.
The MTA released the Final Report of the Blue-Ribbon Panel on Fare Evasion. This group, comprised of education, social justice, and law enforcement experts, first convened in May 2022 to get a better understanding of the causes of rising fare and toll evasion across the transit system and work to recommend actionable solutions.
The report shows that fare evasion has reached crisis levels, with the MTA losing an estimated $690 million in unpaid fares and tolls in 2022, which threatens the economics of mass transit.
And the prototypes are way more modernized than what we’ve grown accustomed to seeing.
Rather than a rolling turnstile entrance, the subway turnstile redesign prototypes use a pair of glass doors that slide open once a straphanger pays the fare.
According to MTA Construction and Development President Jamie Torres-Springer, the new turnstiles will “increase customer flow and accessibility while combating fare evasion by addressing the problems we see at turnstiles today.”
The new design will reduce the need for emergency fare gates which more than half of all subway fare evasion occurs through, causing them to become a “superhighway of fare evasion.”
In addition to the new subway turnstile redesign, the fare evasion report also suggests better supporting low-income transit riders and instituting enforcement that commits to policing and enforcement of penalties for evaders.
Earlier this year in February, the MTA also unveiled new wheelchair accessible “wide-aisle” turnstiles.
Two stations are set to see the new wide-aisle turnstiles beginning this spring, including Queens’ Sutphin Boulevard-Archer Avenue station and Brooklyn’s Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center station.
You can read more about the Final Report of the Blue-Ribbon Panel on Fare Evasion here.
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