Photo: Nicole Freezer Rubens

We’re back—and hope your holiday was bright. If you missed the city’s holiday trees and festive windows, now’s the perfect time for a peaceful post‑holiday stroll. Ready to move on? January is buzzing. Winter Jazz Fest returns, museums are blissfully uncrowded, and we’re highlighting standout new exhibits. Our Long Island reporter profiles a nurse‑turned‑mental‑health advocate transforming lives, while our roving photographer uncovers a one‑of‑a‑kind West Village shop. And if you’re looking to kick off the New Year with something special, consider joining our NYC Insiders’ Club.

A Great Way to Start the New Year

Since last September, NYC Insider members have savored private tours of the Waldorf, Printemps, and the MET Opera House. Looking ahead to 2026, highlights include a New Year’s lunch at the Harmonie Club, a Valentine’s wellness escape at Guerlain Spa, theater and jazz outings, and a private Radio City tour. Now’s the perfect time to embrace community, culture, and connection. GET THE DETAILS. 

Winter Jazzfest 2026: Still We Rise

New York City’s Winter Jazzfest returns January 8–13, 2026, bringing six days of boundary‑pushing music, community, and cultural celebration to stages across Manhattan and Brooklyn. Now in its 22nd year, the festival continues its evolution from a downtown gathering into one of the world’s most influential showcases for Black American music, improvisation, and global sonic innovation.

This year’s theme — Still We Rise — draws inspiration from Maya Angelou’s iconic poem and serves as both artistic compass and rallying cry. Festival organizers describe 2026 as a season dedicated to joy, resilience, and the protection of cultural memory at a moment when forces of erasure threaten the stories at the heart of American music NYS Music The Jazz Mann. The festival’s visual identity echoes that mission: bold political‑poster lines, Afrofuturist color, and roses blooming like sound waves, all centered around two uplifted hands — a symbol of offering, receiving, and collective rising Winter Jazzfest.

A Citywide Celebration of Sound

Winter Jazzfest has long been a creative home for pathbreaking artists from New York and around the world. What began in 2005 at the Knitting Factory has grown into a citywide constellation of more than 20 venues, featuring up to 150 groups and 600+ musicians across genres — from avant‑garde experimenters to post‑bop masters, electronic shapeshifters, soul innovators, and global fusion ensembles NYS Music.

The 2026 lineup reflects that expansive vision. Artists announced so far include Meshell Ndegeocello, Gilles Peterson, Dawn of Midi, Endea Owens, Arturo O’Farrill, and a sweeping roster of emerging and established voices across jazz, experimental, soul, and electronic traditions Winter Jazzfest The Jazz Mann.

The Marathons: NYC at Full Volume

The festival’s legendary Manhattan and Brooklyn Marathons remain its beating heart — those electric nights when audiences spill from club to club, chasing the next revelation. This year’s highlights include:

• Psychic Hotline Records Showcase
• Meshell Ndegeocello at Pioneer Works
• Giant Step 35.5 Anniversary at Elsewhere
• Gilles Peterson at Roulette
• Dave Harrington’s “Pranksters East” reimagining Bitches Brew The Jazz Mann

These marathon nights transform a cold January weekend into a citywide pilgrimage — a reminder that jazz, in all its forms, is a living, breathing communal act.

A Rallying Cry in Rhythm

Across the 2026 season, a refrain echoes:

STILL WE RISE • STILL WE GATHER • STILL WE DANCE • STILL WE PLAY • STILL WE SING The Jazz Mann.

It’s more than a tagline. It’s a declaration of presence — a celebration of the artists, communities, and histories that continue to shape the future of American music.

Winter Jazzfest 2026 doesn’t just present concerts. It presents a vision: a world where creativity is nurtured, culture is protected, and gathering remains an act of joy and resistance. GET ALL THE DETAILS.

What’s New at NYC Museums This January

January arrives with a fresh wave of exhibitions across New York City — from blockbuster museum shows to rare gallery moments you won’t want to miss. Here are the standout openings shaping the cultural season.

New & Noteworthy Exhibitions

Marcel Duchamp Retrospective at MoMA

A must‑see for anyone who loves conceptual art, design history, or a good creative provocation.

Marcel Duchamp. Rotoreliefs (Optical Disks). 1935, published 1953. One from a series of six offset lithographs, sheet (diameter): 7 7/8″ (20 cm). Publisher: Enrico Donati. Printer: Unidentified. Edition: 1,000. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Sumers Conant. © 2025 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris/Estate of Marcel Duchamp

A major highlight of 2026, MoMA is presenting a full retrospective of Marcel Duchamp — one of the most influential and mischievous artists of the 20th century. Expect iconic readymades, deep cuts, and a rare chance to see the full arc of his career in one place.

Raphael: Masterpieces Reunited at The Met

A luminous, transportive experience for art lovers and history fans alike.

Raphael: Sublime Poetry. Courtesy of The Met

The Met is assembling more than 200 works by Raphael — an extraordinary, once‑in‑a‑generation gathering of Renaissance art .

The 82nd Whitney Biennial

Always surprising, always conversation‑starting.

The Whitney’s signature survey of contemporary American art returns with new voices, bold ideas, and a pulse‑check on where culture is headed in 2026 .

William Eggleston: The Last Dyes at David Zwirner

A historic moment for photography lovers.

Opening January 15, this landmark exhibition showcases the final dye‑transfer prints ever produced from Eggleston’s archive — a farewell to the richly saturated analog process that shaped American color photography .

Caravaggio’s Boy with a Basket of Fruit at the Morgan Library
A rare chance to see a masterpiece up close without crossing the Atlantic.

On rare loan from Rome’s Galleria Borghese, this celebrated Caravaggio portrait arrives at the Morgan on January 16, shown alongside works by Italian contemporaries .

Spotlight on Long Island: Changing Lives One Conversation at a Time

Meet Ellen Ritz, RN, a Columbia University-trained nurse, and a tireless advocate for mental health parity. She devotes more than full‑time hours to NAMI Central Suffolk, offering crisis support, education, and hope. Guided by her belief that you are not a diagnosis, she helps families understand symptoms, seek treatment, and navigate difficult moments without judgment. Her compassion is transforming lives across Long Island—one conversation at a time. READ MORE. 

Roving in the End of History

Nicole Freezer Rubens writes:

Fragile! Handle with care when you enter The End of History, the renowned mid-century vintage glass and pottery shop in the West Village. Stephen Saunders opened his store at 548 1/2 Hudson Street in 1997 and is the proprietor of the world’s most extensive collection of glass from the 1950s and ‘60s.

To browse carefully is not only a trip back in time to be reminded of the dish your grandmother always had out and filled with plain M&Ms, but also to be inspired by the way the pieces are arranged by color, bringing the same joy one gets from the rare sighting of a rainbow. These bright hues will never fade and disappear as they are already antiques with a long and enjoyable shelf life ahead. The boutique is housed in a small walk-up building, typical of New York City in the nineteenth century. It is a fitting symbiotic backdrop for the stunning decorative objects for sale.

Unfortunately, in December of 2024, the tin-lined ceiling in the front of the store collapsed during business hours, shattering much of the inventory and Saunders’ dream. Thankfully no one was injured. The store remained closed for months to repair the structural damage. When The End of History reopened in late 2025, every vase, jar and ashtray was ready to greet you and make new history. Follow them on Instagram.

~Nicole Freezer Rubens is the author of “The Long Pause and the Short Breath”