free things to do in New York City

Free Events, Free Things to Do in New York City! Read More

25 free events take place in New York City on Monday, December 14, 2009.

Join the Club!
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!

25 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Monday, December 14, 2009

All events are free unless otherwise noted.

Show all events Show online events Show in-person events

Workshop | Daily Instructed Meditation

Learn some serenity at the start of your busy day.

Join the Club!

7:30 am
free, no reservation required

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" Five tours daily on the hour.

Join the Club!

9:30 am
Free...

Concert | Beyond the Pale, Acoustic Music

Beyond the Pale's explosive acoustic sound is inspired by a wide range of cross-cultural influences, from Klezmer, Balkan and Romanian music, to bluegrass, jazz, reggae and funk. Performed with high energy and infectious joy by consummate musicians, Beyond the Pale's dynamic live performances have delighted audiences across Canada and the United States.

Join the Club!

12:30 pm
free, no reservation required

Jazz | Fall 2009 Ensemble & Recital Series: Words and Music

Directed by Diane Moser.

Join the Club!

2:30 pm
free, no reservation required

Workshop | How to Get Started in Web Design

If you’ve been thinking about creating a website but don’t know where to start, this is the seminar for you. They’ll talk about how you go about creating a website and the software you would use to do it. They’ll talk about what HTML is and how to use Adobe Dreamweaver to layout your webpages and style your text. They’ll show how to use Adobe Fireworks to create buttons and other graphics for your webpages. Don’t know the difference between a GIF and JPEG image? Don’t worry, they’ll explain that too.

Join the Club!

3:00 pm
Free

Other | Students' Open Studios

Open studios are an opportunity to see new works by current students in the studio setting.

Join the Club!

5:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Author Reading | Beth Baron reads from her book Contesting Conversion: Missionaries, Islamic Activists, and Orphans in Egypt

Beth Baron is Co-Director of the Middle Eastern and the Middle East American at the Graduate Center.

Join the Club!

6:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Workshop | Credit & Money Management Workshop

Join the Club!

6:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Workshop | How to Get Started in Web Design

Join the Club!

6:00 pm
Free

Discussion | New York Knight: A Centennial Tribute to Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (1909-2000), with Jane Alexander and Others

Jane Alexander, Vera Fairbanks, Leatrice Gilbert Fountain, Jamie Niven, and others remember Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. in a program moderated by Foster Hirsch. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. was an American actor and a highly decorated officer in World War II. He was made a Knight Commander of the British Empire in 1949.

Join the Club!

6:00 pm
free, no reservation required

**Book Discussion | Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist: Dreaming of the World**

The adult book discussion group explores he charming tale of Santiago, a shepherd boy, who dreams of seeing the world. He journeys from Spain to Morocco in search of worldly success, and eventually to Egypt, where a fateful encounter with an alchemist brings him at last to self-understanding and spiritual enlightenment.

Join the Club!

6:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Discussion | Celebrating the Life and Work of Choreographer Pina Bausch

The legendary German dance-theatre choreographer Pina Bausch passed away in June 2009. Often described as one of the most influential artists of the last fifty years, Bausch opened up new possibilities in performance through ground- breaking work created with her company, Tanztheater Wuppertal. Join a tribute to Bausch, with an afternoon of films of her work, followed by a discussion on Bausch's impact across the arts with special guests from the theatre and dance worlds, including dance critic Anna Kisselgoff. Moderated by Royd Climenhaga, author of Pina Bausch.

Join the Club!

6:30 pm
free, no reservation required

Author Reading | Denis Belliveau & Francis O’Donnell discuss their book In the Footsteps of Marco Polo: A Companion to the Public Television Film

Travel in the footsteps of Marco Polo, with two young men from Queens, Denis Belliveau, an award winning photographer and Francis O’Donnell, a sculptor/lecturer and an ex-marine, who embark on a two year adventure retracing the route of Marco Polo’s entire 25,000-mile, land-and-sea route from Venice to China and back.

Join the Club!

6:30 pm
free, no reservation required

Workshop | Make Paper Ornaments

Learn how to make a unique ornament to dress up your Christmas tree or windows using your favorite foil wrapping paper (or you can use some of theirs).

Join the Club!

6:30 pm
free, no reservation required

Poetry Reading | National Book Award winner Mark Doty reads and discusses his work

Doty's Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems won the National Book Award for Poetry in 2008. His books of poems include School of the Arts, Source and My Alexandria. His nonfiction book Dog Years was a a bestseller in 2007. Doty is the only American poet to have received the T.S. Eliot Prize in the U.K. His work has been honored by the National Book Critics Circle Award, and he has received two Lambda Literary Awards.

Join the Club!

6:30 pm
$5

Party | Party and performances = Holiday Fun!

Start on the ground floor, with cocktails and an open rehearsal with Rod Rodgers Dance Company. Then move upstairs for dance theater works by Sidra Bell Dance Company, selections from "Blonde All Over", performance artist Edward Vilga, and films from the NYC Downtown Short Film Festival. Open bar sponsored by Hornitos tequila & tasty hors d'oeuvres all evening long, plus a goodie bag for those of you who have been nice not naughty this holiday season. 6:30PM Doors open & Rod Rodgers Dance Company open rehearsal 6:45PM Open bar, tasty hors d'oeuvre, multi-media installation 7:15PM Sidra Bell Dance Company 7:45PM NYC Downtown Short Film Festival 8:15PM performance artist Edward Vilga 10:00PM Event ends.

New York

Join the Club!

6:30 pm
$10

Reading | Writers from Austria's Dachstein: Cult Studio

An evening with authors Franzobel and Monika Wogrolly. Situated at almost 10,000 feet above sea level in the midst of the Austrian alps, Dachstein:Cult is Europe’s highest artist-in-residence studio. For several weeks every year the Dachstein glacier is inhabited by artists and creators from all over the world.

Join the Club!

6:30 pm
free, no reservation required

Performance | Case of the Mondays Comedy Show

Featuring comics Sergio Chicon, Rachael Parenta, Sean Patton, Dan Wilbur, and Nick Cobb.

New York

Join the Club!

7:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Jazz | Fall 2009 Ensemble & Recital Series: The Music of John Coltrane

Directed by Reggie Workman.

Join the Club!

7:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Author Reading | Lewis Blackwell discusses his book Photowisdom: Master Photographers on Their Art

Through the extraordinary images and insights of the world's master photographers, this book explores the richness of contemporary photographic practice, featuring commentaries from original interviews with world-leading photographers alongside exquisite reproductions of key images chosen by the artists themselves. The result is an unprecedented collection of 200 images showcasing each master photographer's work and their unique voice. Photowisdom will support a project with award-winning charity PhotoVoice to help children in rural Afghanistan express their concerns, and grasp opportunities through photography.

Join the Club!

7:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Concert | TimeTable Percussion performs works by Ravel and others

Made up of Alex Lipowski, Matthew Gold, and Matt Ward, and known for its riveting performances, TimeTable invites audiences to experience percussion up close. The iO String Quartet joins TimeTable for a fascinating program of exotic works by Maurice Ravel and Greek composer Iannis Xenakis, as well as the U.S. Premiere of French composer George Aperghis' theatrical Triangle Carré for percussion trio and string quartet.

Join the Club!

7:00 pm
Free