Things To Do This Weekend In New York City & Roosevelt Island- Pie Day, NYer Money Cartoons, Free Museums, Abandoned Subway Tour & RI Tour

You Tube Video of Cherry Pie from Twin Peaks

Looking for fun things to do on Roosevelt Island or in some other part of New York City this weekend? Here are some suggestions.

Friday is National Pie Day and New Yorkers can celebrate with blogger Tasty Lacy's pies:

... On Friday, January 23 at Greenwich Village Bistro (around 7), I will have pies to celebrate National Pie Day: peanut butter, sweet potato, apple, chocolate cream and chocolate chip bourbon pecan.

Peanut butter seems to be a broad favorite. Plus, the Bistro has come up with beer pairings…and the Kelso Nut Brown Ale is supposed to be a good fit for this one. (I understand there is some apprehension about pie and beer…but, to those who are fearful, I implore you to check out Charlie Papazian’s blog.)

Obama’s favorite pie is allegedly sweet potato…but then that story surfaced that he *also* likes a peach cobbler at a Chicago diner and so now I feel like I can’t properly pay homage to the inauguration if I don’t make that as well...

Mmmmmm. Peaunut Butter and Sweet Potato Pie - can't get better than that.

Free NYC reports that admission will be free on Friday night at the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum. Be aware that the lines will probably be long so get there early. Several weeks ago, I tried to get into MOMA during a free Friday night but the lines were just too long. I headed up to the Whitney and they were much more manageable.

On Saturday a trip to the Morgan Library and Museum may pick up your spirits if you need a laugh to drown out all of the misery caused by the current economic meltdown. They are having an exhibit:

Celebrating the art of the cartoonist, On the Money: Cartoons for The New Yorker features approximately eighty original drawings by some of The New Yorker's most talented and beloved artists who have tackled the theme of money and the many ways in which it defines us. Included in the show are drawings by such luminaries as Charles Barsotti, George Booth, Dana Fradon, Lee Lorenz, William Hamilton, and J. B. Handelsman. The exhibition is on view only at the Morgan.

On Friday evenings, admission is free.

On Sunday the tour of the abandoned Atlantic Avenue Subway tunnel in Brooklyn is back. Blogger Andamom took the tour:

Yesterday, my husband and I finally toured the abandoned subway tunnel underneath Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. It is the world’s oldest subway tunnel as it was built in 1844 — but interestingly abandaned due to political pressures in the early 1860s. Although the last train went through it in 1859. When it was sealed in 1861, it was all but forgotten and mentioned only in legends. Some of these legends included pirates, openings to the tunnel from pubs on Atlantic Avenue, and former Irish workers who chopped their English overseer to bits after he ordered them to work for the same amount of money on Sundays....

On Roosevelt Island this weekend, the Farmers Market will be open as usual on Saturday as is Gallery RIVAA, the Roosevelt Island Visual Arts Association which is exhibiting the Winter of Change group show (This show will be closing on January 25). Also, RIOC has produced a great self guided tour map (PDF File) of Roosevelt Island for any visitor or resident looking to stroll the Island and learn something more about it.

Good weekend transportation news. The MTA is reporting normal Roosevelt Island F Train subway service in both directions and RIOC is not reporting any Tram service advisories either.

Check out some other ideas on what to do in New York City this weekend from the NY Times Urban Eye, NY Post Weekend Calendar and Newyorkology.