free things to do in New York City
Free events for Tuesday, 05/21/24
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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 May 21, 2024?

35 free events take place on Tuesday, May 21 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 May 21 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 May . 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!

35 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Tuesday, May 21, 2024

All events are free unless otherwise noted.
        

Workshop | Tai Chi in the Park


Practice this traditional system of health and self-defense. Derived from the philosphy of Taoism, Tai Chi was designed to develop the optimum degree of harmony between body and mind, as well as between the individual and the natural order of the universe. Classes are led by teachers and students who train nearby at CK Chu Tai Chi under the direction of Master Hyland Harris.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:30 am
Free

Birdwatching | Morning Birding Tour


Discover the surprising diversity of birds that call the park home during migratory season, with guided tours led by environmental educator and urban naturalist Gabriel Willow. 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!
   New York City, NY; NYC
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8:00 am
Free

Workshop | Spring Yoga


A yoga instructor leads a morning practice. Suitable for all fitness levels. Please wear loose, comfortable clothing and bring your own mat.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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9:30 am
Free

Tour | 13 Tours, All City Neighborhoods, Any Time Of The Day, Choose One Tour Or Many


These free tours take place at various times during the day, all day long. You can make reservations for as many tours as your schedule allows. SoHo, Little Italy and Chinatown Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn Heights + DUMBO 3 Hour Lower Manhattan Harlem Chelsea and the High Line 6 Hour Downtown Combined Greenwich Village Central Park Lower Manhattan Midtown Manhattan Grand Central Terminal Graffiti and Street Art Tours World Trade Center
   New York City, NY; NYC
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10:00 am
Free

Fair | October 7th, 06:29AM: An Immersive Exhibition on Nova Music Festival Massacre


To celebrate the end of his two years of service as a medic in the Israel Defense Forces' paratrooper division, Tomer Meir joined 13 of his friends at the Nova Musica Festival on the weekend of October 6 in Re'im in southern Israel. It was his first ever music festival. "It was the best moments of my life. I can't explain the state we were in," the 21-year-old told the New York Jewish Week. "It was pure love -- people dancing, laughing, smiling. All the good stuff that we're living for." Until 6:29 a.m. on Saturday morning. The red alerts, the rockets and the running. "The music stopped. The rockets started. We started running for our lives," Meir said. Meir is a survivor of the Nova Music Festival Massacre, where Hamas militants killed 364 festival-goers and took at least 40 hotstages on the morning of Oct. 7. Six months after the attack, Meir is in New York sharing his story as part of an interactive exhibit about that day, which he says is helping him heal. The Nova Musical Festival exhibition, titled October 7th, 06:29AM, is an immersive step into what it was like to be at the festival when it was attacked. Screens show clips from the attack on Nova are displayed next to personal and camping items taken from the festival recreating the festival layout. The exhibit, which debuted in Tel Aviv for 10 weeks in December, was created by Israeli designers and cultural producers, many of whom were producers with the Nova Music Festival itself. It was brought to New York with the help of Scooter Braun, the Jewish-American music producer and philanthropist. The exhibit recreates the visuals and sounds of the Nova Music Festival massacre. But the New York version is in some ways "more intense," according to Yael Finkelstein, a volunteer who collected items from the Nova site and helped set up both the Tel Aviv and New York exhibit. New elements at the New York exhibit include dozens of video testimonies from survivors, Zaka volunteers and family members, as well as graphic raw footage taken on Oct. 7 from both festival-goers and Hamas militants. In addition, survivors of the massacre such as Meir and Sassi will be at the exhibit every day to share their stories and answer questions. Their goal, Meir said, is to show New Yorkers that the horror they experienced could happen to anyone.
   New York City, NY; NYC
10:00 am
$3

Workshop | Learn Juggling in the Park


Get in a quick lesson, stay for the whole time, or just enjoy watching them put their skills to the test. They're a friendly group and open to drop-ins, even if you catch them outside of the regular juggling lessons. All skill levels welcome. Equipment is provided.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:00 pm
Free

Concert | Piano in the Park


Come on by and tap your toes to The Big Apple's finest ragtime, stride, and jazz pianists around! Featuring special events and performances by distinguished musicians. Today's pianist: Yuka Aikawa.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:30 pm
Free

Classical Music | Piano Works From Puerto Rico and the Philippines


Anabelinda de Castro, piano, performs works from Puerto Rico and the Philippines.
   New York City, NY; NYC
12:30 pm
Free

Film | The Disaster Artist (2017) Directed by and Starring James Franco


The incredible true story of aspiring filmmaker and Hollywood outsider Tommy Wiseau as he and his best friend defiantly pursue their dreams and embark on the hilarious odyssey of making the now-infamous, cult classic The Room. Director: James Franco Cast: James Franco, Dave Franco, Seth Rogen, Alison Brie, Ari Graynor, Josh Hutcherson, Jacki Weaver James Franco is an American actor and filmmaker. He has starred in numerous films, including Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy (2002–2007), Milk (2008), Eat Pray Love (2010), Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Spring Breakers (2012), and Oz the Great and Powerful (2013). He is known for his collaborations with fellow actor Seth Rogen, having appeared in eight films and one television series with him, examples being Pineapple Express (2008), This Is the End (2013), Sausage Party (2016), and The Disaster Artist (2017), for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. For his role in 127 Hours (2010), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
Free

Talk | Artist Talk: Process & Practice


For nearly two decades, interdisciplinary artist Shervone Neckles has undertaken an intimate exploration of her Grenadian-American family's history. Revisiting her family archives, collecting oral narratives, and traveling to her homeland has unearthed a lineage of knowledge production that serves as a continuous wellspring of inspiration for her studio practice. Through her artwork she weaves together primary source materials with mixed media techniques that includes printmaking, sculpture, textiles, and installation. Her work reconstructs narratives that illuminate her own interiority, exploring her relationship to selfhood, memory and home, as well as her family's migration narrative from Grenada to the United States. During her Workspace Residency at Dieu Donné in 2021, Neckles created Memory Works, handmade paper artworks that contain ingredients from Grenadian family recipes. Considering recipes as matrilineal heirlooms, Neckles’s artworks form an archive of family traditions narrating a story of global migration and family history. In conversation with her collaborator at Dieu Donné, Director of Artistic Projects Tatiana Ginsberg, she will discuss papermaking within the context of her multifaceted artistic practice and the process of creating Memory Works.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
Free

Book Club | Poetry Discussion Circle: Asian/Pacific American Poetry


Join fellow poetry enthusiasts in unpacking the layered meanings of poetry through an informal group discussion. Each session focuses around a theme that celebrates the diversity and range of the poetic form and contemporary poetry culture. Celebrate AAPI Heritage Month with a selection of poems that explore the experiences and histories of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Readings are selected from Poetry Magazine, Poetry Foundation, and poets.org.  Please note that contemporary poetry deals frankly with contemporary issues and all works discussed are artistic expressions selected for an adult audience.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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2:30 pm
Free

Book Discussion | Silver Nitrate: A Dark Thriller (online)


From author Silvia Moreno-Garcia comes a fabulous meld of Mexican horror movies and Nazi occultism: a dark thriller about the curse that haunts a legendary lost film--and awakens one woman's hidden powers.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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3:00 pm
Free

Gallery Talk | The Facade Commission: Nairy Baghramian, Scratching the Back: Exhibition Tour


Museum experts, including curators, conservators, scientists, and scholars, take a deep dive into a selection of exhibition objects in the galleries. Hear new insights and untold stories from insiders and take a closer look at the works of art. You’ll also have the opportunity to ask questions.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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3:00 pm
Free

Film | The Holdovers (2023) with Paul Giamatti


A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school remains on campus during Christmas break to babysit a handful of students with nowhere to go. He soon forms an unlikely bond with a brainy but damaged troublemaker, and with the school's head cook, a woman who just lost a son in the Vietnam War. Director: Alexander Payne Cast: Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa Paul Giamatti is an American actor. His accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award and three Golden Globes, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and a British Academy Film Award.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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3:00 pm
Free

Film | Under the Tuscan Sun (2003) with Diane Lane


When Frances Mayes learns her husband is cheating on her from a writer whom she gave a bad review, her life is turned upside down. In an attempt to bring her out of a deep depression, her best friend, Patti, encourages Frances to take a tour of Italy. During the trip, the new divorcee impulsively decides to purchase a rural Tuscan villa and struggles to start her life anew amid colorful local characters, including the handsome Marcello. Director: Audrey Wells Cast: Diane Lane, Raoul Bova, Sandra Oh Diane Lane is an American actress. Lane appeared in The Big Town and Lady Beware (both 1987), but did not make another big impression on a sizable audience until the western miniseries Lonesome Dove (1989), for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. Lane earned further recognition for her role in A Walk on the Moon (1999), for which she was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead. This was followed by several film roles of varying degrees of success such as My Dog Skip, The Perfect Storm (both 2000), The Glass House, and Hardball (both 2001).
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:00 pm
Free

Workshop | Board Game Social


A wide selection of board games at weekly Board Games Socials, with games like Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne, Catan, King of Tokyo and more. Not sure what to play? Hosts can help you find the perfect game and match up players.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:00 pm
Free

Workshop | NoHo Art Night in the Garden


Bring your sketchpad, water colors, or other medium and meet artist Sonya Sklaroff in creating in the rear 19th century garden or just come by to enjoy a spring evening. Sonya Sklaroff has been painting “en plein air” since she was a child. She draws inspiration from the world around her and is particularly interested in patterns of light and shadow and loves to play with perspective and space. For the evening event, Sklaroff will be using special Japanese opaque watercolors and will be painting the beautiful spring blossoming gardens of Merchant’s House in her unique whimsical and colorful style. Bring your drawing materials or watercolors and join her, or sit alongside and enjoy watching her process while taking in the exquisite garden views. Please note that easels are not allowed.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:00 pm
Free

Workshop | Learn Juggling in the Park


Get in a quick lesson, stay for the whole time, or just enjoy watching them put their skills to the test. They're a friendly group and open to drop-ins, even if you catch them outside of the regular juggling lessons. All skill levels welcome. Equipment is provided.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:30 pm
Free

Classical Music | Works for Woodwind Qunitet


Woodwind quintet of American Symphony Orchestra musicians (Diva Goodfriend-Koven, flute; Erin Gustafson, oboe; David Gould, clarinet; David Smith, French horn; Gilbert Dejean, bassoon) Program William Grant Still (1895-1978), Miniatures Gunther Schuller (1925-2015), Suite for Woodwind Quintet Amy Beach (1867-1944), Pastorale, Op. 151 Paquito D’Rivera (b. 1948), Aires Tropicales John Philip Sousa (1854-1932), The Liberty Bell March
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:30 pm
Free

Screening | How Emeline Got Free: An Audio Drama, Followed by a Discussion


World premiere of the 30-minute audio drama, How Emeline Got Free. It tells the story of the landmark Lemmon Slave Case from the perspective of Emeline Thompson, the eldest of the eight enslaved women and children whose freedom was at stake at this 1852 trial. A talkback follows with Mustapha Khan, director of the audio drama, Hon. Albert M. Rosenblatt, author of The Eight: The Lemmon Slave Case and The Fight for Freedom, and the actors. Hon. Dianne T. Renwick, presiding justice of the Appellate Division, First Department, moderates.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Book Discussion | My Third Half: Musings of a Bipolar Gemini


Richard Vogt's collection of short stories endeavor to entertain readers by confusing them. Or do these tales primarily confuse while entertaining? Or do they just confuse? You decide. This playful romp takes you places you thought you’d been spared from ever going to. Some of Mr. Vogt’s rambling, rumbling and resembling take on uncomfortable topics. But touching the third rail has never been this much fun. MY THIRD HALF does more than just disobey mathematics. It defies being slotted into any single genre. Bottom line, this compilation offers glimpses into the storyteller’s unobstructed imagination.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Book Discussion | Resort Style: Spaces of Celebration


A sumptuous presentation of the extraordinary hotel casino design of AD100 interior designer Roger Thomas. Thomas has transformed Las Vegas casinos from low-ceilinged, claustrophobic mazes into luxury interiors adorned with antiques, fine fabrics, and custom fittings for Wynn Resorts. His maximalist interiors summon drama, joy, mystery, surprise, and more. This dazzling book's essays discuss these emotional design themes and the alluring configurations of Thomas's resort spaces. The profiled hotel and casino interiors (the properties of Wynn Las Vegas, Encore Las Vegas, Wynn Macau, Encore Macau, Wynn Palace Cotai, and Encore Boston Harbor) include grand lobbies, gaming rooms, restaurants and bars, and hotel guestrooms and suites. Outrageous accents abound, among them giant lampshades festooned with lacquer tassels and shimmering gold drapery that frames a garden view. For Thomas, inspiration for his resorts begins at home; he shares insights from designing his own houses in Venice, Italy, the San Francisco Bay area, and Las Vegas. This gold-embellished tome is for fans of fantasy and luxury design.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Book Discussion | When Women Ran Fifth Avenue: Glamour and Power at the Dawn of American Fashion


Award-winning author Julie Satow looks south on Fifth Avenue and back through the 20th century to examine the golden age of American department stores and of three visionary women who led them. In three chic palaces of consumption – Bonwit Teller, Lord & Taylor, and Henri Bendel – Satow writes, "men owned the buildings, but inside, women ruled."  Her new book, Satow focuses on three talented business women in different decades: Hortense Odlum, Dorothy Shaver, and Geraldine Stutz. Rich with personal drama and trade secrets, Satow's book portrays the world of the fashionable department store in all its glitz, decadence, and fun, and showcases the women who ran the show.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Concert | Bluegrass Jams


Appalachia comin’ atcha! Whether a seasoned picker, or a curious listener, this community meetup welcomes musicians of all abilities to join the circle for ‘slow’ and ‘medium’ jams on Bluegrass classics. Hosted by Liz Wolfe and Bluegrass Jams Near Me, all are encouraged to bring a guitar, banjo, fiddle, (or any instrument!), or simply grab a seat and enjoy the Midtown Mountain sounds.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Concert | Colonial Crossroads Concert


A family-friendly interpretation of African and European traditions and instruments that influenced each other during the Colonial period. The audience is encouraged to participate in call-and-response and body percussion techniques. Jim is a multi-instrumentalist who uses baroque guitar, mandolin, mountain dulcimer and recorders to perform European music from the Colonial Era. Carla represents the African side of Colonial America through stories and songs performed on Shekere and Djembe.  
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Workshop | Play bridge in a stress-free environment


One of the most popular card games of the last century, bridge is still enjoyed by professional and amateur players alike today - and now you can stop by and enjoy it too! Bring your bridge partner, or you will be matched up with someone to play as a pair. There will be instructions and the chance to observe players, making this a perfect event for beginners looking to learn how to play bridge.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Poetry Reading | Fake Piñata: Lives Cut Open


In this debut collection, Ashleah Gonzales cuts open and examines the pieces of a life as they fall. Hands full of rotten oranges, promises to ancestors, lost secrets, empty days in Paris—they begin to add up to “an eternity that’s entirely mine.” These poems sting with tenderness, intimacy, and a longing to find a place that finally feels like home.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
$5

Book Discussion | The Novices of Lerna: Lost Masterpiece of Argentine Literature


A forgotten masterpiece by an enigmatic master of Argentine fantastic literature. When unambitious scholar Ramón Beltra receives a mysterious invitation to a lucrative six-month fellowship at the University of Lerna in Switzerland, he reluctantly complies with the unusual qualifying paperwork requiring several pages of detailed measurements and photographs of his entire body. Beltra soon finds himself in the deserted university town of Lerna, together with twenty-three other “novices” subject to the same undisclosed project—all of them doppelgangers of Beltra himself. At first, Beltra is the only one to bristle at the school’s dizzying array of rules and regulations, but this all changes with the onset of an uncontrollable epidemic, and the fellows begin dying off one by one.... The Novices of Lerna introduces Bonomini’s fantastic tales to English readers for the first time. Shot through with wry humor and tender absurdity, these meditations on identity, surveillance, and isolation remain eerily prescient. With translator Jordan Landsman.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
$5

Talk | Changing Chinatown: The Wong Family Story (online)


A virtual program exploring the growth of Manhattan’s Chinatown community in the 1960s and 70s through the story of the Wong family. Arriving in the Lower East Side in 1964, the Wong family’s story will shed light on the long history of Chinese immigration to the United States, and how changing immigration laws impacted the Chinese-American population. They will also explore the tenement apartment where Mrs. Wong raised her four children and the factory spaces where Chinese immigrant women revitalized the garment industry and labor movement in New York City.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
Free

Workshop | Origami Meetup


OMG NYC (Origami Meetup Group! New York City) is a group for people to come together and share in the beautiful art of Origami - an ancient art of folding various mediums, most commonly paper. The word comes from the combination of the Japanese verb oru (to fold) and the noun kami (paper). Other materials often folded are fabric, wire mesh, sheet metal, tissue, thin plastic, cardboard, and straws. Ages Adult 18+
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
Free

Lecture | Still Reading Kafka? On Language, Literature, Friendship, and Identity in Central Europe (in-person and online)


To pick up and read the novels or short stories of Franz Kafka hardly needs justification. His standing as one of the last century’s most important writers is assured. The question is: What can Kafka’s writings and the various contexts in which his life transpired—linguistic, familial, cultural, political—reveal about the textures of Jewish life in Central Europe at the turn of the century? In the 65th Annual Leo Baeck Memorial Lecture, Hillel Kieval (Washington University in St. Louis) revisits crucial aspects of Kafka’s life, work, and intellectual relationships, to explore what it meant to be both Jewish and a citizen of Prague before and after the First World War.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
Free

Book Discussion | Jewish Sunday Schools: Teaching Religion in Nineteenth-Century America (online)


The earliest Jewish Sunday schools were female-led, growing from one school in Philadelphia established by Rebecca Gratz in 1838 to an entire system that educated vast numbers of Jewish youth across the country. These schools were modeled on Christian approaches to religious education and aimed to protect Jewish children from Protestant missionaries. But debates soon swirled around the so-called sorry state of “feminized” American Jewish supplemental learning, and the schools were taken over by men within one generation of their creation. It is commonly assumed that the critiques were accurate and that the early Jewish Sunday school was too feminized, saccharine, and dependent on Christian paradigms. Author Laura Yares traces the development of these schools from their inception through the first decade of the twentieth century and shows that this was not the reality. In addition, Yares argues that the work of the women who shepherded Jewish education in the early Jewish Sunday school had ramifications far outside the classroom. Indeed, we cannot understand the nineteenth-century American Jewish experience, and how American Judaism sought to sustain itself in an overwhelmingly Protestant context, without looking closely at the development of these precursors to Hebrew School.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Book Discussion | In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife


Bestselling author Sebastian Junger relates his own harrowing journey to answer his questions about death and dying in this deeply personal memoir. In My Time of Dying is part medical drama, part searing autobiography, and part rational inquiry into the ultimate unknowable mystery.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:30 pm
Free

Discussion | Music & Madness: Creating Jeff Beal's Score for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari


A conversation with five-time Emmy-winning composer Jeff Beal about the creation of his new score for the Weimar Cinema masterpiece The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Beal will be joined by Reinhild Steingr?ver, Professor of German at the Eastman School of Music. They will discuss his approach to creating the Caligari score and share clips from Kino Lorber's upcoming 4k Blu-ray release that will feature his score.
   New York City, NY; NYC
7:30 pm
Free

Talk | Stargazing in the Park


A walk along the park and a chance to take a closer look at the stars. Peer through high-powered telescopes provided by the knowledgeable members of the Amateur Astronomers Association to see rare celestial sights. No experience is necessary and telescopes will be provided between sunset and park closure.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:45 pm
Free
Complimentary Tickets

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

Play | A Dark Comedy with Broadway Actors

Regular Price: $48
CFT Member Price: $0.00

Classical Music | Piano Works by Robert Schumann

Regular Price: $40
CFT Member Price: $0.00

Play | A "Wildly Funny" Play

Regular Price: $52
CFT Member Price: $0.00
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