free things to do in New York City
Free events for Friday, 05/18/12
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Free Events, Free Things to Do in New York City!  Read More

Are you looking for free things to do in New York City (NYC) on May 18, 2012?

45 free events take place on Friday, May 18 in New York City. Don't miss the opportunities that only New York provides! Exciting, high quality, unique and off the beaten path free events and free things to do take place in New York today, tonight, tomorrow and each day of the year, any time of the day: whether it's a weekday or a weekend, day or night, morning or evening or afternoon, December or July, April or November! These events will take your breath away!

New York City (NYC) never ceases to amaze you with quantity and quality of its free culture and free entertainment. Check out May 18 and see for yourself. Summer or Winter, Spring or Fall! Just click on any day of the calendar above and you'll find most inspiring and entertaining free events to go to and free things to do on each day of May . Don't miss the opportunities that only New York provides!

Some events take place all year long: same day of the week, same time there are there for you to take advantage of. One of the oldest free weekly events in Manhattan is Dixieland Jazz with the Gotham Jazzmen, which happen at noon every Tuesday. Another example of an event that you can attend all year round on weekdays is Federal Reserve Bank Tour, which takes place every week day at 1 pm (but advanced reservations are required). You can take at least 13 free tours every day of the year, except the New Year Day, July 4th, and the Christmas Day. If you are classical music afficionado, you can spend whole day in New York going from one free classical concert to another. If you love theater, then New York gives you an option to attend plays and musicals free of charge, or at deep discount. You just need to have information about it. And we are here to make that information available to you.
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The quality and quantity of
free events,
free things to do
that happen in New York City
every day of the year
is truly amazing.

So don't miss the opportunities
that only New York provides:
stop wondering what to do;
start taking advantage of
free events to go to,
free things to do in NYC
today!

45 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Friday, May 18, 2012

All events are free unless otherwise noted.
        

Concert | Usher, Grammy-Winning Pop & R&B Superstar


Since the mid-90s, the smooth singer has laid down hit after hit -- "Burn," "U Make Me Wanna...," "Yeah!," "OMG," and many more. He has sold sold over 23 million records in the United States alone, and won seven Grammy Awards.
   New York City, NY; NYC
7:00 am
Free

Workshop | Morning Tai Chi


Increase physical balance, strength, and mental focus. Learn the ancient Chinese martial art with expert Alex Hing. No experience is necessary. Hing also teaches Tai Chi at the China Institute. He has practiced martial arts for over 30 years in San Francisco and New York City, including 10 years with Tai Chi grand master William C. C. Chen.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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8:30 am
Free

Workshop | Qi Gong Workshop


Qi Gong is the philosophy and practice of aligning breath, physical activity and a wide range of exercises developed in China to promote energy (Qi/Chi) circulation in the body. No special clothing, footwear, or equipment is required. Heavy rain will cancel the event.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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9:30 am
Free

Festival | Annual Parsons Festival


Parsons The New School for Design will present its annual Parsons Festival, showcasing the creativity and talent at Parsons, a global leader in art and design education. The Festival includes an exhibition of thesis work and capstone project from the architecture, interior design, lighting design and product design programs in the School of Constructed Environments at Parsons.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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10:00 am
Free

Workshop | Teach Yourself Using Online Resources


Hands on using wireless laptops. Explore Library databases and free websites that will help you learn a variety of skills and subjects. Prepare for many academic, civil service and rofessional licensing exams using LearningExpressLibrary, available from home with your library card.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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10:30 am
Free

Tour | Cathedral Tour


Explore the Cathedral's newly cleaned and restored Nave. Learn about the art, architecture and history of this great sacred space from 1892 to the present.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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11:00 am
$6

Tour | Federal Reserve Bank Tour


Learn about central banking functions that Federal Reserve System performs and see Bank's vault of international monetary gold on bedrock of Manhattan Island, five stories below street level. Learn why Federal Reserve has "Federal" in its name, while it's a private bank, not Federal at all. Congressman Ron Paul considers the Federal Reserve "both corrupt and unconstitutional" Tour times: 11:15 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 1:15 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3:15 p.m., and 4:00 p.m.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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11:15 am
Free

Concert | Bach at Noon


This Organ Meditations Series features the keyboard works of Johann Sebastian Bach.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:20 pm
Free

Tour | Grand Central and Its Neighborhood


Discover architecture and social history of Grand Central neighborhood; learn secrets of Whispering Gallery in Grand Central Terminal; gaze upon hubcaps and roadsters on side of Chrysler Building; discover favorite Midtown Manhattan hangout of Mercury, Hercules, and Minerva; learn why Pershing Square isn’t really square; visit original Lincoln Memorial by Daniel Chester French. Award-winning tour led by urban explorer, historian, and storyteller Justin Ferate.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:30 pm
Free

Dance Performance | Performance & Workshop: Naomi Goldberg Haas' Dances for a Variable Population


Participants should wear comfortable clothing and sneakers or soft shoes. The performance will premiere work with DVP’s multigenerational company directed by Naomi Goldberg Haas featuring contemporary dance driven by the diversity and energy of Times Square. DVP will be joined by members of Project FIND Woodstock Senior Center in a festivity of idiosyncratic movement. The Workshop will celebrate the joys of dance for expression and wellbeing. ROUNDUP brings the company’s popular Variable Pop Expressive Dance Fitness Workshops® for adults of all ages and abilities to the Broadway plaza. Sharing how dance is built from the dynamic between people, the ROUNDUP will encourage participants to explore the benefits of dance in their lives. Photograph by Meg Goldman.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:30 pm
Free

Author Reading | Roy Eaton, Pianist Who Played Carnegie in 1937


Roy Eaton has a most impressive career. His first Carnegie Hall performance was in 1937, and he won the first ever Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Award in 1950. His latest album I Play for Peace on RHAHM was released on 11/11/11. Other current albums include: Joplin Rags on Sony Classical; Keyboard Classics for Children on Summit; "24/7+7 The Complete Preludes of Chopin, Gershwin; Still on Summit; and The Meditative Chopin on RHAHM - all are available Here. Last March, Roy was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame.
   New York City, NY; NYC
12:30 pm
Free

Tour | “Manhattan Adirondacks” Tour


Olmsted and Vaux designed the North Woods to replicate the forests of the Adirondack Mountains with its crystal streams, calming cascades, and rustic bridges. This scenic and meditative walk is right in New York City's backyard. Tour will be approximately one hour.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:30 pm
Free

Tour | Cathedral Tour


Explore the Cathedral's newly cleaned and restored Nave. Learn about the art, architecture and history of this great sacred space from 1892 to the present.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
$6

Concert | Ensemble ACJW performs works by Hindemith and Bach


Program: Octet Paul Hindemith (1895–1963) Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major, BWV 1050 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) Ensemble ACJW is the performing arm of The Academy—a program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and the Weill Music Institute in partnership with the New York City Department of Education. Ensemble ACJW performs at Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and other venues in New York City and New York State, including an annual residency at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs. The ensemble comes together in different sizes, having the opportunity to play intimate chamber music as well as larger, conducted chamber orchestra works.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
Free

Talk | Antisemitism, Italian Style: The Italian Royal Academy, 1938-1943


Paul Arpaia, a writer in residence in the Library’s Wertheim Study and Associate Professor of History at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Fellow at the American Academy of Rome (FAAR08), examines reactions among members of the Italian Royal Academy to private and state-sponsored anti-Semitism through the fall of Mussolini.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:15 pm
Free

Film | Alan J. Pakula's 4-Time Ocar Winner All the President's Men (1976): The Watergate Saga


With Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford and Jack Warden. Reporters Woodward and Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Nixon's resignation. 138 min.
   New York City, NY; NYC
2:00 pm
Free

Workshop | Creative Writing Workshop


NY Writers Coalition celebrates its 10-year anniversary with a free creative writing workshop.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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2:00 pm
Free

Talk | Elusive Jane: In Search of Jane Austen at the Library


An examination fo the life and works of Jane Austen as reflected in the collections of the Library.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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2:15 pm
Free

Concert | Choir Works by Scarlatti, Monterverdi and Others


The Concert Choir of the University of Wisconsin in LaCrosse sings works by Duruflé, Scarlatti, Monterverdi, Lauridsen, Thompson and Walth.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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4:00 pm
Free

Concert | College Cello Recital


With Sang Jun Yhee.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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4:00 pm
Free

Workshop | Creative Writing Workshop


NY Writers Coalition celebrates its 10-year anniversary with a free creative writing workshop.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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4:00 pm
Free

Concert | Argento Chamber Ensemble performs work by Austrian composer Berhard Lang


Program: Bernhard Lang Monadologie XVIII "Moving Architecture" The anniversary concert series continues with this performance by renowned New York-based Argento Chamber Ensemble. The program for this night’s event will feature the world premiere of Austrian composer Bernhard Lang’s new piece. The piece traces the building’s architecture in 22 layers with the architecture’s original proportions referenced in time-structures. In a choreographic layer, Austrian performance artist Silke Grabinger transposed the underlying rhythmic structures to movement patterns, for which she developed a new form of "dance-writing", which Lang integrated directly into the score.
   New York City, NY; NYC
5:30 pm
Free

Concert | Free Music Fridays


Featuring Jarrod Dickenson, Ellen Adams, The Tres Amigos.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:30 pm
Free

Party | 4th Annual Hell's Kitchen Artists Festival


Yet another Hell’s Kitchen Artists Festival not to be missed. The event will be featuring a startlingly epic Friday opening party venue consisting of 3 floors, 10 spaces, a 10 ring circus, lasting 10 hours. Tantalizing shows-music, drama, dance, performance art, food & drink will be provided.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Concert | College Violin Recital


With Elizabeth Derham.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Dance Performance | Harlem Dances


Come see local dance companies demonstrate their moves and maybe learn a move or two. Groove With Me is a youth development organization using free dance classes and performance opportunities as a tool to instill in young women the leadership, pride, spirit of cooperation, creativity, joy and discipline needed to confront the adversity in their daily lives and throughout their future development.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Discussion | Is Europe the New Babel? Limits and Obstacles for Transnational Democracy


A panel discussion on the challenges facing the European Union, featuring participants Peter Schneider, Ulrike Guérot, Christiane Lemke, Martin Eichtinger, and others. The event will be moderated by Martin Rauchbauer. The discussion will focus on the necessity of closer cooperation of European administrations following the measures taken to mitigate the economic crisis. In this process, European public opinion will need to focus on structural deficits across the EU. What also is required now with the first step toward a fiscal union is to initiate a trans-European discussion about wealth distribution.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
Free

Screening | Academy Award-Nominated Documentary: Josh Fox's GasLand (2010)


It is happening all across America-rural landowners wake up one day to find a lucrative offer from an energy company wanting to lease their property. Reason? The company hopes to tap into a reservoir dubbed the "Saudi Arabia of natural gas." Halliburton developed a way to get the gas out of the ground-a hydraulic drilling process called "fracking"-and suddenly America finds itself on the precipice of becoming an energy superpower. 107 min.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Concert | Cello and Piano Works by Bach, Beethoven and Schumann


Internationally acclaimed artists Kalin Ivanov, cellist and Hristo Birbochukov, pianist, will perform a recital. The program will include music by Bach, Beethoven, Schumann and G. Zlatev-Tcherkin.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Performance | Comedy: OUR TOWN (the improvised version)


OUR TOWN is a show similar in many ways to the play of the same name by Thornton Wilder; except it’s all made up, it’s probably a little more boring, and there’s no ladders. (The original staged production of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” had a ladder motif. It was cool.) Improvisers create the world of a town while visual artist, Asher Rogers, maps out this world on a very large canvass. An engaging and entertaining evening of improvisational theater even for those not familiar with the medium.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
$5

Concert | Ladies First: Video and Music


Inspired by adventurous women, musicians Lynn Bechtold (pictured), Milica Paranosic, and Keve Wilson preside over a whole-evening event of video installation and music. NYC artist Cecilia Mandrile will create a special Ladies First award and the winner will be announced during the reception. Reception and after-party are sponsored by Trader Joe’s, Clinton Vineyards, Orwasher’s Bakery, Pain D’Avignon, Chez Jacqueline, Kafana, and Balls Vodka. Jewelry is provided by Sequin Jewelry and the projection design is created by Ian D Donald. Additional support is provided by Gallery MC.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
$20 suggested donation...

Performance | No Name and A Bag O’ Chips Comedy/Variety Show


“No Name... & A Bag O' Chips" Comedy / Variety show producer, Eric Vetter will feature the funky sounds of The Summer Replacements” including Carl (BabyFreak) Fortunato.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
No cover...

Other | Sunset Singing Circle


Friday Evening Singing by the Hudson River. Don’t be shy! Raise your voice and join singer/guitarist Terre Roche as the sun sets over the Hudson River for an enchanting evening of folk songs, rounds and chants. Novice and experienced singers of all ages are welcome.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Concert | Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir performs works by Palestrina, Bruckner, Monteverdi, and more


Program: Palestrina: Canite tuba in Sion Schuetz: Wie lieblich sind deine Whonungen Monteverdi: Gloria / Adoramus te, Christe Organ Solo Bruckner: Locus iste Liszt: Three Hymns for the Holy Virgin Rachmaninoff: From All-Night Vigil op. 37 Nordic Sounds: A Suite of Ballads and Songs for harp and choir The Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir consists of about 80 boys and 30 professional male choristers. Founded in 1924, the choir has been resident at the Copenhagen Cathedral since 1959 and performs on state occasions and during royal visits abroad.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:30 pm
Donations asked

Staged Reading | Screenplay Reading: Danielle Winston's Sense Memory


A screenplay reading, complete with flower children, creepy love beads, and a guitar strumming ghost When young actress Natalie Lombardo lands the lead in a film based on the true story of two lovers’ deaths, “The Summer of Love,” she becomes eerily drawn to a strand of love beads that hold the key to a decades old mystery, and finds herself trapped in a supernatural love triangle, haunted by memories that aren’t hers. Now she must uncover the secret behind the spirits deaths before they sabotage the film and take her with them.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:30 pm
Free

Theater | 3rd-year drama students perform Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew


Third-year Drama students are featured in their annual performances of works by Shakespeare.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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8:00 pm
Free

Concert | Cello and Piano Works by Tchaikovsky, Fauré, and Others with Internationally-recognized Russian cellist Misha Quint


Internationally-recognized Russian cellist Misha Quint will perform a recital with pianist Svetlana Gorokhovich. The program contrasts florid French classical composers like Francoeur and Faure with romantic Russian Tchaikovsky and the intensive Schnittke Cello Sonata. Popular virtuosic encores will follow intermission, including Granados Intermezzo from the opera “Goyescas” and Danza Española favorites and Tchaikovsky’s Nocturne and Pezzo-Capriccioso for Cello and Piano. New York Composer Steven Gerber’s Elegie on the name of “Dmitri Shostakovich” will be featured. Program: François Francoeur: Cello Sonata in E Major Alfred Schnittke: Sonata No.1 for Cello and Piano Gabriel Fauré: Elegie, Op.24 Enrique Granados: Intermezzo from the opera Goyescas Enrique Granados: Danza Española No.6 Steven Gerber: Elegie on the Name of "Dmitri Shostakovich" Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Nocturne for Cello and Piano Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Pezzo capriccioso, Op.62 With: Misha Quint, cello; Svetlana Gorokhovich, piano.
   New York City, NY; NYC
8:00 pm
Free

Dance Performance | Choreographic Honors


A showcase of works created by Dance Division students throughout the year.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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8:00 pm
Free

Concert | College French Horn Recital


With Kelly Csillam Misko.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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8:00 pm
Free

Concert | College Voice Recital


With Laetitia De Beck Spitzer, Mezzo-Soprano.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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8:00 pm
Free

Jazz | Half the Sky Festival: Jazz Women Fusing Forms


As part of DanceAfrica 2012, Brooklyn Arts Council returns to present Jazz Women Fusing Forms, featuring two prominent female African performers: Alsarah & The Nubatones from the Sudan, performing an evocative mix of Middle Eastern and East African music; and Moroccan-born Malika Zarra, combining a breathtaking range of African and other traditions through songs in Berber, Moroccan Arabic, French, and English.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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9:00 pm
No cover

Performance | Comedy: The Bath House Brothers Variety Hour


Two Russian immigrant brothers host a variety show inside a Russian bathhouse/sauna. Borya (Boris Khaykin) and Dima (David Carl) are excited to take you through a wild variety show with booked comedy acts as well as a reoccurring cast of characters such as odd relatives from their family and a panoply of patrons to their beloved bathhouse. Watch as they handle personal problems, get in sibling quarrels, and of course go through the regular rituals that happen inside a proper Russian bathhouse. In between all of the drama, they welcome some of the best stand up, sketch, and musical comedy NYC has to offer.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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9:30 pm
$5

Performance | Thank You, Robot’s Summer Fridays Comedy Show


Summer Friday’s is a showcase for independent and established improv teams. For each show, two teams join Thank You, Robot to perform sets of unscripted comedy, never seen before and never to be seen again.
   New York City, NY; NYC
10:30 pm
$5

Performance | Comedy: Chica Go-Go


A mix up, mash up, anything goes kinda show. A cast of Chicago veterans and New York luminaries improvising together. Joe Bill (Bassprov, Annoyance), Ari Voukydis (UCB, Best Week Ever), Betsy Stover (UCB), Doug Stoley (Conan, The Scene), Jodi Lennon (Exit 57, Annoyance), Rick Andrews (Magnet teacher/performer), Russ Armstrong (I.O. Chicago, Magnet), Amey Goerlich (Indie Cage Match, Magnet), Michael Burton (Act One, The Magnet) Micah Sherman (Co-host The Scene, Second City), Silvija Ozols (UCB, The Stepfathers), Jed Resnik (Annoyance, UCB).
   New York City, NY; NYC
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11:00 pm
$5

Performance | Comedy: Sex in the Late Night Air


Sex in the Air presents Sex in the Late Night Air, a late night talk show hosted by Paul Gutkowski, featuring the musical stylings of Hal McFall and The Haldane McFall 5. Don’t miss the show Susan Sarandon calls, “Sweeter than a plate of yams with extra syrup.”
   New York City, NY; NYC
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11:59 pm
$5
Complimentary Tickets

to shows, concerts ... (CFT Deals!)

Play | Drama with Broadway Actors

Regular Price: $77
CFT Member Price: $0.00

Play | A Play with Tony Nominated Director

Regular Price: $60.55
CFT Member Price: $0.00
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