Arab Cinema Week

Trip.com is an innovative planning tool that tailors recommendations for places to stay, eat and play to your specific tastes. It also allows you to share your great experiences with people who have the same interests as you; people in your “tribes.” Trip.com’s TripPicks This Week feature empowers you to discover and take advantage of great events, openings and exhibits throughout the city each week.

Here are some exciting events and sites to check out this week in Downtown New York, courtesy of Trip.com. Visit their website or download the app for more upcoming events.

Screen the best new films from the Middle East that offer nuanced perspectives of the issues affecting the region. This year’s County in Focus is Egypt and audiences can expect to see special appearances by Ahmed Malek and Shereen Reda. Tickets start at $11.54.

Cinema Village (Greenwich Village)
Friday, Nov. 17-Thursday, Nov. 23 (check site for showtimes)

Opera Brunch

Hosted by David Serero, an international soloist from the Metropolitan Opera, and major European opera houses, this three-course Russian brunch and opera performance is a pretty luxurious way to end a New York weekend. $52.24

Onegin (Greenwich Village)
Sunday, Nov. 19 from 12:30-2:30pm

Renegade Craft Fair

The founders of Renegade Craft Fair handpick each and every one of their vendors. You’ll find a wide range of unique, handcrafted items from hundreds of talented crafters, artisans and artists. FREE

Metropolitan Pavilion (Chelsea)
Saturday, Nov. 18-Sunday, Nov. 19 from 11am-6pm

2017 Whitney Art Party

The Whitney Art Party is a swanky affair which includes music by The Misshapes, fancy cocktails, and the chance to be one of the first people to check out new fall exhibitions from Laura Owens, Jimmie Durham: At the Center of the World, Toyin Ojih Odutola: To Wander Determined, An Incomplete History of Protest, and Where We Are. Tickets start at $250.

Whitney Museum of Art (Meatpacking)
Tuesday, Nov. 14 from 9pm-12:30am

Mindful Meditation

This Wednesday take a moment to focus on yourself. Mindfulness Meditation is a weekly event which guides New Yorkers to a space where they can “practice attention, self-care, and gratitude.” $15

Rubin Museum of Art (Chelsea)
Wednesday, Nov. 15 from 1-1:45pm

Trip.com’s TripPicks This Week feature empowers you to discover and take advantage of great events, openings and exhibits throughout the city each week.

Here are some exciting events and sites to check out this week in Downtown New York, courtesy of Trip.com:

1. Giving Back on Thanksgiving
Pier 60 at Chelsea Piers (Chelsea)
Tuesday, Nov. 22 (Check site for available time slots)

Apart from a delicious family meal, Thanksgiving is about being thankful and giving back. One way is to help others enjoy that same delicious Thanksgiving meal. Feeding NYC is a grassroots organization that prepares and deliver over 40,000 Thanksgiving meals. You can donate monetary funds, start a fundraiser, or, something even more precious, offer your time. Volunteers can choose from various time slots and responsibilities that include packing, loading and delivery of meals.

Photo: Lee Uehara/Courtesy of City Bike Coach

2. Pedal Pilgrim, Pedal
23rd Street and the East River (Kips Bay)
Thursday, Nov. 24 at 8:00 AM

We are not sure if preparing for the big Thanksgiving meal includes a hearty pancake breakfast and dressing up as a turkey, but we are definitely game for the Pilgrim Pedal bike ride through Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. Riders are encouraged to dress themselves and their bikes in Thanksgiving themed costumes for a chance to win prizes. $30 fee includes a pancake breakfast at a Brooklyn diner.

3. Vegetarian Thanksgiving
Nix (Greenwich Village)
Thursday, Nov. 24 from 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM

Pardon a turkey and go for a Thanksgiving meal at Nix where the vegetarian four-course prix fixe Thanksgiving menu will feature sunchoke ravioli, butternut squash soup, a pot pie with truffled cauliflower, carrots, rutabaga and herbed bechamel — and includes pumpkin pie or a pear tart. $62 per person.

4. Post-Thanksgiving Original Multi-Ethnic Eating Tour
Southwest corner of Delancey and Essex Streets, in front of the Chase Bank
Friday, Nov. 25 at 11:00 AM or 2:00 PM

Try not to stuff yourself to the gills this Thanksgiving if you want to tag along on Big Onion’s Post-Thanksgiving Original Multi-Ethnic Eating Tour. Samplings from local markets and shops, the this food crawl will highlight the cultural and culinary history representing the Dominican, Jewish, Italian and Chinese communities of the Lower East Side. Tickets start at $22.

5. Arab Cinema Week
Cinema Village (Union Square)
Friday, Nov. 18 – Thursday, Nov. 24

Come see the best new films from the Middle East that offer nuanced perspectives of the issues affecting the region. Highlights include Hany Abu-Assad’s The Idol and the remarkable documentary Whose Country? from Mohamed Siam. Free and paid events — tickets start at $15.

6. Dead Rabbit Team’s New Bar
Blacktail (Battery Park)
Nightly from 5:00 PM to 2:00 AM

Before heading to our families for the annual turkey dinner, some of us will stop off at the local bakery to pick up a pie, while others will stop off at the local bar to down a few drinks. For those that need a little greasing before the big dinner, swing by Blacktail, the new bar from the folks behind Dead Rabbit, that pays homage to American bars in Cuba during Prohibition.

7. Post-Turkey Burlesque
City Winery (South Village)
Saturday, Nov. 26 11:30pm to 1:00 AM

Sapphire Jones along with Wasabassco’s favorite burlesque and strip-tease performers Amanda Whip, Delysia La Chatte, Medianoche, Nasty Canasta, Raquel Reed, Stormy Leather, Sydni Deveraux, and Tiger Bay are hosting a very sensual post Thanksgiving Recovery Special at City Winery that will tickles the senses and prepare us for the week ahead. $22.