23 fun and affordable things to do in NYC this winter

Winter is coming. The days are getting colder and shorter, and many New Yorkers are about to get crankier.

But you don’t have to.

The upside of winter in New York City is that there’s something for just about everyone. Here’s a roundup of options for NYC fun this season, whether you prefer to hang indoors or out — or both!

Try the raclette sandwich that’s gone viral.

A traditional Swiss dish, raclette is caramelized cheese scraped from a giant wheel, typically onto potatoes. If you prefer, you can have the cheese drizzled and smeared directly onto a baguette with ham in a “Jambon Cru Raclette Sandwich,” thanks to Wisconsin’s Baked Cheese Haus, which has set up shop in the Bryant Park and Union Square markets this month.

Finally ride The Beam.

Maybe this is the time to finally try that “Beam Experience” you’re seeing on social media? For a real splurge, even lifelong New Yorkers might enjoy breezing through Rockefeller Center, Top of the Rock and — perhaps most enticing — the hidden rooftop garden, featuring views of Saks Fifth Avenue and St. Patrick’s Cathedral in all their holiday glory. The “VIP Rock Pass Holiday Edition” includes all those spots and is available through Dec. 31. Tickets to the Top of the Rock start at $40 for adults; admission to The Beam is an additional $25. VIP tickets start at $160.

Tour the city’s Gilded Age mansions.

Winter’s harsh weather provides a great excuse to take refuge in the most luxurious residences in the city’s history. Bowery Boys, a local tour and podcast company, runs a Gilded Age Mansions of Fifth Avenue Tour to help you explore six homes of 19th Century wealth and status. The tour is $40 per person and is offered several times a month.

Dive into the rich history of zines.

Now open at Brooklyn Museum, “Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines” explores the self-published booklets’ relationship to movements like punk, street culture,…