Longest! Day! Ever! Summer Solstice, the first official day of summer (translation: it’s all going downhill after tonight). What this means for you: There are even more nutty events about town. First up, how do you like the phrase “barefoot in the Bronx”? If you are up to date on your tetanus shots, there will be Barefoot Dancing in the Bronx at leafy Van Cortlandt Park. There will be free dance instruction to the sound of “Caribbean, Mexican, Irish, West African, and northern Indian” musical groups. Wee! More outdoor (and head-scratching) madness can be found in Times Square, which celebrates with “Dawn-till-Dusk” free yoga sessions. Tranquility, thy name is Times Square. Moving on, because we must, are the tranquilizing free concerts compliments of the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic. Lastly, having nothing at all to do with the solstice (we think) is John Edwards and his hair, both showing up at Cooper Union to talk politics and 2008. Mario Cuomo will be there—do we smell an endorsement?
[Barefoot Dancing in the Bronx, Van Cortland Park, 7 to 8:30 p.m., www.nyc.gov/parks; Solstice in Times Square, Broadway and Seventh Avenue between 43rd and 44th streets, 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., www.timessquarenyc.org; Make Music’s free outdoor concerts, for times and locations, www.makemusicny.org; John Edwards, the Cooper Union Dialogue Series, Great Hall, 7 East Seventh Street, www.cooper.edu.]