Today is Blue Monday, supposedly the most depressing day of the year. It’s sunny but single-digit degrees in NYC right now. Frankly I’m amazed I even got out of bed this morning. The urge to hibernate is so strong, I start to wonder if maybe I’m actually an X-Man and my mutant power is sleeping ’til spring…

Central Park in the snow may be pretty, but New York winter is rough. Sometime this season you may well find yourself standing on an outdoor subway platform, waiting for a delayed train, icy rain ripping through your giant puffy coat and you’re one gust of wind away from screaming up to the gray sky above, “I HATE NEW YORK WINTER!!!!!”

I made this handy dandy list to turn to in those moments of hate. Let’s get ourselves through the dirty worst of this frigid season-

9 Reasons to Stop Yourself from Hating NYC Winter!

1. Restaurant Week starts today (January 21st)!

In an effort to make New Yorkers leave our warm apartments, some of the best restaurants in town offer a prix-fixe 3 course meal at a fraction of their normal prices. From January 21st-February 8th, over 380 NYC restaurants are participating in a $26 lunch or $42 dinner. It’s the perfect way to get a incredible meal that is budget friendly. Check out my experience with Restaurant Week at Red Rooster in this post and then explore all participating restaurants and book your reservation here.

2. Botanical Gardens keep hope (and plants!) alive.

When all the leaves have fallen and Christmas trees are turned to mulch, the botanical gardens in Brooklyn and the Bronx still have beautiful green plants and colorful flowers. Both gardens house lovely, warm indoor conservatories that grant a perfect walk in the park no matter what the weather. If you need the brightest, most brilliant blooms, wait until The Orchid Show arrives at the New York Botanical Garden on February 23rd.

3. Outdoor ice skating is a NYC winter classic.

My favorite rink is in Bryant Park, where the skating is free (but skate rental is steep) and the NYPL and Empire State Building are visible from many sides of the ice. Rockefeller is the ultimate NY cliché, Trump ruined skating in Central Park (he owns the rink), and you can find a comprehensive list of rinks in NYC here.

4. Our “Holiday Season” isn’t over! Celebrate Lunar New Year!

February 5th brings the start of the Lunar Calendar’s Year of the Pig. There’s never been a better time to go to one of the city’s Chinatowns to try a pork bun or dim sum. Celebrations take place through out much of February, perhaps most notably the Lunar New Year Parade in Chinatown on February 17th. To learn more, read about my experience stumbling across the celebrations last year and watch this Youtube video from when I went to the parade with my buddy Sage here.

5. Street art is everywhere to combat the oppressive gray.

As a native Californian, the lack of color in winter really starts to get to me. I don’t know what I would do without street art! I even visited an art park in the middle of a snow storm once, which was more fun than freezing. Check out my many, many posts on street art here and keep your eyes pealed for pops of color.

6. Speaking of art, it’s the perfect time of year to visit museums.

This city has more museums that I would ever try to count, from the big names like the American Museum of Natural History and the MoMA to more niche attractions like the Museum of the Moving Image and The Whitney. If you’re a New Yorker like me, you have a couple museums that you’ve been meaning to visit for YEARS that you still haven’t gotten around to. My #1 on that list is the Tenement Museum which I vow to finally see before the weather warms! If you think museums aren’t for you, try going on a tour with Museum Hack. Their zany, inter-active, delightful tours will almost definitely change your mind.

7. The City Bakery has a Hot Chocolate Festival!

It’s the perfect excuse to indulge in the most decadent hot cocoa EVERY SINGLE DAY in February. The City Bakery is known for having some of the best hot cocoa in all of NYC. They know winter is long and cold, so every day of February the bakery offers a new flavor of their favorite sweet hot drink! This year’s festival menu has yet to be released, but 2018 selections included the intriguing “On A Peanut Butter Barge” and “Fresh Ginger Hot Chocolate”.

8. You can heat things up with a night of dinner and burlesque.

It may be freezing out, but you can still watch hot ladies take off their clothes, performing burlesque in the classiest way possible at Duane Park. I went this summer, it was my first time seeing burlesque, and I seriously enjoyed the show. It would only be better in winter, when seeing any exposed skin is something of a rarity!

9. Cat Cafes offer a purrfect place for winter snuggles with furry friends.

On cold weekends, all I want to do is curl up with a good book, with a curled up cat at me feet. My roommate got our cat Pip when we move apartments, so I now get my fix at one of the several cat cafes in NYC. Yep, this is a thing! Public spaces made specifically to hang out with cats, or even dogs! You can read about my personal experience at Meow Parlour here and find a full round-up of all the pet cafes in the Big Apple here.

How do you make the best of winter in NYC? Have you done any of the New York activities on this list? Share below!