62 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Thursday, May 4, 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.
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.
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.
Editor's Pick
Explore the southwest of Central Park with Central Park Conservancy tour guides, and see it like never ...
more >> before. From a 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
In the last century or so the author has largely disappeared from literary criticism--since the second ...
more >> half of the 20th century psychocriticism and biographical readings are almost absent from academia today. Considering the author in interpretation can certainly limit and reduce criticism, but perhaps it can also expand it. There are new forms of storytelling today--contemporary, digital--that may let us see how psychocriticism, and the explicit presence of an author in her work of fiction, may be less restrictive than we once thought. Who are the writers whose lives, and whose presences in their own work, do not constrain but rather multiply our understanding of that literary work? With presentations by: Professor Edward Mendelson (Department of English), Professor Nicholas Dames (Department of English), and Anna Krauthamer (The Center for Contemporary Critical Thought). Moderated by Professor Dennis Tenen with an introduction by Professor Bernard Harcourt.
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
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
Editor's Pick
Zikrayat Ensemble perform music and dance from the Golden Age of Egyptian musical cinema (the 1940s to ...
more >> 1960s); traditional and classical compositions from the Arab world, as well as Raqs Sharki (Eastern Dance) often called bellydance and performed by both men and women for centuries at weddings, festivals and parties. Zikrayat (meaning “memories” in Arabic) is led by violinist, vocalist, composer and teacher Sami Abu Shumays and dancer Robin “Dameshe” Shumays.
12:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
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.
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
William White is one of the least well-known composers in Jacobean England. He is believed to be a contemporary ...
more >> of Byrd, Gibbons, Tomkins, Ford, Coprario, etc. His fantasies are characterized by a brilliant ability to pair two instruments together in featured sections and weaving a tasteful and spirited tapestry of melody throughout. Performers: Judson Griffin, baroque violin Małgorzata Ziemnicka, baroque violin Lawrence Lipnik, viola da gamba Carlene Stober, viola da gamba Patricia Ann Neely, viola da gamba Rosamund Morley, viola da gamba
1:15 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
Stars: Mahershala Ali, Shariff Earp, Duan Sanderson. A chronicle of the childhood, adolescence and burgeoning ...
more >> adulthood of a young, African-American, gay man growing up in a rough neighborhood of Miami. 111 min.
2:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn. A seemingly indestructible humanoid cyborg ...
more >> is sent from 2029 to 1984 to assassinate a waitress, whose unborn son will lead humanity in a war against the machines, while a soldier from that war is sent to protect her at all costs. 117 min.
2:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Stars: James Stewart, Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr. Discovery by Flo Ziegfeld changes a girl's life but ...
more >> not necessarily for the better, as three beautiful women find out when they join the spectacle on Broadway. 132 min.
2:00 pm
free, no reservation required
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...
Editor's Pick
PROGRAM: Mozart Divertimento in B-Flat Major, KV 137 Britten Three Divertimenti Walton Quartet No. 2 ...
more >> in A Minor Now in its 30th year, the Alexander String Quartet has played throughout the major music halls on five continents, including Lincoln Center and The Metropolitan Museum in New York, Jordan Hall in Boston, and The Library of Congress.
Learn how to fold paper into works of art! We will be making cherry blossoms. Feel free to take them ...
more >> home or donate your work to the library to help decorate the front doors.
3:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Renowned bioethicist Prof. Pilar Ossorio talks about the ethical issues surrounding big human data research. ...
more >> This will be a lecture with wine and cheese held afterward.
Stars: Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey. WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who served ...
more >> during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people, and becomes the first man in American history to receive the Medal of Honor without firing a shot. 139 min.
4:00 pm
free, no reservation required
As scholars observe, the pronounced effects of urban inequality are in the persistence of residential ...
more >> segregation and in neighborhood income polarization. On the one hand, gated communities constitute some of the most privileged and affluent communities, and as such contribute to segregation. On the other hand, mixed-income communities are increasingly being promoted through a multitude of housing policies as a pathway towards desegregation. The empirical evidence, however, is not conclusive about whether or not this mixedness indeed contributes to residential integration. Particularly, there are no studies about the specific impact of economically integrated neighborhoods on levels of metropolitan residential segregation. The innovative aspect of the proposed research is that it provides such evidence by examining the link between mixed-income neighborhoods and gated communities. Lecturer Elena Vesselinov is Associate Professor of Sociology at Queens College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York.
4:30 pm
free, no reservation required
4:55 pm
free, no reservation required
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.
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. Zikrayat Ensemble perform music and dance from the Golden Age of Egyptian musical cinema (the 1940s to 1960s); traditional and classical compositions from the Arab world, as well as Raqs Sharki (Eastern Dance) often called bellydance and performed by both men and women for centuries at weddings, festivals and parties. Zikrayat (meaning “memories” in Arabic) is led by violinist, vocalist, composer and teacher Sami Abu Shumays and dancer Robin “Dameshe” Shumays.
5:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Deborah Turbeville (1932-2013) was an American fashion photographer. Although she started out as a fashion ...
more >> editor at Harper's Bazaar, she became a photographer in the 70s. She is widely credited with adding a darker, more brooding element to fashion photography, beginning in the early 1970s – she, Guy Bourdin and Helmut Newton changed it from traditional, well-lit images into something much more "edgy" looking.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Delight your senses with a collection of highly skilled contemporary art: the colossal Golden Pears that ...
more >> Prometheus threw at the goddesses to steal the fire, the larger than life modern angels painted by Yannick Fournié, the delightfully reminiscing warmth of Michael Beck’s paintings, the oneiric animal floods photographed by Anna Paola Pizzocaro and much more.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Welcome beginners! Learn to setup a chess board and map out your next move with assistance from our Chess ...
more >> Host. Kids welcome.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Contemporary artist Marina Zurkow will lead a tour through the exhibition Eugen Gabritschevsky: Theater ...
more >> of the Imperceptible, discussing the relationship among the animal, art, and science. Critical Walk-Throughs consist of a 40-minute guided tour that is meant to offer an alternative perspective to the works on view. They include conversations with artists, scholars, and curators, and provide an intimate opportunity to engage with the central themes and histories found in the artwork. The program is limited to 20 individuals.
Editor's Pick
A talk by Judith Gura, a design historian, author, and professor of design history and theory at the ...
more >> New York School of Interior Design. Her published works include: Interior Landmarks: Treasured of New York, A History of Interior Design, with John Pile, and Design After Modernism: Furniture and Interiors, 1970-2010.
At the end of the 19th century, Thomas B. Clarke donated four ancient Greek vases to the venerable Century ...
more >> Association, a private club founded by members of the Hudson River School. This talk serves as a public debut for three of the vases —one black-figure and two red-figure—which have been all but lost to the scholarly and academic community since they entered the club’s collection in 1891. I address briefly the phenomenon of private New York social clubs and their impressive art collections before turning to the iconography and the style of the vases themselves. Speaker Jennifer Udell has been curator of the Fordham Museum of Greek, Etruscan and Roman art since June 2007. Reception to follow.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Rocio Zambrana (University of Oregon) delivers the speech "Notes for a Decolonial Critical Theory: Two ...
more >> Uses of Marx."
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Soundtrack of the Revolution offers a striking account of Iranian culture, politics, and social change ...
more >> to provide an alternative history of the Islamic Republic. Drawing on over five years of research in Iran, Nahid Siamdoust examines how musicians and their music shed light on issues at the heart of debates in Iran—about its future and identity, changing notions of religious belief, and the quest for political freedom.
Dimensions Variable highlights Gortner’s rigorous exploration of photorealism by hand-sculpting each ...
more >> surface using wood, foam, staples, canvas and acrylic paint before using oil paint to realistically render the figure. The results transform the expectations of the two-dimensional surface into a beguiling three-dimensional composition.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
What are the politics of police brutality in New York City and what leaders and movements have attempted ...
more >> to stop it? Why don’t police review boards stop police brutality? In this edition of Conversations in Black Freedom Studies series, Clarence Taylor, Cathy Schneider, Michael Flamm and Christopher Hayes discuss the latest research on the explosive issues that propelled the 1964 Harlem and Brooklyn uprisings and fuel urban unrest today.
Editor's Pick
Stars: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman. The infamous story of Benjamin Barker, AKA Sweeney ...
more >> Todd, who sets up a barber shop down in London which is the basis for a sinister partnership with his fellow tenant, Mrs. Lovett. Based on the hit Broadway musical. 117 min.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Three Stones Make a Wall traces the history of archaeology from an amateur pursuit to the cutting-edge ...
more >> science it is today by taking the reader on a tour of major archaeological sites and discoveries, from Pompeii to Petra, Troy to the Terracotta Warriors, and Mycenae to Megiddo and Masada. Cline brings to life the personalities behind these digs, including Heinrich Schliemann, the former businessman who excavated Troy, and Mary Leakey, whose discoveries advanced our understanding of human origins. The discovery of the peoples and civilizations of the past is presented in vivid detail, from the Hittites and Minoans to the Inca, Aztec, and Moche. Along the way, the book addresses the questions archaeologists are asked most often: How do you know where to dig? How are excavations actually done? How do you know how old something is? Who gets to keep what is found?
6:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Prairie Rising provides a series of critical reflections about the changing face of settler colonialism ...
more >> in Canada through an ethnographic investigation of indigenous-state relations, with a deliberate focus on the lives of Indigenous youth. The book uncovers how various groups including state agents, youth workers, and community organizations utilize participatory politics in order to intervene in the lives of indigenous youth living under conditions of colonial occupation and state violence.
This illustrated lecture dissects this rapid rise of “sponsored content,” a strategy whereby advertisers ...
more >> have become publishers and publishers create advertising—all under the guise of unbiased information.
6:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
After the critical first 100 days of Trump’s presidency, where are we as a nation? What do the administration’s ...
more >> policies and actions bode for the future? Join this event for in-depth perspectives from Jelani Cobb (New Yorker writer, author of The Substance of Hope: Barack Obama and the Paradox of Progress, and professor of journalism at Columbia) and Megan McArdle (columnist at Bloomberg View, author of The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well Is the Key to Success). Peter Beinart, CNN commentator and faculty member, hosts this series of interactive and provocative discussions.
An extraordinary evening of storytelling, mentorship, and performances highlighting today's movement ...
more >> leaders and the next generation of engaged creators and leaders. Poets from Urban Word NYC perform alongside talks from Dante Barry (Million Hoodies for Justice), Emily May (Hollaback!), Vanessa Wruble (Women's March on Washington), and more. With MC Lizz Winstead. For students, teachers, and everyone in between.
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Fitness expert and stand-up comedian Andrew Ginsburg combines his talents to present a tried and true ...
more >> workout and diet strategy with engaging humor. With an easy-to-follow program that helps people lose weight, build muscle and stay motivated, Pumping Iron makes going to the gym fun and exciting.
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Following a talk and Q&A, Behrs will sign and personalizes copies of her new book. She will also pose ...
more >> for photos.
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
The panel will bring together a range of experts working within the field of climate adaptation in order ...
more >> to showcase the diversity of work on this topic. The event will provide an opportunity to identify and discuss the most pressing issues pertaining to climate adaptation and to devise collaborative, interdisciplinary solutions. The discussion will be moderated by award-winning environmental journalist Andrew Revkin. As a reporter for The New York Times, Revkin wrote Dot Earth, an environmental blog examining the environmental impacts of human activity. Revkin currently works as the senior reporter for climate and related issues at ProPublica. Panelists: -- Adela Gondek, Professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, specializing in environmental ethics -- J.C. Salyer, Lawyer and Professor of Anthropology and Sociology -- Shaun Martin, Senior Director, Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) -- Peter Marcotullio, Director of the CUNY Institute for Sustainable Cities and Professor of Urban Planning Additional remarks will be made by Thomas Friedman, Pulitzer Prize-winning Times columnist, bestselling author and contributor to the hit documentary series Years of Living Dangerously.
A story of burgeoning labor rights amongst poor fishermen in a small village in Mexico. 65 min.
New York City, NY; NYC
Editor's Pick
Before Twitter and Facebook people had to use the streets to organize, their messages wheatpaste postered ...
more >> right on a pole. It was the era of 'xeroxcracy' and the streets were the gallery walls.
7:00 pm
$5 suggested donation
Editor's Pick
First-person account of the life of Giuseppe “Joe” Zangara, an Italian immigrant who, having attempted ...
more >> to kill President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, could have changed the course of history. His “crime against the state” punished with a “crime committed by the State:” at 33, on March 20, 1933, Zangara is executed in the electric chair. Massimo Garritano jazz-improvises, using the bouzuchi and the dobro, two instruments belonging to Calabria as well as to the United States, between the words spoken in Calabrese dialect by Ernesto Orrico. Written and directed by Ernesto Orrico. With Ernesto Orrico. Music by Massimo Garritano. In Italian with English supertitles. Followed by a Q&A.
Jazz Orchestra Ensemble 7:00 pm Nathan Kamal, Violinist 7:00 pm BFA Senior Project Presentations 8:00 ...
more >> pm Music of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers 9:00 pm
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
The Safari Chamber Orchestra, based in Tokyo, will join with local musicians for a free concert. There ...
more >> will be a reception after the concert. The program will include works ranging from Beethoven to Dvorak, concluding with a contemporary piece by Yasushi Akutagawa, the Triptyque, incorporating traditional Japanese rhythms and melodies. Musicians and audience members are invited to attend the casual Sushi party immediately following the concert.
Valeria Luiselli is the author of the book of essays Sidewalks and the novel Faces in the Crowd (Coffee ...
more >> House Press, 2014). Hannah Tinti’s new novel is The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley (The Dial Press, 2017).
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Winner of the 2015 First Novel Prize and the 2016 Pulitzer Prize Viet Thanh Nguyen (The Sympathizer, ...
more >> The Refugees) joins Lambda Award and O. Henry Prize-winner Chinelo Okparanta (Happiness, Like Water, Under the Udala Trees) for this PEN World Voices Festival event. Interviewing them about how their work intersects with this year's theme, "Gender and Power," is Parul Sehgal, senior editor at The New York Times Book Review.
Editor's Pick
New York Ghost tours capture the spiritual side of the Big Apple through stories. famed explorers, native ...
more >> tribes, lost opportunities and political intrigue. With almost every step one takes through the West Village, one encounters the ghosts and spirits of New York City’s past. Every corner has its stories, every building has its haunted spirits.
Clarinetist Igor Begelman's virtuosity and imagination on his instrument have been praised by critics ...
more >> as "remarkable display of music making" and have earned him an impressive list of prizes, engagements and honors, including Avery Fisher Career Grant awarded to outstanding American artists.
7:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
Hailed as “the hippest hangout since St. Nicholas Pub” by The Amsterdam News, Marc Cary's weekly ...
more >> event, The Harlem Sessions, has rapidly become the uptown hang for a host of great musicians. Founded in the Lenox Avenue spot Gin Fizz, the jam is celebrating its second anniversary with a number of special guests from the sessions, whose stage has been graced by the likes of Vijay Iyer, Ben Williams, Bertha Hope , Kebbie Williams, Braxton Cook, Igmar Thomas, Corey Wallace, members of The United Nations Youth Orchestra, and nearly 100 other musicians, poets, and dancers who make up the fabric of NYC’s thriving jazz scene. Jazz pianist, keyboardist, producer, and composer Marc Cary holds tight to his roots in Washington, D.C.’s go-go music scene, but they represent only one element among the myriad. Cary’s interests run from Indian classical to Malian music to hip-hop. He started his career working with Betty Carter, a legendary vocalist famous for drawing soul and sincerity out of her bands, and went on to work with Roy Hargrove, Dizzy Gillespie, Erykah Badu, Shirley Horn, Stefon Harris, Q-Tip, and–most influential of all–Abbey Lincoln. Connect to the Facebook event page for extra insights on this program. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Location David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center Tickets May 2017 Thu, May 4 7:30 pm Free No Tickets Required
7:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Program: Mozart Flute Concerto in G K.313 1st movement (soloist Alan Braun) Smetana ‘The Moldau’ ...
more >> from Symphonic Suite ‘Ma Vlast’ Elgar Cello Concerto in E minor Op. 85 3rd movement (soloist Lesley Retzer) Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 2 in C minor Op. 17 ‘Little Russian’ The Doctors Orchestral Society of New York, New York's oldest community orchestra, conducted by Maestro Kyunghun Kim, presents its Spring 2017 concert, a memorial tribute to beloved member, cellist Charles Ippolito, M.D.
7:30 pm
free, no reservation required
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.
Editor's Pick
A dark, epic tale of singing teenage fascists, magic, war, and love. A disturbing retelling of the hero's ...
more >> tale with a girl as the hero – and an unheroic ending.
8:00 pm
free, no reservation required
9:00 pm
free, no reservation required