23 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Monday, May 20, 2024
All events are free unless otherwise noted.
These free tours take place at various times during the day, all day long. You can make reservations ...
more >> for as many tours as your schedule allows.
SoHo, Little Italy and Chinatown
Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn Heights + DUMBO
3 Hour Lower Manhattan
Harlem
Chelsea and the High Line
6 Hour Downtown Combined
Greenwich Village
Central Park
Lower Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan
Grand Central Terminal
Graffiti and Street Art Tours
World Trade Center
Editor's Pick
To celebrate the end of his two years of service as a medic in the Israel Defense Forces' paratrooper ...
more >> division, Tomer Meir joined 13 of his friends at the Nova Musica Festival on the weekend of October 6 in Re'im in southern Israel. It was his first ever music festival. "It was the best moments of my life. I can't explain the state we were in," the 21-year-old told the New York Jewish Week. "It was pure love -- people dancing, laughing, smiling. All the good stuff that we're living for." Until 6:29 a.m. on Saturday morning. The red alerts, the rockets and the running. "The music stopped. The rockets started. We started running for our lives," Meir said. Meir is a survivor of the Nova Music Festival Massacre, where Hamas militants killed 364 festival-goers and took at least 40 hotstages on the morning of Oct. 7. Six months after the attack, Meir is in New York sharing his story as part of an interactive exhibit about that day, which he says is helping him heal. The Nova Musical Festival exhibition, titled October 7th, 06:29AM, is an immersive step into what it was like to be at the festival when it was attacked. Screens show clips from the attack on Nova are displayed next to personal and camping items taken from the festival recreating the festival layout. The exhibit, which debuted in Tel Aviv for 10 weeks in December, was created by Israeli designers and cultural producers, many of whom were producers with the Nova Music Festival itself. It was brought to New York with the help of Scooter Braun, the Jewish-American music producer and philanthropist. The exhibit recreates the visuals and sounds of the Nova Music Festival massacre. But the New York version is in some ways "more intense," according to Yael Finkelstein, a volunteer who collected items from the Nova site and helped set up both the Tel Aviv and New York exhibit. New elements at the New York exhibit include dozens of video testimonies from survivors, Zaka volunteers and family members, as well as graphic raw footage taken on Oct. 7 from both festival-goers and Hamas militants. In addition, survivors of the massacre such as Meir and Sassi will be at the exhibit every day to share their stories and answer questions. Their goal, Meir said, is to show New Yorkers that the horror they experienced could happen to anyone.
Get in a quick lesson, stay for the whole time, or just enjoy watching them put their skills to the test. ...
more >> 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.
Come on by and tap your toes to The Big Apple's finest ragtime, stride, and jazz pianists around! Featuring ...
more >> special events and performances by distinguished musicians. Today's pianist: Yuka Aikawa.
Co-curators behind the scenes of Francesc Tosquelles: Avant-Garde Psychiatry and the Birth of Art Brut, ...
more >> which explores for the first time in the United States the legacy of Catalan psychiatrist Francesc Tosquelles. The four curators will walk through the exhibition’s artworks, archival documents and films, opening up a new window on psychiatry and its connections to art, literature and French theory.
Editor's Pick
Examine the recent actions, regional ambitions, and strategic implications of Tehran's aggressive expansion ...
more >> and its threat to Israel. With Daniel Pipes, President of the Middle East Forum.
36 films -- some in-person, some online, some both -- are presented in this 4-day festival showcasing ...
more >> films drawn from the world of theatre and performance. The festival presents experimental, emerging, and established theatre artists and filmmakers from around the world to audiences and industry professionals. From its inaugural edition in 2015 to its present-day The festival has served as a platform for recorded works that span the length and breadth of the performing arts. See link for films and details.
Learn the art of creative paper folding in the Japanese tradition. All ages and skill levels are welcome, ...
more >> and materials are provided.
Meet other plant enthusiasts for a free plant swap. Share tips, advice, and plants in this community ...
more >> event. Tips for success: Please bring only pest-free plants. If your plants are in containers, please be sure they are in containers that you are ready to give away or exchange. Rooted cuttings may be brought in a sealed plastic bag wrapped in a moist paper towel.
3:30 pm
free, registration required
Editor's Pick
Celebrate the launch of Sexy Selfie Nation with author Leora Tanenbaum! Leora will discuss changing the ...
more >> narrative around sexy selfies with activist Lizzie Asher, who is fighting to end the "voluntary intoxication exclusion" in New York State that denies justice to sexual assault victims who had been drinking alcohol; and sex worker, survivor, and champion for sexual agency Norma Buster, Chief of Staff at C.A. Goldberg, PLLC. With women's bodily autonomy under attack, this conversation is more important now than ever before.
5:00 pm
free, RSVP requested
As Garibaldi's troops begin the unification of Italy in the 1860s, an aristocratic Sicilian family grudgingly ...
more >> adapts to the sweeping social changes undermining their way of life. Proud but pragmatic Prince Don Fabrizio Salina allows his war hero nephew, Tancredi, to marry Angelica, the beautiful daughter of gauche, bourgeois Don Calogero, in order to maintain the family's accustomed level of comfort and political clout. Director: Luchino Visconti Cast: Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale, Alain Delon, Paolo Stoppa, Rina Morelli, Romolo Valli, Serge Reggiani, Terence Hill Luchino Visconti was an Italian filmmaker, theatre and opera director, and screenwriter. He was one of the fathers of cinematic neorealism, but later moved towards luxurious, sweeping epics dealing with themes of beauty, decadence, death, and European history, especially the decay of the nobility and the bourgeoisie. Visconti received several notable accolades, including both the Palme d'Or and the Golden Lion. He was both an Oscar and BAFTA Award nominee. Many of his works are regarded as highly-influential to future generations of filmmakers, including Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese. Burt Lancaster was an American actor and film producer. Initially known for playing tough guys with a tender heart, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-year career in films and television series. He was a four-time nominee for the Academy Award for Best Actor (winning once), and he also won two BAFTA Awards and one Golden Globe Award for Best Lead Actor. The American Film Institute ranks Lancaster as #19 of the greatest male stars of classic Hollywood cinema.
5:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Witness the spectacle of spring migration with Gabriel Willow as songbirds follow the Atlantic Flyway ...
more >> northwards. Look for orioles, tanagers, warblers, vireos, and other migrants in the wilds of the park, and learn about the finer points of their identification and ecology.
Woodwind quintet of American Symphony Orchestra musicians (Diva Goodfriend-Koven, flute; Erin Gustafson, ...
more >> oboe; David Gould, clarinet; David Smith, French horn; Gilbert Dejean, bassoon) Program William Grant Still (1895-1978), Miniatures Gunther Schuller (1925-2015), Suite for Woodwind Quintet Amy Beach (1867-1944), Pastorale, Op. 151 Paquito D’Rivera (b. 1948), Aires Tropicales John Philip Sousa (1854-1932), The Liberty Bell March
5:30 pm
free, no reservation required
This year will mark the 20th anniversary of the debut of Rescue Me, the award-winning television series ...
more >> created by actor Denis Leary and writer Peter Tolan. Rescue Me tells the story of New York City firefighters through the dramatized story of Tommy Gavin, portrayed by Leary, and grapples with the issues and challenges faced by the FDNY in the aftermath of 9/11. In conversation with Museum Director Clifford Chanin, Leary and Tolan reflect on the series, its themes, and the impact it had on audiences around the world.
Enjoy an evening of conversation with Robin Steinberg about public defense, justice and her new book. ...
more >> Steinberg is the Founder of The Bail Project and Founder and former Executive Director of The Bronx Defenders.
A talk featuring Chef Hooni Kim, renowned owner chef of Danji, the first Michelin-starred Korean restaurant ...
more >> globally, and Ryan Kim, CEO of Kim’C Market, renowned for its direct sourcing of natural Korean food from farmers and artisans. During this exclusive event, the speakers will delve into the intricacies of fermentation, elucidating the essence of Korean jang fermentation, its associated health benefits, and various fermentation techniques.
Editor's Pick
Third generation Duncan dancer and Artistic Director of the Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation & Company, ...
more >> Lori Belilove makes public for the first time Isadora Duncan's early manuscript, Exercizes for the Dance. Contrary to myth and popular misconception, Belilove says this document reveals that, Duncan had a coherent technique and guiding principles. Belilove expounds, with demonstration, Duncan's role as the "Mother of Modern Dance" in the context of this early formative handwritten document. An American pioneer of dance, Isadora Duncan was a self-styled revolutionary who condemned the rigidity of ballet and championed free dance coupled with her view of the ideals of ancient Greece: beauty, art, and philosophy. Registration required.
6:00 pm
free, registration required
Editor's Pick
Takt Trio: Austin Wulliman, violin; David Byrd Marrow, horn; Conor Hanick, piano. Program Gyorgy Ligeti ...
more >> (1923-2006), Trio for Violin, Horn, and Piano Hilda Paredes (b. 1957), Koan Marcos Balter (b. 1974), new work for Takt Trio Sit onstage and enjoy a free drink during this hour-long weeknight Pop-Up Concerts, and mingle with the musicians and fellow concertgoers after the show.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
An art book launch and conversation with Marianne Dobner, Adam Pendleton & Oliver Shultz
New York City, NY; NYC
From Hari Kunzru, one of the sharpest voices in fiction today, a profound and enthralling novel about ...
more >> beauty and power, capital, art and those who devote their lives to creating it. Once, Jay was an artist. After graduating from art school in London, he was tipped for greatness, a promising career taking shape before him. That was not to happen. Now, undocumented in the United States, having survived Covid, he lives out of his car and barely makes a living as an essential worker, delivering groceries in a wealthy area of upstate New York. One day, as Jay attempts to make a delivery at a house surrounded by acres of woods, he is confronted by his destructive past: Alice, a former lover from his art school days, and the friend she left him for. Recognizing Jay’s dire circumstances, Alice invites him to stay on their property—where an erratic gallery owner and his girlfriend are isolating as well—setting in motion a reckoning that has been decades in the making. Gripping and brilliantly orchestrated, Blue Ruin moves back and forth through time, delivering an extraordinary portrait of an artist as he reunites with his past and confronts the world he once loved and left behind.
B. Gem is a Black woman living in the United States of America. In this two-woman play, we meet the life ...
more >> moments she failed and those she overcame. We meet the interesting people that shaped her, for good and bad. Ultimately, we meet the her that forces her to see herself.
One week after the 2016 presidential election, white nationalists gathered in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the ...
more >> victory of President-elect Donald Trump. Addressing the crowd, the far-right leader Richard Spencer exclaimed, “Hail Trump! Hail our people!” to fanatical cheers and Nazi salutes. The Atlantic’s cameras captured exclusive footage of this moment, and the clip was shared widely on news networks and social-media platforms around the world. This film, The Atlantic’s first feature documentary and Daniel Lombroso’s feature film debut, is the result of a four-year commitment to expose the roots of rising white nationalism in the U.S. and abroad. The film is a deeply reported journey through the underbelly of the alt-right, bringing viewers an unfiltered, clear-eyed look at a powerful extremist movement. 94 min. Followed by a discussion with director Daniel Lombroso, Gavriel D. Rosenfeld, President of the Center for Jewish History and Professor of History at Fairfield University, and Anna Duensing, a historian specializing in evolving global politics of white supremacy across the twentieth century. They will discuss the ideas the alt-right has unleashed and how the movement has succeeded in infiltrating mainstream political discourse and shaping the direction of the United States.
A free, high visibility low-tech forum for experimentation, emerging ideas, and works-in-progress held ...
more >> in the Fall and Spring seasons. Artists are selected by a rotating committee of peer artists. With: Josefina Maro, Emily Barasch, AI Evangelista, angel edwards