free things to do in New York City
Free events for Tuesday, 02/17/26
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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 February 17, 2026?

23 free events take place on Tuesday, February 17 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 February 17 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 February . 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!

23 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Tuesday, February 17, 2026

All events are free unless otherwise noted.
        

Workshop | Central Park Running Session (All Levels Welcome)


If you prefer not to run alone or are looking to improve your running performance, you can run with a club! Open to runners of all levels. Weekly changed routes through the park. Coaches, training, running company and inspiration!
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 am
Free
Workshops, February 17, 2026, 02/17/2026, Central Park Running&nbsp;Session (All Levels Welcome)

Workshop | Adult Zumba


Featuring easy-to-follow Latin dance choreography. Work on your balance, coordination and range of motion.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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10:30 am
Free
Workshops, February 17, 2026, 02/17/2026, Adult Zumba

Workshop | Learn how to Play Indigenous Games from the Americas


Games play an essential role in Native community life. In this interactive program, Museum Educators introduce traditional Indigenous games from across the Americas. Participants will learn the cultural significance of each game and how to play them. The program is active, hands-on, and welcoming to all ages.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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11:00 am
Free
Workshops, February 17, 2026, 02/17/2026, Learn how to Play&nbsp;Indigenous Games from the Americas

Classical Music | Afternoon Bach


Take a momentary respite from a busy day to enjoy a selection of organ works by Johann Sebastian Bach in an intimate venue.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:20 pm
Free
Concerts, February 17, 2026, 02/17/2026, Afternoon Bach

Performance | Contemporary Ice Skating Dance Showcase in Midtown


Enjoy a lunchtime performances that bring contemporary choreography to an outdoor ice setting. Featuring solo and duet works by acclaimed skaters and choreographers, the programs transform the ice into a stage for expressive, site-responsive movement.
   New York City, NY; NYC
12:35 pm
Free
Performances, February 17, 2026, 02/17/2026, Contemporary Ice Skating Dance Showcase in Midtown

Film | Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018): Animated Superhero Blockbuster with All-Star Cast


Teen Miles Morales becomes the Spider-Man of his universe and must join with five spider-powered individuals from other dimensions to stop a threat for all realities. Directors: Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman Cast: Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Brian Tyree Henry, Lily Tomlin, Luna Lauren Velez, John Mulaney, Kimiko Glenn
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
Free
Films, February 17, 2026, 02/17/2026, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018): Animated Superhero Blockbuster with All-Star Cast

Classical Music | Modern Choral Works in a Historic Venue


Choral intertwine from LaGuardia High School, with organist Jameson Knable, performs a series of Modern pieces. Program: Rosephanye Powell (1962-) To sit and dream Wilbur Belton Oh give thanks Andre Thomas (1952-) Rockin Jerusalem Moses Hogan (1957-2003) Only what you do for Christ will last Moses Hogan (1957-2003) Go down Moses James Hall (1971-) Sovereign Kevin Levar (1977-) Safety
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:45 pm
Free
Concerts, February 17, 2026, 02/17/2026, Modern Choral Works in a Historic Venue

Workshop | Mah Jongg & More


A dedicated group of adult American Mah Jongg enthusiasts for friendly and informal games, or try your hand at other card and board games. Make friends and catch up with neighbors. Sets, cards, and games provided, or bring your own.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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2:00 pm
Free
Workshops, February 17, 2026, 02/17/2026, Mah Jongg & More

Master Class | Learn the Ins & Outs of Great Flute Performance


Joanna G’froerer, Principal Flute with Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra, imparts skills and techniques for flute mastery.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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2:30 pm
Free
Concerts, February 17, 2026, 02/17/2026, Learn the Ins & Outs of Great Flute Performance

Film | The Surfer (2024): Psychological Thriller with Nicolas Cage


In this psychological thriller, a man returns to the idyllic beach of his childhood to surf with his son. But his desire to hit the waves is thwarted by a group of locals whose mantra is “don’t live here, don’t surf here.” Humiliated and angry, the man is drawn into a conflict that keeps rising in concert with the punishing heat of the summer and pushes him to his breaking point. Director: Lorcan Finnegan Cast: Nicolas Cage, Julian McMahon, Nic Cassim, Miranda Tapsell Nicolas Cage is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Golden Globe Award.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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3:00 pm
Free
Films, February 17, 2026, 02/17/2026, The Surfer (2024): Psychological Thriller with Nicolas Cage

Gallery Talk | The Journey of a Renaissance Masterpiece


Explore the modern history of the Mantuan Roundel with museum experts, tracing its rediscovery and acquisition. The talk highlights how scholarship, connoisseurship, and collecting practices shape the life of a Renaissance work of art, offering new insights and behind-the-scenes stories.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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3:00 pm
Free
Gallery Talks, February 17, 2026, 02/17/2026, The Journey of a Renaissance Masterpiece

Book Club | Discussion of Beloved by Toni Morrison


Discuss the classic novel Beloved by Toni Morrison. Synopsis: Sethe was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. Sethe has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe’s new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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4:00 pm
Free
Book Clubs, February 17, 2026, 02/17/2026, Discussion of&nbsp;Beloved by Toni Morrison

Discussion | Scholar Discusses Ancient Monuments in Ottoman Greece


Alessia Zambon, of the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines discusses her project, "Western travelers, local emissaries and ancient monuments in Ottoman Greece (1784–1834)." Her research focuses on the explorations and acquisitions of antiquities by western travelers and local emissaries in Southern Italy, the Ottoman Empire and Greece in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and on the history of collections in Europe.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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4:00 pm
Free
Discussions, February 17, 2026, 02/17/2026, Scholar Discusses Ancient Monuments in Ottoman Greece

Film | Brokeback Mountain (2005): Neo-Western Romantic Drama with Heath Ledger & Jake Gyllenhaal


A ranch hand and rodeo cowboy meet on a ranch in Wyoming. Their relationship becomes complicated as they get married and start their own families. Director: Ang Lee Cast: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Linda Cardellini, Anna Faris, Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams, Randy Quaid Heath Ledger was an Australian actor. Over the course of his career, Ledger was in 20 films in a variety of genres. He also produced and directed music videos. For his role in Brokeback Mountain, he received nominations for the BAFTA Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, Golden Globe Award, and the Academy Award for Best Actor, becoming the eighth-youngest nominee in the category at that time. A few months before his death, he had finished filming his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight; the performance brought him praise and popularity, and numerous posthumous awards, including the Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, a SAG Award, and a Critics' Choice Award, all for Best Supporting Actor. Jake Gyllenhaal is an American actor. For his role in Brokeback Mountain, he won a BAFTA Award and was nominated for an Academy Award. Gyllenhaal has performed on stage on the West End and Broadway, receiving a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play. Aside from acting, he is vocal about political and social issues.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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4:45 pm
Free
Films, February 17, 2026, 02/17/2026, Brokeback Mountain (2005): Neo-Western Romantic Drama with&nbsp;Heath Ledger &&nbsp;Jake Gyllenhaal

Book Discussion | Interdisciplinary Artst Shares His New Book about COntemporary Art


Margot Bouman in conversation with Isaiah Winters about her new book, Sampling and Site-Specific Practice in Contemporary Art. Samples take many forms: quotations of other cultural works; replicas of other objects; reenactments of works by other artists; or fragments that are quite literally cut or removed from other works of art, design, or media. This discussion will excavate the shared frameworks of meaning that underpin the multifaceted, multidimensional and medium-fluid works that result.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:15 pm
Free
Book Discussions, February 17, 2026, 02/17/2026, Interdisciplinary Artst Shares His New Book about COntemporary Art

Concert | Intimate Guitar Set Blending Brazilian Music and Jazz


An acclaimed guitarist returns with an intimate set that weaves together Brazilian classics, jazz standards, and original compositions. This performance marks his debut in the concert series after a widely praised appearance last season. Enjoy a free drink at this hour-long weeknight concert, then mingle with the musicians and fellow attendees after the show. Note: Doors open at 5:30 PM, music at 6 PM.
   New York City, NY; NYC
5:30 pm
Free
Concerts, February 17, 2026, 02/17/2026, Intimate Guitar Set Blending Brazilian Music and Jazz

Talk | Learn about Antisemitism & Video Games


Hear a fascinating discussion by Jewish Studies scholar Joshua Lambert on his research on antisemitism and violence in online games. For almost half a century, popular, commercial video games have made it the player’s task to kill Nazis. Why did Jewish characters not appear as victims, Allied soldiers, or resistance fighters in such games throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, and why did they begin appearing in those roles, suddenly, in the mid-2010s? It was only after Quentin Tarantino’s film Inglourious Basterds (2009) that commercial game developers began to include Jews and Jewishness prominently in their Nazi-killing simulators. Examining entries in the Wolfenstein series, and touching briefly on Call of Duty: WWII, this talk demonstrates Tarantino’s singular and not necessarily salutary influence on video games, and explains one unsettling way that Jewishness figures in the most popular contemporary cultural medium.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:30 pm
Free
Talks, February 17, 2026, 02/17/2026, Learn about Antisemitism & Video Games

Book Discussion | Author & Journalist Svetlana Satchkova Shares Her New Novel, The Undead


Experience a book talk by Svetlana Satchkova about her new novel,  The Undead: A Novel of Modern Russia. Svetlana Satchkova is a Russian-born journalist and novelist who immigrated to the United States in 2016. She covers culture and politics, with bylines in the Rumpus, Newsweek, LARB, the Independent, and others. In this darkly funny and emotionally resonant novel of contemporary Russia, a young filmmaker unexpectedly finds herself targeted by an authoritarian regime—despite her best efforts to stay out of politics. The Undead is a layered and sharply observant portrait of an artist caught in the machinery of state power, and the choices one faces in a system where even indifference can be dangerous.  When Maya, a young Russian filmmaker, makes a low-budget horror movie, it seems like a promising start to her indie film career. But her jokey lo-fi picture soon attracts the attention of the autocratic state, and Maya is swept into a nightmarish system where logic breaks down, and no one is safe.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussions, February 17, 2026, 02/17/2026, Author & Journalist Svetlana Satchkova Shares Her New Novel,&nbsp;The Undead

Opening Reception | Multi-Artist Fine Arts Exhibition


Enjoy the BFA Fine Arts Spring 2026 Exhibition, showcasing the work of the program's students. 
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free
Opening Receptions, February 17, 2026, 02/17/2026, Multi-Artist Fine Arts Exhibition

Screening | Animalia (2023): French-Moroccan Sci-Fi Film


Itto, a young woman from a modest rural background, is slowly adapting to the Moroccan privileged codes of her husband’s family. But when supernatural events put the country in a state of emergency, Itto finds herself separated from her husband and new family. Alone, pregnant, and looking for her way back, she finds emancipation. Director: Sofia Alaoui Cast: Oumaïma Barid, Mehdi Dehbi, Fouad Oughaou In French, Arabic, and Berber with English subtitles.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
Free
Screenings, February 17, 2026, 02/17/2026, Animalia (2023): French-Moroccan Sci-Fi Film

Book Discussion | Learn about the Life of Influential Civil Rights Leader Rev. James Lawson Jr. (In Person AND Online!)


Explore the life of one of the most influential yet unheralded heroes of the civil rights era, Rev. James Lawson Jr. Emily Yellin, Lawson's memoir collaborator, and his son, John Lawson, discuss his legacy. Nonviolent is a personal portrait of a principal architect of the civil rights era. Rev. James Lawson Jr. spent his life fighting racial and economic injustice. A peer of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he taught and organized nonviolent direct action, guiding generations of civil rights activists. Drawing on decades of activism--from studying independence movements abroad to serving prison time for refusing the Korean War draft--Nonviolent illuminates the life of a man who fought oppression and advanced equality, dignity, and liberty.
   New York City, NY; NYC
7:00 pm
Free
Book Discussions, February 17, 2026, 02/17/2026, Learn about the Life of Influential Civil Rights Leader Rev. James Lawson Jr. (In Person AND Online!)

Book Discussion | Scholars Discuss New Book Civility Unbound: Contesting a Democratic Value


This conversation brings together contributors to Civility Unbound to examine how civility operates across culture, identity, media, and the arts. Drawing on perspectives from scholarship, journalism, and creative practice, the discussion will explore civility’s dual role in public life—how it can foster democratic dialogue while also, at times, limit challenges to injustice. The program features Charlton McIlwain, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University; Kwame Anthony Appiah, University Professor of Philosophy and Law at NYU; and Catharine Stimpson, University Professor and Dean Emerita at NYU, moderated by Eric Klinenberg, Helen Gould Shepard Professor of Social Science and Director of the Institute for Public Knowledge at NYU.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free
Book Discussions, February 17, 2026, 02/17/2026, Scholars Discuss New Book Civility Unbound: Contesting a Democratic Value
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Complimentary Tickets

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

Performance | Multi-Award Winners Give Insights into Careers of Iconic Artists

Regular Price: $80
CFT Member Price: $0.00

Classical Music | Large Chorus Performs Gospel and More at a Landmark Venue

Regular Price: $40
CFT Member Price: $0.00

Play | "Crowd-Pleasing" Shakespeare Comedy

Regular Price: $40
CFT Member Price: $0.00