Fridays at the museum

ELMIRA BAYRASLI, Interruptrr

CULTURE & LEISURE • Friday Routine

ELMIRA BAYRASLI • CEO and editor • Interruptrr
Neighborhood you live in: Windsor Terrace

It’s Friday afternoon, how are you rolling into the weekend? 
My Interruptrr newsletter — a weekly roundup of global headlines and events, via experts, who happen to be women — goes out first thing on Friday morning, which means I'm up early scanning the news. I make last-minute adjustments and updates and send it off at 7:30am. That's when my weekend starts. I make myself a cappuccino then get down to what's on tap for the next three days. A secret hack I've discovered: Friday afternoons are an ideal time to go to a museum. 

Where are you dining this weekend? 
I'm lucky my friends are professional foodies and travel writers. They push me to explore the very neighborhood I grew up in, in Brooklyn. We're debating picking up some wine and heading to Taci's Beyti or Village Cafe on Coney Island Avenue in Midwood. On Sunday, the homestyle Italian Provini is my go-to in my neighborhood.

How about a little leisure or culture? 
If I'm able to make it up to the Upper East Side, I love hitting the Museum of the City of New York (above). The exhibits are continually changing, and it's fun to get a fresh perspective. One of my favorites was an exhibit that featured music set in New York City. Who knew that there's a song dedicated to Bensonhurst by Oscar Benton?

Any weekend getaways? 
If I'm able, I love heading up to Cold Spring to go hiking. The Hudson Valley is breathtaking. As a history and politics nerd, I'm a fan of the FDR Presidential Library in Hyde Park and the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site in Val-Kill. For a quicker getaway, I hop on the Staten Island Ferry, which is free and head to the Alice Austen House. Alice Austen was a photographer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The House, where Austen lived with her partner Gertrude Tate, and surrounding park are a nationally designated LGBTQ+ site. 

What was your last great vacation? 
This is the equivalent of asking a parent which is their favorite child. (It’s me BTW!). I went to Mexico City this past Christmas, and was wowed by the food and museum scene. A month isn't enough to explore all of it.