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free things to do in New York City
Join the Club!
The quality and quantity of
free events,
free things to do
that happen in New York City
every day of the year
is truly amazing.
So don't miss the opportunities
that only New York provides:
stop wondering what to do;
start taking advantage of
free events to go to,
free things to do in NYC
today!
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!
50 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Saturday, October 19, 2013
All events are free unless otherwise noted.Editor's Picks
Park Walk | Autumn Nature Walk
Join Leslie Day, naturalist and author of Field Guide to the Natural World of New York City, and Field Guide to the Street Trees of New York City (Johns Hopkins University Press), for an Autumn Nature Walk: learn about the trees, grasses, flowers and bird life of the park.
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9:00 am
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Park Walk | The Bridges & Waterways of Central Park Walk
Fascinating 5-hour journey of approx. 8 miles. This is a moderately paced adventure under, over, around and through many of the amazing architectural wonders throughout Central Park. Begin at the southwest tip of Central Park South and zigzag up the eastern half of Central Park to The Harlem Meer at 110th St. Then circle back along the western half of the park and finish at Sheep's Meadow. Please bring water and lunch or snack. Rain or shine.
New York, NY
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9:00 am
$3
$3
Workshop | Health and Race Walking
Enjoy views of the Park's landscapes as you get fit. Coach Lon Wilson of the New York Walkers Club leads walks at a moderate to brisk pace over mostly flat surfaces. Wear comfortable sneakers! Ages 18+.
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9:30 am
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Tour | Brooklyn Heights Tour
Known as America's first suburb, Brooklyn Heights is truly a gem. Travel and Leisure named it one of America's top 10 most beautiful neighborhoods, and its beauty is rivaled only by its place in American history. These quaint, tree-lined streets have been the sites of Revolutionary War battles, abolitionist activism and have inspired numerous novelists. Visit a stop on the Underground Railroad, or the home of Truman Capote, where he penned Breakfast at Tiffany's and where Jackie Robinson signed with the Dodgers.
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10:00 am
Free...
Free...
Workshop | Drawing in the Park
Sketch and paint the Hudson River and neighboring parks with an artist/educator. Materials provided.
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10:00 am
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Tour | SoHo, Little Italy & Chinatown Tour
You've seen the iconic skyscrapers, attended a Broadway show, visited Lady Liberty and relaxed in Central Park. Looking for a little more of the Big Apple? Maybe it's time to visit some of Manhattan's oldest and most enchanting historic districts. Take a relaxing stroll through SoHo, Little Italy and Chinatown.
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10:00 am
Free...
Free...
Tour | Alternative New York Tour
Time to learn about the other New York City; the city that nurtured political, cultural and intellectual revolutions. The city that gave birth to punk rock, the beat poets and graffiti. The city that has survived two centuries of mass riots, crime and corruption, murder and mayhem. The city that has flourished in spite of economic and social hardship.
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11:00 am
Free...
Free...
Birdwatching | Birdwatching
Join a birder/naturalist to learn about the birds that nest and rest in the parks. Along with familiar birds, like the American Robin, Catbird, Mockingbird, and a variety of Sparrows, birders will seek out migrating Warblers, Finches, Brant Geese, and perhaps the more uncommon Hummingbird, Hawk, and Heron. Binoculars and field guides for adults and children are available. Novice and experienced birders welcome.
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11:00 am
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Workshop | Chess: Beginners Clinic & Open
Learn tactical insights from a Chess Master, then pit your
newly acquired skills against other chess players at your level, tournament-style. Ages 6+.
New York, NY
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11:00 am
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Park Walk | Garden Tour
Experience the Park's only formal garden with the Garden staff. See exuberant perennial and annual beds, and delight in an abundance of color and fragrance while learning about the Garden's history and design.
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11:00 am
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Festival | Halloween Harvest Festival
Another afternoon of face-painting, costume-making, performance, and canine competition. Join in welcoming fall as they invoke the spirits of Queens and share the stories and legends of this historic waterway.
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11:00 am
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Tour | Narrows-to-Coney Island Walk
5-6 Miles, moderate pace. Walk along Narrows to Coney Island taking in the beautiful views of the bay area along the Narrows. Walk will end at Nathan's on Surf and Stillwell Avenues Coney Island, across from subway station. Bring lunch and water or purchase lunch at Caesar’s Bay Bazaar. Finish between 3:00-4:00 PM. Rain cancels. Please call to confirm that walk is on. Due to problems with R Subway, this walk may be changed.
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11:00 am
$3
$3
Festival | Super Sabado! Dia de Los Muertos
Celebrate Mexico’s beloved 3,000 year-old tradition that remembers friends and family members who have passed away with photographs and offerings of symbolic elements. Join the celebration by adding your own offering to the altars and enjoying the colorful procession around the Harlem Meer, storytelling, face painting and dance performances.
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11:00 am
Free
Free
Park Walk | Foraging in the Park
With naturalist/author "Wildman" Steve Brill. America's go-to guy for foraging, Brill will lead one of his world-famous foraging tours of the Park, a great place for wild foods, and the summer is an especially rich season.
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11:45 am
$20 suggested donation...
$20 suggested donation...
Festival | BeBrasil Pop-Up Festival
BeBrasil is a pop-up festival that will introduce Brazil’s innovations to the world by celebrating new creative products and services developed through inspiring and collaborative work. During the week of October 15-22, 2013, the creativity of Brazil will take over New York. The weeklong festival will bring together Brazil’s most creative professionals and innovative companies from the following sectors: Fashion, Architecture, Design, Food and Beverages, Plastics, Cosmetics, Film, Music, Aerospace and Technology.
New York, NY
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12:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Park Walk | West Side Stories Tour
Walk through a scenic area on the western edge of the Park, much of which is off the beaten track for most visitors. See rolling meadows, lake views, bridges of different styles, and a garden with flowers and plants mentioned by Shakespeare.
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12:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Film | Barry Sonnenfeld's Men in Black 3 (2012): Time-Travel Sequel
Stars: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin.
Agent J travels in time to M.I.B.'s early days in 1969 to stop an alien from assassinating his friend Agent K and changing history.
106 mins.
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12:15 pm
Free
Free
Tour | Cathedral Tour
Explore the Cathedral's newly cleaned and restored Nave. Learn about the art, architecture and history of this great sacred space from 1892 to the present.
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1:00 pm
$6...
$6...
Screening | Natural Living Film Festival 2013: Vegucated
October 19, 2013
1:00 PM – Workshop All About the Power of Meditation
2:15pm - Vegucated, Marisa Miller Wolfson, 77min -
A guerrilla-style documentary that follows three meat- and cheese-loving New Yorkers who agree to adopt a vegan diet for six weeks and learn what it's all about. They have no idea that so much more than steak is at stake and that the planet's fate may fall on their plates. Lured by tales of weight lost and health regained, they begin to uncover hidden sides of animal agriculture that make them wonder whether solutions offered in films like Food, Inc. go far enough.
4:00 – 6:30 PM - Raw and Living Food Demonstration and Tasting/Dinner
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1:00 pm
Free
Free
Staged Reading | Play Reading: Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida
Instant Shakespeare Company reads the original first folio version of Shakespeare's work.
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1:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Concert | The Ibstock Place Singers from London
The Ibstock Place Singers are all students at Ibstock Place School, an independent day school for children aged 3 – 18. The school has a thriving music department and the choir is visiting New York.
The choir will perform music including Jerusalem (Parry); The Lord is my Shepherd (Goodall); Brightest and Best (Archer); Rise Heart (Vaughan Williams); Magnificat (Dyson); the Mass for New York (Janz).
New York, NY
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1:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Opera | New York Opera Forum performs Carmen by Georges Bizet
A concert version. Musical director: Richard Nechamkin.
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1:30 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Tour | Harlem Tour
Although world famous, Harlem may be New York's best kept secret with some of the city's best architecture, 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.
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2:00 pm
Free...
Free...
Park Walk | History of Sports in the Park Tour
Learn how tastes in recreation have changed since the mid-19th century and how the Park has been changed to mirror those tastes. Route involves a few stairs.
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2:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Tour | Lower Manhattan Tour
It is here, as much as anywhere, where American history started. It's where the first US Congress assembled 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.
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2:00 pm
Free...
Free...
Tour | Union Square-Crossroads of New York Tour
The tour explores the social and political history of the Union Square neighborhood through discussions of the people, history, architecture, and forces that have shaped this community. You’ll hear how Union Square got its name, see where the legendary Tiffany & Co. once stood, and learn how to read the clock (yes, it’s a clock!) on “The Metronome” sculpture and so much more!
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2:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Tour | US Customs House Building Tour
A Museum Ambassador provides a 45-minute in-depth look at the unique architecture and design of the Alexander Hamilton Customs House.
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2:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Film | Mick Garris' Stephen King's Bag of Bones (2011): TV Adaptation
Stars: Pierce Brosnan, Melissa George, Annabeth Gish.
Novelist Mike Noonan, unable to cope after his wife's sudden death, returns to the couple's lakeside retreat where he becomes involved in a custody battle between a young widow and her child's wealthy grandfather.
163 mins.
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2:30 pm
Free
Free
Concert | Bach Suites in the Dark, a "Concert Exhibition"
Cellist Augustin Maurs's Bach Suites in the Dark offers a unique approach to Bach’s Cello Suites. After of years of investigation, the Suites are removed from the concert hall and placed in an unilluminated space, in which the cellist repeatedly plays them over a period of ten days. Through the extended time frame and the elimination of any visual input, the listener and the playing musician are unified within the same visual and musical space.
Originally conceived as studies, Bach’s Cello Suites are a series of dances written around 1720. Although unaccompanied, they are expansive polyphonic musical masterpieces, considered both the beginning and culmination of the cello repertoire. Uncertainty about the original creative intentions of the Suites invites perpetual debate and allows imaginative free reign for redefining the environment in which they are played. Bach Suites in the Dark removes the Suites from the concert hall explores their malleability and the notion of practice in which they are rooted.
New York, NY
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3:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Concert | Concert on Water
The concert is at the coolest classical music concerts location in New York City. Program and musicians TBA.
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3:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Dance Performance | Dance Works-in-Progress: Anna Marie Shogren / Rebecca Warner
Curated by Ishmael Houston-Jones, the DraftWork series hosts informal Saturday afternoon performances that offer choreographers an opportunity to show their work in various stages of development. Performances are followed by discussion and a reception.
New York, NY
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3:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Concert | Flutist Tia Roper performs from her CD The Magic Flute
Celebrating the worldwide release of her debut album, musician extraordinaire and native New Yorker Tia Roper will be presenting a recital. This concert will showcase the flute through its versatility and captivating style. The musical selections will embrace a combination of classical, contemporary, and jazz modes. Exhibiting a full exploration of today’s modern flute, the afternoon concert will feature the instrument in works of virtuosity and lyricism, but will also highlight extended techniques, 21st century nuances, and contemporary lyrical genres, bringing to light the complete and modern capabilities of the flute.
Tia Roper will be performing works by Ransom Wilson, Gary Schocker, Theobald Boehm, Johann Quantz, and Mike Mower. She will be joined by pianist Mitchell Vines.
New York, NY
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3:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Theater | Romantic Drama: The Old Settler by John Henry Redwood
A romantic drama about two middle-aged sisters in 1943 Harlem whose world is uprooted by the arrival of a handsome young boarder from the south. Directed by AUDELCO Award-winning Ajene D. Washington.
New York, NY
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3:00 pm
$12 suggested donation...
$12 suggested donation...
Lecture | Six Non-Lectures: The Other John Ashbery
“Six Non-Lectures” features six contemporary poets lecturing on topics they are non-experts in, with little to no time to prepare. Lecturers include: Kenny Goldsmith, John Yau, Amy King, Rachel Levitsky, Timothy Donnelly and a special mystery guest!
New York, NY
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3:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Tour | US Customs House Building Tour
A Museum Ambassador provides a 45-minute in-depth look at the unique architecture and design of the Alexander Hamilton Customs House.
Join the Club!
3:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Concert | Voices À La Carte perform Night Caps
Contemporary Opera Scenes.
New York, NY
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3:00 pm
$5
$5
Book Signing | Artists Marcel Dzama and Raymond Pettibon sign copies of their books
Marcel Dzama's Sower of Discord is the definitive monograph on the artist and includes a foreword by Raymond Pettibon, original short stories by Dave Eggers, an interview by Spike Jonze, and an essay by art historian Bradley Bailey, as well as a poster designed by the artist.
Throughout the years, Raymond Pettibon’s subjects have included political figures and historical events, with particular intensity since the events of September 11, 2001 as evidenced by recent exhibitions. Seen in Here’s Your Irony Back: Political Works 1975-2013 are images of Ronald and Nancy Reagan, J. Edgar Hoover, both Bush presidents, the Kennedys, Hitler, scenes from the Vietnam War and protest movements, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, President Obama, and Osama bin Laden.
New York, NY
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4:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Concert | Saturday Afternoon Organ Meditation
The program features the great repertoire of the Organ on the 101 rank Pipe Organ built by Herman Schlicker and the 5 stop chamber organ built by Taylor & Boody Organ Builders.
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4:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Screening | Spain in Crisis: A Documentary Film Series
Measures to pull Spain out of its current financial crisis are failing to bear fruit and exacerbating social tensions. This two-day program, the first of its kind, showcases the Spanish crash from different perspectives: television journalism; a consulting firm’s video aimed at recruiting investors; a collective documentary on the 15M movement; and responses by a number of influential Spanish audiovisual artists. The program will end with a panel discussion by scholars.
New York, NY
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4:00 pm
Free...
Free...
Discussion | Randy Johnson discusses his play A Night with Janis Joplin
Steve Cuden, Co-Creator of Jekyll & Hyde, The Musical, interviews Randy Johnson, Writer/Director of A Night with Janis Joplin. The conversation will focus on Randy's experiences in creating the new musical about the legendary Janis Joplin. Immediately following, Steve Cuden will sign copies of his book Beating Broadway: How to Create Stories for Musicals That Get Standing Ovations.
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5:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Opening Reception | Curious Nature, an Exhibition by Jennybird Alcantara
The collection of nearly 50 original works includes oil paintings, works on paper and mixed-media dolls. Alcantara uses the symbolism of duality to explore the connection between life and death, as well as the beauty and cruelness of natural things, including landscape, animals and humans.
New York, NY
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6:00 pm
Free
Free
Concert | College Piano Recital
Ernest Barretta and Yoheved Kaplinsky, duo piano recital
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6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Concert | New York Piano Society performs works by Chopin, Schumann, Mendelssohn, and Liszt
The opening concert of the season features members of NYPS whose primary professions include a physician, an architect, a statistician, a philosophy student, a mathematician and young scientist. Guest artist is violinist Di Wu, selected from the Guest Artist Auditions for Young Musicians. The concert will be composed of works by Chopin, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Liszt, Paganini, and Chausson. Meet the artists for refreshments after the concert.
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6:00 pm
$20 suggested donation...
$20 suggested donation...
Opening Reception | Paintings: Bruce Pearson's Free Getaways
New works by Bruce Pearson in his sixth solo exhibition at the gallery. Well-known for his multi-layered kaleidoscopic paintings on large, intricately carved Styrofoam reliefs, the works in this exhibition move his aesthetic into new realms by examining the possibilities of their unexpected interaction with architectural space, light, and location.
New York, NY
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6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Screening | Natural Living Film Festival 2013: The Disappearing Male / Big Bucks, Big Pharma
6:30 PM - The Disappearing Male: From Virility to Sterility CBC Learning, 43 min. - This film is about one of the most important, and least publicized, issues facing the human species: the toxic threat to the male reproductive system.
7:15 - Big Bucks, Big Pharma: Marketing Disease & Pushing Drugs Ridberg, 46 min. - This film pulls back the curtain on the multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical industry to expose the insidious ways that illness is used, manipulated and in some cases created, for capital gain.
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6:30 pm
Free
Free
Theater | Romantic Drama: The Old Settler by John Henry Redwood
A romantic drama about two middle-aged sisters in 1943 Harlem whose world is uprooted by the arrival of a handsome young boarder from the south. Directed by AUDELCO Award-winning Ajene D. Washington.
New York, NY
Join the Club!
7:30 pm
$12 suggested donation...
$12 suggested donation...
Tour | Manhattan Night Tour
New York is a skyscraper city and there is no better time to view Manhattan’s icons than after the 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.
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8:00 pm
Free...
Free...
Concert | New York Repertory Orchestra performs works by Martinu and Haydn
Program:
Martinu: Memorial to Lidice
Haydn: Cello Concerto in D Major
D'Indy: Symphony No. 2
Soloist: Kajsa William-Olsson, Cello
New York, NY
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8:00 pm
$10 suggested donation
$10 suggested donation
Concert | Voices À La Carte perform Night Caps
Contemporary Opera Scenes.
New York, NY
Join the Club!
8:00 pm
$5
$5
Concert | Numinous, Eclectic Ensemble
Last seen performing its original score to Lubitsch’s lost silent classic The Loves of Pharaoh (2012 Next Wave Festival), Numinous, the ensemble formed by composer Joseph C. Philips, synthesizes contemporary classical, big band, jazz, world, and popular music. On the program is music from the ensemble’s score for Pharaoh, Phillips’ string quartet “110 percent” (inspired, in the ensemble’s words, by “basketball and the music of Jay Z, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, and D'Angelo”), and old Numinous favorites.
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9:30 pm
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No cover, no...
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Performance | Comedy by 13-time Emmy Winner with Broadway Actors
Regular Price: $69CFT Member Price: $0.00
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