Things to do in NYC in November 2026

The 2026 race marks the 50th anniversary of the five-borough course. It starts on Staten Island at the Verrazzano Bridge and finishes in Central Park. Good places to watch without the finish-line crowds: Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn, Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, and First Avenue in the Upper East Side, where runners come off the Queensboro Bridge to the loudest crowd of the race.

The New York Botanical Garden's first Día de los Muertos celebration ends with a parade on Sunday, November 1 at 2pm. On Monday, November 2, Green-Wood Cemetery holds a free Day of the Dead family celebration from 4 to 7pm, with crafts, music and performances (a $10 donation is suggested).

Early voting runs from October 24 to November 1. Check your poll site with the city's Board of Elections before you go.

Diwali falls on November 8 this year. Note that the big Diwali at Times Square celebration is earlier, on Saturday, October 24, on Broadway between 46th and 48th Streets. NYC Parks lists a Festival of Lights: Diwali event on November 1; we add the details to the calendar when they are published.

The nation's largest Veterans Day parade goes up Fifth Avenue. The 2026 start time and route had not been posted when this was written; in past years it has stepped off from around 26th Street in the late morning.

This year is the parade's 100th, with a record 100 inflatables including the return of Underdog. The route has run from Central Park West down to Herald Square; check Macy's for the 2026 route before you pick a spot, and arrive by 6:30am for a front-row place. The balloon inflation is traditionally the afternoon before, around the American Museum of Natural History — the 2026 details were not yet confirmed.

The rink is free if you bring your own skates; rentals cost extra. The holiday shops run from October 28 to January 3.

Model trains running through nearly 200 New York landmarks built from bark, leaves and seeds, with a new One Vanderbilt this year. Holiday Train Nights, open until 8pm, start the weekend after Thanksgiving.

The after-dark light trail through the garden. Children 3 to 11 are $15 to $28, under 3 free. Public sale opens September 29, and the popular weekend dates go first.

New this year, the Children's Zoo farmyard and the World of Darkness and World of Reptiles buildings stay open at night. Lights come on at 4:30pm; the ticket includes zoo entry from 1pm.

The Rockefeller Center tree usually arrives in mid-November and is lit in early December; the 2026 dates had not been announced. The Union Square and Columbus Circle holiday markets say they are back in 2026 but had not posted opening dates.