Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week debuts at Lincoln Center this week and the retail shops, restaurants and lounges in the surrounding Lincoln Square neighborhood are excited by the event's move to the area. "Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week brings a tremendous amount of excitement to our vibrant neighborhood and our businesses will certainly benefit," says Monica Blum, president of the Lincoln Square BID "Everyone is genuinely looking forward to rolling out the red carpet and welcoming New York's most stylish to Lincoln Square." The Lincoln Square BID has been working closely with IMG, the producers of Mercedes-Benz Fashon Week, and with many local businesses to promote activity during the event. Special posters for area businesses have been created to celebrate the event and encourage attendees to "venture beyond The Tents." There's even a special promotion that will feature menu and bar offerings and incentives at dozens of area restaurants for attendees of the fashion shows.

The entire community has become involved and to celebrate, on Friday, September 10, many businesses will participate in Fashion's Night Out - a global fashion fête with exciting in-store events until 11:00pm. Here's the lowdown on all the excitement happening in LIncoln Square:

The fun starts at Time Warner Center at 5:30pm when Vanessa Lee, Fashion Director at montmartre, kicks off the Circle of Style Lounge and introduces her exclusive Lionette necklace. After that, over 25 businesses in Time Warner Center alone will take part in the fun. Some highlights include DJ lessons and champagne courtesy of Ladies Rock Camp at Eileen Fisher, a ping-pong tournament with Stuart Weitzman, complimentary wine and cheese from Tumi, and lots more.

At 6:30pm, enjoy the sounds of Jazz at Lincoln Center's trio performance featuring Grammy Award nominated vocalist Karrin Allyson in the Circle of Style Lounge followed by a live DJ at 8:00pm.

Visit the Mandarin Oriental, New York on Fashion's Night Out for 2-for-1 select cocktails in MObar and the Lobby Lounge from 7:00pm - 2:00am. Plus, for the entire duration of Fashion Week (9/9 - 9/16), Fashion Tea will be served from 2:30-4:30pm in the Lobby Lounge for $38 per person... savor traditional afternoon tea sandwiches and gingers scones served with sweet designer delicacies such as Hot Coco Chanel, Donna Karrot Cake and Apple Brown Betsy Johnson.

Stroll north on Broadway and stop in Best Buy at 62nd Street for live musical performances by Ashley Jana and Daria Musk, and a celebrity appearance by Serena Williams.

At 64th Street and Broadway, join lululemon athletica for an evening of design inspiration as the store is transformed into an athletic runway, complete with a function show from 8:30 - 9:00pm. Enjoy refreshments, live entertainment and music through 11:00pm.

Pop into the American Folk Art Museum's Lincoln Square branch on Columbus Avenue between 65th and 66th Streets for Fashion Lab in Process, (FliP) a new company created and directed by FIT educator and artist, Daria Dorosh, who will be showing FliP's first collection of garments and accessories to the public in a 'fashion theater' program.

ZARA at 66th Street and Broadway will feature a fashion presentation with the hottest fall looks from 6:00 - 10:00pm.

Enjoy complimentary refreshments and shop the newest arrivals at Banana Republic at Broadway and 67th Street and receive incentives on full-priced merchandise all night long.

Step into a Style Studio at LOFT on Broadway at 69th Street and a renowned fashion stylist will help you turn LOFT's fabulous new essentials into countless looks for fall. Once you've found your new favorite outfit, enjoy a mini photo shoot at our popup photo booth!

Fashion's Night Out is made possible through a partnership with Vogue, The Council of Fashion Designers of America, NYC & Company, and the City of New York. The making of Fashion's Night Out will be the subject of an hour-long, prime-time special on CBS on Tuesday, September 14 at 10:00pm EST.

This month, Barnes and Noble at Broadway and 66th Street will host two fashion related book signings. The first one is on Monday, September 13 at 7:30pm with America's Next Top Model judge and fashion photographer Nigel Barker who will discuss and sign his latest book, Nigel Barker's Beauty Equation: The Art Behind the Science of Beauty. With 20 years of experience in the beauty business and 14 seasons of judging America's Next Top Model, Nigel shares the formula for revealing inner beauty, looking great and feeling even better. Priority seating with purchase!

At 7:30pm, the following evening, Tuesday, September 14, the BID has partnered with Barnes & Noble to present stylist Monica Diaz who is the founder of New York-based personal image consultancy Style Matters, Inc. and author of 7 Days to Style. Monica will discuss her new book, which guides readers through the process of defining their authentic style and finding a more confident, beautiful and stylish self in seven days.

For more information visit www.bn.com or call 212.595.6859.

September starts a new season of cultural programming in the neighborhood with large scale productions at Lincoln Center and intimate performances in smaller spaces throughout the neighborhood. Not to be missed this year is the 10th Anniversary of the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players. Jupiter's 2010-2011 season is being held on twenty Mondays through May starting on Monday, September 13 at the Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church on West 66th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. Classical and Baroque music will be offered.

Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players was created in January 2002 as A Living Tribute to Jens Nygaard, conductor extraordinaire of the orchestra, Jupiter Symphony. The chamber music group celebrates a legacy that denotes musical excellence, gives performance opportunities to outstanding musicians, and imparts a love of and enthusiasm for music through interesting and unusual programs of pieces in the standard repertoire, and especially works by lesser known composers that deserve to be heard.

Tickets are on sale now; call 212.799.1259 or e-mail admin@jupitersymphony.com.

New York City Ballet celebrates its first fall performance with Opening Week, which begins on Tuesday, September 14 and continues through Sunday, September 19. This year, ticket-holders can head to the David H. Koch Theater a little early to enjoy live jazz on the Promenade as the house will be open to all ticket holders one hour before performances (auditorium will open for seating 30 minutes prior to curtain). Ballet aficionados can enjoy a drink or light bite outside on the Terrace, view the latest photo exhibition featuring up close and personal portraits of all twenty-four of the Company's principal dancers and have a look at new and exciting New York City Ballet merchandise in the gift shop.

Every evening performance during Opening Week will give you a chance to meet New York City Ballet principal dancers and gain a deeper understanding of the ballets on every program at the popular First Position discussions. If you're headed for a matinee performance, make the performance more meaningful for the whole family with Children's Workshops - a series of 45-minute pre-performance programs designed for children aged four and above. These programs are guaranteed to enhance your appreciation of what your family sees onstage.

Tickets are selling out fast, so click here!

Image: Amar Ramasar by Henry Leutwyler

For 10 years, Merkin Concert Hall's Broadway Close Up series has been taking audiences behind the scenes of musicals with sneak peeks at some of the best shows, old and new. The 10th anniversary season in 2010 includes two pre-season special events: Ridiculously Talented: Songs by Composers and Lyricists You Probably Don't Know But Should, an evening of new songs by young songwriters hosted by the Tony Award winning composer Bill Finn on Monday, September 20 and Fire and Rain: The Songs of James Taylor, featuring a cast of top Broadway performers reinventing James Taylor classics on Monday, October 4.

The series officially begins on Monday, October 25 with a tribute to the great legacy of Off-Broadway, and continues with a celebration of Jerome Kern, composer of Show Boat and Roberta on Monday, November 15. The series concludes with a 10th Anniversary Celebration of Bound for Broadway, hosted by the incomparable Liz Callaway, that will feature two brand new musicals and revisit some of the hit shows featured over the past ten years, including Avenue Q, The Drowsy Chaperone and the 2010 Pulitzer Prize winner Next to Normal.

For tickets and more information, visit www.kaufman-center.org.

Image: Heidi Blickenstaff by Bill Wang

Alice Tully Hall opened in 1969 with the first performance of The Chamber Music Society (CMS) of Lincoln Center. On Tuesday, September 21 CMS will celebrate its 41st season of providing listeners a comprehensive perspective on the art of chamber music with a 7:30pm performance of music by Haydn, Dohnányi and Brahms. At this special opening performance, CMS Artistic Directors pianist Wu Han and cellist David Finckel welcome guest violinists Gil Shaham and Adele Anthony, in their first CMS appearance since 2004. Joining these artists will be long-time CMS favorite violist Paul Neubauer, two distinguished former members of CMS Two, violist Richard O'Neill and cellist Sophie Shao, and current CMS Two cellist Nicolas Altstaedt. In the 41st season, CMS explores the idea of musical inheritance from one generation of composers to the next - from Bach through to Bartok and beyond.

CMS, a multi-generational selection of expert chamber musicians, constitutes an evolving repertory company capable of presenting chamber music of every instrumentation, style, and historical period. Its annual activities include a full season of concerts and events, national and international tours, nationally televised broadcasts on Live From Lincoln Center, a radio show broadcast nationwide, and regular appearances on National Public Radio's Performance Today.

Seasonal subscriptions are available to chamber music aficionados via the "Make Your Own" series, allowing purchasers to choose three, four, five, six, or more concerts that suit their schedule or via "Chamber Collections", which provides a variety of thoughtfully conceived packages, assembled on specific days of the week or by specific themes, such as the Baroque Festival (the annual presentation of Bach's Complete Brandenburg Concertos) or CMS's Winter Festival. Visit www.chambermusicsociety.org for more information.

Opening Night for the 2010-2011 New York Philharmonic season is Wednesday, September 22; Alan Gilbert will conduct the U.S. Premier of Wynton Marsalis's new work for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. Other season highlights include Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 with soloist Lang Lang, and the magical second act of The Nutcracker on Friday, December 31; Hungarian Echoes: A trailblazing three-week Philharmonic Festival conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen; as well as The Thomashefskys: Music and Memories of a Life in Yiddish Theater - the poignant and flamboyant real-life story of Boris and Bessie Thomashefsky, superstars of the Yiddish Theater on the Lower East Side 100 years ago-the story is aptly told through archival film clips, theatrical staging, a quartet of performers and the New York Philharmonic with conductor and host Michael Tilson Thomas.

The New York Philharmonic is by far the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States, and one of the oldest in the world. It currently plays some 180 concerts a year, and on May 5, 2010, gave its 15,000th concert - a milestone unmatched by any other symphony orchestra in the world.

The New York Philharmonic offers several subscription packages with discounts ranging from 10% to 25%, as well as special promotions for individuals under 35 and families. Visit www.nyphil.org for more information.

Image: Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic

The 48th Annual New York Film Festival, presented by The Film Society of Lincoln Center, will open on Friday, September 24 with David Fincher's The Social Network at Alice Tully Hall. Directed by Fincher from a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network stars Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, and Justin Timberlake. "It's exceptionally rare to discover a film that so powerfully captures the spirit of its time; The Social Network is such a film. David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin are a director/writer team, like Lumet and Chayefsky before them, that make this movie not only of the moment, but reflective of larger cultural issues as well, and confirm their position at forefront of contemporary cinema," says Richard Peña, Selection Committee Chair & Program Director, The Film Society of Lincoln Center.

The Social Network is a film that proves you don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies. The film is produced by Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca, and Ceán Chaffin and based on the book "The Accidental Billionaires" by Ben Mezrich. The film is set to be released by Sony Pictures Entertainment on October 1, 2010.

The New York Film Festival runs from September 24 - October 10 and will host 28 feature films from fourteen countries at Alice Tully Hall and The Walter Reade Theater, including the Closing Night selection, Clint Eastwood's Hereafter. Since 1963, The New York Film Festival has continued to bring new and important cinematic works by filmmakers from around the world. The 17-day festival highlights the best in world cinema, featuring top films from celebrated filmmakers as well as fresh new talent.

Visit www.filmlinc.com for tickets and details.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2010-11 season will feature seven new productions, including two company premieres and the first two parts of a new Ring cycle, featuring many of the world's greatest singers and conductors. Maestro James Levine will launch the season on Monday, September 27, with a gala performance of Das Rheingold. In his 40th anniversary season, Levine, who has conducted nearly 2,500 performances at the Met, more than any conductor in the company's 126-year history, will conduct six operas across a range of repertory. The Met will celebrate the music director's extraordinary, record-breaking Met career with historical DVD and CD releases of his performances, as well as a new documentary film about the maestro by award-winning director Susan Froemke.

The 2010-11 season will feature the premiere of John Adams's Nixon in China and Rossini's Le Comte Ory, the first two installments of Robert Lepage's new production of Wagner's epic Der Ring des Nibelungen, with stagings of Das Rheingold and Die Walküre. In addition, the season features new productions of three repertory classics: Boris Godunov, Don Carlo and La Traviata.

About one third of the seats in the Metropolitan Opera house cost less than $100 and The Met continues to offer reduced-price tickets for selected performances for full-time students at $25 for weekday performances and $35 for Friday and Saturday performances. The Met's successful Agnes Varis and Karl Leichtman Rush Ticket program will continue for a fifth season and provides up to two tickets per customer for selected orchestra seats at the sharply discounted price of $20, available two hours before curtain time. The Met also reserves 50 Varis Rush tickets per performance for senior citizens.

Image: Bryn Terfel as Wotan in the new production of the Ring cycle; photo by Brigitte Lacombe.