Despite spending over a decade living in this borough, last summer was my first time attending the Philharmonic insanity in Prospect Park. I suppose many of the previous years I was out of town or too lazy or not particularly plugged into all the wonderful things that were happening right outside my front door (this maybe a common affliction for many New Yorkers). But last year, thanks to a far-more-motivated friend, I finally made it. I left my girl at home and felt decadently free as I enjoyed the music and picnicked and watched families chase after their children. My girl, a little person who devotes herself to sleep, was not ready for the late night. But this year she is definitely up for the festivities. She is up for, what she terms as, ballet music. She is up for an evening picnic with friends, for catching fireflies, for a sea of shadows sporting glow sticks, for staying up after dark, for a gratuitous display of fireworks and for reminding her parents that living in this city is truly magical.
The New York Philharmonic in Prospect Park 2014 is on Wednesday, July 9th at 8pm. Go early to get yourself a good spot, but remember: the closer you sit, the more your fellow music lovers will expect your children to be proportionately quiet. We’ll see you in the cheap seats (I’m kidding, it’s a park, it’s all free).