61 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Thursday, April 20, 2017
All events are free unless otherwise noted.
This is a 3-hour tour that begins with a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, an icon of New York City for ...
more >> over 125 years, with spectacular views of Manhattan and Brooklyn. The tour then moves on to a stroll of Brooklyn Heights, America’s and New York City’s first suburb. The tour then explores the neighborhood DUMBO before ending at the Fulton Ferry landing.
The 3-hour walking and subway tour covers the Financial District including Wall Street and the World ...
more >> Trade Center, SoHo, Little Italy and Chinatown. These are neighborhoods that simply can’t be fully appreciated from a bus. There will be one or two opportunities to sample tasty treats.
Learn how to enhance photos using the number 1 photo editing software in the world; Adobe Photoshop. ...
more >> In this class you learn the features of Photoshop and learn about layers and use them to manipulate images to your desire. Class is conducted on Macintosh computers.
A premiere screening and discussion with Art21 and the newest film in their New York Close Up digital ...
more >> series. The film documents artist Raúl de Nieves and his recent commission for this year's Whitney Biennial. New York Close Up is an award-winning documentary series capturing the art and lives of emerging New York City artists. The morning premiere will be followed by a conversation between the artist and the 2017 Whitney Biennial co-curator Mia Locks, moderated by Art21's Executive Director and Chief Curator Tina Kukielski.
Explore the southwest of the park with Conservancy tour guides, and see it like never before. From a ...
more >> planned military parade ground to the site commemorating a famous activist for peace, one of the most-visited areas of the Park has some secrets to share with even the most seasoned Park-goer. Highlights of this tour include: Maine Monument, the Children’s District, Sheep Meadow, Tavern on the Green, and Strawberry Fields.
11:00 am
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
There is nothing more magical than the lure and power of invisibility, and no stronger weapon. It challenges ...
more >> our scientific imagination to new ways of revealing and concealing—penetrating the unseen mysteries of black holes and gravitational waves, cloaking what we wish to hide from our adversaries. It infuses our literature and drives the mythical and religious underpinnings of culture. And by stripping populations of their place in society—the invisible “other” in the form of African Americans, women in Saudi Arabia, the homeless, veterans—it spurs us to action, to create change for the better. Join us as we investigate the concept of invisibility and interrogate what’s seen, what’s unseen, what’s unseeable, and what we do in response. With Simon Critchley, Wendy Doniger, Gerald Holton, Mona El-Naggar, Priyamvada Natarajan, Darryl Pinckney and more.
Test your coordination and dexterity with free juggling lessons in the park. All skill levels are welcome ...
more >> to join in the fun. Equipment is provided.
12:00 pm
free, no reservation required
The keyboard works of Bach offered in 30-minute meditations by Patrick Allen, organist and master of ...
more >> choristers, and Mary Pan, organ scholar. Bach at Noon concerts takes place Tuesdays through Fridays, from September 13, 2016 to May 25, 2017.
12:20 pm
free, no reservation required
Join the staff as they kick-off reading excerpts from Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Sign-up ...
more >> in person at the Library to read part of the book, or listen to others read. A tender novel, Americanah, which refers to Nigerians returning home after living in America, is the story of two Nigerian emigres, the beautiful Ifemelu and Obinze, the son of a professor, who love and lose each other across continents and years as they face difficult choices and challenges in the country they call home. Set against the backdrop of today’s globalized world where race and class intersect, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie masterfully weaves culture, fashion, ethnicity, assimilation, and immigration with elements of loneliness, fear, and passion.
1:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Join a tour of the current exhibitions with Valérie Rousseau, the museum’s curator for self-taught ...
more >> art and art brut. Meet in the museum atrium.
1:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Learn about central banking functions that Federal Reserve System performs and see Bank's vault of international ...
more >> 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. Tour times: 1:00pm, 2:00pm. This tour takes place Mondays through Fridays, except bank holidays.
Take a mid-day pause to refresh your mind and re-establish your center in the midst of bustling city ...
more >> life. Meditation is a powerful tool to eliminate stress, to heal the body, mind, and brain, and to enhance your personal well-being and positive relationship with the world.
1:00 pm
$10 suggested donation
Program: Brahms Piano Quartet Op. 26, No. 2 in A major Schumann Piano Quartet Op. 47 in E flat major ...
more >> Daniel Gortler, piano, with Itamar Zorman, violin Paul Neubauer, viola Karlos Rodriguez, cello
1:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Share your passion for gaming the old-fashioned way. If words excite or inspire you, and crossword puzzles ...
more >> keep you going, then Scrabble is your game! Are you a chess or checkers champion? Whether you're a master or just starting out, show off your best moves. If you like wheeling and dealing, Monopoly's the game for you. Join them for some lively board time. All levels of play welcome. Please feel free to bring your own game set, and friends.
1:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of ...
more >> racial inequality. 100 min.
2:00 pm
free, no reservation required
2:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Monthly book discussions to explore titles you've been meaning to read, or reread, and discuss with other ...
more >> lovers of literature. Participants should read each title before the discussion. This month's title is Bleak House by Charles Dickens.
2:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Stars: Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom. Blacksmith Will Turner teams up with eccentric pirate ...
more >> "Captain" Jack Sparrow to save his love, the governor's daughter, from Jack's former pirate allies, who are now undead. 243 min.
2:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Although world famous, Harlem may be New York's best kept secret with some of the city's best architecture, ...
more >> food, music and people. Harlem's history is also one of the city's most dramatic, having gone through many ethnic, cultural and socioeconomic changes over the past roughly 400 years, which have resulted in a diverse array of places of worship, theaters, homes and eating establishments. This tour takes place daily.
In this class you will use Photoshop to clean up and modify digital images. Learn how to minimize blemishes, ...
more >> use the clone stamp tool, alter backgrounds, recolor images, and more. This class is taught on Mac computers.
Stars: Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis. A one-handed stranger comes to a tiny town possessing ...
more >> a terrible past they want to keep secret, by violent means if necessary. 81 min.
2:00 pm
free, no reservation required
You've seen the iconic skyscrapers, attended a Broadway show, visited Lady Liberty and relaxed in Central ...
more >> Park. Looking for a little more of the Big Apple? Maybe it's time to visit some of Manhattan's oldest and most enchanting historic districts. Take a relaxing stroll through SoHo, Little Italy and Chinatown.
Editor's Pick
Many people think of the New York City subway as one of the largest, most efficient, if not the cleanest ...
more >> mass transit systems in the world. Few, however, think of it as the largest and longest art gallery on the planet. Well, they don't know what they are missing. This lively walking AND subway riding tour visits over a dozen subway stations to experience a selection of these striking often whimsical works that go largely unnoticed by the general public. Join this climate controlled subway and walking art tour. Along the way you'll learn about and become expert at navigating the (in)famous NYC subway system. There's also the invaluable opportunity to confer about your other sightseeing plans with the acclaimed Bronx born, vastly experienced licensed NYC tour guide, Darryl Reilly. Tour takes place every Thursday.
2:00 pm
Free plus subway...
Featuring violinist Joseph Lin, this special event provides music lovers with a rare opportunity to witness ...
more >> the interaction between gifted students and great artists as they examine and explore the arts of performance on the highest level.
2:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Explore more advanced features of Microsoft Word 2010. Topics include mail merge, tables, text boxes, ...
more >> headers and footers, footnotes and endnotes.
4:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Hirkaru Yonezaki, Violin 4 p.m. Mika Sasaki, Piano Lecture Recital 4 p.m. Philip Zuckerman, Violin ...
more >> 6 p.m. Madeline Olson, Harp 6 p.m. Jameel Amir Martin, Viola 8 p.m.
4:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Travel offers extensive opportunities – and challenges - for the photographer. Whether your interests ...
more >> are a casual record of your family trip, or a serious visual exploration of a place far from home, this presentation will provide practical tips and visual stimulation so that you come home with pictures you can be proud of. Lester Lefkowitz will cover: pre-trip planning; what to take and how to pack; foreign travel considerations; interacting with and photographing the “locals”; time of day and weather issues; finding the good spots; protecting digital files while on the road; ways to improve your composition; some exposure pointers; cool things you can do with a digital camera (that you could never do with film); what to do with all those great (and near-great) images when you get home. This presentation includes over 200 slides, good – and bad - photographs from around the world that extensively illustrate each point.
The comparative study of recent indigenous language revitalization projects such as Maori, Hawaiian, ...
more >> and Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile) offers a useful opportunity for better understanding processes of indigenous identity formation and citizenship in local, national, and global communities. The talk will explore the ways in which the success of language revitalization projects can be linked to the abilities of strong movements to work with and mobilize resources from national and/or transnational entities that they had before approached with criticism or distrust as well as their ability to legitimize and achieve a critical mass of participation for their projects within the indigenous communities in ways that motivate individual speakers and families to invest to change the linguistic ecology of the community. Lecturer Miki Makihara has been interested in the use and conception of language and how these relate to other aspects of social life, and in particular, to social identity, intergroup relations, and political and economic changes. Research combines formal linguistic analysis and interpretive ethnography.
4:30 pm
free, no reservation required
4:55 pm
free, no reservation required
Join percussionist/vocalist Renato Thoms on an interactive journey through the Caribbean and Latin America ...
more >> with the rhythms of Cuba, Puerto Rico, The Dominican Republic, Panama, Brazil, and more. A veteran musician who has performed with such luminaries of Latin music as Ruben Blades, Eddie Palmieri, Paquito D’Rivera, Pete “El Conde” Rodriguez, and more, this extraordinary and charismatic musician brings his vast experience with Latin percussion instruments and musical styles to audiences in a way that is both engaging and educational.
5:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
Discover the surprising diversity of birds that call the park home during migratory season with a guided ...
more >> tour. Located in the heart of midtown, the park is a hotspot for avian visitors and birders alike. Past sightings include warblers, tanagers, vireos, thrushes, and even a Chuck-will's-widow.
5:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Need help getting started with eBooks? Bring your laptop, eReader, tablet or smart phone to eBook Help ...
more >> Hour. Get assistance loading electronic library books on your Kindle, create your free Adobe ID, learn about 3M Cloud Library, and so much more. Make sure you bring your library card and any necessary access passwords for your devices so they can help you as quickly as possible.
Artists: John Connors ◆ Susan Demmet ◆ Denise Fryburg ◆ Teresa Hommel Jody Leight ◆ Valerie Lynch ...
more >> ◆ Phyllis Tracy Malinow ◆ Ingrid Sletten
Learn the basics of working with spreadsheets using Microsoft Excel for Mac. Topics include: entering ...
more >> data and formulas, moving and copying data, formatting your spreadsheets for readability and much more. Class is conducted on Macintosh computers.
Join a screening of an exciting new webseries about the lives of immigrant New Yorkers. Three Trembling ...
more >> Cities is a new series about the immigrants who make New york City's heart tremble with hope, written and directed by Arthur Vincie.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Goodfellas star Paul Sorvino and his wife create delicious, authentic Italian recipes in this entertaining ...
more >> cookbook.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
"In old age we are like a batch of letters that someone has sent. We are no longer in the passing, we ...
more >> have arrived." — Knut Hamsun "But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." — Romans 7:6 Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans inaugurates a Western tradition that heralds a coming messianic time, a joining of its community, and a circumscribing of a universality that continues to haunt our collective history, our pursuit of justice, and even our sense of lack and hope. Charged with a calling, an address, and the irruptive signature of “Paul,” this single letter, like the endless stream of letters to come, burns itself into Western memory, digs itself into the cannon, and erupts with a repressive force. Whether it is Goethe’s nauseating romanticism in Werther doubling as suicide note, Freud’s erotic writings to Fliess at the core of psychoanalysis, Derrida’s satirical (even blasphemous) deconstruction of the epistolary in The Post Card, or Else Lasker-Schüler’s bohemian, nomad correspondences, we cannot escape the letter, but perhaps, we can lean into its punch. In risking exactly this, we might just divine the messianic character of the letter whether in law or spirit, and reckon with what is to come. Oriented in this fashion, there is no doubt that one can find all sorts of Schatzkästlein, if not outright spiritual nourishment, in becoming epistolary ourselves as philologians of the letter and inheritors of a its accumulated past. In our calling and address to you, our conference seeks to be acommemorable conventicle of philologians of the letter who do not hesitate being transfigured by reading and working on ‘correspondence.’ Attuning our minds to the secret of letters, as Hamsun did, we will ultimately be, ‘like a batch of letters’ arriving on the scene of something uncannily ours. We might even experience ‘Jetzt der Erkennbarkeit’ for the sake of which Walter Benjamin never stopped writing letters in messianic vein of his very own.
As any attendee of Clay McLeod Chapman's The Pumpkin Pie Show can attest, the oral tradition didn’t ...
more >> fizzle out among the dying embers of preindustrial society. For two decades, the mild-mannered, ostensibly well-adjusted Chapman has taken to a rudimentary stage (one light, no props) and breathed life into true monstrosities: unhinged men and women teetering on the brink and freely roaming among the rest of us. Nothing Untoward is the culmination of this decades-long experiment in character-based storytelling, live without a net. Fans of literary fiction will indulge in the genre-blurring, centrifugal barrage of Chapman's vignettes, microworlds forged and refined over the course of hundreds of drafts and performances. Readers with more dramaturgical leanings will find that Chapman's stories in monologue form are also perfect for auditions: each piece is a performance-ready character study, and the genders of speakers and tones of the tales are diverse and varied.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
The exhibition features Paul's opulent tableaux utilizing collage, photography, and animation. It will ...
more >> also feature a video documentation of her interactive performance and a related artifact.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Observing these photographs, the perceptions of touch and vision are one and the same. The choice of ...
more >> a particular location and that of wanting to narrate it, implies exposing oneself, defining a perspective from a personal observation point. It is from this point of view, which our interest and attention is captured. What we observe: shapes from the Padania plains to American city glimpses and landscapes, the value of which is given by the reflection from within. These photographs depict an oblique progression. That same motion of the many territories being scrutinized. The muffled sounds alternate with that of silence. The light spreads itself evenly, until it blends into the fog or summon contrasts yet to be discovered. One of Giuseppe Di Piazza’s objectives, author of these shots, seems to be the desire to capture a mutation. He creates a dialogue. He places himself in relation to landscape and the city . He brings those elements, which are familiar to these areas and often forgotten or taken for granted, to life. He delves into an exposition of the subconscious mind. This author is blatantly up-front, even in motion. He doesn’t hide. He restores an identity. He holds back just long enough, to take a breath, make an observation, by way of a transversal force. Yet, a powerful fantastical presence gushes out from everywhere, and it’s from that moment on, where stories, tales, and legends may begin.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Speaker Bella Mirabella, associate professor of literature and humanities at New York University, specializes ...
more >> in Renaissance studies, with a focus on drama, theater, performance, and gender. She is the editor the book, Ornamentalism: The Art of Renaissance Accessories (University of Michigan Press, 2011); co-editor of Shakespeare and Costume (Bloomsbury, 2015), and Left Politics and the Literary Profession (Columbia University Press, 1991).
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Art Thinking is a way of applying the mindsets of art and the tools of business at the same time. If ...
more >> you are making a work of art in any field, you aren't going from a known point A to a known point B but inventing point B. This framework will help you launch a career, a product, or a company, when you are the first mover, when you are honing a vision and carving your own path. Attendees will receive a master class in the tools of art thinking, which will help you to guide your career and your business from first principles by asking the right questions, to build nimble business structures and to skillfully manage risks and own the upside of the work you create.
6:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Learn how to use a brush pen to write Chinese calligraphy with an experience instructor. No Chinese language ...
more >> knowledge required. Library will provide supplies. This class repeats Thursday evenings in March and April.
Dirt and Deeds In Mississippi uncovers the largely unknown and pivotal role played by Black landowning ...
more >> families in the deep South who controlled over a million acres in the 1960s. They were prepared to put their land and their lives on the line in the fight for racial equality and the right to vote in America’s most segregated and violently racist state. In the face of escalating terror, Black landowners and independent farmers provided safe havens, collateral for jail bonds, armed protection and locations for Freedom Schools. 81 min. There will be a discussion following the screening with Charlayne Haynes, producer; Michelle DePass, co-director, Tishman Environment and Design Center and Dean, Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban Policy; Timon McPhearson, Associate Professor of Urban Ecology and Chair, Environmental Studies Program; and Mia White, Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies and Milano. Moderated by Michelle Materre, Associate Professor of Media Studies and Film and curator/producer, Creatively Speaking Film Series.
6:30 pm
free, no reservation required
This illustrated lecture explores the quiet catastrophes dotting American cities, examining the losses ...
more >> and failures that led these ruins to become forsaken by communities that once embraced them
6:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Join the celebrated author and translator David Bellos in honoring the release of his book. Casting decades ...
more >> of scholarship into accessible narrative form, Bellos brings to life the extraordinary story of how Victor Hugo managed to write his novel of the downtrodden despite a revolution, a coup d’état, and political exile; how he pulled off a path-breaking deal to get it published; and how his approach to the “social question” would define his era’s moral imagination. More than an ode to Hugo’s masterpiece, The Novel of the Century also shows that what Les Misérables has to say about poverty, history, and revolution is full of meaning today.
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
From the #1 bestselling author of The Historian comes a mesmerizing novel that spans the past and the ...
more >> present--and unearths the troubled history of a gorgeous but haunted country. In The Shadow Land, Elizabeth Kostova follows an American woman who moves to Bulgaria and finds herself embroiled in a mystery when she inadvertently finds an urn of human ashes and sets out to return them.
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
The Moth, an acclaimed not-for-profit organization dedicated to the craft of personal storytelling, has ...
more >> presented more than 10,000 stories to standing-room-only crowds worldwide. The Moth Community Program brings storytelling workshops to diverse communities throughout New York. Through these workshops, participants learn to shape memorable life experiences into well-crafted stories.
Every New York Yankees fan has a bucket list of activities to take part in at some point in their lives. ...
more >> But even the most die-hard fans haven't done everything there is to experience in and around the Bronx. From visiting Stan's Sports Bar to sitting in the bleachers for the roll call, author Mark Feinsand provides ideas, recommendations, and insider tips for must-see places and can't-miss activities near Yankee Stadium. But not every experience requires a trip to New York; long-distance Yankees fans can cross some items off their list from the comfort of their own homes. Whether you're attending every home game or supporting the Yanks from afar, there's something for every fan to do in The New York Yankees Fans' Bucket List.
Editor's Pick
An intern talks her way into an interview at a startup to escape a job she originally acquired because ...
more >> she lied about her gender, only to discover that her current employer is a co-owner – and her biggest competition is her own male alter-ego.
The story revolves around a pathetic young drifter named Kavalerov, whose loathing for life under the ...
more >> new Soviet regime is personified by his grossly successful benefactor Andrei Babichev, a sausage manufacturer. When Andrei's brother Ivan appears in town rallying for a "conspiracy of feelings" to protest the cold rationalism of the new era, Kavalerov's dream of a return to former times is rekindled. But has history's hand already been played? The Conspiracy of Feelings is a satire about conflicting values in the Marxist-Leninist state of the 1920s. Written by Yurii Olesha Translated by Daniel Gerould Presented by the Voyage Theater Company
Marie Howe's latest collection of poetry is Magdalene (W.W. Norton & Company, 2017). She was the Poet ...
more >> Laureate of New York State from 2012-2014. Paul Lisicky is most recently the author of The Narrow Door: A Memoir of Friendship (Graywolf, 2016).
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
Vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant and pianist Sullivan Fortner team up for an evening of swinging song. ...
more >> Salvant is the winner of the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album, and has been called “the finest jazz singer to emerge in the last decade” (The New York Times). New Orleans–born Fortner has made his mark studying and performing with The Marsalis Family, Donald Harrison, Roy Hargrove, and David Liebman, among other jazz luminaries.
Hailed as "poetic" by The Daily Telegraph, praised for her Chopin interpretation which "mixed excitement ...
more >> with eloquence" by the Gramophone Chopin Express, French pianist Hélène Tysman first broke out onto the international music scene as a laureate of the 16th International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. A few years earlier she had been awarded First Prize in the European Darmstadt Chopin Piano Competition (Germany) and was prizewinner in England (Newport International Competition For Young Pianists), Germany (Nauen International Piano Competition), China (Hong-Kong International Piano Competition) and the United States (Minneapolis International Piano-e-Competition). She is also a laureate of the Georges Cziffra Foundation in Senlis (France) and the Chopin Foundation in Hanover.
7:30 pm
free, no reservation required
7:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Tanya Gabrielian has captivated audiences worldwide with her gripping performances. She has performed ...
more >> on four continents in acclaimed venues including Carnegie Hall in New York, Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Sydney Opera House, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Wigmore Hall in London, and the Salle Cortot in Paris, with such orchestras as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, New London Sinfonia, and the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra.
7:30 pm
free, no reservation required
The Bogota-based champeta band channels the sounds and spirit of Colombia’s Caribbean coast in an energetic ...
more >> live show. Tribu Baharú is an afro-champeta music crew whose sound has evolved from the Colombian Caribbean and is influenced by the "Pico" (sound system) culture of Barranquilla and Cartagena. Champeta is a term that refers to a knife used by fishermen to remove fish scales and has been used to describe the music of Colombia's Atlantic Coast that have taken its influences from Colombian folk music, Central African Soukous-Rhumba (congo), Soweto Township-Jive, and other Carribbean-originated musics such as zouk, calipso, soca, compa, and reggae.
7:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
Traditional shamans view “soul loss”—the wounding of a person’s spirit as a result of trauma, ...
more >> often at an early age—as a leading cause of physical, emotional and psychological dysfunctions. The often-unconscious impulse to numb one’s feelings in order to carry on is the psyche’s survival strategy, but it takes its toll. The shamanic approach to healing this condition is to journey into the inner spirit world, retrieve the lost part of the soul, and reintegrate it into the psyche to return to wholeness. In this class, learn shamanic techniques for traveling to the spirit world; diagnosing soul-loss symptoms; developing the ability to “see” the source of our own and others’ traumas; and performing soul retrieval. With: Itzhak Beery
New York is a skyscraper city and there is no better time to view Manhattan’s icons than after the ...
more >> sun sets and the lights go on. Fueled by competition and a dash of audacity, New York City is still producing one of mankind’s most remarkable skyline. NOTE** THIS TOUR SPENDS MUCH TIME INDOORS OR IN SUBWAYS AND GREAT FOR ALL WEATHER CONDITIONS. Please note they do utilize the subway on this tour so you will need $5 for subway. Takes place Thursdays and Saturdays.
When Janelle relocates to Texas for the opportunity of a lifetime, she and her partner, Kane, are reminded ...
more >> that the consequences of being in the wrong place at the wrong time can be horrific. For three Waller County police officers, how might those same consequences manifest themselves along racialized and gendered lines? graveyard shift, loosely inspired by the legacy of Sandra Bland, is a love story about collision, opposing ideologies, interests, truth, and how the characters in this play make sense of them. Or don't.