free things to do in New York City

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

30 free events take place in New York City on Sunday, July 12, 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!

30 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Sunday, July 12, 2009

All events are free unless otherwise noted.

Show all events Show online events Show in-person events

Workshop | Kayaking on the Hudson

Join 20-minute instructional paddles, and explore the Hudson River first hand. Please wear a bathing suit or shorts and a t-shirt, and know how to swim.

Join the Club!

10:00 am
free, no reservation required

Lesson | Pilates in the Park

Classical Pilates encourages proper breathing, spinal alignment, core strengthening, muscle flexibility and balance in the body. Taught in the Park by Courtnie Vitali.

Join the Club!

10:00 am
free, no reservation required

Other | Fishing in the Hudson River

Catch-and-release fishing gives anyone and everyone the chance to fish. It’s an appropriate and fun activity for those as young as five. All of the necessary supplies including rods, reels and bait, as well as complete instructions, are provided. Fishing poles are provided on a first come, first served basis, with a half-hour limit when others are waiting.

Join the Club!

10:30 am
free, no reservation required

Other | Fishing in the Hudson River

Catch-and-release fishing gives anyone and everyone the chance to fish. It’s an appropriate and fun activity for those as young as five. All of the necessary supplies including rods, reels and bait, as well as complete instructions, are provided. Fishing poles are provided on a first come, first served basis, with a half-hour limit when others are waiting.

Join the Club!

10:30 am
free, no reservation required

City Walk | “Boardwalk & Bocce” Walk

2-4 miles, easy pace. Join a game of bocce/shuffleboard and a leisurely walk on the South Beach/Midland Beach boardwalks in Staten Island. They will bring the equipment. Bring lunch and beverage or buy it at a nearby deli.

New York

Join the Club!

10:30 am
$3

Tour | Historic Flatiron District

View some of the City’s most notable landmarks, including the New York Life Insurance building, the MetLife tower, the Appellate Courthouse and the famous Flatiron Building.

Join the Club!

11:00 am
free, no reservation required

City Walk | Historic Orchard Street Tour

Take a journey down historic Orchard Street and discover the origins of New York's first discount retail district. The two-hour tour highlights the integral role that the shopping district has played in the history and development of the Lower East Side.

Join the Club!

11:00 am
free, no reservation required

Fair | NYC Celebration of Nations Festival

Join the Club!

11:00 am
free, no reservation required

Other | Skate Boarding and Roller Blading

The Skate Park is open to all skate boarders and roller bladers willing to sign a waiver and wear proper protective gear. Individuals under 18 years of age must have a waiver signed by a parent or guardian.

Join the Club!

11:00 am
free, no reservation required

Lesson | Tai Chi in the Park

Led by members of the Taoist Tai Chi Society, participants will have the opportunity to relax and exercise among the changing exhibitions of contemporary outdoor sculpture. Classes are designed for all experience levels. Participants should wear comfortable clothing.

Join the Club!

11:00 am
free, no reservation required

Fair | Bastille Day Festival

Join the Club!

12:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Tour | “The Castle and its Kingdom”

Take a walk around the lands dominated by Belvedere Castle, situated high on Vista Rock. Visit the tiny 55-acre realm on an eclectic tour of history and nature. Tour is approximately one hour.

Join the Club!

12:00 pm
free, no reservation required

City Walk | “Beyond the Beatniks: The Hidden History of St. Mark's Place” Tour

St. Mark's Place staked its claim as an epicenter of pioneering radical arts, activism and counterculture in America over half a century ago -- but there is much more than meets the eye. Before the beatniks, hippies and punks (and way before the t-shirt and yogurt shops), St. Mark's Place served as an important social and political hub for the ever changing immigrant groups populating the neighborhood over the last 150 years. Eric Ferrara leads this tour that peels back the layers of myths, legends and misconceptions of St. Mark's Place to reveal little known history about this fascinating street and time capsule of East Village/Lower East Side/New York City history.

New York

Join the Club!

1:00 pm
Free...

Hike | “Garrison-Arden Point Circular” Hike

Easy pace. Woodland trails, about 6 miles. An easy summer version, no real climbing but plenty of viewpoints. Go via the Blue, White and Red trails to a gazebo deep in the woods for lunch (a modest uphill walk). Return via the Meadow Gazebo and its Catskill & Mohonk views and then to Arden Point and a second short lunch opposite West Point. 2 more viewpoints and finishing in a brief walk through Garrison landing, and the vestiges of the 1968 movie set.

Join the Club!

1:00 pm
$3 plus train...

Tour | “Waterways and Vistas”

Walk from the Dairy to Belvedere Castle, and learn about the intricate design of Central Park's web of pastoral landscapes and formal romantic vistas.

Join the Club!

1:00 pm
free, no reservation required

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.

Join the Club!

2:00 pm
$5

City Walk | Hudson River Promenade Walk

Short city walk, about 1.5 miles, flat terrain. Take a leisurely walk on the beautiful Hudson River promenade. Pass through or around (at participants' discretion) Robert Wagner Park, Rockefeller Park, and the World Financial Center. Spectacular views of the Hudson River and the NJ coastline, If participants are interested, they may on their own walk up along the Hudson River Westside Park, northward. Inclement weather cancels.

New York

Join the Club!

2:00 pm
$3

Concert | Los Soneros de Oriente, Cuban music

Taking their name from the region of Cuba that is most famous for Son Montuno, Los Soneros de Oriente represent a lifelong commitment to traditional Cuban music. Composed primarily of former members of the great band Son del la Loma, Los Soneros pay a tribute to that group and its founder, the late Armando Sanchez. This is the music of the countryside and the mountains, based on the Clave and Tres, with the trumpets toasting the top.

Join the Club!

2:00 pm
free, no reservation required

City Walk | Meatpacking District Walk

The new "in" place in town. Fashion Stores, trendy restaurants, hip bars. Highlights: Hogs and Heiffers Bar, Gansevoort Hotel, the HighLine, the "Hard Luck" Pier, the former Collier's Magazine Building and more.

Join the Club!

2:00 pm
$15, but only...

Jazz | Parlor Jazz

Every Sunday for more than a decade, rain or shine, with no vacations, a jazz concert has taken place in this parlor. This weekly free concerts in the living room of an apartment are legendary in Harlem and an institution for jazz lovers citywide.

Join the Club!

4:00 pm
Free, but donations...

City Walk | “Wave Hill-College of Mount Saint Vincent Campus”

5-6 miles, moderate. Explore two beautiful sites on the Hudson River. Bring your Metrocard and a picnic supper.

Join the Club!

4:00 pm
$3 plus Metrocard

Concert | Janet Hamilton, Visiting Organist

Hamilton is Director of Music at Saint Mary’s Catholic Church in Lanesville, IN, and Adjunct Professor of Organ at Indiana University Southeast, New Albany, IN.

New York

Join the Club!

4:45 pm
free, no reservation required

Theater | William Shakespeare's Hamlet

The Bard's classic tragedy, probably the most famous play ever, is set in Denmark and recounts how Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle Claudius, who has murdered his father, the King, and then taken the throne and married his mother.

Join the Club!

6:30 pm
free, no reservation required

Workshop | Sunset Yoga in the Park

Yoga with certified instructors. These yoga classes are suitable for all skill levels. * Please bring a towel or yoga mat. * Bring water. * Wear comfortable clothing. * Please arrive early. Rain cancels.

Join the Club!

6:45 pm
free, no reservation required

Concert | La Cumbiamba NY, Colombian music

La Cumbiana NY performs music from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Colombia in both traditional (Gaitas y Tambores) and tropical (Modern Papayera) formats. The ensemble that performs concerts and workshops with traditional instruments from the African Diaspora in Colombia, as well as indigenous and European. All of which are blended together in the traditional musical styles that developed throughout the colonial era, and continue to evolve. Musicians: Sam Sadigursky, Clarinet Albert Leusink, Trumpet Adrew Hunter Trombone Juan Pablo Uribe, Soprano Saxophone & Vocals Nilko Andreas Guarin, Voice & Maraca Silvia Sierra, Voice Sebastian Cruz, Guitar & Percussion Juan Gallego, Bass Morris Canate, Percussion & Vocals Camilo Rodriguez, Gaita Macho & Percussion Martin Vejarano Drumset/Percussion & Gaita Hembra. Band Leader

Join the Club!

7:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Theater | Peter Nickowitz' Songs & Statues

The play is about an assimilated Jewish family in 1958, suburban Connecticut whose lives are turned upside down when the father is passed over for a promotion because of their Judaism. Directed by Tom Oppenheim with Steve Cook. With Chase Fein, Tom Oppenheim, Betsy Parrish, Ben Rathbun, Elizabeth Shepherd and Angela Vitale

Join the Club!

7:00 pm
$10...

Dancing | Swing Dancing with the George Gee Big Band

Strut your stuff under the stars with George Gee and his 17-piece band. Free swing dance lessons begin a half-hour before start time.

Join the Club!

7:00 pm
free, no reservation required

**Theater | Grace, an New Play about Idealism and Reality**

Written by Sanjit De Silva and Deepa Purohit. Directed by Nandita Shenoy. A young law student travels to Africa in hopes of saving the world. But in his quest to help one young woman, he finds his own sense of purpose challenged in the crossfire of western idealism, the grim realities of working on the ground, and an emerging hero from Africa itself. Based on real events and interviews, Grace asks the question where does idealism end and reality begin?? The show is fully booked at this point.

Join the Club!

8:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Theater | Academy Award Nominee Anne Hathaway in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

This one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies. Hathaway (Brokeback Mountain) plays Viola, one of the canon’s most charming heroines. The story follows the romantic adventures of Viola and her identical twin Sebastian, both shipwrecked in the enchanted dukedom of Illyria. At the helm of this time-honored story of cross-dressing and mistaken identity, all in the name of love, is Tony Award-winning Director Daniel Sullivan. Also with Charles Borland, Michael Cumpsty, Clifton Duncan, Raúl Esparza, Herb Foster, Leslie Harrison, Slate Holmgren, Kevin Kelly, David Kenner, Hamish Linklater, Dorien Makhloghi, Audra McDonald, David Pittu, Ray Rizzo, Jay O. Sanders, Julie Sharbutt, Stark Sands, Baylen Thomas, Zach Villa, Jon Patrick Walker, and Julie White.

Join the Club!

8:00 pm
Free tickets required,...

Jazz | Billy Harper Quintet featuring the seminal saxophonist

Jazz saxophonist Billy Harper has established himself as an original, inventive performer and composer. His 1973 release Capra Black has been described as “one of the seminal recordings of jazz’s black consciousness movement.” Harper performs with his long-standing quintet, most recently featured on the 2008 release Blueprints of Jazz, Vol. 2. He plays with: Francesca Tanksley , piano; Keyon Harrold, trumpet; Clarence Seay ,bass; and Aaron Scott, drums.

Join the Club!

8:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Join the Club!

Complimentary Tickets

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

Play | Psychological Drama

Regular Price: $55
CFT Member Price: $0.00

Classical Music | Holiday Concert at a Landmark Venue

Regular Price: $40
CFT Member Price: $0.00

Dance Performance | "Astonishing" Choreographer

Regular Price: $54
CFT Member Price: $0.00

Performance | Comedy by 13-time Emmy Winner with Broadway Actors

Regular Price: $69
CFT Member Price: $0.00