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What’s on in the park this week (Oct 17–23) — and Bethesda Terrace is still closed

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Rundown of what’s on in the park over the next seven days, pulled from the NYC permit feed plus the Conservancy and Parks calendars. Weather’s turned properly autumnal — 39°F overnight Saturday, the coldest night so far.

Saturday the 17th — cool and clearing, 53°F

• Making Strides Against Breast Cancer holds Bandshell Plaza, Mineral Springs and Rumsey Playfield from midnight to 6pm. Eighteen hours — the Mall and the 72nd St approaches will be busy all day. The drives are not closed.
• Open House New York at Grand Army Plaza, 10am–6pm
• Conservatory Garden tour at 11am — behind the scenes with the garden staff. This is that garden’s best fortnight of the year, if you only do one thing on this list
• CPC Yoga on East Meadow 11am–12; model yacht racing at Kerbs 9am–3pm; Unity Markets at Farmers’ Gate 9am–7pm; That Guitar Man at Hernshead noon–6pm
• East Meadow closed all day

Sunday the 18th — sunny, 55°F

• Woodland Walk: The Ramble, 10am from Belvedere Castle. Conservancy guides, the Ramble in full colour. Genuinely the best guided walk the park does all year and it’s about to be over for the season
• Second Making Strides walk on Cedar Hill, 8am–12pm, plus the Bandshell permit running again to 6pm
• International Folkdancers at King Jagiello Plaza 11am–6pm; Iconic Views tour at 2pm
• East Meadow closed

Monday through Thursday — 57°F, then 64, 63, 61

Nothing public on the calendar at all. Four straight days. What’s booked is soccer training, school programmes and lawn maintenance — none of it in anyone’s way. After a month of festivals, a triathlon and a four-night film series, the park has just stopped.

• Nothing touches a drive all week, first time since mid-September. Tuesday and Wednesday are the pick if you want an empty loop
• Tuesday 4–5pm: bench dedication for Bruce Rosenfeld at the Zoo
• Birding Bob is rotating meeting points — Strawberry Fields Monday, Loeb Boathouse Thursday, Conservatory Garden Friday. Worth checking which before you head out; migration’s at its tail end

Friday the 23rd — 65°F

• Woodland Walk: The North Woods, 10am from the Dana Discovery Center. The wildest, emptiest end of the park with a guide, and far fewer people know about this one than the Ramble walk
• Iconic Views tour at 2pm

Still closed

Bethesda Terrace and Fountain remains shut under an all-day permit, as it has since early September. The permits now run through November 16 — they’ve been extended seven times, roughly four weeks at a go, and there’s no stated reason anywhere in the public record. Worth knowing before you plan photos there.

Two weeks out, for planning

• Sat Oct 31 — Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K, 8:45–11am
• Sun Nov 1 — TCS NYC Marathon, 8am–5pm, 55,000 runners finishing in the park

That weekend the loop is properly gone for two days. If you’ve got a long ride or run in mind, do it before then.