The best things to do in NYC this weekend line up with a long weekend. Monday is Columbus Day, schools are off on most of Long Island, and the city has a packed calendar to match. New York Comic Con is celebrating its 20th year at the Javits Center through Sunday. Harry Styles is back at the Garden Saturday night, and Steve Lacy plays Radio City the same night, six blocks away. Sunday has the Jets at home in the afternoon, the Rangers at MSG in the evening, and the Hispanic Day Parade on Fifth Avenue in between. The weather should be decent Saturday, with clouds and a high near 69. Sunday looks wetter, with the National Weather Service calling for showers after about 2 p.m. and steady rain Sunday night. Here's what's worth the trip from Long Island, and how to get there and back without the usual headaches.

New York Comic Con at the Javits Center

NYCC runs Thursday, October 8 through Sunday, October 11 at the Javits Center on the far West Side, and this year marks 20 years since the first show in 2006. The anniversary theme is Coney Island. Saturday is the big day, with the largest Main Stage panels and the heaviest crowds, and Saturday badges sold out weeks ago. If you have one, you already know how lucky you are. Sunday adult badges were among the last left on sale this week, and Sunday is also the traditional family day.

Getting to Javits from Long Island is harder than it looks on a map. It sits on 11th Avenue between 34th and 38th, a long walk from Penn Station, and the 7 train at Hudson Yards gets packed when the halls let out. Parking garages near the building fill early and charge event rates. If you're bringing kids in costume, or a few cosplayers with props, nobody wants to haul a foam sword through Penn Station. We drop off right at the 11th Avenue entrance and pick up at a set spot nearby when you're done. Our Comic Con guide covers entrance and timing details.

Harry Styles at Madison Square Garden

Saturday, October 10 is another night of the "Together, Together" residency at Madison Square Garden. Doors at 7 p.m., show at 8. Styles has been playing the Garden since late August, and Saturday nights are still the hardest ticket of the week.

We've done a lot of these MSG runs over the last six weeks, and they all go the same way. Getting in is easy. Getting out is not. Twenty thousand people come out onto Seventh and Eighth Avenue at once, and with Comic Con letting out a few blocks west the same night, Midtown is busier than a usual Saturday. Your driver waits on a side street and texts you exactly where the car is before the encore. You walk a block or two, get in, and you're on the Midtown Tunnel while the crowd is still looking for their rides. Our Harry Styles residency guide has more on MSG pickup spots.

Steve Lacy at Radio City Music Hall

Also Saturday at 8 p.m., Steve Lacy brings the "Oh Yeah?" tour to Radio City. It's his first big headlining tour since 2022, behind the album he released in July. Radio City holds about 6,000 people, so it feels like a real concert hall show and not an arena.

The thing to know is that Radio City and the Garden let out at about the same time Saturday night, and they're only about 15 blocks apart. Sixth Avenue in the low 50s backs up fast, and every rideshare app in Midtown will be surging at the same moment. A car that's already assigned and staged on a side street off Sixth gets you home to Nassau or Suffolk without that last half hour of waiting on the sidewalk. Make it a night out with dinner in the theater district first, and use our hourly service so the same driver takes you from the restaurant to the show and home again.

Jets vs. Browns at MetLife, Sunday 1 p.m.

The Jets host the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, October 11 at 1:00 p.m. at MetLife Stadium. The forecast has rain holding off until mid-afternoon, so the first half should be dry, but bring a jacket for the fourth quarter and the walk out.

Getting to the Meadowlands from Long Island means crossing all of Manhattan or Staten Island, and on a holiday weekend Sunday, the Midtown approaches will be slower than usual with the parade closures on Fifth Avenue. After the game, 80,000 people try to get onto Route 3 and the Turnpike at once. If the rain starts late in the game, the lots get slower still. We know where to stage so you're walking to a dry car and not sitting in a lot for an hour. Our Jets home opener guide goes through MetLife timing from Long Island in more detail.

Rangers vs. Canucks at MSG, Sunday 6 p.m.

The Rangers host the Vancouver Canucks at Madison Square Garden on Sunday at 6 p.m. It's the second week of the 2026-27 season, the home opener was October 1 against Tampa Bay, and it's an early start so families can get home at a reasonable hour on a long weekend.

Sunday's timing is the issue. Showers are likely by mid-afternoon and the steady rain comes in Sunday night, right about when the game ends around 8:30. Penn Station on a wet Sunday after a Rangers game is crowded, and holiday weekend LIRR schedules don't always help. If your kids are off on Monday anyway, make it simple. The car picks you up at home, drops you at the Garden, and is waiting on 31st or 33rd Street when the final horn sounds.

Hispanic Day Parade and the Columbus Day Parade

Two of the city's big fall parades go up Fifth Avenue this weekend. The Hispanic Day Parade is Sunday, October 11, starting around noon and running up Fifth from the mid-40s into the upper 60s, with more than 10,000 marchers from 21 Spanish-speaking countries. The Columbus Day Parade follows on Monday, October 12, from 44th Street north toward 72nd, starting late morning, with Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral beforehand.

Both are free and worth seeing if you have family marching or kids who like a parade. Here's the transportation side: when Fifth Avenue is closed, so are the cross streets, and anything on the East Side between 42nd and 72nd gets hard to reach by car. If you're heading to a Midtown hotel, a brunch reservation, or Grand Central on either day, plan for it. We'll route around the closures and drop you on Madison or Park, close enough to walk over.

Getting Around This Long Weekend

Columbus Day weekend is one of the busier airport weekends of the fall. A lot of Long Island families take the three days for a quick trip, so expect long lines at JFK and LGA Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, and a heavy return Monday evening. The Van Wyck and the Grand Central both back up around those windows. If you're flying out, our JFK car service page has terminal timing from Nassau and Suffolk.

In the city, Saturday night has two big Midtown shows ending around the same time, plus the Comic Con crowd. Sunday has a parade, an NFL game, a hockey game, and rain. That's a lot of people competing for the same curbs and the same apps. Rideshare prices will jump the minute everyone walks out at once, and the closer you are to the venue, the longer the wait for a car that may cancel anyway.

We're a Long Island chauffeur service, not a rideshare. Your driver is assigned ahead of time, knows where to wait, and watches the actual end of your show or game, not the time on the ticket. No surge pricing. No cancellation four minutes before pickup. We've been doing these runs for 20 years on Long Island, and this is the kind of weekend where it shows. Our NYC events transportation page has venue-by-venue details.

Whether it's the Javits Center, the Garden, Radio City, or a wet Sunday at MetLife, request a quote and the car will be there. Enjoy the long weekend.

Best Things To Do in NYC This Weekend — October 10–11, 2026