The New York Philharmonic gives a series of free outdoor concerts each July. This year on July 14 and 17th they'll be performing in Central Park on the Great Lawn (enter at 81st and CPW or 81st and Fifth Avenue to get there). The concerts start at 8PM and are free, of course. Like most Central Park concerts, this is really more of a "scene" than a musical event. The musical picks are usually crowd-pleasers (or classical- music -crowd pleasers), and frankly it is really for hanging out and saying you went there. I usually avoid it but it is an event, and out of towners will be impressed by the beauty of the location and the fact that so many New Yorkers manage to get together in one place without killing each other (though there is a definite divide between the music buffs who actually come to hear the music, and the "rest" who come to hang out in the park on their blankets and drink wine and eat cheese and talk and let their kids and dogs wander. ..which is fun too. But....really only if you ...like. Being. With. Lots. Of. People. In a crowded space. Not really for the music. But...an event!!!
