If brilliant fall foliage and free outdoor jazz aren’t enough reasons to love the city’s parks...it’s officially ice skating season!

Midtown West

Bryant Park Winter Village Skate Rink: Now Open!
Whether you’re looking for a fun way to spend your lunch hour, skate with a date or throw a holiday party, Winter Village rink is the perfect destination. The Holiday Shops include more than 125 parkside boutiques offering great gift ideas from cool apparel, jewelry and decorative goods to local foods and much more.
See site for skating and shop hours and other events.
Bryant Park, between 40th and 42nd Streets & Fifth and Sixth Avenues
Free (skate rentals extra)

Christian Louboutin Sample Sale
Word has it that you’ll need to have a friend on the inside–or schmooze a Louboutin store salesperson–to score the deeply discounted crave-worthy scarlet-soled beauties at this invitation-only sample sale. But hopeful souls who arrive toward the day’s end have had luck in the past, so it’s worth a try (via Racked).
November 5-8; sale begins at 8AM
306 West 38th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues

James Blake at Terminal 5
After young Mercury Prize nominee James Blake’s debut sold over 400,000 copies, the musical style of this immensely popular electronic artist expanded past the boundaries of the mercurial dubstep of his early albums. His new record is haunting, introspective and experimental, but the beat will still move you.
Wednesday, November 6, 8PM
Terminal 5, 610 West 56th Street
Tickets: $32

Upper West Side

Ronald McDonald House Charity Kids’ Fun Run
Kids aged 4-17 years are invited to race for a good cause: The Ronald McDonald House provides temporary housing to children who have been diagnosed with cancer and their families during treatment. All participants will receive a T-shirt and running number; there will be finishing ribbons and snacks.
November 9, 9:15 AM; see site for race times by age
Central Park (Enter at 7th Avenue & 59th Street)

SoHo

Daily Candy Bazaar
Live the DailyCandy experience at this first-of-its-kind event featuring three levels of shopping, noshing and exploring plus live performances, how-to demos and more.
November 8 - 10, 11AM - 8PM
376 West Broadway at Broome Street
The event is free; suggested donation of $5 gives proceeds to a nonprofit that provides children with educational-arts services.

Flatiron District

Free Wellness Cocktail Party
Join wellness group Pravassa and One Medical Group to learn more about how to incorporate wellness into your daily life while you enjoy organic hors d'oeuvres and sip organic wine. As a thank-you for attending, you'll receive a complimentary first year membership to One Medical.
November 6th, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
One Medical, 35 East 21st Street
Free, RSVP online

Fort Greene

Theater: Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People
Contemporary references and renditions of songs by David Bowie and Gnarls Barkley stand out in Thomas Ostermeier’s timely production; a city’s loyalties divided over an environmental threat and its impact on the tourist industry bring Ibsen’s dark satire to a boil—and a solitary whistleblower to his knees.
November 6th - 10th; see site for performance times
BAM Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton Street, Brooklyn
$17.50-$25

Financial District

The 21st Annual Canstruction NYC Design/Build Competition
Witness amazing feats of architecture and design at this “can-do” charity event–canned goods never looked so good! Canstruction® is an international charity competition where architects, engineers and contractors compete to design and build giant structures made entirely from cans of food. At the close of the competition the food will be donated to City Harvest.
October 31st - November 13th
On display in the Winter Garden and lobby of 200 Vesey Street, Brookfield Place (formerly known as World Financial Center)
Free

Various locations citywide

New York Comedy Festival
Now in its tenth successful year, the NYCF, presented in association with Comedy Central, is a week-long laugh fest featuring the biggest names in comedy. The fun kicks off with a star-studded veterans’ benefit show, Stand Up for Heroes, at Madison Square Garden, featuring Jerry Seinfeld, Bruce Springsteen, Jon Stewart, Roger Waters and surprise guests.
November 6-10; see site for performance times, tickets and venues

Jazz and Colors in Central Park
30 bands in 30 locations throughout Central Park highlight the brilliant colors of fall with the sounds of great jazz for one afternoon as artists perform in every corner of this great urban oasis.Thirty ensembles will be interpreting a single list of songs as they perform at some of the park’s most beloved sites.
November 9, 12-4PM
Central Park; see site for bands, locations and setlist
Jazz & Colors is a free public concert

Swann’s Way: A Nomadic Reading
2013: A Year with Proust, the French Embassy's centennial celebration commemorating the publication of Marcel Proust's Swann’s Way, continues with this traveling tribute over seven venues. Proust fans of all kinds (including surprise celebrities) will gather over madeleines and champagne in hotel rooms, gardens and nightclubs from the Bronx to Brooklyn to join in a complete reading of the iconic work. Moleskine will curate live drawing events for each reading.
November 8-14; see site for venues and times