- ABOUT
- CONTACT
- FAQ
- REVIEWS
- GIVE A GIFT OF CFT!
-
Join the Club!
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!
29 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Thursday, October 22, 2026
All events are free unless otherwise noted.
Tour | New York City Hall Guided Tour
One of the oldest continuously used city halls in the nation that still houses its original governmental functions, New York's City Hall is considered one of the finest architectural achievements of its period. Constructed from 1803 to 1812, the building was an early expression of the City's cosmopolitanism. City Hall is a designated New York City landmark, and its rotunda is also a designated interior landmark. Note: When registering, choose the "Individual Tour" option.
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
10:00 am
free, registration required...
free, registration required...
Workshop | Mat Pilates Session (Beginners Welcome!)
Sweet Water Dance & Yoga leads a session of mat pilates, a strengthening and lengthening exercise that focuses on conditioning your core muscles while also training your arms and legs. This class incorporates key Pilates principles such as postural alignment, breathing, strength, controlled movement, and flexibility. This class is perfect for beginners but intermediate and advanced movers will also benefit. Bring your own mat.
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
11:00 am
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Workshop | Learn to Juggle in the Park
This juggling class is ideal for a quick lesson, an extended practice session, or just enjoy watching jugglers 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.
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
12:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Classical Music | An Afternoon of Organ Works by J.S. Bach in a Beautiful Church (In Person AND Online!)
Take a momentary respite from a busy day to enjoy a selection of organ works by Johann Sebastian Bach in an intimate venue.
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
12:20 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Film | The Haunting (1999): Supernatural Horror Film
Four people go ghost hunting in an old mansion that is supposedly haunted, and they slowly begin to discover the horrific tales about the place may hold more truth than skeptics thought. Director: Robert Wise Cast: Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, Russ Tamblyn
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
1:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Workshop | Artmaking on the Plaza with a Professional Artist
Led by a local teaching artist, this drop-in class invites participants to explore creativity through hands-on artmaking. Past mediums have included plein-air drawing, printmaking, cyanotypes, and more. All materials are provided.
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
1:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Classical Music | Piano Trios by Mozart, Shostakovich, Amy Beach, & More (In Person AND Online!)
The Salix Piano Trio performs. The Salix Piano Trio was founded in New York City in 2023 by longtime friends and colleagues -- violinist Joanna Maurer, cellist Alberto Parrini, and pianist Anna Stoytcheva -- out of a desire to explore the rich and vast piano trio canon. For the past 20+ years, Maurer, Parrini and Stoytcheva have performed and toured together around the United States in different combinations, notably as members of the American Chamber Players. In this concert, Salix Piano Trio will be performing W. A. Mozart's Piano Trio No. 5 in C Major, Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Trio in C Minor, Amy Beach's Piano Trio in A Minor, Inbal Segev's Piano Trio.
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
1:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Classical Music | "Curious, Comic, & Sublime Works" of the 18th-Century Stage for Harpsichord, Cello, & Violin (+ Dancers) (In Person AND Online!)
James Richman, harpsichord, and Nathan Wittaker, cello. Violin TBD. Featuring four dancers. The New and Curious School of Theatrical Dancing from 1716 by Gregorio Lambranzi inspires dances for the Harlequin, a dancer with two fronts and no back, a 3-legged dancer, a shepherdess, etc. Masked and unmasked, the dancers, under the direction of Catherine Turocy, are sure to delight with curious, comic, and sublime works of the 18th-century fair and opera stage.
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
1:15 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Film | Spielberg's Disclosure Day (2026): Sci-Fi Thriller with Emily Blunt
A television meteorologist and a cybersecurity analyst go on a mission to disclose the existence of extraterrestrial life to the world, while trying to evade the trail of a government contractor who tries to prevent them from getting the secret out. Director: Steven Spielberg Cast: Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo Steven Spielberg is an American film director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. He is the recipient of various accolades, including three Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and four Directors Guild of America Awards, as well as the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1995, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2006, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2009, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. Seven of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically,or aesthetically significant." Emily Blunt is a British actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and two Actor Awards, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and four British Academy Film Awards. Forbes ranked her as one of the highest-paid actresses in the world in 2020.
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
2:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Museums | Thursday Evenings at a Living Memorial Museum
Explore a museum dedicated to Holocaust remembrance, Jewish life, and education. View expansive galleries, survivor testimonies, and tens of thousands of artifacts. The museum also offers a theater, a genealogy center, an outdoor memorial, and a cafe.
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
4:00 pm
free, reservation required...
free, reservation required...
Gallery Talk | Art Critic & Artist Explore Photography in the Age of AI
A conversation between Charlotte Kent and Danielle Ezzo about photography and AI from a historic, critical, and artistic perspective. Photography has always been troubled by its own expansion. From its inception, what it does and whether someone is doing it has been debated. It launched out of science experiments and landed in the field of art. Each new camera, lens, or product, from the daguerreotype to the Polaroid to the digital file, has renewed confusion and uncertainty about what the medium is, does, preserves, constructs, witnesses, and deteriorates. To what degree does a conversation about photography today devolve into the problems of "AI," and does "AI" need photography as a practice to define its lineage? Writing in The Brooklyn Rail, visual culture scholar and art critic Charlotte Kent traces these ambiguities to ask whether photography is the only appropriate lens to view this slippery emergent technology. Danielle Ezzo, an artist and writer whose practice is built within the territory that Kent theorizes, speaks to the embodied experience of straddling two media that are constantly connected yet often in conflict. Together, their live conversation will move between the historical and the material, the theoretical and the embodied to bring the paradigm shift into clearer focus.
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
5:30 pm
free, RSVP required
free, RSVP required
Workshop | Full-Body Fitness Class in the Park (All-Levels Welcome)
An outdoor workout in the park for building strength, balance, and community. This full-body fitness class is designed to energize your week, boost your mood, and build community in the heart of Lower Manhattan. Every movement can be modified, making it perfect for beginners, returning exercisers, and parents looking to reset after school drop-off.
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
5:30 pm
free, registration required
free, registration required
Workshop | Jump into Double Dutch with the Pros
Learn the fundamentals of street-style and competitive jump rope with the Double Dutch Aunties.
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
5:30 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Tour | Learn about the Architecture & Design of One of NYC's most Unique Parks
Take a deep dive into design and architecture—both on and off the park—with a 90-minute specialized tour led by a docent, a knowledgeable volunteer guide. In it, you’ll hear about the architectural and technological feats of the once-active railway, the tenets that guided the park’s architectural and landscape design, and so much more.
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
5:30 pm
free, RSVP required
free, RSVP required
Film | The Plastic Age (1925): Silent Rom-Com
Hugh Carver is an athletic star and a freshman at Prescott College. He falls in love with Cynthia Day, a popular girl who loves to go to parties. He finds that it is impossible to please her and still keep up with his studies and his athletic training, and soon the two face some difficult decisions. Director: Wesley Ruggles Cast: Clara Bow, Donald Keith, Gilbert Roland, Mary Alden
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Concert | Vocalist, Songwriter, & Multi-Instrumentalist Julia Easterlin
Easterlin creates lush, immersive sonic worlds with vocals, loop pedal, and stringed instruments. Easterlin pairs inventive musicianship with the earthly storytelling of her upbringing along Georgia’s Ogeechee River. Her singular artistry has been recognized by TED, the GRAMMY Foundation, and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, and has led to collaborations with artists including Jacob Collier, Vieux Farka Touré, Bobby McFerrin, and Kris Bowers. She invites audiences into an intimate world shaped by experimentation, storytelling, and connection.
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Screening | Sawyer Avenue, Sunday Afternoon (2026): Political Documentary (+ FIlmmaker Discussion)
October 12, 2025: masked and unidentified agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) seize a man without a warrant on a residential street in Chicago. The film uses footage from phones and body cameras to dissect and reconstruct a neighbourhood’s struggle against impunity within a brutal administration. Director: Bill Morrison Following the documentary, Morrison will be joined by his co-producer Kalven and Devashish "Dave" Basnet, senior immigration policy strategist at the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), for a discussion about justice, surveillance, and the state-sponsored abuse of power.
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
6:30 pm
free, registration required
free, registration required
Screening | The Glorias (2020): Biographical Drama Film on Gloria Steinem Starring Julianne Moore (+ Filmmaker Discussion)
Journalist, fighter, and feminist, Gloria Steinem is an indelible icon known for her world-shaping activism, her guidance of the revolutionary women’s movement, and her writing that has impacted generations. In this nontraditional biopic, against the backdrop of a lonely bus on an open highway, five Glorias trace Steinem’s influential journey to prominence—from her time in India as a young woman, to the founding of Ms. magazine in New York, to her role in the rise of the women’s rights movement in the 1960s and beyond. Director: Julie Taymor Cast: Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander, Timothy Hutton, Lorraine Toussaint, Janelle Monáe, Bette Midler Julianne Moore is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Additionally, she is also the only actress - along with Juliette Binoche - to have won an acting award at the world's three major film festivals (a Volpi Cup, the Silver Bear for Best Actress, and the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress). Followed by a conversation with the film's director, Julie Taymor.
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
6:30 pm
free, tickets required
free, tickets required
Film | The Snow Woman (1968): Japanese Fantasy Horror Film
A handsome young sculptor meets an evil female spirit in a snowstorm, and his life is changed forever. Director: Tokuzo Tanaka Cast: Shiho Fujimura, Akira Ishihama, Machiko Hasegawa In Japanese with English subtitles.
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
6:30 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Workshop | Intermediate Chess-Playing: Level-Up Your Game
Develop your strategies and take your game to the next level with chess expert Tamar Chanadiri from the Marshall Chess Club. All ages are welcome! Chess has many benefits, including:
Improving cognitive skills
Encouraging creativity
Building confidence
Developing problem-solving skills
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
6:30 pm
free, registration required
free, registration required
Book Discussion | James Beard Award-Winning TV Food Expert Shares Her New Book on Chinese Cuisine
Fuchsia Dunlop explores the magical complexity of one of the world's greatest cuisines. 'Fuchsia Dunlop has done more to explain real Chinese cooking to non-Chinese cooks than anyone', according to The New York Times. Dunlop, a four-time James Beard award winner and TV food expert (Chef's Table; Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown) has already explored Hunan cooking and Szechuan food with her large legion of readers. Now, in her latest book, she tackles the "five tastes" which a Chinese chef needs to be able to marshal harmoniously: salty, sweet, sour, bitter and pungent. The delectable result might be green beans with "strange-flavor" sauce, spicy peanut butter noodles, or a steamed fish that sings with citrus notes.
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
6:30 pm
free, registration required
free, registration required
Classical Music | Spiritual, Dramatic, and Virtuosic Worlds of Liszt's Piano Music.
Hungarian pianist Csanad Barbarics performs a recital dedicated entirely to the music of the legendary composer. This concert is a part of the Concert Series which was created to introduce New York audiences to outstanding young Hungarian musicians.
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
6:30 pm
free, RSVP required
free, RSVP required
6:30 pm
Regular: $35
Member: $0
Regular: $35
Member: $0
Join the Club!
Staged Reading | Hallway House: Original Romantic, Friendship Drama
Dianne, Emily, and Michael lived on the same coed freshman hallway at college, and when Emily and Michael's lives fall apart, they take refuge in the large house that Dianne, as a successful romance writer, owns. The friends are obsessed with the Algonquin Roundtable. They quote the witty Algonquinites: Dorothy Parker and so on. Emily and Michael worry that their odd, intense friendship and obscure reference points make it hard for them to have long-term relationships with "normal" people. Currently, Emily's marriage is falling apart, and she goes a final round with her soon-to-be-ex-husband when he stops by. Meanwhile, Michael, after years alone, is thinking of starting a new relationship with Connor, who is much younger and knows nothing of the literary figures the three friends admire. But maybe that does not matter, and maybe Connor should not be underestimated. Directed by Judy Klass. Written by David Barlow.
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
7:00 pm
free, RSVP required
free, RSVP required
Museums | Thursday Nights at One of NYC's Leading Museum
Contemporary art is a vital social force that advances questioning, learning, and working towards a better society. This weekly program offers an accessible opportunity to explore groundbreaking exhibitions by emerging and established artists from around the globe. Engage with current artistic dialogues and help expand the definition of art.
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
7:00 pm
pay-what-you-wish, reservation required
pay-what-you-wish, reservation required
Play | A Doll's House: Modern Adaptation of Ibsen's Classic Drama
Amy Herzog's A Doll's House follows Nora Helmer, a woman who secretly borrows money to save her husband Torvald's life. When her secret is threatened with exposure, Torvald's reaction reveals that he values his reputation more than Nora's sacrifice. Nora realizes that she has been treated as a "doll" rather than an equal partner. She therefore decides to leave her marriage and family to discover her identity, independence, and freedom. Originally written by Henrik Ibsen. Adapted by Amy Herzog. Directed by Elissa Goetschius
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
7:30 pm
free, registration required
free, registration required
Concert | Collaborative Music & Art Projects on Stage
The Poland-based Unsound Festival embraces the process of creative engagement across national borders. This concert spotlights two mixed pairs of Polish and American artists collaborating to construct original shared languages. The prolific experimental-ambient wunderkind claire rousay spent a week in 2024 composing overseas in a secluded village in the Polish countryside with the Kraków-based composer and musician Martyna Basta. Their resulting joint show and album, hotel room, is a rugged travelogue of loose musical fragments, autotuned vocals, and complex atmospheres. The U.S. performance debut of hotel room features projected visuals by German artist Theresa Baumgartner. Next up is a new collaboration between American electronic producer Keith "Giant Claw" Rankin, head of the pioneering label Orange Milk Records, and Warsaw soundtrack composer and performer Julek ploski. Together, they present a new A/V work called CONTROL FREAK, the result of an Unsound-commission and residency in Warsaw. There are two ways to access this event: 1. General Admission, first-come first-served. Just show up! 2. Fast Track opening the Monday before the event at noon.
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
7:30 pm
free, fast-track available
free, fast-track available
7:30 pm
Regular: $25
Member: $0
Regular: $25
Member: $0
Join the Club!
Screening | Korean Film Festival: Rei's Winter Break (2025) -- Coming-of-Age Drama Film
Rei, a middle school girl living in Tokyo, begins her winter break. Around the same time, Gyuri, a Korean high school student, arrives in the city to visit her father, who is working there. With both of their parents busy and absent, the two girls are left to drift through their own quiet, aimless days. Director: Park Suk-young Cast: Kirika Kurosaki, Jung Joo-eun, Kozo Tsuruta
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
7:30 pm
free, RSVP required
free, RSVP required
Join the Club!
Complimentary Tickets
to shows, concerts ... (CFT Deals!)
Classical Music | "Virtuoso" Pianist Performs Works by Liszt & More
Regular Price: $50CFT Member Price: $0.00
Today's Events
All 1057 Events
Free Events This Week
Free Events This Weekend
Contact FAQ Reviews About Terms of Use Privacy Policy
All events are free unless otherwise stated. All programs subject to change. Please confirm before going.Contact FAQ Reviews About Terms of Use Privacy Policy
© Copyright Club Free Time. All rights reserved.