The expansion of Brooklyn Bridge Park continues May 28 with new paths out to Pier 6, where you will find sand volleyball courts, Bark Hot Dogs and flavored ices from Uncle Louie G. Later in June, the park opens the Harbor View Cafe, with a rooftop bar serving wine, beer and views of the Manhattan skyline. (brooklynbridgeparknyc.org; 718-802-0603.)

The summer festivities begin May 29 on Governors Island, just a short, free ferry ride away, with the Brewer’s PicNyc, two days of craft beer, local food vendors and live bluegrass. While you’re there, keep an eye out for “Mahatma,” one of the 13 extraordinary Mark di Suvero sculptures on loan from the Storm King Art Center through Sept. 25. (May 29 and 30, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; $15 to $45, free for those who bring their own banjo or ukulele and those 12 and younger, accompanied by an adult ticket holder; food and drink are extra; brewerspicnyc.com.)

“Bright Lights, Big City” takes on a whole new meaning during Manhattanhenge, the semiannual phenomenon when the sun so perfectly aligns with the Manhattan grid that it shines on both sides of every cross-street. (May 31, 8:17 p.m., and July 11, 8:25 p.m.; the best views are from the east and from the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings.)

Wanderlust yoga-and-music festival makes a stop at Pier 63 on its Yoga in the City tour for three hours of classes from city yogis with live music by Garth Stevenson and Earthrise SoundSystem. (June 7, 5 to 8:30 p.m., Westside Highway, at 24th Street; free, with registration: nyc.wanderlustfestival.com.)

Central Park’s SummerStage hits a celebrity high this year with a special show by the Black Eyed Peas to benefit Robin Hood, a poverty prevention organization. (June 9, 7:30 p.m. on the Great Lawn, blackeyedpeas.robinhood.org.) Performances by Yo-Yo Ma and the Sugar Hill Gang give the mainstage star power, too. (June 7 through September; for a full schedule: summerstage.org.)

The Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse can help you escape the city streets with free canoeing and kayaking in the East River. Boats leave from docks in Downtown Brooklyn and Dumbo on the weekends. (11 a.m. to 4 p.m., beginning June 11, from Pier 1 at Old Fulton Street; and June 19, from Main Street; 718-802-0603; brooklynbridgepark.org.)

Fifth Avenue shuts down and museum doors open for the annual Museum Mile Festival. Take a respite from the crowds clamoring to see the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Alexander McQueen retrospective, and stroll down the avenue, listening to live music and munching on food truck fare. (June 14, 6 to 9 p.m., free; Fifth Avenue, between 82nd and 105th Streets, Manhattan; museummilefestival.org.) 

Baseballs will fly, and so will the sparks between the Brooklyn Cyclones and the Staten Island Yankees during the New York-Penn League’s opening weekend. You can catch more sparks at post-game fireworks shows after Brooklyn home games. (June 17 into September; $8 to $30; brooklyncyclones.com; siyanks.com)

Pull out your pasties and your body paint: It’s time for the Coney Island Mermaid Parade to swagger down Surf Avenue. Bring sunscreen, a camera and a sheer wrap to throw on over your costume for the Mermaid Ball, which follows at the New York Aquarium. (June 18, 2 p.m., free; parade begins at Surf Avenue at 21st Street, and ends at 15th Street on the Boardwalk; the ball is at 7 p.m., $25, cash bar, ages 21 and over; Surf Avenue at Eighth Street; www.coneyisland.com.)

Take your ol’ man to the Harlem Skyscraper Cycling Classic. With world-class cyclists racing through Harlem, a BMX bike show, messenger and kids races and a food festival, it could turn out to be a great Father’s Day for the whole family. (June 19, noon to 6 p.m., free; Marcus Garvey Park, 121st Street and Fifth Avenue; skyscraperclassic.com.)

As grand marshals of the 2011 NYC Pride March, Dan Savage and Terry Miller, founders of the It Gets Better video project, and the Rev. Pat Bumgardner, of the Metropolitan Community Church of New York, lead the parade, as well as a week of celebrations. (June 26; parade begins at Fifth Avenue and 36th Street and ends at Christopher and Greenwich Streets, Manhattan; nycpride.org.)

Members of the New York City Opera lend their voices to Rufus Wainwright’s music during a preview of the moody troubadour’s new opera, “Prima Donna,” part of this year’s River to River Festival. (June 28, 7 p.m., free; World Financial Center, Lower Manhattan; rivertorivernyc.com.)

  The city’s free outdoor public pools open for recreation, lap swims and learn-to-swim programs. The parks department’s aquatics division has spent the last few years cleaning out and filling up pools all over the city, including the floating barge that serves the swimmers of the South Bronx at Barretto Point Park. (June 29 through Labor Day; various locations: call 311 or go to nycgovparks.org.)

 In July, the heat is really on, and so MoMA PS1 appropriately begins its Warm Up series with live music and international D.J.’s, housed within the magnificent shade of “Holding Pattern,” the architectural installation created by the winner of the museum’s annual Young Architects Program. (Saturdays, July 2 to Sept. 3, $15, cash only; free for Long Island City residents; 22-25 Jackson Avenue, at 46th Avenue, Long Island City, Queens; 718-784-2084; ps1.org.)

Nathan’s Original Famous Frankfurters has celebrated the country’s independence with (what else?) a hot dog eating contest almost every year since it opened on the Coney Island boardwalk in 1916. You might want not want to wait until after the greasy mayhem of the 96th championship to take a spin on the Cyclone roller coaster. (July 4, noon, free; Coney Island Boardwalk, at Surf Avenue, Brooklyn; nathansfamous.com.)

 You can’t get any more New York than Woody Allen’s “Manhattan.” And valet bike parking is utterly Brooklyn. Mix the two and add local D.J.’s and picnickers and you’ve got the opening of this year’s Syfy Movies With a View series in Brooklyn Bridge Park. (Thursdays, July 7 to Sept. 1; enter near Tobacco Warehouse on Water Street, Dumbo; brooklynbridgepark.org.) 

Each Target Passport Friday at the Queens Museum of Art is its own minifestival of culture, drawing on the heritage of the borough’s diverse residents to bring international dance, film and music to the museum. (July 8 to Aug. 26, 6:30 to 10:30 p.m., free; Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens; 718-592-9700, queensmuseum.org.)

Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest is the headliner for this year’s Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival. Brooklyn Bodega honors the history of hip-hop with a showcase of new local talent, exhibitions from photographers and street artists, and a family block party. (July 11 to 16, various locations and various prices; 718-210-3340; bkhiphopfestival.com.)

While no man may be an island, the city is, as the City of Water Day Festival reminds us, with harbor boat tours on historic vessels, classes on waterfront ecology, nautical-themed storytelling and a giant flotilla, as well as other events, taking place around several of the city’s harbors. (July 16, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; 212-935-9831; cityofwaterday.org.)

The Metropolitan Opera gets around this summer, with recitals in parks throughout the five boroughs. On July 21, four rising opera stars bring the show to Clove Lakes Park on Staten Island. (7 p.m., free; for other dates and locations, metopera.org/parks.)

 The road to freedom can be hard to find, but not during Summer Streets. For three Saturday mornings, all vehicular traffic on Park Avenue stops, and bikers, walkers, skaters and runners rule the road. (Aug. 6, 13 and 20, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., from the Brooklyn Bridge at Warren Street to Central Park at East 72nd Street; nyc.gov/summerstreets.)  

Past favorites from the New York International Fringe Festival return with new works at this annual smorgasbord of theater and dance. Look for shows from the creators of “Urinetown,” “Blanche Survives Katrina in a FEMA Trailer Named Desire” and “Bash’d.” (Aug. 12 to 28; weekdays, 2 p.m. to midnight, and weekends, noon to midnight; $15 in advance, $18 at the door, tickets go on sale July 22: fringenyc.org or 866-468-7619.)

The U.S. Open swings into action with 14 days of top tennis pros going head to head at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. There is plenty to do, starting off with Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day, and with five bars and restaurants on the grounds, there is plenty to eat. (Aug. 29 to Sept. 11; tickets go on sale June 13: 866-673-6849, usopen.org; Flushing Meadows, Queens.)

The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival brings fans to Harlem and the Lower East Side, the neighborhoods where Parker honed his extraordinary craft, for two days of concerts. (Aug. 27, Marcus Garvey Park; Aug. 28, Tompkins Square Park; 3 p.m., free; summerstage.org.)