56 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Monday, May 1, 2017
All events are free unless otherwise noted.
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.
8:00 am
free, no reservation required
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.
More than two centuries into the American experiment, there is still vigorous disagreement about the ...
more >> reasons for protecting speech, and about whether we protect it enough, or too much. Technological change is transforming this debate because it is transforming the way we communicate. On May 1, the Knight First Amendment Institute and the Tow Center for Digital Journalism will convene some of America's most important thinkers about free speech and the free press to address essential questions about democracy in the digital age. Please join a day of exploration, discussion, and debate.
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.
It is here, as much as anywhere, where American history started. It's where the first US Congress assembled ...
more >> and produced the Bill of Rights and where President George Washington took his first oath of office. It's here where the world's most important stock exchange and one of the most famous bridges stand. And it is here where an unspeakable tragedy took place and where a rebirth is underway.
Join this unique opportunity to hear from renowned scholars working on A Comprehensive History of the ...
more >> Jews in the Soviet Union as they share their findings with the public in this day-long conference.
Learn a new language in these standalone beginner classes. Classes are not cumulative, so you may attend ...
more >> any class throughout the season without needing to play catch up.
Over the past century, many personal stories of Chinese families have been buried by "national memories" ...
more >> that erase the specificity and intensity of individual family experiences. To encourage students at City University of Hong Kong to explore the depth and diversity of their family's history through documentary making, Yuhong Li launched an oral history documentary project, "Family Album." Students have completed around 100 short films during the past five years and, as a result, gained unexpected insights into the lives of their family members. At this program, audience members will have the opportunity to view four of these short films and discuss the project with filmmaker, Yuhong Li.
12:00 pm
free, no reservation required
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
Editor's Pick
This hour-long workshop, facilitated by an artist and lawyer team, will teach the basics of our nation’s ...
more >> path toward universal suffrage, as well as covering current controversies surrounding voting rights. During the second half of the workshop, participants are encouraged to lend their voices to the conversation by creating an original cartoon, meme, song, poem, or social media post that creatively expresses the meaning and importance to them of voting. This workshop is presented in partnership with Let's ROL, a new rule-of-law initiative dedicated to inspiring the public, through creative means, to the promise and privilege of civic participation.
12:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Piano concert series, showcasing ragtime, stride, and jazz pianists. Every weekday at 12:30 pm.
New York City, NY; NYC
12:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Waves of Tradition is a curated week-long celebration of New York City and the waves of immigrant cultures ...
more >> that make up its rich history. African musician and poet Salieu Suso, joined by Ebrima Jassey, will play traditional African instruments, the kora and balafon, throughout the day. The sound of a kora resembles that of a harp, though when played in the traditional style it bears a resemblance to flamenco and delta blues guitar. The balafon is an ancient wooden xylophone played in Africa since the 14th century, and has more than 20 keys that sit on calabash gourds that play melodic tunes.
12:30 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.
Bringing to vivid life the emotions of the people of ancient Greece, and prompting questions about how ...
more >> we express, control, manipulate, or simulate feelings in our own society, A World of Emotions: Ancient Greece, 700 BC–200 AD is a path-breaking exhibition.
1:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Stars: Cary Grant, John Garfield, Alan Hale. In order to provide information for the first air raid over ...
more >> Tokyo, a U.S. submarine sneaks into Tokyo Bay and places a spy team ashore. 135 min.
2:00 pm
free, no reservation required
A discussion with filmmaker Julia Loktev and Professor Anna Katsnelson about Loktev's film The Loneliest ...
more >> Planet. Note: the film will not be screened at this event. The Loneliest Planet is a 2011 film written and directed by Julia Loktev, starring Gael Garcia Bernal, Hani Furstenberg, and Georgian actor Bidzina Gujabidze. The plot centers around a young couple who travel with a local guide through a twisted backpacking trip across the Georgian wilderness. The film was featured at the New York Film Festival, the BFI London Film Festival, and AFI Fest in Los Angeles, where it won the Grand Jury Prize. It was awarded the top prize of "Lady Harimaguada de Oro" (The Golden Lady) at the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival, where actress Hani Furstenberg also won for Best Actress. The film's was shown in the United States by Sundance Selects. The film is adapted from McSweeney's writer Tom Bissell's short story "Expensive Trips Nowhere," published in his collection God Lives in St. Petersburg.
2:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Greenwich Village is among Manhattan's most desirable and expensive residential neighborhoods. It's history, ...
more >> however, betrays it's monied status. The Village, with it's quiet, shaded streets, lined with lovely brick and brownstone townhouses, was once the incubating ground of artistic, social and political movements that have helped shape US history. From the Beats to the Folk Movement, from workers rights to gay rights, the Village has often been the center of it all.
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 hour-long workshop, facilitated by an artist and lawyer team, will teach the basics of our nation’s ...
more >> path toward universal suffrage, as well as covering current controversies surrounding voting rights. During the second half of the workshop, participants are encouraged to lend their voices to the conversation by creating an original cartoon, meme, song, poem, or social media post that creatively expresses the meaning and importance to them of voting.
2:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
With: Elzbieta Sklodowska, Washington University María A. Cabrera Arús, New York University Walfrido ...
more >> Dorta, New York University Moderator: Jacqueline Loss, University of Connecticut
Editor's Pick
Out of control girls, angry, nasty girls are a sight to behold. They’re terrifying, electrifying, they’re ...
more >> everything girls shouldn’t be, and we hate them. This is a work about these girls. Their names are Billy, Bobby and Sam.
4:00 pm
free, no reservation required
This hour-long workshop, facilitated by an artist and lawyer team, will teach the basics of our nation’s ...
more >> path toward universal suffrage, as well as covering current controversies surrounding voting rights. During the second half of the workshop, participants are encouraged to lend their voices to the conversation by creating an original cartoon, meme, song, poem, or social media post that creatively expresses the meaning and importance to them of voting. This workshop is presented in partnership with Let's ROL, a new rule-of-law initiative dedicated to inspiring the public, through creative means, to the promise and privilege of civic participation.
4:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Listening to sounds is fundamental to how we experience our environment and ourselves. In recent years, ...
more >> both the humanities and sciences have become increasingly invested in the interrelation between the environment and the listening experience. This seminar features leading scholars from auditory neuroscience, sound studies, and music cognition discussing scientific and humanistic perspectives on the role of acoustic conditions and cultural exposure on the formation of the sense of hearing itself. Speakers: -- Tim Griffiths, Professor of Cognitive Neurology, Newcastle University, UK -- Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis, Professor and Director of the Music Cognition Lab, University of Arkansas -- Ana Maria Ochoa, Professor of Music, -- Moderator: Nori Jacoby, Presidential Scholar in Society and Neuroscience, Auditory neuroscientist Tim Griffiths will discuss the brain basis for strong emotional responses to sounds. Ethnomusicologist and anthropologist Ana Maria Ochoa will speak about how different cultures conceptualize the relation between listening, music/sound and the human- non-human. Elizabeth Margulis, will speak about empirical approaches to aesthetic listening from the perspective of music cognition. Reception to follow.
4:15 pm
free, no reservation required
Qiao Liu, Piano 5:00 pm Story, Song, and Stage Ensemble 7:00 pm BFA Senior Project Presentations 8:00 ...
more >> pm Stanislav Fridman, composition 8:00 pm Yena Seo, cello 8:00 pm Music of Herbie Hancock Ensemble 9:00 pm
5:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Waves of Tradition is a curated week-long celebration of New York City and the waves of immigrant cultures ...
more >> that make up its rich history. African musician and poet Salieu Suso, joined by Ebrima Jassey, will play traditional African instruments, the kora and balafon, throughout the day. The sound of a kora resembles that of a harp, though when played in the traditional style it bears a resemblance to flamenco and delta blues guitar. The balafon is an ancient wooden xylophone played in Africa since the 14th century, and has more than 20 keys that sit on calabash gourds that play melodic tunes.
5:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Looking for a little something to liven up your Monday? Join the monthly Contemporary Classics Book Discussion. ...
more >> This informal group offers an opportunity to dig deeply into some of the finest examples of contemporary writing and make friends with some fellow book-lovers. This month: A Flag for Sunrise, an astonishing saga of politics, war, and Americans out of place, by Robert Stone.
5:45 pm
free, no reservation required
Learn what a blog is, see examples of blogs, learn how to blog and to create your own using Blogger/Word ...
more >> Press.
Stars: Blanchard Ryan, Daniel Travis, Saul Stein. Based on the true story of two scuba divers accidentally ...
more >> stranded in shark infested waters after their tour boat has left. 79 min.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
The Givers by David Callahan of InsidePhilanthropy offers an inside look at the hidden world of elite ...
more >> philanthropists— and how they're quietly wielding ever more power to shape American life in ways both good and bad. Whether you cheer or fear these wealthy power players, their rise presents tough dilemmas for democracy. The Givers explores the proper role of private wealth in public life and, at every turn, comes back to an urgent question: Who’s really in charge of America these days?
A talk with Sean Jacobs, Associate Professor, International Affairs; Founder and Editor, Africa is a ...
more >> Country, and Clapperton Chakanetsa Mavhunga, Associate Professor, Program in Science, Technology, and Society, MIT.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
With the Eyes of Others presents more than one hundred works by thirty artists active in the Hungarian ...
more >> Neo-avant-garde in the latter half of the 20th Century. Organized by New York-based guest curator András Szántó, this will be the first large-scale exhibition in the United States devoted to a fertile yet underappreciated period in Hungarian art. Against the backdrop of an authoritarian system, which placed strict ideological limits on free expression, this group of artists found diverse and inventive ways in which to encrypt and express powerful messages in the face of the constrained social, cultural, and political reality of their time.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
The area around the High Line Park was a vital business district of New York City, supplying fresh fruits, ...
more >> French Cheeses and Russian caviar as well as fresh meats to City markets. The hustle and bustle of the streets induced the City to elevate the railroad trains delivering goods to the commercial buildings. When interstate truck traffic made the railway outdated, it fell into ruin, only to be regenerated as a park. The tour is every Monday.
Is ‘Imperialism' a relevant concept today? In the age of financial globalization of the last few decades, ...
more >> we have seen elites in many countries of the South which were erstwhile colonies join the elites of Europe, North America… and it would seem, therefore, that now there is just the domination of global elites over the global working poor. Moreover the populations of many countries of the North are also suffering from chronic unemployment, and inequality is acutely present in these countries as well. With: -- David Harvey, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Geography, The Graduate Center, CUNY -- Duncan Foley, Leo Model Professor of Economics and Director of Graduate Studies -- Nancy Fraser, Henry A. & Louise Loeb Professor of Political & Social Science -- Prabhat Patnaik, Author, A Theory of Imperialism -- Moderator: Sanjay Reddy, Associate Professor of Economics
In Kiev, Katya and Oksana prepare a funeral meal for their beloved husband, stepfather and Army colonel ...
more >> Sasha. But he isn’t going without a fight. The women in his life and the country need him.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
As to how as citizens around the world vociferously reject the economic ideals that shaped rising inequality ...
more >> in the twentieth century, Kate Raworth has identified seven key ways to fundamentally rethink economics and transform the economy into one that works for all.
Editor's Pick
Panelists discuss the French presidential election, which will conclude with the second and final round ...
more >> of voting on May 7. Remarks will include a discussion of the rising popularity of Marine Le Pen and the National Front, in light of Brexit and the election of Donald Trump and rising populism in Europe and elsewhere in the world. Panelists -- Cécile Alduy is Professor of French literature and culture at Stanford University and a research fellow at the CEVIPOF at Sciences Po, Paris. -- Arthur Goldhammer is a writer, translator, and Senior Affiliate of the Center for European Studies at Harvard University. -- Stéphane Lauer is the U.S. correspondent for Le Monde.
Editor's Pick
This film chronicles a remarkable political career. It is narrated by those who knew Boris Nemtsov when ...
more >> he was a young scientist and took his first steps in politics, when he held high government offices and was considered Boris Yeltsin’s heir apparent, and when he led Russia’s democratic opposition. 66 min. In Russian with English subtitles. Followed by a Q&A with the writer and director of the film, Vladimir V. Kara-Murza, vice chairman of Open Russia, a Russian pro-democracy movement. He was a longtime colleague and advisor to opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, and chairs the Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom. Kara-Murza is a former deputy leader of the People’s Freedom Party, and was a candidate for the Russian State Duma.
Editor's Pick
For the sixth and final Adventure in Italian Opera with Fred Plotkin of the season, the expert on all ...
more >> things Italian takes the interviewee seat in the company of Director Stefano Albertini.
Assuming Boycott: Resistance, Agency, and Cultural Production is a timely, multi-layered consideration ...
more >> of cultural boycotts as special conditions for discourse, artmaking and political engagement. The first reader of its kind, the book examines the impact of the cultural boycott of Apartheid South Africa and then moves on to contemporary culture that enacts and performs change within a politics of disengagement. The publication features 15 original contributions by artists, curators, scholars and activists such as Ariella Azoulay, Noura Erakat, Chelsea Haines, Sean Jacobs, Svetlana Mintcheva, Naeem Mohaiemen, Hlonipha A. Mokoena, Ahmet Öğüt, Radhika Subramaniam and Eyal Weizman.
6:30 pm
free, no reservation required
An Institute of French Studies roundtable discussion with Raphaël Liogier, professor of sociology, Sciences ...
more >> Po Aix-en-Provence, and author of Ce populisme qui vient (2013).
6:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
This illustrated lecture reveals the triumphs, pains, and struggles in the high-risk life of a former ...
more >> proprietary trader.
6:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
Sweat is the newly minted Pulitzer Prize-winning play from critically acclaimed writer Lynn Nottage. ...
more >> Set in the rust-belt town of Reading, Pennsylvania, the narrative explores the chasm created by job loss that leads to racial unease and a breakdown in community. Join an evening of theater talk with Nottage. Lynn Nottage is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and screenwriter, whose plays have been produced widely in the United States and throughout the world. Sweat, which won this year’s Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, moved to Broadway after a sold out run at The Public Theater. Nottage is also the recipient of a PEN/Laura Pels Master Playwright Award, Literature Award from the Academy of Arts and Letters, MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellowship, and the National Black Theatre Fest’s August Wilson Playwriting Award, to name a few. She serves as an Associate Professor in the Theatre Department at Columbia School of the Arts.
From In the Beginning Was the End: The Truth About De-Evolution (1976) to Whip It (1980) and beyond, ...
more >> Jesse Bransford, Chair of Art and Art Professions, will screen and provide commentary on selections from Devo’s groundbreaking music videos, the earliest of which predate not only MTV, but also the band’s studio recordings.
6:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Come and test your knowledge in a challenging though entertaining 30 question trivia quiz. There are ...
more >> questions and categories for all comers, spanning subjects from Music and Movies to New York History, Sports, Literature and others in between. Individuals and teams welcome. Bring your friends and be prepared to have a good time. Trivia Master Chris Vaccari is a New York-based trivia host with the answers to (almost) all of your questions. He has hosted fun-filled trivia events in the Tri-State area since 2007.
6:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Carol Zoref is a New York-based fiction writer and essayist. Barren Island was selected by Paul Harding ...
more >> as the winner of the 2015 Associated Writing Programs Novel Award and published in 2017 by New Issues Press. Zoref is the director of the Sarah Lawrence Writer Center. Mike Lala is the author of Exit Theater, winner of the 2016 Colorado Prize for Poetry (selected by Tyrone Williams) as well as several chapbooks. His poems and audio compositions appear in Boston Review, Fence, Brooklyn Rail, Denver Quarterly, Jubilat, and The Awl. He lives in New York.
Mallica Reynolds (1911-1989), better known as Kapo, was a sculptor and painter who played a vital role ...
more >> in the development of Jamaican art in the twentieth century. The film shows Reynolds, turbanned and begowned, imbibing gin-and-wine drinks, moving around Kingston in a wheelchair. He talks eloquently about spiritualism and autodidacticism and free movement. Augmented by considerations of his importance from the likes of Edward Seaga and Rex Nettleford, it’s a very rare and illuminating portrait of an iconic figure in Caribbean cultural history. 50 min.
6:45 pm
free, no reservation required
The stories we tell today about our era of uncertainty and transformation will not only contribute to ...
more >> the shape of tomorrow but also will create the record that future historians will look to when studying our time. How writers see today’s events and how they choose to relate them are subjects for enduring exploration. What are the national events worth covering, the global picture that needs rendering, the perceived consequences of what is happening at the present moment? Sam Tanenhaus, the former editor of The New York Times Book Review, will moderate conversations featuring contributors from some of America’s greatest and most enduring publications: The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, and The New York Times.
What caused the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets? A prequel to Romeo and Juliet, Lady Capulet ...
more >> follows the story of Rose from country girl to lady of Verona and explores the betrayal, revenge and manipulations that set the Houses of Capulet and Montague against one other. Written by Melissa Bell. Presented by the 29th St Playwrights Collective.
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
For some performers, the show must go on… even after death! The Ghosts on Broadway Tour, led by a veteran ...
more >> New York City talent agent, will introduce you to these notorious theater legends who appear after the lights go dim. You’ll hear about the Broadway impresario who haunts the theater that bears his name. His apparition shows up on opening nights to congratulate the cast or “pinch” the leading ladies’ bottom. Jazz age parties are heard almost nightly from his long abandoned apartment over his theater.
Editor's Pick
Program: Andrew Norman Stop Motion for String Quartet (New York Premiere) Dufay Nuper rosarum flores ...
more >> Andrew Norman Farnsworth: Four Portraits of a House J. S. Bach Two Part Inventions (arr. for strings) Andrew Norman Companion Guide to Rome Kurtág: Hommage à Ránki György Andrew Norman Still Life Composer Andrew Norman’s music of “daring juxtapositions and dazzling colors” (New York Times) has made him one of the most widely admired young composers working today. His “staggering imagination” (Boston Globe) draws inspiration from disparate sources, including architecture, cinema, and video games – resulting in music that is fun, funny, and deeply moving. With: Jennifer Koh, violin Variation Trio - Jennifer Koh, violin; Scott St. John, viola; Wilhelmina Smith, cello Rhythm Method - Leah Asher, violin; Maria Kifferstein, violin; Anne Lanzilotti, viola; Meaghan Burke, cello Trident Ensemble - Daniel Moody, countertenor; Owen McIntosh, tenor; Edmund Milly, baritone; Jonathan Woody, bass-baritone Aaron Wunsch, piano
Featuring special guest Brian Zator performing Minoru Miki’s Marimba Spiritual, Tabea Sitte on Lou ...
more >> Harrison’s Concerto for Violin and Percussion Orchestra, and the world premiere of Thomas Kozumplik’s Child of the Earth Renowned percussion soloist and chamber musician Jonathan Haas, director of percussion studies at NYU Steinhardt, has recently collaborated with Broadway legend Joe Passaro and folk rocker turned experimentalist Glenn Kotche.
7:30 pm
free, no reservation required
A high visibility, low-tech forum on Monday nights. Movement Research supports experiments in performance ...
more >> rather than finished products. Artists are selected by a rotating committee of peer artists. Tonight: Kim Brandt, Lisa Parra, Renegade Performance Group/André M. Zachery, Kate Watson-Wallace
8:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
Twin brothers Beşer and Beşir, who lost their parents in war, migrated as teenagers to Istanbul. After ...
more >> many years of separation they meet again, when Beşer enters Beşir’s house with a stolen safety box.
8:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
A gathering for the sake of gathering. Come celebrate either spring or your labor or BOTH as Michael ...
more >> Calvert plays a selection of lute pieces and accompanies a selection of songs sung by soprano Beth Griffith. Jonathan Matthews will prance about. Richard Gross will make the rest of you dance by the power of his banjo. Brian Rady will close out the evening and your bellies.
8:00 pm
free, no reservation required
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.