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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!
31 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Tuesday, September 8, 2026
All events are free unless otherwise noted.Editor's Picks
Birdwatching | Morning Birding in the Park with NYC Audubon
Discover the surprising diversity of birds that call New York home during migratory season with guided tours by NYC Audubon, led by environmental educator and urban naturalist Gabriel Willow. This park is a hotspot for avian visitors and birders alike. Past sightings include warblers, tanagers, vireos, thrushes, and even a Chuck-will’s-widow!
Manhattan, New York, NY
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8:00 am
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Park Walk | Discover Local Horticulture in the Park
Horticulturist Toshi Yano leads a behind-the-scenes look at the ongoing renovation of the park's gardens. Toshi will point out what's in bloom and explain how his team cultivates beautiful and resilient plants.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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9:00 am
free, registration required
free, registration required
Screening | Most Watched International Events on the Big (30-foot!) Screen Outdoors: Tennis
Today's Schedule:
9:00am - 11:00am Tennis- Tennis Channel Live at the US Open
11:00am - 11:00pm Tennis- US Open Men's & Women's Quarter Finals
*Scheduled programming subject to change. Seating is open to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis. Wells Fargo customers receive priority seating.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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9:00 am
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Workshop | Dance Workout on the Plaza
Lively movement and emotional catharsis combine for a workout led by Viva Soudan. No experience necessary!
Manhattan, New York, NY
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9:30 am
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Workshop | Yoga in the Park: Moving, Grooving, & Guessing (All Levels Welcome)
A morning yoga class led by Denis Morton, who brings 14 years of fitness leadership to Peloton. With an athletic history ranging from college football to aerial acrobatics, and a musical taste to match, Denis will keep you moving, grooving, and guessing what comes next. , Bring your own mat (the park does not provide mats). Organizers also recommend bringing water and a towel. This yoga class is appropriate for all levels.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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10:00 am
free, registration required
free, registration required
Workshop | Tai Chi in the Park: Meditation in Motion
Tai chi involves slow, fluid, continuous movements through formalized postures of centuries-old Chinese Taoist martial arts. All levels are welcome. Please wear comfortable clothes and shoes to move around in. The event will be canceled if it rains. The decision will be made by 5pm the day before and registrants will receive an email if the event is canceled.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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10:30 am
free, RSVP required
free, RSVP required
Workshop | Zumba Workout for All
Enthusiastic instruction and easy-to-follow Latin dance choreography working on balance, coordination, and range of motion.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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10:30 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
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12:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Film | The Spy Who Loved Me (1977): James Bond Spy Film
The storyline involves a reclusive megalomaniac named Karl Stromberg who plans to destroy the world and create a new civilisation under the sea. Bond teams up with Soviet agent Anya Amasova to stop Stromberg all while being hunted by Stromberg’s powerful henchman Jaws. Director: Lewis Gilbert Cast: Roger Moore, Barbara Bach, Curt Jurgens
Manhattan, New York, NY
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1:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
City Walk | Portrait Photo Walk through City Streets
Award-winning portrait artist Tony Gale leads a hands-on photo walk through the bustling streets of Manhattan. The group will be joined by professional models to explore the art of capturing portraits in an urban environment. This photo walk offers a unique opportunity to practice your composition and lighting techniques in a real-world setting. Photo gear will not be provided.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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2:00 pm
free, registration required
free, registration required
Film | Sky High (2005): Superhero Comedy Film (Family Movie)
New kids Will and Layla must stop a nefarious plot at their school for superheroes to save their friends and family. Director: Mike Mitchell Cast: Kelly Preston, Michael Angarano, Danielle Panabaker, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kurt Russell
Manhattan, New York, NY
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3:30 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Museums | Art from All Over The World in the Most Amazing Museum
Explore the premier collections of modern and contemporary art in one of the world's most iconic architectural landmarks. Tickets for Pay-What-You-Wish hours are available online only and released at 10 am the morning of the event.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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4:00 pm
$1 min pay-what-you-wish,...
$1 min pay-what-you-wish,...
Park Walk | Discover the History & Design of One of New York's Most Unique Parks
Hear the story behind New York City's park in the sky: an insider's perspective on the park's history, design, and landscape. Note: Spots are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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5:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Party | Make New Friends Playing Board Games Outdoors
Organizers bring a wider selection of board games to the Games Cart at this event, with games like Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne, Catan, King of Tokyo and more. Not sure what to play? The Games Hosts can help you find the perfect game and match up players!
Manhattan, New York, NY
Join the Club!
5:00 pm
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!
5:30 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Workshop | Zumba Rhythms Workout in the Park
Welcome to Zumba with DeeKee in the park! Participants dance, sweat, and have a great time with friends and fellow Zumba enthusiasts. No experience is required, just come with a positive attitude and be ready to move your body to the rhythm of the music. Weather permitting. Please arrive 10 minutes before class begins.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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5:30 pm
free, registration required
free, registration required
Book Discussion | "Erudite, Elegant & Stubbornly Experimental" (New York Times) Writer Shares Her New Short Story Collection
Diane Williams has been called one of the great masters of the American short story: her tiny, coruscating tales are among the most tender, funny, peculiar, and searching works in all of contemporary literature. I Liked Rex is Williams’s newest collection, which explores sex, love, marriage, and all that comes after; it is a book about living, but more importantly, about how to be alive. In these stories, a woman sees her soon-to-be ex-husband on the street, walking patiently at the end of a line of geese; a mother implores a total stranger to watch over her small child at the beach; a guest arrives at an orgy uninvited, and takes a nap beneath a dusty carpet; a woman reflects on her life with a man who used to belong to another, but is hers now—though can anyone really possess anyone else, truly?
Manhattan, New York, NY
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6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Opening Reception | Booty: Solo Exhibition Exploring Piracy
An exhibition of new paintings and installation by Marcus Jahmal. Pirates occupy a contradictory position in the popular imagination: figures who reject established authority in pursuit of their own motivations, while being romanticized symbols of freedom and resistance to monarchy. That mythology obscures piracy's material history, which is inseparable from European colonial expansion and fed on the transatlantic movement of goods, enslaved people, and colonial wealth. In Booty, Jahmal turns his focus to this history of piracy and its historical contradictions. Jahmal’s paintings draw on the fantasy of the outlaw who disrupts regimes of ownership and commerce while enacting the violence embedded in the history that produced the image. These simultaneous understandings are held together in scenes that are both playfully absurd yet fraught and complex.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Opening Reception | Building Books: Immersive Examination of the Constructive Nature of Bookmaking
An exhibition of an Italian publishing house's illustrated projects. Known for its catalog of art and design books by renowned names like Bruno Munari and Louise Fili, as well as innovative children's books and illustration, Corraini has been pushing the boundaries of publishing for over five decades. Building Books creates a space to take a closer look at their amazing, varied collection, including the processes behind the books and the publisher's history.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Opening Reception | Circus in the Mist: Immersive Solo Exhibition into a Vibrant, Colorful World
Bruno Munari's “The circus in the mist (Nella nebbia di Milano)" is an installation that translates the visual and tactile experience of the book of the same title into three-dimensional space. Drawing on the book’s innovative use of translucent vellum and perforated paper, the installation guides visitors through the milky opacity of Milan’s fog, before gradually emerging into the vibrant, colorful world of the circus.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Opening Reception | On the Other Hand: Solo Ezpressionistic Portrait Exhibition
The exhibition reunites a group of paintings created by Margot Bergman between 2012-2014, never before seen in New York, to accompany and contextualize a selection of large-scale portraits created between 2015 – 2019. From the mid–1990s through the late aughts, paintings by unknown artists, purchased from Chicago thrift shops, served as starting points for Bergman’s uncanny portraits. The artist would instinctively paint into the existing landscapes and still lifes, to reveal faces. Interventions would range from contouring a head from a clearing in the woods, or an arrangement of flowers, to tweaking elements such as barns or vases, forming them into eyes and red lips. As working from the thrift store paintings honed Bergman’s ability to see, she began to yearn for more freedom to paint. In 2012, Bergman put her collection of thrift store paintings aside, choosing to use blank canvases instead. The ‘tabula rasa’, and ability to choose whichever scale canvas she wanted, encouraged more expressionistic painthandling, unbound and unprompted by any existing marks.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Book Discussion | Book Launch: The Chinese Lady by Bo Wang
An immersive debut historical novel immortalizes the life of the first Chinese woman to be brought to the United States in the 1800s.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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6:00 pm
free, RSVP required
free, RSVP required
Poetry Reading | Pushcart Prize Nominated Writers Share an Evening of Poetry in the Park
Award-winning poetry by established and emerging poets. The audience will hear from Cai Sherley, Charlie Lou Evans, JC Andrews, Kaitlin Hsu, and Toni Garcia-Butler.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Park Walk | Walk along the East River: Learn about History, Architecture, & Ecology
Experienced park docents lead a walking tour to explore the history of the Brooklyn waterfront, the area's sustainable design and ecology, and how the park came to life!
Brooklyn, New York, NY
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6:00 pm
free, registration required
free, registration required
Workshop | Dance Aerobics Class: Low Stakes & All Fun
Find your inner dancer and get your body moving with pure joy at this cathartic dance aerobics class! Low stakes, all fun, and open to all levels. Space is limited, unreserved, and available on a first-come, first-served basis. If there is heavy rain at the time of the event, the event will be canceled.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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6:30 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Dancing | Free-Form Dancing in the Park
A music-based journey blending gentle movement, for all abilities. Bring your own mat or towel.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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6:30 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Workshop | HIIT Workout on the Pier
NYC’s best trainers bring the energy with a HIIT workout that builds endurance and leaves you feeling energized. Please note that participants should bring their own water bottle to class.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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6:30 pm
free, registration required
free, registration required
Play | Moliere's Don Juan: Provocative Tragicomedy with Live Music (in the Park)
Don Juan has abandoned Elvira, whom he seduced into breaking her vows and marrying him. Over the course of a single adventure-filled day, he and his loyal sidekick, Sganarelle, encounter many of the people Don Juan has betrayed. As he seduces women, defies social conventions, mocks religion, and revels in provocation, his appetite for transgression seems impossible to satisfy. Yet the signs are unmistakable: the walls are closing in. Will he truly repent? Or will he just pretend to, like so many around him, and continue down the same path to the bitter end? Playwright: Moliere Translator/Adaptor: Stephen Wadsworth Director: Lucie Tiberghien Cast: Keshav Moodliar, Kaliswa Brewster, Naomi Lorrain, Daniel Pearce, Michelle Veintimilla This presentation will feature live original cello music by Drama Desk-nominated composer Johnathan Moore.
Brooklyn, New York, NY
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7:00 pm
free, tickets required
free, tickets required
Book Discussion | National Book Award- & Pushcart Prize-Winning Author Shares Her Latest Work, Dèy (In Person AND Online!)
The author Edwidge Danticat introduces her new novel of family, grief, and the meaning of home. Edwidge Danticat discusses with author Nicole Dennis-Benn Dèy and the questions that drive its narrative: Can love or family protect us from harm? Do you choose home, or does home choose you? What will conquer your heart—optimism or fear? Dèy explores what happens in the aftermath of random violence to a person’s understanding of their place in this world. Moving from Haiti to Brooklyn to Miami, it follows Magnolia, who was caught seeking shelter inside a shopping mall restaurant during an outbreak of gunfire. Given a second chance at life, she begins to see with fresh eyes the labyrinth of her past and the complex joys and traumas within her own family, from the extraordinary bond with her daughter to the nearly broken relationship with her father.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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7:00 pm
free, registration required
free, registration required
Workshop | Stargazing in the Park
Immerse yourself in the wonders of the night sky. The friendly team from the Amateur Astronomers Association will be there with high-powered telescopes, ready to reveal the secrets of the cosmos.
From sunset to 30 minutes before park closure.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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7:30 pm
free, no reservation required
free, no reservation required
Concert | Creating a Live Album Preserving the Sounds of NYC -- Recorded in Real Time with 100+ Participants
New Yorkers from all five boroughs are coming together on stage. This event brings together community members, musicians, and dancers into a cast of over 100 to capture how our city sings, moves, and tells its story in this moment. This new production stands as an act of collective hope, joy, and resistance. The album will be preserved by the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts forever, ensuring that long after summer fades, it will remain a reminder that the true record of a city isn't just its headlines--it's the sound of neighbors standing side by side. Written by Lisa Sanaye Dring. Co-Directed and Choreographed by Dan Canham. Directed by Emily Lim.
Manhattan, New York, NY
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8:00 pm
free, tickets required
free, tickets required
Join the Club!
Complimentary Tickets
to shows, concerts ... (CFT Deals!)
Classical Music | J.S. Bach and Beethoven by Prominent Orchestra
Regular Price: $30CFT Member Price: $0.00
Concert | "Electrifying, Groove-Heavy" Band at Revered Venue
Regular Price: $35CFT Member Price: $0.00
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