Things To Do This Weekend In New York City & Roosevelt Island - Free Himalayan Art, Edible Garden, Robinson Crusoe & Transformers Outdoor Movie

Baby Loves Jazz Video

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

On Friday night, free admission is available to the Gallery Floors of the Rubin Museum of Art in Chelsea which specializes in art from the Himalayas and surrounding regions. An added bonus is 2 for 1 cocktails at the K2 Lounge from 6-7 PM and Naked Soul, an all acoustical music series.

Friday Nights at K2 Lounge

The K2 Lounge is from 6 p.m. until late, every Friday night.
Performances start at 7 p.m. Happy Hour 6–7 p.m.
Free gallery admission after 7 p.m.

For Saturday, the New York Post Weekend Hot Pick recommend the New York Botanical Garden's Edible Garden. From the NY Post:

VEG OUT
Dude, grow your own -- food that is. The New York Botanical Garden shows you how with "The Edible Garden" -- a summer-long celebration kicking off this weekend with kitchen demos, gardening experts, garden tours and more. Highlights include a cocktail hour hosted by Martha Stewart featuring ingredients from her onsite culinary herb garden at 3 p.m. on Saturday and a demo by Gramercy Tavern chef Michael Anthony at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday

The Roosevelt Live Concert series continues this Saturday, hopefully weather permitting, with Steve Bernstein's Baby Loves Jazz described as:

A new twist on kid’s music, this joint project of Steven Bernstein and producer Andy Hurwitz corrals an all-star lineup of formidable jazzers to rev up children’s songs like “Old MacDonald” (in which the farmer is recast as a hip bandleader) and “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.”

You want to know what it is like living on a deserted Island? If so, Free NYC suggests heading on over to Riverside Park on Sunday for a family friendly:

Life on a Desert Island "an interactive guide to surviving the wilderness and respecting the environment, based on Daniel Defoe¹s 1719 classic story of Robison Crusoe, will be performed as a one-man outdoor spectacle play this summer, with preview performances beginning Saturday, June 27th and Sunday, June 28th... The show will continue performances throughout the summer at both Manhattan's Central Park and Brooklyn's Prospect Park.

On Sunday night, after several postponements due to rain, the Roosevelt Island Outdoor Movie Series will be presenting Transformers at Firefighters Field.

Also, on Roosevelt Island this weekend, in addition to the Roosevelt Live Concert featuring Steve Bernstein's Baby Loves Jazz on Saturday, the Farmers Market is open as usual as is Gallery RIVAA, the Roosevelt Island Visual Arts Association which is exhibiting for the last weekend a celebration of the Queensboro Bridge Centennial - Connecting Islands and Generations. Another suggestion - 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. There is also the outdoor movie showing of the Transformers on Sunday night at Firemen's Field, weather permitting.

The MTA is reporting no Roosevelt Island F Train subway advisories this weekend and neither is RIOC with Tram advisories.

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