The Oscars are Sunday night. See the NYC that is featured in several of the best picture nominees.

Oscar night is this Sunday and NYC is prominently featured in several of the best picture nominees. So go ahead and do the Oscar viewing party on Sunday night, but if you want to get a closer look at some of the featured neighborhoods and historic locations in a few of Oscar’s 2016 favorites, here are some suggestions.

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the story of an Irish émigré and the early days of her life in NYC‘s borough of Brooklyn. One of the most memorable scenes is her trip to Coney Island-one you can replicate with only a subway ride. (It’s a long ride but still only a subway ride).

Coney Island

February may not be your ideal time to visit Coney Island but at least it won’t be overrun with summer crowds. And thanks to El Nino, you may be able to experience NYC’s original beach destination on a very Spring-like day on Sunday. Not all the shops and concessions are open this time of year but you will be able to get a fair sampling. And of course, the most important stop in Coney Island, Nathan’s Famous Hotdogs, located at 1310 Surf Avenue, is open all year. Yeah – even if you’re eating organic and recording calories in your calorie-counting app you have to do it. Channel your inner Joey Chestnut (Google him – you’ll get it) and dive in. Coney Island Beach is also home to the New York Aquarium. Located right on the boardwalk, it is the oldest continually operating aquarium in the United States.

And if your visit to Coney Island has you wanting to learn more about the history of this spot, visit the Brooklyn Museum and take in the exhibit, Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland, 1861-2008. The exhibit is only around for a few more weeks- it closes on March 13. The Brooklyn Museum is located at 200 Eastern Parkway.

The Big Short

Although the action takes place in a few different spots around the country, it seems one of the movie’s main characters is NYC’s Financial District.

Financial District

Since the movie depicts unchecked ambitions, why not start at the symbol of financial optimism, the Statue of the Charging Bull, located at Broadway and Morris. Probably one of the more photographed spots in all of downtown NYC, the statue was first erected in 1989 as a form of guerilla art following the 1987 stock market crash.

If you want to learn a little about the history of American Finance, visit the Museum of American Finance, located at 48 Wall Street. From there it is a short walk over to the Federal Reserve Bank of NY, located at 33 Liberty Street. While not in the movie, this was certainly central to many of the events the movie portrays. If you want to go on a free guided tour of the Federal Reserve Bank you have to visit Monday – Friday and its best to reserve a tour ahead of time.

Bridge of Spies

Based on the real life events of heroic New Yorker James Donovan, Bridge of Spies is a truly remarkable story. Many of the movie’s Brooklyn scenes were shot in historic Brooklyn Heights.

Brooklyn Heights

You can get to Brooklyn Heights (which by the way was the first officially designated Historic District in NYC) via several subway lines but we recommend a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. This walk is one of those things every New Yorker has to do at least once and it will give you stunning views and a new perspective. From the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge it’s about a half mile walk to 45 Monroe Place, one of the courthouses featured in the movie. From here you can stroll along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade – located at Pierrepont Place.

You can also head to Pineapple and Hicks Streets, site of one of the movie’s memorable scenes where Tom Hank’s character is being followed and we’re not sure if his pursuer is a good guy or bad guy. (I’m not going to say – you have to see the movie!) Pineapple Street is one of the Fruit Streets for which Brooklyn Heights is known and where you will find some of its most beautiful and historically significant homes.

Not into Movies? It’s also Polar Bear Day and Flower Design Day

There are a couple of other days you can mark this weekend if movies just aren’t your thing. Saturday, February 27 is both Polar Bear Day and Flower Design Day. If you happen to be an animal lover who is also a bit of a florist and can’t decide which of the two to observe, may we suggest a trip to the Bronx where you will find the Bronx Zoo (2300 Southern Boulevard) and New York Botanical Gardens (Southern Boulevard at 200th Street) within easy distance of the other.

The Bronx Zoo is home to over 4,000 animals, 650 species and the last Polar Bears in NYC since there are no longer Polar Bears in residence at the Central Park Zoo.

Saturday sees the New York Botanical Gardens kicking off one of its most popular events, its annual Orchid Show. This year’s show is entitled Orchidelirium and runs through April 17.

If you do head up to either of these spots in the Bronx, you will be very close to Fordham University, (Go Rams!!!) where the real life Jim Donovan (you remember, from Bridge of Spies) completed his undergraduate studies.

To bring this thing full circle, (since we started out talking about movies and the Oscars), Fordham University’s 85-acre campus has appeared in many Oscar-nominated movies over the years including Love Story, The Exorcist, The Verdict, and A Beautiful Mind.

Enjoy the weekend and the Oscars, …or Brooklyn Heights, ....or the Polar Bears, …or the Orchids. So many things to do and so little time. If only we had an extra day.

See you Monday for Leap Day.