Seven Places in NYC that Make You Feel like You’re Harry Potter
Written for: Time Out New York in association with Harry Potter New York
Dear Muggle,
We’re pleased to inform you that while your acceptance letter to Hogwarts or Ilvermorny has been delayed, you now own the ultimate guide of Harry Potter experiences in New York City to keep you distracted. And the best part? No need for Floo Powder or Portkeys. Everything, from a speakeasy to an actual castle, is within reach by subway—but please don’t accept candy from anyone claiming to be the Trolley Witch.
There’s mischief to manage.
Yours Sincerely,
A Hufflepuff also awaiting his letter
World of Reptiles at the Bronx Zoo
No parseltongue is required to enter this chamber of reptiles, but between the anacondas and poison dart frogs, you may just make a new slippery friend or two. This herpetological haven is the perfect day trip for shade-seeking Slytherins and Magizoologists-in-training. Just beware of vanishing glass; we all know how that went last time.
If you remember how to dial “magic” for the Ministry of Magic, you’ll have no trouble finding this East Village speakeasy. Slip into the telephone booth hidden inside Crif Dogs and place a call for entry into a cocktail bar reminiscent of The Blind Pig from Fantastic Beasts. But ‘Please Don’t Tell’ the Muggles.
The Cauldron NYC
Move over, Snape. New York City has a few potions masters of their own, and they’re teaching the magic of brewing cocktails through molecular mixology. With interactive experiences available to witches and wizards of all ages (8+ and 21+), The Cauldron NYC will certainly, as Snape says, “bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses.”
Three floors, two VR experiences, and the “largest collection of Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts products in the world under one roof.” Sorry, Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, we’re sold. From personalized wands to signed MinaLima posters to even a Butterbeer bar, everyone can take home a piece of the Wizarding World.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the record-breaking, Tony- and Olivier-winning play that picks up where the books left off, “19 Years Later.” After halting performances due to Covid-19, Cursed Child is set to reopen on Broadway on November 16 as a newly reimagined one-part show (previously two parts). Tickets go on sale July 12.
There’s more than meets the Muggle eye with this 1913’s neo-Gothic skyscraper. In fact, this tower is the headquarters of the Magical Congress of the United States of America as seen in Fantastic Beasts. When paying a visit, make sure to spot the owl carved atop the entrance archway that inspired J.K. Rowling to set MACUSA here.
It may be smaller and younger than Hogwarts Castle, but the Belvedere Castle, completed in 1872, offers unparalleled, sweeping views from its pavilion and two terraces of Central Park’s Delacorte Theater and Great Lawn. Keep an eye on the spiral staircase though. You never know when it might move.
7/6/2021
