An international contingent of military vessels and tall ships will pull into the metropolitan area for Fleet Week
Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum and other locations
Pier 86, 12th Ave. & 46th St.
May 23–30
Admission: adults $22, children three to six $10, seven to seventeen $17 (if purchased online in advance)
www.intrepidmuseum.org
www.fleetweeknewyork.com
Started back in 1984, Fleet Week takes place May 23-30, when thousands of men and women from the U.S. Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard come ashore in New York City for a week of special events and all-night partying. The official Parade of Sail begins Wednesday morning, May 23, at 8:11 at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, making its way past the Statue of Liberty and the World Trade Center site. Twenty-one ships from around the world will dock in the metropolitan area, with many available for boarding; the lineup includes the USS Wasp, the USCGC Eagle, and the USS Donald Cook at Pier 90 in Manhattan, the USS Mitscher, Roosevelt, San Jacinto, and Gonzalez and the tall ships Cisne Branco and KRI Dewaruci on Staten Island, the USCGC Seneca and Willow, the RAF Argus, JS Shirane, and FNS Pohjanmaa, and the tall ships Etoile, La Belle Poule, Buque Escuela Arm Cuauhtemoc, and Juan Sebastian de Elcano in Brooklyn, and the tall ships ARC Gloria and BAE Guayas at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. Among the special events are the USN Leap Frogs Parachute Jump on Coney Island on May 24, U.S. Marine Corps Day in Battery Park on May 25, an Explosive Ordnance Team demo in Eisenhower Park and Military Day in Times Square on May 26, the Staten Island War of 1812 Commemoration on May 27, and the Manhattan Memorial Day Parade on May 29. The Intrepid will host a fiftieth anniversary celebration of the Mercury-Atlas 7 mission on May 24, Broadway showcases featuring performances by the casts of Ghost, Sister Act, Chicago, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Rock of Ages, Godspell, Porgy & Bess, Peter and the Starcatcher, Anything Goes, Memphis, The Unauthorized Harry Experience, Traces, and The Gazillion Bubble Show on May 25, screenings of Men in Black 3 (May 24) and Top Gun (May 25), the annual Tug of War on May 26, a USCG Search & Rescue Demonstration on May 27, and a lunchtime talk with former USS Mason crewmember Lorenzo DuFau on May 29. You can get an advance look at the ships by taking New York Water Taxi’s Special OpSail 2012 Preview Tour on May 22 ($45-$60) and the up-close-and-personal OpSail VIP Parade of Sail Tour on May 23 ($55-$75).