52 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Wednesday, November 7, 2018
All events are free unless otherwise noted.
These free tours take place at various times during the day, all day long. You can make reservations ...
more >> 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
Eliska Decka is an Assistant Professor at the Animation Department at Film and TV School of Academy of ...
more >> Performing Arts in Prague, Czech Republic. In this lecture with many film clips, visual and audio examples, Decka will talk briefly about the history of animated documentary and its omnipresent character today.
New York City, NY; NYC
Mahjong is a tile-based game that was developed in China during the Qing dynasty and has spread throughout ...
more >> the world since the early 20th century.
New York City, NY; NYC
11:00 am
free, no reservation required
The workshop will look at Shakespeare's work as a process that moves from page to performance, exploring ...
more >> the methods directors and actors use to analyze, interpret, penetrate, and activate the world of the play. The plays were written and designed for this type of engagement, making for a holistic Shakespeare experience: engaging one's mind, body, and spirit. The workshop will feature a DVD screening of the chosen play. The dates are October 3, 10, 17, 24, 31, and November 7.
New York City, NY; NYC
11:30 am
free, no reservation required
The tour of City Hall includes a discussion of the building's history, art, architecture, and civic function. ...
more >> Non-reservation City Hall tours take place each Wednesday.
New York City, NY; NYC
12:00 pm
free, no reservation required
The organ works of J.S. Bach (1685-1750) offered in 30-minute meditations. Bach at Noon concerts take ...
more >> place every Tuesdays through Fridays, from September 11, 2018 to May 22, 2019.
New York City, NY; NYC
12:20 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
On November 10, 1938, during Kristallnacht, 10-year-old Ruth Zimbler and her brother Walter watched the ...
more >> destruction of the largest synagogue in Vienna from their apartment. Hear Ruth’s first-person account.
New York City, NY; NYC
This fall, a classic New York City block party becomes the enchanted setting where fairies work their ...
more >> mischief in Shakespeare’s beloved play. Acclaimed director Jenny Koons takes you to the royal wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta, where a celebratory play is being rehearsed. But the real drama is unfolding in the concrete jungle of fairy King Oberon. There, four young New Yorkers discover the course of true love runs anything but smooth, as supernatural sprites and the lovable Puck conspire to reveal what fools we mortals be, and draw us all into the collective dream of romance and merriment.
New York City, NY; NYC
1:00 pm
Free tickets required...
Directed by Church Street School for Music and Art, the BPC Chorus is open to all adults who love to ...
more >> sing. Learn a mix of contemporary and classic songs, and perform at community events throughout the year.
New York City, NY; NYC
1:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Pauline Oliveros's life as a composer, performer, and humanitarian was about opening her own and others' ...
more >> sensibilities to the universe and facets of sounds. Her “sonic mediations” invite us to understand ourselves and our world more deeply. This is an afternoon of “deep listening,” with historic recordings of Pauline Oliveros guiding her signature sonic meditations, along with in-person meditations, led by members of the International Contemporary Ensemble.
New York City, NY; NYC
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.
New York City, NY; NYC
Editor's Pick
Join this tour to learn more about the history, architecture, and sculpture of Columbia and the Morningside ...
more >> Heights campus. Whether you're an amateur New York City historian or visiting campus for the first time, you will leave the tour knowing more about our storied past. Given that the tour route is outdoors, please be aware that tours are occasionally suspended due to inclement weather.
New York City, NY; NYC
Take a mid-day pause to refresh your mind and re-establish your center in the midst of bustling city ...
more >> life. Meditation is a powerful tool to eliminate stress, to heal the body, mind, and brain, and to enhance your personal well-being and positive relationship with the world.
New York City, NY; NYC
1:00 pm
$10 suggested donation
Grammy-nominated organist/pianist Brian Charette has worked with notable artists such as Joni Mitchell, ...
more >> Chaka Khan, Paul Simon, Cyndi Lauper, and many more.
New York City, NY; NYC
1:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Justin Bui and Mari Takeda, percussion duo. Program Andy Akiho (b.1979) Karakurenai Ivan Trevino (b.1983) ...
more >> 2 + 1 Jonny Allen Silence Treatment David Molk Unsteady II Alyssa Weinberg Table Talk Andy Akiho (b.1979) Stop Speaking Ivan Trevino (b.1983) Memento
New York City, NY; NYC
1:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
Take a respite from your busy work day with a free concert presented by WQXR. Hear rising stars from ...
more >> The Juilliard School perform selections from classical music’s best-loved composers. Leave the emails, phone calls and work behind and settle in for an hour of musical serenity.
New York City, NY; NYC
Explore job/career resources available, find industry and career advice, resume guides and more. Seating ...
more >> is limited and is on a first come, first seated basis.
New York City, NY; NYC
1:15 pm
free, no reservation required
2:00 pm
$12 General admission,...
2:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Learn to play the most popular game ever: A game of strategy and problem solving. Whether you are beginner ...
more >> or a more advanced player you can learn the strategies that will make you a better chess player.
New York City, NY; NYC
2:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
Bill Wurtzel, a renowned jazz guitarist, has performed worldwide with many jazz greats. His style in ...
more >> his own words: "I love mainstream jazz and the American songbook. Albums I’ve played on range from gospel, mainstream and soul jazz to Christmas songs in Latin."
New York City, NY; NYC
2:00 pm
free, no reservation required
An experiential walk that will reveal the hidden, invisible, and illegible boundaries that guide and ...
more >> shape our involvement with urban life. What parts of the city are open or available to you—socially and materially/geographically—and via what pathways? At what scale do you experience and conceptualize the city? How does your experience of city change depending on your perspective—your race, immigration status, profession, and historical moment? The city is an ecosystem where the built and natural environments merge. As such, this event will examine places where the boundary between the built and the natural is negotiated. This will explore how we as humans have shaped the natural environment, how we protect it—particularly against climate change—and how institutions and governments use both built and natural environments to create social boundaries.
New York City, NY; NYC
Set in a rural village in December 2004 Chechnya, where failed doctor Akhmed harbors the traumatized ...
more >> 8-year-old daughter of a father abducted by Russian forces and treats a series of wounded rebels and refugees while exploring the shared past that binds him to the child. Please read the book before arriving at the book discussion.
New York City, NY; NYC
3:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Welcome Connor Long, a Colorado-based advocate, actor, athlete, and Emmy-winning reporter. His disability-rights ...
more >> advocacy work has been recognized by the National Down Syndrome Society, the Council for Exceptional Children, the Global Down Syndrome Foundation and The Arc of the United States, among others. He discusses differing abilities and remind us of the possibilities that come from access, equity and high expectations in education, workplace, and community.
New York City, NY; NYC
Editor's Pick
How do media and culture sell environmental practices and policies while being complicit in the environmental ...
more >> crisis of our times? Toby Miller presents from his latest book on how culture enables environmental destruction while promoting itself as environmentally friendly. He is joined by a panel of scholars to discuss how corporations and the media are using messages of environmentalism to sell pipelines, carbon policies, and brands.
New York City, NY; NYC
In a fast-changing world, parents have to prepare their children for the unknown. In that sense, all ...
more >> American parents are raising foreigners now. Today more than ever, the account of a foreign parent's success is beneficial to all parents alike. Helen Trepelkov graduated summa cum laude with a master’s degree in International Economic Relations from the Moscow State Institute for International Relations. Shortly after, she followed her husband to New York City and unexpectedly became a stay-at-home mother.
New York City, NY; NYC
5:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
The film follows the NYPD12, a group of black and Latino whistleblower cops, as they break the silence ...
more >> and speak out against an illegal “quota system” that continues to dictate policy in their precincts. The film exposes the harmful policing practices that have plagued precincts and disproportionately affected poor communities of color in New York City for decades. Directed by Stephen Maing 6:00PM: Light Refreshments 6:30PM: Screening
New York City, NY; NYC
The idea of traveling in time to alter or salvage the past is one of the few narrative motifs that appear ...
more >> in human cultures after the 1800s. Major narrative forms were invented, again and again, in many cultures and many times, but nowhere in human folklore, scripture, drama, or poetry does the idea of time travel arise until the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Featuring work by: Morehshin Allahyari Lee Brogan Hector Ferriero Nicholas Galanin Gideon Rubin Larissa Sansour and Soren Lind
New York City, NY; NYC
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
In her second exhibition with the gallery, Aura Satz focuses on voices of female electronic music pioneers, ...
more >> and on sound signals as symbols of communication and disobedience. Included are a series of drawings, two sound sculptures, and a 16mm film.
New York City, NY; NYC
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
Many Russian émigré artists have invigorated the New York art scene over the past three decades. The ...
more >> '90s was a particularly vibrant decade for integration and the search for relevance in the realm of contemporary art and critical discourse, areas that had been lacking in Russia during the post-Soviet transition. This exhibition aims to revitalize the history of Russian artists in New York during the 1990s and early 2000s. The exhibit and related publication will display artwork, photos, and documents from the extensive archive of the Russian American Cultural Center. Exhibited artists will include Irina Nakhova, Leonid Lerman, Grisha Bruskin, Vitaly Komar and Aleksandr Melamid, Alexander Kosolapov, Leonid Sokov, Ilia Kabakov, Mikhail Roginsky, Oskar Rabin, George Tsypin, Yona Verwer, Julia Nitsberg, and Leonid Lubianitsky.
New York City, NY; NYC
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
A two-person collaborative exhibition with Aya Uekawa and Joseph Ayers. Hailing from Tokyo and Gulf Coast, ...
more >> Florida, respectively, Uekawa and Ayers intertwine their unique global perspectives and interests together in Surivivors and True Lies to create a surreal, distilled space to contemplate today’s political colosseum: an arena where progress and true lies battle for survival.
New York City, NY; NYC
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Aykan Safoğlu (Germany/Turkey) and Sylvia Schedelbauer (Germany/Japan) present a selection of their ...
more >> archival footage films encompassing a Turkish homage to James Baldwin and a retrieval of unremembered interracial intimacy.
New York City, NY; NYC
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
As professionals, we are often challenged to articulate the value we provide. Simply keeping on top of ...
more >> what we say is hard and especially hard when we are not sure where exactly we are heading. Join coach Win Sheffield to learn how to talk about yourself and make a stronger impression without bragging. Learn to develop a branding message, to keep what you want in front of audiences and to adapt your message to your audience. Also, develop a comfort level with asking about what you do not know. Topics covered will include: * Identify the messages you want to deliver * Learn techniques to deliver your message with clarity and purpose * Inspire confidence in your listener by conveying your value to them
New York City, NY; NYC
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Drawing on longitudinal ethnographic work with Palestinian-American youth, Professor Abu El-Haj explores ...
more >> the creative, flexible practices of transnational “citizenship” that develop from conditions of migration, mobility, and ambiguity. This portrait of flexibility, creativity, and change challenges public discourses that stubbornly cling to ideas of transnational affiliations as dangerous to democracy. Professor Abu El-Haj argues, instead, that youth develop a politics of justice and inclusion to fight inequality and oppression both within and across the artificial borders of nation-states.
New York City, NY; NYC
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
Juilliard President Damian Woetzel is joined by violinist and 2018 MacArthur Fellow Vijay Gupta. Vijay ...
more >> Gupta has been a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since 2007. In 2010, he founded Street Symphony, which performs at jails, shelters, and transitional housing facilities. Each December, it gives a performance of Handel’s Messiah featuring both professional musicians and people from skid row.
New York City, NY; NYC
6:00 pm
free tickets required
6:10 pm
free, no reservation required
The documentary exposes a culturally updated version of the American Dream as it traces the journey of ...
more >> six Italians who chose to live, work, and put down their roots in the United States. The stories capture the tribulations of people from all walks of life; those who saw a departure as their only chance for a better future, and those who moved to reap the benefits of fields where Italians have historically excelled. Directed by Enrico Ventrice 53 min. In English and Italian with English subtitles.
New York City, NY; NYC
Editor's Pick
Fifty years after the Civil Rights March in Washington DC and the “dream” of Martin Luther King, ...
more >> thirty years after the “March for Equality and against Racism” in France, this film follows a group of young Americans who come to France to examine the issues of race, diversity, human rights, through meetings with political personalities, expat African Americans, and local community activists. Directed by Rokhaya Diallo 52 min.
New York City, NY; NYC
A panel of Lucia Berlin fans celebrate the publication of two posthumous works by the acclaimed writer. ...
more >> Featuring: Karah Preiss, co-founder of online reading platform Belletrist Wayne Koestenbaum, cultural critic and author Ruth Franklin, author of Shirley Jackson, A Rather Haunted Life John Williams, Daily Books editor and staff writer at The New York Times Writer Lucia Berlin (1936-2004) is widely considered one of the best American prose stylists of her time. Her stories, drawing from her rich life and travels, capture the range of human experience in language both stark and tender. Following 2015's A Manual for Cleaning Women, a critically acclaimed short story compilation, a new generation of readers have discovered the grit and glamour of Berlin's work. Now two new collections—Evening in Paradise: Stories and Welcome Home: A Memoir—chart the connections between Berlin's life and her brilliant, sporadic writing career. Belletrist founder Karah Preiss moderates this conversation with fellow Lucia Berlin enthusiasts Wayne Koestenbaum, Ruth Franklin, and John Williams. Each will read a selection of their favorite Berlin story, followed by a discussion on her life, work, and lasting influence. Berlin's son David Berlin will make a special appearance during the Q&A.
New York City, NY; NYC
6:30 pm
free, reservation required
A conversation with Liza Donnelly, a visual journalist, cartoonist, and writer with The New Yorker and ...
more >> The New York Times. She is also a resident cartoonist at CBS News and a contributor to CNN. Donnelly is a Cultural Envoy for the U.S.State Department, traveling around the world speaking about freedom of speech, cartoons and women’s rights; and she is also a charter member of Cartooning for Peace, an international organization to promote dialogue and understanding through editorial cartoons.
New York City, NY; NYC
New research in a new field, the history of books, goes back to a question raised by Daniel Mornet in ...
more >> a famous article of 1910: What did the French read on the eve of the Revolution? This lecture is intended to answer that question and to explore related issues in cultural history by explaining how publishing and the book trade actually operated under the Ancien Régime. Speaker Robert Darnton is with Harvard University.
New York City, NY; NYC
6:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Program: Stefano Gervasoni (b. 1962): Clamour (NY premiere) Simone Movio: Zahir Ia (NY premiere, written ...
more >> for Mivos) Zosha Di Castri (b. 1985): String Quartet no. 1 Ivan Fedele (b. 1953): "...qui transitis per viam" [transcription of the motet "O vos omnes" by Gesualdo] (NY premiere) With: The Mivos Quartet, "one of America's most daring and ferocious new-music ensembles" (The Chicago Reader), is devoted to performing works of contemporary composers and presenting new music to diverse audiences. Since the quartet's beginnings in 2008 they have performed and closely collaborated with an ever-expanding group of international composers representing multiple aesthetics of contemporary classical composition.
New York City, NY; NYC
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
This fall, a classic New York City block party becomes the enchanted setting where fairies work their ...
more >> mischief in Shakespeare’s beloved play. Acclaimed director Jenny Koons takes you to the royal wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta, where a celebratory play is being rehearsed. But the real drama is unfolding in the concrete jungle of fairy King Oberon. There, four young New Yorkers discover the course of true love runs anything but smooth, as supernatural sprites and the lovable Puck conspire to reveal what fools we mortals be, and draw us all into the collective dream of romance and merriment.
New York City, NY; NYC
7:00 pm
Free tickets required...
An album release event celebrating Nathan Davis’s new album Hagoromo on Tundra Records. Inspired by ...
more >> Japanese Noh theater, Hagoromo is a chamber dance-opera about a fateful encounter between a poor fisherman and a fallen angel. Rebekah Heller, Claire Chase, and Nathan Davis play extended musical excerpts from the opera, as well as Nathan’s On Speaking a Hundred Names, which provided inspiration for the work.
New York City, NY; NYC
Praised in recent years as a “calculating, improvisatory, essential poet” by The New York Times, ...
more >> and as “the foremost poet-critic of our time” by Craig Dworkin, Charles Bernstein is a leading voice in American poetry. Bernstein’s first poetry collection in five years is the apotheosis of his late style, thick with off-center rhythms, hilarious riffs, and verbal extravagance. Grounded in a politics of multiplicity and dissent, and replete with both sharp edges and subtle intimacies, Near/Miss is full of close encounters of every kind.
New York City, NY; NYC
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
In a small college town, Tracy, a young student, enlists the help of a paper-writing service run by the ...
more >> smart, but insecure Perry. Desperate to pay the bills, Tracy joins Perry and writes papers for the goofy, but lovable jock Roy and foreign exchange student Nadiya. As Tracy gets more and more involved with the lives of her clients, the ethical tightrope becomes that much harder to walk across. Written by James McLindon.
New York City, NY; NYC
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Jackson Polys is an artist from Tlingit territory, living and working between what are currently called ...
more >> Alaska and New York. His work examines negotiations toward the limits and viability of desires for Indigenous growth. Polys holds an MFA from Columbia University and in 2017 received a NACF Mentor Artist Fellowship. His individual and collaborative works have appeared at the Alaska State Museum; the Anchorage Museum; Artists Space; Burke Museum; Images Festival; Sundance Film Festival; and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
New York City, NY; NYC
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Wombat is a monthly comedy show with some of New York's hottest rising comics. They have had comedians ...
more >> who've been featured on MTV, Comedy Central, The New Yorker, and more. The pizza is free!
New York City, NY; NYC
7:30 pm
$12 General admission,...
Editor's Pick
With members of the band hailing from Argentina, Japan, Colombia, and the United States, Banda Magda ...
more >> taps into each of these cultures for an eclectic sound. French songs, Afro-Peruvian landó, samba, Greek dance, and other diverse styles compose Banda Magda’s inventive set list. The group continues to explore new ground with its recent album Tigre, released in 2017.
New York City, NY; NYC
7:30 pm
free, reservation required
Program: Eric Ewazen Prelude and Fugue for Trumpet Choir Victor Ewald Brass Quintet No. 3 in D-Flat Major, ...
more >> Op. 11 Rodgers/Hammerstein Edelweiss Horner/Mann/Weil Somewhere out There Morley Calvert Suite from the Monteregian Hills Adrianna Isabel Figueroa Mañas Three Chorales for Brass Trio
New York City, NY; NYC
8:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
Laurra Pereira and Sara Salomon, violin. Program Poulenc (1899-1963) Sonata for violin and piano Grieg ...
more >> (1843-1907) Sonata No. 2 for violin and piano in G major Stravinsky (1882-1971) Divertimento, transription for violin and piano from The Fairy's Kiss Lutosławski (1913-1994) Subito for violin
New York City, NY; NYC
8:00 pm
free, no reservation required