free things to do in New York City
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Free Events, Free Things to Do in New York City! Read More
New York attracts world's best minds to its shores: they come here to interact with each other at conferences and seminars, and while they are here they are often invited to give a talk, a lecture, to be a part of a public discussion. We at Club Free Time give you an opportunity to be a part of it: to watch how those best minds in the world work! Don't miss the opportunities that only New York City (NYC) provides!
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!
47 free talks, lectures, discussions in New York City (NYC) Mon, 05/12/2025 - and on...
In New York City, you can talk with and listen to the best minds in the world without spending a dime! Just take a look at free talks, lectures, discussion, seminars, conferences listed on this page below!
Symposium | Learn about Art Materials through the Ages (In Person AND Online!)
Hear current Met fellows explore new avenues of research in art history, visual culture, interpretation, and cultural heritage preservation through presentations, panel discussions, and gallery activations. Presentations: Colors of the Feathered Serpent: Conservation and Technical Study of a Teotihuacan Stone Sculpture Miriam-Helene Rudd, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, Department of Objects Conservation Investigating the Materials of Southeast Asian Manuscripts and Paintings Leslie Zacharie, Sherman Fairchild Foundation Conservation Fellow, Department of Paper Conservation Investigating the Historical and Chemical Bonds of Pigments Shelby Shankel, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, Department of Scientific Research
New York City, NY; NYC
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Mon, May 12
10:30 am
Free
10:30 am
Free
Gallery Talk | Unveiling the Legacy of the Visonary Founder of the Whitney
The ceremonial unveiling of a plaque honoring Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, the visionary founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art, marks the site where she made significant contributions to the American art world. Whitney's impact as an artist, collector, and patron reshaped the American art world. She provided a lasting platform for contemporary artists, establishing the first museum dedicated to American art. Her dedication to supporting artists and her groundbreaking vision for art institutions in the U.S. remain central to her enduring legacy. This plaque commemorates her extraordinary contributions to the arts. This is the 26th plaque unveiling in an ongoing series celebrating the lives and legacies of influential figures who shaped our community, including Jane Jacobs, James Baldwin, Allen Ginsberg, Frances Perkins, and others.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Mon, May 12
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Mon, May 12
7:00 pm
Regular: $27
Member: $0
7:00 pm
Regular: $27
Member: $0
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Symposium | The Intersection of Language and Art (In Person AND Online!)
Hear current Met fellows explore new avenues of research in art history, visual culture, interpretation, and cultural heritage preservation through presentations, panel discussions, and gallery activations. Presentations: The Spatializing Inscriptions of Safavid Carpets Sarah Molina, Sylvan C. Coleman and Pam Coleman Memorial Fund Fellow, Department of Islamic Art Feasting and Wellness: Flavor Memories of the Deccan Ali Husain, J. Clawson Mills Scholarship Interdisciplinary Fellow, Department of Islamic Art Worlds within Words: Visual Poetry in Maya Full-Figure Hieroglyphic Inscriptions Catherine Nuckols, Sylvan C. Coleman and Pam Coleman Memorial Fund Fellow, The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing Expanding Museum Access through Bilingual Interpretive Strategies Clara Apostolatos, Kress Interpretive Fellow, Education Department
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, May 13
10:30 am
Free
10:30 am
Free
Book Discussion | Women Architects at Work: Making American Modernism
In the interwar decades, American architecture schools enrolled increasing numbers of women. But as architectural historians Mary Anne Hunting and Kevin D. Murphy recount in their book, professional success did not come easily. Focusing on the Cambridge School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture in Massachusetts and several coeducational architecture schools, Hunting and Murphy profile women designers who pursued careers in architecture, describing how these innovative practitioners leveraged social, educational, and professional ties to achieve success and address social concerns. Some joined women-led architectural firms, while others partnered with men or contributed to Modernism as retailers of household furnishings, writers and educators, photographers and designers, or fine artists. With stunning illustrations, Women Architects at Work offers new histories of recognized figures, while recovering the stories of previously unsung women, all of whom contributed to the modernization of American architecture and design.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, May 13
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Lecture | Art Historian Explores Muralist Francis Davis Millet 's Influence on the American Renaissance
Art historian and Millet scholar Gina M. D’Angelo discusses the American artist Francis Davis Millet (1846-1912). Gina presents an overview of Millet’s career while concentrating on one of his signature achievements: his mural decorations and supervision of the mural program at the 1893 World’s Fair, which revitalized the American mural movement and enhanced the stature of mural painting in the United States.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, May 13
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | How New York Rose: Skyscrapers, Subways, and the Workers Who Built a City (Online)
Historian of American architecture and urbanism Alexander Wood, author of Building the Metropolis: Architecture, Construction, and Labor in New York City, 1880-1935, brings to life the era that transformed New York into a global metropolis. A former Helen and Robert Appel Fellow at the New York Historical Society and a Ph.D. graduate from Columbia, Wood examines the period that saw the rise of the skyscraper, the birth of the subway, and the unification of the five boroughs. Drawing on archives, firm records, and labor union documents, Wood explores how visionaries, tradespeople, and communities together shaped the city's jagged skyline and bustling infrastructure. His research highlights the often-overlooked labor and ingenuity behind nearly a million buildings, landmark bridges, and miles of city streets--all constructed during a time of breathtaking urban ambition.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, May 13
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Club | Reading Rhythms Party: Socialize with Other Bookworms
Unplug and unwind at Reading Rhythms, a unique outdoor reading party designed to build community through books. With live music, structured reading time, and guided discussions, this mindful gathering blends solo reflection with social connection. Bring your own book and a mat or blanket for added comfort.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, May 13
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Talk | MoMA-Featured Artist & Photographer Discusses His New Book
This event is a talk with Tim Soter. Soter is an artist, photographer, book designer, and publisher operating under the imprint The Ship Escaped. A common underlying thread in his work is the act of mythologizing—whether it’s an already famous photographer, a decades-old music scene, or even an artistic process. His most recent book, DFA Records: The Early Years, documents the raw energy, underground spirit, and formative moments of New York’s DFA music scene from 2003 to 2007. His work is held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, the International Center of Photography, and Tate Modern.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, May 13
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Gallery Talk | Water, Memory, and State Violence
Explore the multidisciplinary practice of İz Öztat, Swiss Institute’s SAHA artist-in-residence, in a conversation with scholar Lara Fresko Madra. Building on a long-standing intellectual dialogue, the pair will discuss Öztat’s artistic methodologies—both individual and collaborative—that engage with the history and ongoing realities of state violence in Turkey. The talk will trace Öztat’s recent focus on water as a cultural, linguistic, and material force, as well as her engagement with water protection movements and the layered histories carried through waterways. Fresko Madra will expand on these themes through the lens of her own research and writing, situating Öztat’s work within broader historical and contemporary geopolitical contexts.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, May 13
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Book Club | Discussing the Poetry of National Book Award Winner Diane Seuss
In this Poetry Discussion meeting, the group will be reading Diane Seuss' 2024 poetry collection, Modern Poetry. This collection was: Finalist for the 2024 National Book Award for Poetry Winner of the 2024 Heartland Booksellers Award for Poetry A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of 2024 A New Yorker Essential Read of 2024 A Library Journal, Literary Hub, and Electric Literature Best Poetry Collection of 2024 Diane Seuss’s signature voice—audacious in its honesty, virtuosic in its artistry, outsider in its attitude—has become one of the most original in contemporary poetry. Her latest collection takes its title, Modern Poetry, from the first textbook Seuss encountered as a child and the first poetry course she took in college, as an enrapt but ill-equipped student, one who felt poetry was beyond her reach. Many of the poems make use of the forms and terms of musical and poetic craft—ballad, fugue, aria, refrain, coda—and contend with the works of writers overrepresented in textbooks and anthologies and those too often underrepresented. Please bring your copy to the discussion; the group will be doing close readings and analysis of the poems. A PDF of the collection is available on the organizer's website.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, May 14
4:30 pm
Free
4:30 pm
Free
Talk | Bestselling Author of The Body Scout Speaks on His New Book with Fellow Writers
Author Lincoln Michel presents Metallic Realms, in conversation with Helen Phillips, Chloe Cooper Jones and Kevin Nguyen. In the novel, Perennially single, socially awkward, and drowning in debt, Michael Lincoln finds his life has turned out nothing like the intergalactic lives of the pulp heroes of his youth. But these are pedestrian concerns—he has a higher calling, and that is to preserve for all posterity the greatest series in the history of the written word: The Star Rot Chronicles. Written collectively by Michael’s best (and perhaps only) friend Taras K. Castle and his misfit science fiction writing group, the Orb 4, the stories follow Captain Baldwin and his fearless crew on their mind-bending adventures across the Metallic Realms. But the most urgent story Michael must tell takes place in the more intimate (if no less dramatic) confines of literary Brooklyn. Behind the greatest universe ever created, there are the all-too-mortal people who wrote it. As Michael chronicles the personal melodramas of the Orb 4 as well as the fun house reflections in their fiction, the line between real and unreal becomes dangerously thin, and the true reasons for the group’s fallout begin to emerge.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, May 14
6:30 pm
$5 per RSVP
6:30 pm
$5 per RSVP
Symposium | How Historical Art Speaks to Us Today (In Person AND Online!)
Hear current Met fellows explore new avenues of research in art history, visual culture, interpretation, and cultural heritage preservation through presentations, panel discussions, and gallery activations. Presentations: The Investigation and Treatment of Bergognone’s Assumption of the Virgin Ruth Waddington, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, Department of Paintings Conservation Dechados: A Technical Analysis of Nineteenth-Century Mexican Needlework Samplers Alejandra Flores, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, Department of Textile Conservation Botticelli and His Workshop at The Met Christopher Daly, Andrew W. Mellon Post-Doctoral Curatorial Fellow, Robert Lehman Collection Fractured Histories: Ethical Challenges in Conserving Kintsugi-Modified Korean Ceramics in American Collections Ye-Jee Lee, Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, Department of Objects Conservation
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, May 15
10:30 am
Free
10:30 am
Free
Gallery Talk | The History of Collecting Art
Learn how provenance research, which traces the history of ownership of an object, informs the history of collecting, from Renaissance Italy to 19th- and 20th-century New York. Bronze statuettes inspired by classical antiquity were among the first modern objects to be systematically collected for artistic and aesthetic purposes from around 1500 onward. Met fellow Gloria de Liberali explains how some of the most remarkable sculptures made it to the museum, and how the history of collecting bronzes tells the story of art collecting practices across time.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, May 15
2:00 pm
Free
2:00 pm
Free
Gallery Talk | Contemporary Artists Speak on Willem de Kooning's Career and Influence
This event is a talk on Willem de Kooning with artists John Currin, Jenny Saville, and Dana Schutz, moderated by Cecilia Alemani. This conversation will take place inside an exhibition of Willem de Kooning;s work. It will center around de Kooning's enduring artistic legacy and the continued impact of his techniques and processes on artists today. The exhibition presents works spanning five decades--paintings dating from 1944 through 1986 and two sculptures--and foregrounds visual motifs that recurred throughout the artist's career. Doors open at 2:30 pm. Capacity is limited. Seating is first come, first served. Advance registration does not guarantee admission once the event reaches capacity.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, May 15
3:00 pm
Free
3:00 pm
Free
Gallery Talk | Museum Experts Provide Insight into Specific Artworks: Lee Bul's Long Tail Halo
Museum experts, including curators, conservators, scientists, and scholars, provide a deep dive into a selection of exhibition objects in the galleries. Hear new insights and untold stories from Met insiders and take a closer look at the works of art. You’ll also have the opportunity to ask questions. This talk is focused on the museum facade, and Lee Bul's Long Tail Halo.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, May 15
3:00 pm
registration required, free...
3:00 pm
registration required, free...
Gallery Talk | Innovating Printmaking and Representation: Robin F. Williams and Marilyn Minter
Celebrate Robin F. Williams: Night Shift with a special conversation between acclaimed artists Robin F. Williams and Marilyn Minter, moderated by master printer Sarah Carpenter. The dialogue will explore how both artists challenge portrayals of women across media, from cinema to advertising, while offering insights into the experimental printmaking techniques behind Williams’ new monoprints and collages.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, May 15
5:00 pm
Free
5:00 pm
Free
Talk | Remembering Your "Higher Self" Discussion/Book Launch with Life & Leadership Coach
Mory Fontanez is launching her book, Higher Self, with a panel conversation between herself and other writers and creators. Mory Fontanez is a sought-after Intuitive Life & Leadership coach and the Founder of Eight22 Group, a consultancy that helps organizations elevate their consciousness. She will be speaking about remembering the "higher self" with Alok Vaid-Menon (a poet, comedian, actor, and public speaker) and Chani Nicholas (a New York Times bestselling author and astrologer with a community of over one million monthly readers) Refreshments provided.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, May 15
5:00 pm
Free
5:00 pm
Free
Discussion | Art, Storytelling, and the Power of Interpretation
Celebrate the opening of a new exhibition with a thought-provoking conversation between exhibiting artist Jesse Mockrin and acclaimed author and National Book Award finalist Carmen Maria Machado, moderated by curator Jonathan Rider. Together, they will explore how visual art and literature intertwine, reimagining tradition, reframing narrative structures, and examining the enduring power of storytelling across different media.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, May 15
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Discussion | Help Shape NYC’s First Urban Forest Plan – East Harlem Kickoff
Join community members to help develop New York City's first Urban Forest Plan! Learn about the City's vision for protecting and expanding its tree canopy, share your ideas and experiences, and find out how to get involved in local stewardship and advocacy efforts.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, May 15
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Book Launch and Conversation: On the Legacy of Magnus Hirschfeld
This May marks the 90th anniversary of the death of groundbreaking German physician, sexologist, and LGBTQ advocate Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935). This event is a double book launch and conversation on Hirschfeld's legacy and its relevancy today with authors Daniel Brook and Brandy Schillace. In 1919, Hirschfeld opened the Institute for Sexual Science, the world's first sexology research center, in Berlin. The Institute led the way in studying and treating various aspects of gender and sexuality, including topics related to gay, transgender, and intersex individuals. Additionally, the Institute championed sex education, contraception, the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, and women's rights. By 1933, the institute was closed permanently, having been ransacked by Nazis, its library and archives burned. Hirschfeld had fled Germany in 1930—embarking on a global research tour that took him to the United States, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East—before settling in France, where he would die of heart attack on his 67th birthday. In his new historical biography, The Einstein of Sex: Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, Visionary of Weimar Berlin, journalist Daniel Brook has retraced Hirschfeld’s life and legacy. Hirschfeld publicly advocated for gay rights while privately counseling patients toward self-acceptance, helping turn Weimar Berlin into the world’s queer capital. In The Intermediaries: A Weimar Story, historian Brandy Schillace tells the story of the Institute for Sexual Science through the eyes of Dora Richter, a patient of the Institute whom we follow in her quest to transition and live as a woman. Copies of both books will be available for purchase and signing.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, May 15
6:30 pm
Free
6:30 pm
Free
Book Club | Discussing How To Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy
Stop scrolling and put down your phone… the Offline Book Club is hosting an hour of conversation about the role technology plays in our world. Inspired by the students of Brooklyn’s Luddite Club, each month will highlight a different book on the topic of technology’s impact on our individual lives as well as society as a whole, followed by an open discussion to share recent experiences and observations. How To Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell (2019) "A critique of the forces vying for our attention that redefines what we think of as productivity, reconnects us with the environment, and reveals all that we've been too distracted to see about ourselves and our world."
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, May 15
6:30 pm
Free
6:30 pm
Free
Talk | Experts Explore the Forensics System of the Rape Kit in 2025
In the 1970s, an activist named Marty Goddard pioneered a new crime-solving tool — a kit that could help rape survivors fight for justice. Now, five decades after its invention, the rape kit is used in almost every corner of the world. The data inside these kits has revealed the existence of serial predators and helped to free innocent men from prison. Panelists will discuss the enormous potential of this forensic system — along with the chilling threats to its very existence. Experts discuss the history and future of the rape kit.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, May 15
6:30 pm
$5 per RSVP
6:30 pm
$5 per RSVP
Book Club | Foodie Book Club Discussion on How To Share an Egg
The Food for Thought Book Club meets to discuss books on food. These could explore food history, a particular cuisine, the relationship between food and culture, chef biographies, history of food festivals, novels, essay collections and more. To celebrate Jewish-American Heritage Month, it will be discussing How to Share an Egg: A True Story of Hunger, Love, and Plenty by Bonnie Reichert. Reading the book prior to the program is strongly encouraged to facilitate conversation, but all are welcome! Additionally, this is NOT an author appearance - it is a conversation amongst library patrons and staff about the book.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, May 15
6:30 pm
Free
6:30 pm
Free
Gallery Talk | Explore How Medeival Gardens Were Used and Cared For
Museum experts, including curators, conservators, scientists, and scholars, for a deep dive, into a selection of objects in the galleries. Hear new insights and untold stories from museum insiders and take a closer look. You’ll also have the opportunity to ask questions. For this event, wander the gardens of this historical museum to explore how medieval people utilized plants for sustenance, both earthly and spiritual.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Fri, May 16
3:00 pm
Free
3:00 pm
Free
Discussion | The Impact of Public Art in Harlem with Local Artists
This event is a panel discussion on the impact of public art in Harlem and how artists engage the public with their installations. Moderated by Savona Bailey-McClain, executive director and chief curator of the West Harlem Art Fund, the panel will include Kendal Henry, assistant commissioner of Public Art at the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, and Harlem-based artists Dianne Smith and Fitgi Saint-Louis. This spring, the Art Fund revived the Harlem Sculpture Gardens (Art in the Park) in collaboration with the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation and Saint-Louis will unveil the sculpture Aunties on the median at 124th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard on May 16.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Fri, May 16
4:30 pm
Free
4:30 pm
Free
Talk | Exploring the Unexpected and Fascinating Pockets of History Seaport
Art historian Prudence Peiffer and geographer Joshua Jelly-Schapiro give a short tour of unexpected and fascinating pockets of history in New York's downtown Seaport neighborhood that inspired their own books: from Coenties Slip, the three-block street that hosted a modern art community in its sail-making lofts, to the long history of naming places in Manhattan, and the stories we uncover and bring to our own personal portraits of the city.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Sat, May 17
10:30 am
$5 per RSVP
10:30 am
$5 per RSVP
Talk | Historical Exploration of Feminism and Chinoiserie Art
Explore how the decorative style of chinoiserie shaped both European women's identities and racial and cultural stereotypes around Asian women in this critical look at the historical style and its afterlives. This event features dynamic conversations, presentations, and readings by leading scholars, designers, and writers. Free with museum admission (advance registration is required). Please note: Space is limited; first come, first served.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Sat, May 17
10:30 am
Free
10:30 am
Free
Talk | Author Discusses Her New Book about Food and Death: Aftertaste
Author Daria Lavelle presents Aftertaste in conversation with Julia Phillips. What if you could have one last meal with someone you’ve loved, someone you’ve lost? Combining the magic of Under the Whispering Door with the high-stakes culinary world of Sweetbitter, Aftertaste is an epic love story, a dark comedy, and a synesthetic adventure through food and grief. Set in the bustling world of New York restaurants and teeming with mouthwatering food writing, Aftertaste is a whirlwind romance, a heart-wrenching look at love and loss, and a ghost story about all the ways we hunger—and how far we’d go to find satisfaction. Daria Lavelle is an American fiction writer. Her short stories have appeared in The Deadlands, Dread Machine, and elsewhere. Julia Phillips is the author of the bestselling novels Bear and Disappearing Earth, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and one of The New York Times Book Review’s 10 Best Books of the Year.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Mon, May 19
6:30 pm
$5 per RSVP
6:30 pm
$5 per RSVP
Book Club | Book Club Discussion: Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
Book Synopsis: Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars. But Athena’s a literary darling. June Hayward is literally nobody. Who wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks. So when June witnesses Athena’s death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena’s just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers during World War I. So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song—complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn’t this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That’s what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree. But June can’t get away from Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring June’s (stolen) success down around her. As June races to protect her secret, she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves. With its totally immersive first-person voice, Yellowface grapples with questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation, as well as the terrifying alienation of social media. R.F. Kuang’s novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, May 20
4:00 pm
Free
4:00 pm
Free
Talk | Bestselling Author Chris Pavone Presents His New Thriller: The Doorman
A pulse-pounding novel of class, privilege, sex, and murder, New York Times bestselling author Chris Pavone presents The Doorman. Chicky Diaz is everyone’s favorite doorman at the Bohemia, the most famous apartment house in the world, home of celebrities, financiers, and New York’s cultural elite. Meanwhile, gathered in the Bohemia’s bowels, the building’s almost entirely Black and Hispanic, working-class staff is taking in the news that that just a few miles uptown, a Black man has been killed by the police, leading to a demonstration, a counterdemonstration, and a long night of violence across the tinderbox city. As Chicky changes into his uniform for tonight’s shift, he finds himself breaking a cardinal rule of the job: tonight, he’ll be carrying a gun, bought only hours earlier, but before he knew of the pandemonium taking over the city. Tonight in the city, enemies will clash, loyalties will be tested, secrets will be revealed—and lives will be lost. Chris Pavone is the author of The Paris Diversion, The Travelers, The Accident, and The Expats. His novels have appeared on the bestseller lists of The New York Times, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal; have won both the Edgar and Anthony awards; are in development for film and television; and have been translated into two dozen languages.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, May 20
6:30 pm
Free
6:30 pm
Free
Book Club | Novella Discussion Joseph Roth's Rebellion
During this novella discussion, the group will focus on Joseph Roth's 1924 novella, Rebellion. "Rebellion is reminiscent of Chekhov in its uncluttered, melancholy simplicity, while its sense of the larger, crushing incomprehensibility of things echoes Roth's older contemporary, Frank Kafka." --Richard Bernstein, The New York Times Synopsis: When Andreas Pum returns from World War I, he has lost a leg but gained a medal. But unlike his fellow sufferers, Pum maintains his unswerving faith in God, Government, and Authority. Ironically, after a dispute, Pum is imprisoned as a rebel, and all that he believed in is now thrown into upheaval. Moving along at a breakneck clip, Rebellion captures the cynicism and upheavals of a postwar society. Its jazz-like cadences mix with social commentary to create a wise parable about justice and society.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, May 21
4:30 pm
Free
4:30 pm
Free
Lecture | Women Who Shaped NYC's Nightlife and Cultural Revolutions (Online)
From Billie Holiday's haunting performance of Strange Fruit to Sylvia Robinson's game-changing introduction of hip hop at Webster Hall, women have long transformed nightlife into a platform for cultural and political change. This virtual lecture explores the legacy of female nightlife activists who, through taverns, clubs, speakeasies, and dance floors, challenged norms, united communities, and influenced the city's cultural landscape. The program highlights icons such as Norma Miller, who revolutionized swing dance, and Patti Astor, who brought graffiti and New Wave art into the mainstream. These vibrant figures used nightlife as a powerful stage to amplify voices, celebrate subcultures, and reshape the social fabric.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, May 21
5:30 pm
Free
5:30 pm
Free
Talk | Monuments and the American Identity Discussion
How have monuments and museums helped construct Americans’ public subconscious about race, class, gender, and history writ large? Panelists will discuss the rise and fall of public art, the healing potential of newly commissioned projects, the expanding role of museums, and the challenges currently confronting activists and artists. Irvin Weathersby, Jr. is a Brooklyn-based writer and professor from New Orleans. His work has been featured on ABC News Live Prime, at the Brooklyn Museum, in the Los Angeles Times, Elle, LitHub, Guernica, Esquire, the Atlantic, EBONY, and elsewhere. He has received fellowships and awards from the Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation, the Research Foundation of CUNY, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Mellon Foundation. In Open Contempt is his first book. Erin L. Thompson, America’s only professor of art crime, holds a PhD in Art History and a law degree, and is a professor at City University of New York. She has spoken about monuments controversies with outlets including the New Yorker, New York Times, CSPAN, and “The Today Show.” Stephen Colbert and John Oliver have referenced her work. Her book Smashing Statues: The Rise and Fall of American Public Monuments, was published in 2022. She is now completing a book about antiquities forgeries.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, May 21
6:30 pm
$5 per RSVP
6:30 pm
$5 per RSVP
Book Discussion | The Art Spy: The Woman who Saved Art Masterpieces from Nazis (online)
Based on newly uncovered documents, The Art Spy tells the true story of Rose Valland, a brave Frenchwoman who risked her life during WWII to save priceless art from Nazi looting. Author Michelle Young talks about Valland's heroic efforts to protect cultural treasures.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, May 22
3:00 pm
Free
3:00 pm
Free
Discussion | Help Shape NYC's First Urban Forest Plan - Brownsville Kickoff (Brooklyn)
Help design a greener future for Brownsville and beyond! Join an Urban Forest Plan community kickoff to contribute your ideas, learn about tree stewardship opportunities, and be part of growing NYC's urban forest in an equitable, community-centered way.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, May 22
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Talk | Discussing Transgenderism & Literature with Two Prominent Trans Writers
Authors Lucy Sante and Harron Walker discuss history-making, memoir writing, and their approaches to documenting transness in different contexts. Lucy Sante is the author of Low Life, Evidence, The Factory of Facts, Kill All Your Darlings, Folk Photography, The Other Paris, Maybe the People Would Be the Times, Nineteen Reservoirs, and most recently, I Heard Her Call My Name. Her awards include a Whiting Writers Award, an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Grammy Award (for album notes), an Infinity Award from the International Center of Photography, and Guggenheim and Cullman Center fellowships. Harron Walker is a freelance writer who lives in Brooklyn. She is the author of Aggregated Discontent: Confessions of the Last Normal Woman. Her work has appeared in New York magazine, Dazed, Trans Hirstory in 99 Objects, and Sex Change & the City, a forthcoming anthology from Girl Dad Press.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, May 22
6:30 pm
$5 per RSVP
6:30 pm
$5 per RSVP
Book Discussion | A Century of LGBTQ+ Life in NYC
Celebrate the launch of Queer Happened Here: 100 Years of NYC's Landmark LGBTQ+ Places with author and historian Marc Zinaman, joined by special guest Ande Whyland, contributor and acclaimed documentarian of 1980s East Village nightlife. This vivid, visual journey through a century of queer spaces in Manhattan chronicles how bars, clubs, bathhouses, and protest sites became the heart of LGBTQ+ community, culture, and resistance. The evening features firsthand stories and rare archival materials from the book, including 1920s drag balls, the Stonewall uprising, AIDS activism, and the explosive art scene of the 1980s. Whyland's candid photography, featured in her monograph Shots, 1980-1986, captures iconic venues like Club 57, The Pyramid Club, and Jackie 60, offering a personal lens on a revolutionary era. Signed copies of Queer Happened Here and Shots, 1980-1986 will be available at the event.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, May 22
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Talk | The Scope of Book Criticism: How Wide Should Critics Reach?
When a critic reviews a novel today, she often enjoys easy access to a large raft of supplemental texts: interviews with the author, essays they’ve written, podcasts they’ve been on, their social media presence, their personal blog, even the value of their house. How much should the critic be permitted take this archive into account? To what extent can the novel be considered to have a “personal history”? What aspects of an author’s public or private life are legitimate topics for criticism—and how is the critic to know? Andrea Long Chu is a Pulitzer Prize–winning essayist and critic at New York magazine. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Bookforum, n+1, and elsewhere. Her book Females was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in Transgender Nonfiction in 2019, and a second edition with a new afterword came out earlier this year. Her new essay collection, Authority, is out now. Parul Sehgal is a critic at large for The New York Times. She was previously a staff writer at The New Yorker and a book critic for The Times, where she also worked as a columnist. She has won awards for her criticism from the Robert B. Silvers Foundation, the New York Press Club, and the National Book Critics Circle.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, May 27
6:30 pm
$5 per RSVP
6:30 pm
$5 per RSVP
Talk | Photographer and Creator of Journal and Travel Show Brown Passport Discusses Her Professional Journey
This event is a talk with photographer, director, and DP Samantha Isom. Isom spent years as a photo assistant and digital tech to some of the top image-makers in the business, all while shooting on her own. Since then, she’s incorporated more motion/video into her image-making, going out not only as a photographer but also as a camera operator/DP. She has shot all over the world and has created the online journal and travel show Brown Passport. In 2015 she began training to shoot underwater and received her PADI divemaster certificate. Isomhas lived and worked in Chicago, New Orleans, Miami, Philadelphia, and spent a few months living and shooting in Hawai’i, and Indonesia.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, May 27
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Talk | Dance Historian on the Legacy of the Dance of Isadora Duncan (In Person AND Online!)
Lori Belilove, artistic director and founder of the Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation & Company, has worked to pass on Duncan's grace, power, and mastery of weight to future generations. Belilove received direct instruction from Duncan's original troupe of six young dancers, known as her "Isadorables." The group included Anna Duncan, born Anna Denzler, who was one of the most dedicated of the six--she never studied another dance technique, and was called "a key keeper of the flame." In this program, Belilove explores the life story of Anna Duncan through images and rare films, from Anna's early age of five auditioning for Isadora Duncan's school in Grunewald, Germany to her last days as a saleswoman at Saks Fifth Avenue and Brentano's bookstore. The program honors her contribution to the legacy of Isadora Duncan with surprise performances that were Anna's signature.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, May 28
1:00 pm
Free
1:00 pm
Free
Discussion | Israel on Our Minds with Ambassador Ido Aharoni (in-person and online)
Even those of us who follow the news from Israeli regularly are left with more questions than insight: How should we think about Israel security in the face of a rapidly changing Middle East? What is the government doing in response to the worldwide condemnation of the Jewish State . . . and what could it do? Has the Start-Up Nation sputtered out? Can the breach between the religious and the secular populations be healed — and how? Does the Israeli government take the concerns and opinions of the Jewish diaspora seriously enough? Should it? With so many questions — and so much confusion — they have recruited the ideal person to pull back the curtain on the complicated situation: an Israel diplomat, university professor, writer and investor, Ido Aharoni.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, May 29
11:00 am
Free
11:00 am
Free
Talk | A Century of New York Women's Lives (Online!)
Throughout the 20th century, New York has functioned as the intellectual, political, cultural, and social epicentre of American feminism. This talk, led by Dr. Angelica De Vido, 2024-25 Robert David Lion Gardiner/Mellon Foundation Fellow, explores the changing nature of women's lives in New York, and the development of feminist activism in the city across the twentieth century. By questioning how New York women's lives have been shaped by feminist activism in the city, this talk will explore how New York has been a place of professional, cultural, and social liberation for women.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, May 29
5:00 pm
Free
5:00 pm
Free
Discussion | Understanding the Influence of Broadway Scenic Designer Robin Wagner
Robin Wagner was one of the most inventive and prolific scenic designers on Broadway in the last decades of the 20th century. From the deceptively simple set of A Chorus Line, which allowed for the use of Tharon Musser’s first-of-a-kind computerized lighting design, to the boundary pushing automated scenery in Dreamgirls, Wagner helped to bring scenic design into the digital age. In 2023, months before his death, Wagner released his papers and designs, and they are now processed and available for researchers to use. Several of Wagner’s closest colleagues gather for a panel discussion of Wagner’s influence on the artform to celebrate his gift and his remarkable career.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, May 29
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Talk | Ground Zero Rescue Commemoration Ceremony (In Person AND Online!)
To commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the formal end to rescue and recovery operations at Ground Zero, we will honor the courage and sacrifice of 9/11 rescue, recovery, and relief workers; commemorate those who have died due to 9/11-related illnesses and injuries; and recognize the spirit of survivors and members of the downtown community with a special ceremony that is open to the public.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Fri, May 30
10:30 am
Free
10:30 am
Free
Discussion | Help Shape NYC’s First Urban Forest Plan – Virtual Kickoff (Online)
Join from anywhere to help create New York City's first Urban Forest Plan! This virtual kickoff will offer opportunities to learn about the planning process, connect with advocates, and share your experiences and hopes for a greener, more resilient NYC.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Jun 4
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Club | DiscAnalyze and Discuss Poetry
Explorations of poetry facilitated by NYPL staff. Learn about different types of poetry!
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Sun, Jun 15
3:30 pm
Free
3:30 pm
Free
Complimentary Tickets
to shows, concerts ... (CFT Deals!)
Staged Reading | Staged Reading of a New Play
Regular Price: $By invitation onlyCFT Member Price: $0.00
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