The Best Rainy Day Things to Do in New York City
Your phone says it’s going to rain all day. Here is our list of the best museums, movie theaters, markets and other indoor escapes that are actually worth your time.
A rainy day in New York is an opportunity, not a write-off. It’s the city’s way of telling you to slow down, get inside, and see something new instead of just walking past it. Forget another afternoon stuck in your apartment re-watching a show you’ve already seen. A proper rainy day plan shouldn't feel like a consolation prize. Here’s where to actually go.
At a glance.
- 01The Morgan Library & MuseumSee a Gilded Age library with multiple Gutenberg Bibles
- 06New York Transit MuseumWalk through a collection of vintage subway cars from many decades
- 08Nitehawk CinemaHave dinner, drinks, and a movie delivered right to your seat
- 13New York Public Library, Rose Main Reading RoomRead in a spectacular, block long room with 52 foot high ceilings
- Hours
- Several museums are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays; check sites first
- Book ahead
- Some spots, like the Tenement Museum, require booking tickets online
See Some Art (and History)
This was once the private library of the financier J.P. Morgan, and it still feels like you’re stepping into a Gilded Age mansion. The main draw is the historic library itself, with three tiers of rare books, a painted ceiling, and a general air of quiet importance. The Morgan also hosts excellent rotating exhibitions of manuscripts, drawings, and artifacts that are always worth seeing. It’s one of the best small museums in the city for a reason.
Go for: The feeling of being in a private study that happens to contain multiple Gutenberg Bibles. Know before you go: Admission is free on Fridays from 3 to 5 p.m., but you'll need to check their site for ticket information.
The Met Cloisters
It takes some effort to get here, but The Cloisters is the city’s best rainy day teleportation device. A branch of the Met dedicated to medieval European art and architecture, the museum is built from the parts of French monasteries and abbeys. On a gray day, the stone corridors and covered gardens feel moody and transportive. It’s a place to wander slowly.
Go for: A long afternoon pretending you are in a European monastery instead of Upper Manhattan. Know before you go: Your ticket also includes same-day admission to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue. The museum is open Thursday to Monday.
Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is big enough to get lost in for hours, which is exactly what a rainy day calls for. The collection is vast and varied, from ancient Egyptian artifacts to a significant collection of feminist art. The museum’s programming is consistently one of the city’s most interesting, and it feels more connected to the borough it's in than many of its Manhattan counterparts.
Go for: The sheer variety, from Judy Chicago's "The Dinner Party" to a world-class collection of American painting. Know before you go: It's closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Check the official website for current exhibitions and hours.
New Museum
The New Museum is the city’s only museum dedicated exclusively to contemporary art. After a major expansion that reopened in March 2026, the building now has double the gallery space for its ambitious, often challenging exhibitions. Go here to see what’s happening right now in the art world, and to have an opinion about it.
Go for: The most current conversations in contemporary art and a great view from the top-floor Sky Room. Know before you go: The museum has pay-what-you-wish hours on Thursday evenings.
This is not a museum you can just wander through. Instead, you book a specific guided tour that takes you into the restored apartments of a historic tenement building, telling the stories of the real immigrant families who lived there between the 19th and 20th centuries. It's an essential New York experience that makes the history of the Lower East Side feel immediate and personal.
Go for: A specific, powerful story about the city's immigrant history. Know before you go: Tours sell out, especially on weekends, so you must book tickets in advance on their official site. Most tours are around $30.
Located in a decommissioned 1936 subway station, the Transit Museum is a genuinely fun trip through the city's history. The best part is the collection of vintage subway cars on the platform level, where you can walk through a century of transit design, from wicker seats to graffiti-era steel.
Go for: The simple pleasure of walking through vintage subway cars from different decades. Know before you go: The museum is open Thursday through Sunday. Advance tickets are encouraged.
Catch a Movie
Metrograph shows movies for people who care about them. The two theaters have some of the best programming in the city, mixing new independent and foreign films with repertory series that are smartly curated and always worth your time. The whole experience feels intentional, from the comfortable seats to the attached bookstore and restaurant. It’s easily one of the best movie theaters in New York City.
Go for: A smart double feature and a cocktail at the lobby bar. Know before you go: The restaurant is a destination in itself, so plan for dinner or a drink before your show.
Nitehawk was a pioneer of the dine-in movie theater model, and they still do it better than most. The menu is solid, the cocktails are strong, and the pre-show reel of found footage and weird clips is often as entertaining as the movie itself. With locations in Williamsburg and Prospect Park, it’s a reliable call for a full evening out.
Go for: Dinner, drinks, and a movie, all without leaving your seat. Know before you go: Order your food by writing it on a slip of paper for the servers to collect, a quiet and efficient system.
An institution for serious film lovers, Film Forum is a nonprofit theater that has been showing independent and repertory cinema for over 50 years. The programming is impeccable, often featuring new restorations of classics alongside premieres of vital new documentaries and foreign films. This isn't the place for blockbusters, it's a place for discovery.
Go for: A rare classic you won't see anywhere else or a challenging new documentary. Know before you go: The three screens have distinct programming, so check the schedule online to see what's playing in each theater.
Go Somewhere Warm and Loud
This food hall inside a former Nabisco factory is a classic for a reason. It’s a long, crowded, lively hall packed with more than 30 vendors, from the excellent tacos at Los Tacos No. 1 to fresh seafood at Lobster Place. You can wander, graze, and people-watch for a couple of hours, easily. It's a key stop in any Chelsea guide.
Go for: A grazing lunch where you eat tacos, then a lobster roll, then a donut. Know before you go: It gets extremely crowded on weekends. Go on a weekday if you can to preserve your sanity.
Essex Market has been around in some form for over a century, but its modern incarnation is a bright, sprawling food hall on the ground floor of the Essex Crossing development. It has a more local, less touristy feel than Chelsea Market, with a great mix of new vendors and legacy businesses that made the move from the old building. It’s also home to The Market Line, a food hall on the lower level.
Go for: Excellent cheese from Saxelby Cheesemongers, old-school deli sandwiches, and great people-watching. Know before you go: General hours are long, but individual vendor hours can vary.
The Gutter
For when you want to do something other than just sit and consume, The Gutter offers a classic, no-frills bowling experience. It’s a dive bar with eight lanes, cheap beer, and a refreshingly unpretentious atmosphere. It’s a perfect group activity when the weather has you stuck inside.
Go for: A few games of bowling and a pitcher of cheap domestic beer. Know before you go: It’s first come, first served for lanes, so you might have to wait on a busy night.
Just Read
When the weather is miserable, there are few better places to be than inside the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. The Rose Main Reading Room is the main event: a spectacular, block-long room with 52-foot-high ceilings, long oak tables, and a hushed, scholarly atmosphere. You don’t need a library card to enter, just find a seat, grab a book, and enjoy the silence. This is one of the best libraries in New York City to just sit and exist in.
Go for: The quiet grandeur and the feeling of being in the city's collective study hall. Know before you go: You have to check larger bags, and talking on the phone is strictly forbidden.
McNally Jackson is a quintessential New York bookstore. It's perfectly stocked, staffed by people who clearly love to read, and arranged in a way that encourages discovery. The original Nolita location is a classic, but the other outposts have their own charms. All of them have excellent cafes, making them a perfect place to buy a book and immediately start reading it.
Go for: A perfectly curated fiction section and a strong coffee at the cafe. Know before you go: The Williamsburg location has a particularly good bar and restaurant attached.
This is more than just one of the best used bookstores in the city; it's a downtown institution. All the books are donated, and all profits go to Housing Works' mission to end AIDS and homelessness. The space itself is beautiful, with spiral staircases and mahogany balconies, and the cafe in the back is a great place to settle in with your new purchases.
Go for: Browsing for cheap used books and supporting a great cause. Know before you go: The store hosts frequent events, from readings to comedy shows, so check their calendar.
The Shout NY Take
A rainy day plan shouldn't be a backup. The best indoor places in New York are destinations in their own right, spots that are worth your time even when it’s 75 and sunny. Whether it's the quiet hush of a library, the clatter of a bowling alley, or the darkness of a movie theater, these are the places that make the city great when the weather isn't. Keep this list in your pocket for the next time the forecast looks grim.
Shop the story.
Book the experience.
The bookable version of this guide, with times and prices on Expedia.
Questions, answered.
- What can you do for free in NYC on a rainy day?
- Head to the New York Public Library's Rose Main Reading Room to read, or walk the halls of Grand Central Terminal. The Morgan Library & Museum offers free admission on Fridays, and many of the city's best museums have pay-what-you-wish hours for New York residents.
- What are some unique indoor activities in New York?
- You can explore vintage subway cars at the New York Transit Museum in a real 1936 subway station, play shuffleboard at Royal Palms, or see experimental art and science projects at Pioneer Works in Red Hook.
- Where can I spend a whole afternoon indoors in NYC?
- Chelsea Market and Essex Market are both large indoor food halls where you can eat and shop for hours. The Brooklyn Museum and The Met Cloisters are expansive enough to fill an entire day, as is the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria.
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