free things to do in New York City
Free events for Saturday, 10/16/21
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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 October 16, 2021?

34 free events take place on Saturday, October 16 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 October 16 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 October . 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!

34 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Saturday, October 16, 2021

All events are free unless otherwise noted.
        

Tour | Open House New York Weekend: 200+ Tours, Talks, and More


With a lineup of 200+ tours, talks, self-guided walks (and more!) on tap, they encourage you to use the filters at the link to find places or podcasts to include in your weekend adventures.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:00 am
Free

Fair | Flea Market: Antiques, Vintage Goods, Food Vendors


Search for hidden gems as you browse through 50-60 vendors of antiques, vintage goods, architectural salvage and collectibles. There is also a selection of food vendors and a bar. The fair takes place rain or shine, each Sat and Sun 8 am - 5 pm.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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8:00 am
Free

Tour | Garment District


Hear an unusual perspective from somebody who spent the greater portion of his life working in the GARMENT industry. You will learn how the apparel industry developed in NYC through the years, and how it came to be located in its current District. Watch the development of the industry from sweatshops in the old tenement buildings on the Lower East Side, to giant factories in China and Bangladesh. See how immigrants were the backbone of the industry and in NYC, still are. Five minute flow chart "From Fibers To Garment". Learn about Calvin, Ralph and Oscar, as well as Labor Unions and Gangsters. A Factory Visit When Available. See "The Garment Worker'' by Judith Weller, The Fashion Walk of Fame. The Giant Button and Needle artwork on Seventh Ave. And much more.
   New York City, NY; NYC
10:00 am
Free

Fair | Market on the Island: Jewelry, Art, Apparel, Body Care, and More


Featuring a rotating lineup of over 30 of the city's emerging makers, designers, artists, and small businesses each month, browse one-of-a-kind handcrafted jewelry, art, apparel, bath and body care, tableware, home furnishings, and more. Every third weekend of the month until October 2021.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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10:00 am
Free

Workshop | Dance Fitness Class


A free dance fitness class. This class is good for participants of all fitness levels. Saturdays, July 3-October 16, 2021
   New York City, NY; NYC
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11:00 am
Free

City Walk | Inside 1014 Fifth Avenue and the Hidden Histories of Fifth Avenue's Gilded Age Mansions


The Vanderbilts, the Astors, the Clarks and the Fricks are just a few of the notable New York families who once resided on Manhattan’s fashionable Fifth Avenue. Justin Rivers will take guests on a stroll along Fifth Avenue reliving how it was during the Gilded Age when grand mansions of millionaires lined the illustrious street. As you revisit Millionaire’s Row, you will discover works of architecture lost to time and some that remain today with the new purpose of education, public service and community building. The tour will end with a look inside 1014 Fifth Avenue.
   New York City, NY; NYC
11:00 am
Free

Workshop | Pheromone: Creating Olfactory Sensations


Non-human animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms help to build the ecology of shared public parks and interstitial urban spaces. With an acknowledgment of the rich and, at times, invisible exchanges between species, artists Marcela Torres and D Rosen will work with participants to create olfactory experiences for both humans and non-human animals in conversation with the local ecology. Pheromone will provide sensorial tools to facilitate interspecies rituals, home-based care practices, and thoughtful collaborations within multi-species ecologies.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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11:00 am
Free

Performance | Short Plays by Local Writers


An afternoon of short plays by regional writers.  
   New York City, NY; NYC
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11:00 am
Free

Tour | The Louvre: Highlights Art Tour (online)


The Louvre is considered by many to be the world's greatest art museum. In this virtual tour you will review several noteworthy highlights from the museum's amazing collection, including Winged Victory and the Mona Lisa. The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace, originally built in the late 12th to 13th century under Philip II. It holds approximately 38,000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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11:00 am
Free

Museums | Tiffany Glass and Other Exhibitions


The collection of Tiffany's leaded glass includes an extraordinary array of floral and geometric lamps as well as landscape and figural windows. A unique feature of the collection is a vast, one-of-a-kind archive of original flat glass and pressed-glass "jewels" used by Tiffany Studios, which provides valuable insight into the development of the stained-glass movement in America at the turn of the twentieth century. Established in 1972, this art museum's permanent collection consists of around 10,000 items, over 6,000 of which are documents and objects related to the 1939 and 1964 World's Fairs, some of which are on long-term display. Proof of vaccination, ID, masks are required.
   New York City, NY; NYC
11:00 am
Free

Open Studios | Gowanus Open Studios 2021


Visit the studios of dozens of artists in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn. See link for details.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:00 pm
Free

Opening Reception | Apparitions: The Tension Between Greed and Reverence


Alicia Smith’s work uses the abject and sublime to investigate the tension between greed and reverence and its impact on the environment, as well as our relationship to the female body. Through these processes she dissolves romanticized tropes that deny indigenous women their complexity, while at the same time demonstrating their beauty and strength. Being of mixed race heritage her relationship to the land and her body is complicated and something she unpacks through her work with the guidance of her ancestors.  
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
Free

Dance Performance | Herstory of the Universe: A Day of Dance


A day of site-specific dance performances. This performance leads visitors on a journey across the island—from the ancient trees to secluded lawns and the dramatic topography of the hills—through a series of six site-specific dances. Each performance is inspired by, and in conversation with, its unique site, including the ecosystems, architectures, materials and species that dwell within. From the abstract to the fantastical, the works embody various biological and natural processes in a kind of biomimicry—telling the stories of Governors Island through a series of kinetic, strikingly costumed dance installations.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
Free

Performance | Musical Storytime! (in-person and online)


Join Bravo the dog and his theatre friends as they bring picture books to life with live original music. Listen to 3 stories, play a few games, sing a song. Bravo will greet you and happily receive belly rubs! Duration: approximately 20 minutes. Takes place every Sat at 1 pm (not on Nov 13 & 27 and Dec 25th). New stories and games each month. All patrons over the age of 12 - must show proof of vaccination. All patrons over the age of 2 must wear a mask. Appropriate for all ages, recommended for 4+.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
Free

Workshop | Natural Dye & Eco-Printing Workshop


Create colorful prints with natural elements that don’t harm the environment and celebrate nature's abundance of color this fall. Learn the basics of natural dyeing and eco-printing fabric with natural pigments. Earth Celebrations artist Michele Brody will engage participants to work with silk and natural fabrics to dye and print with natural pigments such as indigo, fall leaves, fruits and flowers. Flowers and leaves are used to create a contact print releasing their shape and natural color into the fabric. Check link for COVID protocols.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
Free

Concert | New Orleans Funk and Soul: Family Concert, Games and More


Family concert with dancing, interactive games and loads of fun. The core audience is children 10 years and under. This event is free for anyone under 1-year-old.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
$6.15

Open Studios | Studios of 100 Visual Artists


Explore the studios of over 100 visual artists and wander through the historic venue. Proof of vaccinations, masks are required.
   New York City, NY; NYC
1:00 pm
Free

Lecture | The History of Upper East Side Townhouses


Historian and author Tom Miller will give a history of the neighborhood and, specifically, of 1014 Fifth Avenue. He will detail the colorful families who lived here, as well as how life played out within the mansion for them and their servants. Included is the family of James W. Gerard, a prominent diplomat and attorney and the last Ambassador to Imperial Germany.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
Free

Staged Reading | Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew


The Instant Shakespeare Company presents a reading of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:30 pm
Free

Classical Music | Peter Rabbit: A Children's Opera


Peter Rabbit is a rollicking, action-packed introduction to the world of classical music for children, featuring the timeless melodies of Gaetano Donizetti. Beatrix Potter's beloved mischievous character runs afoul of the gardener MacGregor. He barely escapes as Donizetti's score accompanies a dramatic chase. Beautiful arias set the tone for anxious Momma Rabbit and the narrator as the adventure plays out.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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2:00 pm
Free

Dancing | A Transdisciplinary Blend of the Rave, Public Art, and Social Activism


Conceived as a series of live activations of a sculpture, this event reimagines alternative ways of creating safe, conscious, accessible, and open dance floors as hubs for community building, care, and shared joy.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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2:00 pm
Free

Performance | An Afternoon of Outdoor Performances


The doorway of a historic church will transform into a stage, with small, vignette performances throughout the afternoon, including puppetry, dance, song, and spoken word.  
   New York City, NY; NYC
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2:00 pm
Free

Birdwatching | Island Bird Walk


Meet the birds of Governors Island with one of their expert guides. Over 220 bird species have been spotted on the island, which provides excellent habitat all year round. Whether you’re an expert birder or a beginner, these tours will help you discover all of the bird life the island has to offer. Binoculars are available to borrow. Limited to 10. Saturdays, July 3-October 30, 2021 (except July 17)
   New York City, NY; NYC
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2:00 pm
Free

Jazz | Jazz Quartet: Cole Porter, Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin


Jazz guitarist/arranger/composer Steve Cimino and his quartet perform songs by Broadway's greatest composers. Proof of vaccination and masks are required.
   New York City, NY; NYC
2:30 pm
Free

Talk | After Seneca Village: Yorkville and the Transformations of New York City


In 1825, a small group of Black New Yorkers purchased land and founded Seneca Village, an intentional activist community in upper Manhattan built on the ideals of their shared social, political, and religious organizations. For three decades the neighborhood grew to include multiple schools, churches, and cemeteries. Many established lives that redefined the meaning of freedom —owning their homes, supporting organizations, voting, tending gardens, and establishing businesses. The community thrived and eventually became home to immigrants from Ireland and Germany. In the 1850s, however, New York City began to displace the residents, seize their land, and destroy their homes to make way for the construction of Central Park. With their settlement razed, residents scattered and researchers have been unable to locate most of them after Seneca Village. Until now.  
   New York City, NY; NYC
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3:00 pm
Free

Concert | Organ Recital


Jennifer Pascual performs
   New York City, NY; NYC
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3:00 pm
Free

Gallery Talk | Process + ReProcess: A Virtual Tour with the Artists (online)


Artists Joanne Ungar and Jaynie Gillman Crimmins both use the recycled materials, cardboard and paper as the base materials to create their sculptural wall works, addressing physical and cultural issues of waste. Both sculptors address consumerism and societal issues, from advertising, cosmetics, beauty, and excess. Yet, despite the similarly humble ingredients these two are creating from decidedly different ‘recipes’. Each artist uses their own unique preservation method to transform the mundane into objects of glory.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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4:00 pm
Free

Video | 1014 Black Ground: Dispossession Inheritance: New Video Work


Mario Gooden's video is a meditation on the dispossession of land, property, and generational wealth of African Americans and the accumulation of wealth by American oligarchy through means of extraction, exploitation, and marginalization.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:00 pm
Free

Opening Reception | Le Rouge et Le Noir: Striking Portraits


Whitfield Lovell's exhibition of all new work will be a multi-sensory, multi-layered installation including works from three new series. Lovell is internationally renowned for his installations that incorporate masterful Conte crayon portraits of anonymous African Americans from between the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil Rights Movement. Using vintage photography as his source, Lovell often pairs his subjects with found objects, evoking personal memories, ancestral connections, and the collective American past. In 2007, Lovell was awarded with a MacArthur Foundation fellowship, often referred to as the “genius grant."        
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:00 pm
Free

Dance Performance | A Dance and a Reading Celebrate Gay Contributions to Greenwich Village


A new choreographic work directed, choreographed, and performed by an acclaimed dancer (Winner World London IFF, Madrid IFF, Barcelona IFF, Big Apple Film Festival, LGBTQ SHORTS) in collaboration with writer and historian Hugh Ryan reading from his latest book The House of D. Come celebrate the historic contributions of the queer community to Greenwich Village culture and identity.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:00 pm
Free

Poetry Reading | New Gay Poetry (in-person and online)


Joon Oluchi Lee is the author of Neotenica, which won the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction and was finalist for the Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBTQ Fiction. Stacy Szymaszek's books include Emptied of All Ships, Hyperglossia, hart island, Journal of Ugly Sites and Other Journals (Ottoline Prize winner and Lambda nominee), and A Year From Today.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:00 pm
$5

Jazz | Outdoor Performances Against the Backdrop of the City Skyline


Featuring four musical acts.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:00 pm
Free

Workshop | Observe the Moon Night


Curious stargazers and Moon enthusiasts learn about lunar science and take part in celestial observations. The Moon will be around its first quarter phase and in a good position for early viewing from a hamlet by the sea. Telescopes will be provided.
   New York City, NY; NYC
6:00 pm
Free

Screening | Surrealism Beyond Borders: Outdoor Film Screening


An outdoor screening series of films by artists and filmmakers from Central and Eastern Europe and the Pacific, presented in conjunction with the exhibition Surrealism Beyond Borders. Each weekend features a different film program that extends the exhibition's reconsideration of Surrealism as a true “movement” across boundaries of geography and chronology, recasting appreciation of this revolutionary, emancipatory, and globe-spanning idea. The films explore the collective concerns that animated Surrealism, as well as the historical and national distinctions that characterized regional cinema. Face coverings are strongly recommended.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free
Complimentary Tickets

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

Classical Music | Opera and Orchestral Works at a Landmark Venue

Regular Price: $45
CFT Member Price: $0.00

Musical | Award-Winning Comedy at One of the Major NYC Theaters

Regular Price: $64
CFT Member Price: $0.00
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