It’s about that time of year when the slight crisping of the air signals that the balmy summer is departing, but hasn’t disappeared just yet. Suddenly, the fluorescent lights, lively chatter, and overpriced opening wine flowing onto the New York City streets beckon the passerby who has spent all summer tanning in Central Park. It’s fall art fair season, at last. As usual, the season’s kicking off with the gargantuan Armory Show next week, followed by a lineup of shows that range from the alternative (zines!) to the conservative and historical (Independent 2oth Century). This year brings a few changes, though: the unexpected cancellation of the Art Dealers Association of America’s annual Art Show, for instance, typically an anchor of the autumn fairs. Volta is also skipping its NYC edition, while Clio is having two fairs in the same month. The art market might be topsy-turvy, but your fairgoing experience doesn’t have to be. Our handy guide below is here to help navigate your way through it all.The Armory ShowSeptember 5–7 | thearmoryshow.comJavits Center, 429 Eleventh Avenue, Midtown West, ManhattanSantiago Yahuarcani, “Sarara III” (2024) (image courtesy Crisis Gallery)The Goliath of the city’s art fairs, the Armory Show will once again descend upon the shopping mall-esque Javits Center to kick off New York’s fall season. More than 230 galleries will convene for the colossal event, with spotlight booths focused on the late artist Ming Fay and installation artist Sylvie Hayes-Wallace, among others. For the first time, the fair’s Platform section will be curated by a nonprofit, Souls Grown Deep, which will celebrate Black artistry from the American South with an exhibition of paintings, assemblages, sculptures, and textile works. Another fresh feature this year is the inaugural design-focused Function section, showcasing sculptural assemblages and installation works by Nikita Gale, Cauleen Smith, Ryan Johnson, and Gee’s Bend Quiltmakers. The Armory’s programming will also extend beyond the boundaries of Hudson Yards in a focused series of multi-borough partnership presentations. At the Queens Museum, a collaboration with Gagosian will produce a monumental banner reproduction of Honor Titus’s tennis painting “Louis Malle Practice” (2025) on the institution’s facade. Times Square Arts and the Whitney Museum of American Art will host nightly viewings of media artist Marina Zurkow’s multi-channel animation “The River is a Circle (Times Square Edition)” across 95 synchronized electronic billboard displays throughout the city.Independent 20th CenturySeptember 4–7 | independenthq.com Casa Cipriani, 10 South Street, The Battery, ManhattanDavid Wojnarowicz and Luis Frangella at CAyC Exhibition, Buenos Aires, in 1984 (image courtesy Rafael Giménez and Cosmocosa)The modern art sibling fair of the contemporary-focused Independent New York returns to Manhattan’s Battery neighborhood with 31 galleries and arts nonprofits for its fourth edition. Solo, duo, and group presentations notably spotlight works by self-taught artists, Lebanese women artists, and influential figures from Latin America. Attendees can also check out a host of programs — from a book signing with jazz musician Joe McPhee to “Downtown Dealers,” a discussion with gallerists Lucy Mitchell-Innes, Charles Moffett, Kendra Jayne Patrick, and Chris Sharp.Art on PaperSeptember 4–7 | ny.thepaperfair.comPier 36, 299 South St, New York, New YorkGizem Vural, “Sands” (2024) (image courtesy Uprise Arts)Don’t underestimate the versatility of this pulpy, everyday material. Returning to its usual venue at Pier 36 on the East River, this year’s Art on Paper fair will showcase boundary-pushing artworks from over 100 galleries, such as Pace-represented artist Nina Katchadourian’s playful ecological sculptures made from found paper items. The show’s meta mini bookfair, BOOKsmART, will also return with exhibitors from more than 20 presses, including Oreades Press, Axis Press, and Central Booking. Installations like feminist participatory artist Mary Beth Edelson’s Story Gathering Boxes series (1972–2014) and Ruben Castillo’s woodcuts and lithocuts exploring queer intimacy attest to the medium’s endless possibilities.Salon Zürcher: 100 Women of Spirit +, Part 3September 2–7 | galeriezurcher.comZürcher Gallery, 33 Bleecker Street, Soho, ManhattanReturning for its 33rd edition as an intimate and quieter satellite fair of the Armory Show, 100 Women of Spirit + brings together 11 women artists at its Bleeker Street home. Deriving its name from the French phrase femme d’esprit, referring to intellectual and witty women, this year’s fair features psychedelic paintings by Amy Cheng, welded steel constellations by Dutch-born artist Marieken Couchius, and oil self-portraits by trauma-informed psychotherapist Trissy Callan.Clio Art FairSeptember 5–7 & 18-21 | clioartfair.com511 West 25th Street, Chelsea, ManhattanPerformance by FannnSystem at Clio Art Fair’s spring 2025 edition (image courtesy Clio Art Fair)A biannual event that platforms emerging artists without gallery representation, Clio bills itself as a more accessible and intimate alternative to other fairs. Against the odds of a reportedly slumping art market, Clio will put on not one but two consecutive editions in a new Chelsea venue this year, presenting different rosters of more than 35 artists and collectives in each iteration. A program titled Another Brick in the Wall will delve into art’s potential to disrupt the “algorithmic order,” with performances by multidisciplinary artist Gabrielle Meyerowitz and self-styled “paper funk artist” Ama.Open Invitational New York: An Art Fair For Artists With DisabilitiesSeptember 4–7 | openinvitational.com356 Broadway, Ground Floor, Tribeca, ManhattanInaugurated in Miami last December, Open Invitational is now debuting in New York City, bringing its vision of deconstructing the barriers often faced by artists with disabilities in the contemporary art world. Participants in the upcoming edition will include galleries, studios, and collectives showcasing work by diverse artists, including NYC’s Community Access Art Collective and Detroit’s Progressive Art Studio Collective.Duet at WSASeptember 4–8 | wsa.nyc161 Water Street, Financial District, ManhattanElliot & Erick Jiménez, “Ibejí” (2022) (image courtesy Spinello Projects)Though not technically an art fair, Duet will bring together 11 contemporary galleries in a selling exhibition timed with the opening of two renovated floors in the Financial District’s Water Street Associates (WSA) tower. Curated by Kyle DeWoody and Zoe Lukov, the show explores themes of dopplegangers, doubles, and reflections — think works like the trippy portrait “Ibejí” (2022), pictured above, created by identical twin brothers Elliot and Erick Jiménez. Duet is the latest project from WSA, the repurposed office building that’s trying to be a sceney hybrid of alternative art space, real estate venture, and luxury venue for events like Emily Ratajkowski’s Met Gala afterparties attended by Bad Bunny.U-Haul Art FairSeptember 12–14 | uhaulgallery.com Between 10th and 11th Avenues and 18th and 27th Streets [NOT YET FINALIZED] in ManhattanExterior view of U-Haul Gallery, which will be featured in a line-up of exhibitors for the first time U-Haul Art Fair (image courtesy U-Haul Gallery)Honoring the longstanding tradition of presenting art in shipping containers, U-Haul Art Fair will showcase “booths” from 11 galleries and independent curators in customized container trucks parked along the breezy streets of Chelsea. The first-time event was organized by the nascent U-Haul Gallery, which will be featured in a line-up of exhibitors that also includes the pop-up art collective I Made This Up and the eccentrically named Los Angeles gallery AUTOBODY autobody.New York Art Book FairSeptember 17–21 | printedmatterartbookfairs.orgMoMA PS1, 22-25 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, QueensThe New York Art Book Fair returns to MoMA PS1 this year. (photo by Megan Mack, courtesy Printed Matter)Against a backdrop of DJ sets, discussions of cross-border aesthetics, and improv performances, 250 presses from around the world will display books, zines, and more at Printed Matter’s New York Art Book Fair. This year, the fair is notably returning to its old haunts at MoMA PS1, where the event was held from 2009 to 2019. Programming highlights include The Classroom, where exhibitors will highlight topics in arts publishing; and the fair’s first “Reading Room,” which will assemble materials related to grassroots activism such as publications by the Gay Liberation Front and Argentina’s Frente de Liberación Homosexual. Affordable Art FairSeptember 17–21 | affordableartfair.comStarrett-Lehigh Building, 601 West 26th Street, Chelsea, ManhattanPromoting itself as the more economical and accessible choice of the city’s fall line-up, the Affordable Art Fair will return to Chelsea in late September in a new venue with more than 75 presentations from galleries and arts organizations. Works by emerging and established artists are priced as low as $100 and all the way up to $12,000, offering something for everyone, whether you’re a seasoned collector or a first-time buyer. Highlights of this more budget-friendly fair include the return of the show’s fellowship program for emerging New York and tri-state arts organizations and a wall display of “Wonders Under $1,000,” promoting artworks in the triple-digit price range.La Feria: Print Media FairSeptember 17 | latinxproject.nyu.edu20 Cooper Square, 1st Floor & 3rd Floor, Noho, ManhattanCarlos Hernandez, “The Last Supper” (2023) (image courtesy the artist)On its second birthday, the La Feria print media fair hosted by the Latinx Project at New York University will increase its exhibitor class from 30 to 45 and expand to two floors of the school’s 20 Cooper Square building following a wildly popular launch last year. The one-day fair will feature an academic book showcase of rarely presented titles on topics pertaining to Latin America and its diaspora, in addition to tours of the Latinx Project’s exhibition Escenas, featuring seven emerging photographers. Artists including Queer Icons (2015–) creator Gabriel García Román and Mexican painter Miguel Martinez will exhibit and sell their work alongside small publishers like the New York- and Buenos Aires-based New Mundo Press.ABC No Rio Zine FairSeptember 27, 12–5pm | instagram.comMayDay Space, 176 Nicholas Avenue, Bushwick, BrooklynZine lovers, rejoice! Over 25 zine makers and collectives will present a wealth of DIY publications covering music, visual art, activism, mutual aid, and more at the inaugural edition of ABC No Rio’s dedicated fair. Organized by the historic Lower East Side artist squat-turned-nonprofit, the daylong event will include workshops, live discussions, a screenprinting station, free vegan food and coffee, and flash tattoos. Masks are required for the first two hours of the fair. Be sure to also stick around later for an evening hardcore concert with performances by Pure Terror, Fulano, Person/A, Jolana Star, and DJ Libby Flow.The Other Art Fair November 6–9 | theotherartfair.comZeroSpace, 337-345 Butler Street, Boerum Hill, Brooklyn A short walk from the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, 125 independent artists, mostly hailing from New York City, will present their work directly to fair attendees — no galleries or other intermediaries necessary. As artworks celebrating trans individuals come under scrutiny across the country, the Other Art Fair will partner with Black Trans Femmes in the Arts, a nonprofit connecting Black trans femme artists to resources and opportunities. The 16th edition of this fair spans price points from $100 up to $20,000 and is geared toward collectors, both seasoned and novice. Among the Brooklyn-based artists showing their work are painter Arlina Cai and ceramicist Haewon Jung.