free things to do in New York City

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35 free events take place on Sunday, May 10 in New York City.

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35 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Sunday, May 10, 2015

All events are free unless otherwise noted.

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Workshop | Tai Chi on the Hudson

Join Silvana Pizzuti on Sunday mornings to learn and practice Tai Chi, a slow moving martial art with health benefits for all fitness levels.

Upper West Side, New York, NY

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8:00 am
free, no reservation required

City Walk | Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn Heights and Dumbo Tour

This is a 3-hour tour that begins with a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, an icon of New York City for over 125 years, with spectacular views of Manhattan and Brooklyn. The tour then moves on to a stroll of Brooklyn Heights, America’s and New York City’s first suburb. The tour then explores the neighborhood DUMBO before ending at the Fulton Ferry landing.

Lower Manhattan,

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10:00 am
Free...

Park Walk | Central Park Tour - Lower Section

Once described as the lungs of the city, Central Park brings a breath of fresh air to New York's crowded urban terrain. What started out as the rocky and desolate northern fringes of a rapidly expanding city is today among the world's most famous and beloved public parks. With over 843 acres of meadows, hills, ball fields and bodies of water, it's impossible not to find something to enjoy in Central Park.

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10:00 am
Free...

Tour | Manhattan Street Art Tour

Join a Manhattan Street Art Tour and experience the Lower East Side - SoHo, NoHo, Nolita and Little Italy. The Lower East Side of Manhattan is a playground for street artists, Soho is known to be one of NYC first permit Joint Live-Work Quarters for artists and the area received landmark designation in 1973. Noho and Nolita’s street art is either hidden in courtyards or on the more prominent street art facades. Learn about the history of the art of many famous and unknown artist.

Lower Manhattan,

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10:00 am
Free...

Tour | SoHo, Little Italy and Chinatown Tour

You've seen the iconic skyscrapers, attended a Broadway show, visited Lady Liberty and relaxed in Central Park. Looking for a little more of the Big Apple? Maybe it's time to visit some of Manhattan's oldest and most enchanting historic districts. Take a relaxing stroll through SoHo, Little Italy and Chinatown.

Lower Manhattan,

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10:00 am
Free...

Tour | Flatiron District Walking Tour

Join professional guides on a 90-minute journey through this vibrant neighborhood, viewing some of the city’s most notable landmarks, including the New York Life Insurance Building, the MetLife Clock Tower, the Appellate Courthouse and the famous Flatiron Building.

Midtown,

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11:00 am
free, no reservation required

Tour | Historic Orchard Street Tour

Take a historical three-hour journey through the Lower East Side and explore some of the rich history tracing the arrival of immigrants to modern times.

East Village,

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11:00 am
free, no reservation required

Talk | Reclaiming Mother’s Day

With: Anne Klaeysen. In 1870, having witnessed the carnage of the Civil War, Julia Ward Howe issued a manifesto for peace at international peace conferences in London and Paris. Two years later, she promoted a Mother’s Day of Peace, and by the next year eighteen cities in the U.S. held peace gatherings. Alas, most of the celebrations ended when Howe could no longer pay for them. Over the years, this holiday, celebrated on the second Sunday of May, has lost its original meaning and succumbed to commercialization.

Lincoln Square, New York, NY

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11:00 am
free, no reservation required

Fair | Street Fair

Free fun for the whole family, including arts, crafts, antiques, plants, entertainment, games, and more.

New York, NY

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11:00 am
free, no reservation required

Fair | Street Fair

Free fun for the whole family, including arts, crafts, antiques, plants, entertainment, games, and more.

New York, NY

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11:00 am
free, no reservation required

Workshop | Vinyasa Yoga

Instructors from neighborhood studios will help you get your stretch on. Please bring your own mat.

Lower Manhattan, New York, NY

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11:00 am
free, no reservation required

Park Walk | Waterfront Walk: Guided Park Tour

Join docents on a tour to learn about the history of the Brooklyn waterfront, the park's sustainable design, and how the park came to life.

New York, NY

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11:00 am
free, no reservation required

Concert | College Recitals

12:30 PM - 2:00 PM Yerim Choi, flute 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM Daniel Goldblum, bassoon 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM Tomasz Arnold, percussion 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM Maria Brea, soprano 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM Mauro Ronca, accompanying 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM Yang Li, viola 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM Sissi He, harp 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM Motomi Tanaka, soprano 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM James Ludlum, tenor 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM MSM Saxophone Orchestra 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM Xiaomeng Zhang, baritone 8:30 PM - 10:00 PM Silvio Defilippi, jazz alto sax 9:00 PM - 10:30 PM Juan Daniel Melo, baritone

Upper Manhattan, New York, NY

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12:30 pm
free, no reservation required

Concert | College Recitals

1:30 PM NEXT Chamber Music Concert 5 1:30 PM Maya Rand, piano 4:30 PM Shih-Fan Liu, cello 7:30 PM NEXT Chamber Music Concert 6 7:30 PM Azamat Sydykov, piano

Upper West Side, New York, NY

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1:30 pm
free, no reservation required

Tour | Bushwick Graffiti and Street Art Tour

New York City is a mecca for graffiti and street art, making it a very attractive playground for artists from around the world. Bushwick, in a working class district on the north side of Brooklyn adjacent to Williamsburg, has been attracting artists for some time now. The neighborhood has a fair collection of art studios and galleries, but it’s Bushwick’s industrial landscape that’s attracting the street artist. If you came looking for 1960′s Greenwich Village, you’ll find something brewing in Bushwick.

East Williamsburg,

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2:00 pm
Free...

Concert | College String Chamber Music Concert

From the Program in String Performance.

Lower Manhattan, New York, NY

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2:00 pm
free, no reservation required

**Film | George Cukor's Sylvia Scarlett (1935): Gender-Switch Scheme**

Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Brian Aherne. A female con artist masquerades as a boy to escape the police. 96 min.

Midtown,

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2:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Tour | Harlem Tour

Although world famous, Harlem may be New York's best kept secret with some of the city's best architecture, food, music and people. Harlem's history is also one of the city's most dramatic, having gone through many ethnic, cultural and socioeconomic changes over the past roughly 400 years, which have resulted in a diverse array of places of worship, theaters, homes and eating establishments.

Upper Manhattan,

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2:00 pm
Free...

Park Walk | Heart of the Park Tour

On this east-west walk you will see some of the Park's most well-known landmarks, including Conservatory Water, Bethesda Terrace, the Lake, and Strawberry Fields. Route involves a few stairs. 90 minutes.

Upper East Side, New York, NY

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2:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Author Reading | Susan Konig reads from her book Teenagers and Toddlers Are Trying to Kill Me!

Susan Konig explores the funny side of motherhood while raising a toddler, two teenagers and one more somewhere in between in her third motherhood book. From the terrible 2s to puberty pangs, the kids will be fine - but can the parents survive?

Upper West Side,

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2:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Jazz | The Manhattan Jazz Quintet

In one of the city’s most beautiful settings, this talented quintet, sponsored by the Manhattan School of Music, plays a program including music by Duke Ellington, Bob Haggard, Miles Davis, and others.

Upper Manhattan, New York, NY

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2:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Concert | College Recitals

Sophia Stoyanovich, Violin, and Clara Abel, Cello 2:30 p.m. Jordan Young, Jazz Drums 3 p.m. Lee Jeon, Violin 4 p.m. Jossalyn Jensen, Viola 5:30 p.m. Keyboard Improvisations 8 p.m.

Lincoln Square, New York, NY

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2:30 pm
free, no reservation required

Gallery Talk | Exhibition Tour: Public Eye, 175 Years of Sharing Photography

Join a 45-minute docent led tour of the exhibition.

Midtown,

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3:30 pm
free, no reservation required

Jazz | College Recitals

4:00 PM to 5:00 PM Idan Morim, Guitar 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM Stahv Danker, Drums

Lower Manhattan, New York, NY

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4:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Concert | Great Organ Recital

In celebration of the restored Great Organ, the Cathedral presents a concert series. Organist Jason Roberts is from Hartford, CT.

Upper Manhattan, New York, NY

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5:00 pm
Free

Concert | Piano Works by Mozart, Janacek, Murail, Brahms

With pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute

Upper West Side, New York, NY

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5:00 pm
Free

Author Reading | Writers Read: Robert Musil / Stephen Callahan

Join the book launch party and reading of the new translation of Robert Musil's small prose, Thought Flights, accompanied by Stephen Callahan reading from Seities, his collection of prose pieces in progress.

Lower Manhattan, New York, NY

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5:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Concert | Organ Recital: Christopher Dekker

Today's recital is by Christopher Dekker of Grand Rapids, MI.

Midtown, New York, NY

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5:15 pm
Free

Screening | 26th Dusty Film and Animation Festival

The festival showcases more than 100 films and animations from students graduating this spring.

Midtown, New York, NY

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6:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Opening Reception | Exhibition: Brie Ruais: 130 lbs. of Proximal Frontage

130 lbs. of Proximal Frontage is an amassment of physical and psychological terrains. This work fuses the proximity of other bodies with my own sense of physicality. It posits that the singular body is an impossibility and that perception is a process contingent on nearness. Shifting between submission and aggression, the pieces make space for bodies to merge and separate.

Lower Manhattan, New York, NY

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6:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Opening Reception | Exhibition: Keren Cytter/Jon Rafman: Grand Tour

The exhibition will present a new image series by Jon Rafman, a Keren Cytter video projection, and a collaborative installation.

Lower Manhattan, New York, NY

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6:00 pm
free, no reservation required

Opera | Modern Czech Opera: Toufar

Libretto and music by Aleš Březina. Performed by an ensemble of the National Theatre, Prague. Starring mezzo soprano Sona Cervena. The opera documents the harshest days of 1950’s Communist Czechoslovakia. Accused of charlatanism, the priest Josef Toufar was tortured to death by a regime that saw religion as a huge threat. Sona Cervena plays the Stalinist president Klement Gottwald. At 90 she continues to have an indomitable stage presence.

Upper East Side, New York, NY

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7:00 pm
Free

Tour | 9/11 Memorial and Brooklyn Bridge Night Tour

A renaissance is taking place on the southern tip of Manhattan Island. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001, a concerted effort has been undertaken to redevelop this part of the city, with the redevelopment of the World Trade Center and the construction of the National September 11th Memorial and Museum. And from twilight into the night is the right time to pay a visit to this part of New York City. From the Memorial to the Woolworth Building, City Hall to the Brooklyn Bridge, some of the your most memorable experiences in the city await you.

Lower Manhattan,

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7:30 pm
Free...

Tour | Dark Side of the High Line Tour

The skeletal remains of the High Line’s elevated tracks set the perfect scene for a spooky evening. Join a journey to the creepier side of New York City’s most unique park. On this tour you’ll hear tales of the strange eccentric who lived below the tracks and saved them from demise, the curse of a West Side Cowboy who fell to his death from the elevated track, and the children who haunt the street formerly known as Death Avenue. If the moon hangs right perhaps you’ll witness the spectacle of a ghostly ship floating down the Hudson River; is it the long forgotten crew of Henry Hudson’s Half-Moon warning sailors not to go to sea? Or is it Captain Kidd protecting the treasure he buried on Liberty Island? Venture at your own risk through the dark side of High Line.

Lower Manhattan,

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7:30 pm
Free...

Concert | Faculty Recital: Marilyn Nonken, piano

Marilyn Nonken is the Director of the Program in Piano Performance.

Lower Manhattan, New York, NY

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8:00 pm
free, no reservation required

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Complimentary Tickets

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

Discussion | Major Political Correspondent in Conversation

Regular Price: $40
CFT Member Price: $0.00

Concert | Gospel, Pop, Folk Artist at a Major Venue

Regular Price: $40
CFT Member Price: $0.00

Performance | Erotic Burlesque Show

Regular Price: $135
CFT Member Price: $0.00