free things to do in New York City
Free events for Wednesday, 12/08/10
<

December 2010

>
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
   1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031 
Free Events, Free Things to Do in New York City!  Read More

Are you looking for free things to do in New York City (NYC) on December 8, 2010?

58 free events take place on Wednesday, December 8 in New York City. Don't miss the opportunities that only New York provides! Exciting, high quality, unique and off the beaten path free events and free things to do take place in New York today, tonight, tomorrow and each day of the year, any time of the day: whether it's a weekday or a weekend, day or night, morning or evening or afternoon, December or July, April or November! These events will take your breath away!

New York City (NYC) never ceases to amaze you with quantity and quality of its free culture and free entertainment. Check out December 8 and see for yourself. Summer or Winter, Spring or Fall! Just click on any day of the calendar above and you'll find most inspiring and entertaining free events to go to and free things to do on each day of December . Don't miss the opportunities that only New York provides!

Some events take place all year long: same day of the week, same time there are there for you to take advantage of. One of the oldest free weekly events in Manhattan is Dixieland Jazz with the Gotham Jazzmen, which happen at noon every Tuesday. Another example of an event that you can attend all year round on weekdays is Federal Reserve Bank Tour, which takes place every week day at 1 pm (but advanced reservations are required). You can take at least 13 free tours every day of the year, except the New Year Day, July 4th, and the Christmas Day. If you are classical music afficionado, you can spend whole day in New York going from one free classical concert to another. If you love theater, then New York gives you an option to attend plays and musicals free of charge, or at deep discount. You just need to have information about it. And we are here to make that information available to you.
Join the Club!

Go!
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!

58 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Wednesday, December 8, 2010

All events are free unless otherwise noted.
        

Tour | Federal Reserve Bank Tour


Learn about central banking functions that Federal Reserve System performs and see Bank's vault of international monetary gold on bedrock of Manhattan Island, five stories below street level. Learn why Federal Reserve has "Federal" in its name, while it's a private bank, not Federal at all. Congressman Ron Paul considers the Federal Reserve "both corrupt and unconstitutional" Five tours daily on the hour.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
9:30 am
Free

Workshop | Microsoft Office 2003: MS Excel 1


Hands on using wireless laptops. Learn the basics of working with spreadsheets using Microsoft Excel 2003. Topics include entering data and formulas, moving and copying data, formatting & print previewing worksheets.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
10:30 am
Free

Tour | Cathedral Tour


Explore the Cathedral's newly cleaned and restored Nave. Learn about the art, architecture and history of this great sacred space from 1892 to the present.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
11:00 am
$6

Park Walk | Exploring Hallett and the Pond Tour


Take a break to enjoy the Park! Take this half-hour walk through the Park's smallest woodland area and learn its history, enjoy its peacefulness, and discover the mystery behind the waterfall. The walk is limited to 20 people. Call for directions.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
12:00 pm
Free

Concert | A capella Holiday Music with the Big Apple Chorus


Festive music from the delightful Big Apple Chorus. This popular NYC ensemble will perform a cappella versions of your favorite holiday tunes.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
12:30 pm
Free

Tour | Grand Central Terminal Tour


Tour of this magnificent Beaux-Arts landmark.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
12:30 pm
$10 suggested donation

Tour | Cathedral Tour


Explore the Cathedral's newly cleaned and restored Nave. Learn about the art, architecture and history of this great sacred space from 1892 to the present.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
1:00 pm
$6

Concert | Crossover Symphony performs Mozart and Beethoven


Program: Mozart's Magic Flute Overture Beethoven's Fifth Symphony
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
1:00 pm
Free

Author Reading | Haley & Lauren Fox discuss their book Alice’s Tea Cup


Meet the owners of the beloved Alice’s Tea Cup.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
1:00 pm
Free

Concert | Juilliard Percussion


Juilliard students share their talent with the community in these free lunchtime concerts on Wednesday afternoons throughout the season.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
1:00 pm
Free

Jazz | Midtown Jazz


With: Vinnie Zummo, guitar; and Cameron Brown, bass.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
1:00 pm
$7 donation requested

Screening | Short Films on Native Americans


Showing: Clay Beings and With the Grain: The Life and Art of Willard Stone. Starts at 1pm and 3pm.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
1:00 pm
Free

Workshop | WorkSearch Orientation Workshop


Are you a 40+ job seeker? WorkSearch is an online system which provides links to job openings, skills assessment tools, and training programs at no cost to individuals. After taking the orientation, WorkSearch is accessible to registrants through the Internet, or through Library computers. Attendees will be shown how to download the information to a USB flash drive (bring your own USB drive).
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
1:00 pm
Free

Talk | Learn About the Buffalo


Cultural interpreter William Chimborazo discusses the importance of the buffalo (American bison) to Plains Indians.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
2:00 pm
Free

Other | Oral Cancer Screenings


Screenings are on a first-come first-served basis. No appointment is needed. Testing is quick and painless.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
2:00 pm
Free

Tour | “The Castle and its Kingdom”


Take a walk around the lands dominated by the Castle, situated high on Vista Rock. Visit the tiny 55-acre realm on an eclectic tour of history and nature. Tour is approximately one hour.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
2:00 pm
Free

Workshop | All About Computers: Windows Basics


Hands on using wireless laptops. A basic review of the Windows operating system. Learn how to customize, improve and organize your computer by managing files, folders and more.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
2:30 pm
Free

Workshop | Stay Well Exercise


Stay Well volunteers certified by the NYC's Department for the Aging will lead participants in a well-balanced series of exercises for seniors of all ability levels. Please wear loose comfortable clothing. Exercise equipment will be provided. All participants are required to sign a personal medical waiver at the beginning of the class.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
3:00 pm
Free

Screening | Juan Mejia Botero's Documentary Uprooted (2010): Plight of the Afrocolombians


An intimate portayal of the tragedy of displacement. At the center is Noris and her family, a mother and community leader displaced since 1996 living in Villa Espana, a refugee shelter near Quibo, a growing city on Colombia's Pacific Coast. Noris' captivating story lends a human face to an often invisible and dehumanized population - Afrocolombians. 44 min.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
5:30 pm
Free

Discussion | Fashion for Jewels with jewelry editor of British Vogue


Carol Woolton, jewelry editor of British Vogue and a leading international authority on jewelry, and Ward Landrigan, the owner of Verdura jewelry brand and ex-Sotheby's jewelry specialist, present and discuss how the worlds of fashion and jewelry have become increasingly integrated over the last century, and the merging history of fashion and jewelry trends from Louis Cartier store opening in 1898 to the major influences of art, architecture and cinema on jewelry designs.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
6:00 pm
Free

Jazz | Jazz Voices


Directed by Amy London.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
6:00 pm
Free

Book Signing | Ken Sharp & Roger Farrington sign copies of Starting Over


Author Sharp and photographer Farrington's Starting Over goes behind the scenes of the making of John Lennon's last album Double Fantasy on the 30th anniversary of his assassination.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
6:00 pm
Free

Opening Reception | Photography: Eve Sonneman's Sight/Sound


An exhibition comprised of 7 color photographs will be on view. These seminal works mark the artist's transition from black and white to color photography. Also opening: Objects of Desire.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
6:00 pm
Free

Concert | Piano works by BEETHOVEN, CHOPIN, GERSHWIN


Vestard Shimkus, winner of 2009 The International Music Competition Maria Canals of Barcelona. PROGRAM LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No.3, op.2 No.3 in C major FREDERIC CHOPIN Scherzo No.2, op.31 in b flat minor PĒTERIS VASKS White Scenery (1980) PARE ANTONI SOLER Sonata R.20, in c sharp minor, Sonata R.84 in D major GEORGE GERSHWIN Rhapsody in Blue (original version for solo piano by George Gershwin) VESTARD SHIMKUS Heartbeats of Astor Piazzolla
   New York City, NY; NYC
6:00 pm
Free

Discussion | Reframing Haiti: 360 Degress of Experience


An examination of the role of the media’s fleeting coverage and perception in Haiti’s struggles as sensational stories of natural disaster and dislocation emerge and vanish. The panel presents an alternative based on enduring engagement - featuring voices from Al Jazeera English, the Haitian diaspora, the United Nations, and The New School. Speakers include Sebastian Walker, the Haiti-based correspondent for Al Jazeera, the only international TV news network to maintain a permanent bureau in Port-au-Prince.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
6:00 pm
Free

Discussion | The University and the City


An examination of the role that major research universities play in revitalizing America's urban centers. Several of the nation’s most distinguished higher education leaders discuss the critical role that major research universities play in America’s urban centers. What impact do universities have on economic development? How do they influence civic culture? In what ways are urban political dynamics affected by the presence of universities? The presidents of Carnegie Mellon University, Brown University, and the president of the Association of American Universities and former chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley will join President John Sexton to examine the nexus between the university and the city in the 21st century. The featured speakers are: John Sexton, President, New York University; Robert M. Berdahl, President, Association of American Universities; Jared L. Cohon, President, Carnegie Mellon University; and Ruth J. Simmons, President, Brown University; with an introduction by Leslie C. Berlowitz, President, American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
6:00 pm
Free

Workshop | Yoga for Everyone


A variety of yoga classes taught by some of the area’s most enlightened instructors. The philosophy of yoga, which aims to unite all aspects of the individual – body and mind and soul – to improve health, happiness and tranquility is deeply beneficial on its own or as a complement to other wellness programs.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
6:15 pm
Donations suggested...

Discussion | 9/11 and the Spirit of Volunteerism


A three-person panel will discuss how 9/11 sparked a greater movement of volunteerism across the United States and led to President Obama’s declaration of Sept. 11 as a National Day of Service. The esteemed panelists include Jay Winuk of MyGoodDeed, Bill Keegan of H.E.A.R.T. 9/11 and a member of the New York Says Thank You Foundation. These nonprofit groups are committed to providing volunteer services across New York City, the country, and abroad.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
6:30 pm
$10 suggested donation

Author Reading | Composing a Further Life: The Age of Active Wisdom -- personal and social implications for a pro-active later life


Mary Catherine Bateson, a renowned cultural anthropologist, daughter of Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, discusses her book which examines the personal and social implications for a pro-active later life. Bateson interviews a film star, a retired boatyard worker, a gay couple and others, who all live active and satisfying lives. While facing the changes and challenges of “Adulthood II”, she asserts that this period of life is an "improvisational art form calling for imagination and the willingness to learn."
   New York City, NY; NYC
6:30 pm
Free

Book Discussion | Book Club: Jhumpa Lahiri's Unaccustomed Earth


Eight dazzling stories take us from Cambridge and Seattle to India and Thailand as they explore the secrets at the heart of family life.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
6:30 pm
Free

Concert | Chamber Music with Piano


A cocktail hour concert of classical music followed by a jazz reception.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
6:30 pm
Free

Discussion | Engaging the University in Urban Agriculture


The land-grant university has a well-established role in agricultural research and extension. As urban agriculture continues to grow, other kinds of academic institutions have begun to enter the field. This panel discusses how a range of disciplines, from the liberal arts to nutritional science, are engaging with urban agriculture and how a large land-grant institution is reorienting its program to address urban needs. Panelists: Pam Koch, Marion Nestle, Fabio Parasecoli, Mark Gregory Robson, William Solecki, Jaime Stein. Moderator: Josh Viertel, president of Slow Food USA, an organization that collaborates with academic institutions.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
6:30 pm
Free

Author Reading | Kenneth Jackson discusses his book The Encyclopedia of New York City


The acclaimed historian shares only a few of the hundreds of factoids and stories included in this exhaustive, comprehensive look at our city. The updated edition includes new information on places like the Chelsea Piers, the Lower East Side, and the Financial District. In addition to teaching history at Columbia University, Kenneth Jackson is the author and editor of several acclaimed books including Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States, American Vistas and The Ku Klux Klan in the City.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
6:30 pm
Free

Workshop | Learn ESOL Using Online Resources


Hands on using wireless laptops. Explore websites that will help you improve your English language reading, writing, speaking, and listening. This class is for non-native speakers of English who have basic (or higher) proficiency in English, as well as mouse and keyboard skills.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
6:30 pm
Free

Forum | Mary Gaitskill talks about her writing


Gaitskill is the author, most recently, of Don’t Cry. Her other books include Two Girls, Fat and Thin, Bad Behavior and Because They Wanted To, which was nominated for the PEN/Faulkner in 1998. Her novel Veronica was nominated for a 2005 National Book Award in Fiction. Gaitskill’s stories and essays have appeared in he New Yorker, Harper's, Esquire, The Best American Short Stories, and The O. Henry Prize Stories.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
6:30 pm
$5

Discussion | Ohio Theatre: 29 Years of Downtown Theatre


An evening with Robert Lyons, artistic director of the Obie Award-winning Soho Think Tank/Ohio Theatre, as he looks back on the extraordinary history of the Ohio, which is closing its doors after 29 years. Lyons and guests will share stories, images, and video from the many productions that helped make this converted Soho factory one of Lower Manhattan's great cultural centers. Although the building has closed, the Ohio's programming now continues off-site through the Ohio Interrupted series.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
6:30 pm
Free

Book Discussion | Book Club: Roland Barthes' Camera Lucida


In this monthly reading and discussion group, explore art history and contemporary criticism as well as philosophical and theoretical works on the nature of art and beauty.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
7:00 pm
Free

Book Signing | Comic Denis Leary signs copies of Suck on This Year: LYFAO @ 140 Characters or Less


Leary turns his irreverent eye and scathing humor on everything you love and cherish.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
7:00 pm
Free

Discussion | Confounding Expectations XII: Invisible Surveillance


Since its invention, the camera has been used to make images surreptitiously and satisfy the desire to see what is hidden. Images captured and relayed on camera phones, YouTube, or reality TV bring to light issues of voyeurism, privacy laws, freedom of media, and surveillance. Techniques of surveillance are closely linked to developments in photographic technology, from early aerial photographs to satellite pictures. This panel examines how we see the invisible in the 21st century—cameras on street corners and in shops and public buildings silently record our every move—while web-based tools such as Google Earth adapt satellite technology to ensure that there is no escape from the camera's all-seeing eye. Participants include: Trevor Paglen, artist, Covert Operations and Classified Landscapes; Marko Peljhan, artist, Projekt Atol; Jill Magid, artist.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
7:00 pm
Free

Author Reading | Joel Berg talks about his book All You Can Eat: How Hungry is America?


Join Berg in conversation about his work in combating hunger here in New York City and how we can eradicate hunger nationally.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
7:00 pm
$10 suggested donation

Party | Meet and Mingle with Poets & Writers Magazine


Come celebrate the release of the November/December issue of Poets & Writers Magazine). The issue is the Independent Presses issue, highlighting innovative small presses and literary magazines. They plan to have local beer and wine available and they'll give away copies of the magazine. Join them for a low-key, beer-at-the-bookstore kind of party.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
7:00 pm
Free

Screening | Mexican Documentary: Francesco Taboada Tabone's Documentary Los últimos Zapatistas, héroes olvidados (2002)


In the year 2000, the Mexican film director Francesco Taboada Tabone began his search for the last of the soldiers to have fought beside General Emiliano Zapata in the 1910 Revolution. 70 min.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
7:00 pm
Free

Theater | Ödön von Horváth's Don Juan Comes Back from the War: A Lover and a Fighter


Directed by Tim Butterfield. Don Juan, the notorious philanderer and survivor of the trenches, returns from the front to a world composed of women - only to have his newly found romantic ideal slowly destroyed with each encounter as he desperately searches for his one true love. The play is presented as part of Drama’s New Visions Directing Festival, which features three plays in repertory and highlights the work of Drama’s graduating directors and actors.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
7:00 pm
Free

Poetry Reading | Poetry & Violin: Eve Eats Fruit, Adam Sleeps


Certain journeys must be taken under cover of darkness. Tonight, one of the longest nights of the year, travelers project the light of their discoveries. Join Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Alicia Jo Rabins, and Tess Taylor for the sifting of personal and cultural histories through poems and violin. Calvocoressi is the author of Apocalyptic Swing. Rabins is a punk-rock-klezmer musician in Brooklyn and teacher of ancient Jewish holy texts. Taylor is the author of The Misremembered World and works one day a week on an organic farm.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
7:00 pm
$5 suggested donation
7:00 pm
Free

Author Reading | Sylvie Weil discusses her book At Home with Andre and Simone Weil


Author and French literature professor Sylvie Weil, niece of philosopher Simone Weil and daughter of the great mathematician Andre Weil, discusses the private lives of her gifted relatives with author and translator Benjamin Ivry.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
7:00 pm
Free

Discussion | The Relationship Between Images, Surveillance and Power in the Digital Age


A provocative and timely panel discussion that explores the relationship between images, surveillance and power in the digital age. Images, Surveillance, and Power, which is part of the popular on-going series, Confounding Expectations: Photography In Context, features writer Tom Vanderbilt as moderator, and artists Trevor Paglen, Jill Magid, and Marko Peljhan as panelists.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
7:00 pm
Free

Jazz | Vocal Jazz Ensemble


Directed by Amy London.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
7:00 pm
Free

Concert | World renowned Marcel Pérès and Ensemble Organum perform one of the greatest religious compositions of all time


In a rare U.S. appearance, world renowned Marcel Pérès and his Ensemble Organum perform Guillaume de Machaut’s 14th-century Messe de Notre Dame, the first mass to be attributed to a single composer and one of the greatest religious compositions of all time.
   New York City, NY; NYC
7:00 pm
Free

Reading | Black Directors’ Studio


A monthly reading series created by up-and-coming director LA Williams to serve as an outlet for emerging, young, black directors of varying artistic styles to keep creatively stimulated in theater.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
8:00 pm
Free

Concert | College Division Student Composers Concert


This concert will feature performances of new works by College Division composition students.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
8:00 pm
Free

Concert | Community Orchestra performs Wagner and Beethoven


Program: WAGNER Prelude to Die Meistersinger PAUL FRUCHT Arrow in the Sand - premiere BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3 "Eroica"
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
8:00 pm
Free

Theater | Corporate Personhood Play Festival


Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations can now donate unlimited funds to politicians because they are entitled to the same rights as private citizens. Subjective Theatre Company’s Corporate Personhood Play Festival will present nine 10-minute plays inspired by this ruling. Tonight: Dammit, Office Girl! Written by James Comtois. An employee pines, if not yearns, for an administrative assistant from afar. And by "afar," we mean "five feet away." Brooklyn Skank Written by Fernanda Coppel. Leslie and Ryan work for Brooklyn Skank, an overpriced and trendy boutique in Brooklyn that is famous for its T-shirts that say "Made by a Brooklyn Skank." Part of their daily routine is answering the age-old question, "Are these Brooklyn Skank T-shirts actually made by a Skank?" Leslie and Ryan have a stock answer that is approved by the Brooklyn Skank Corporation, but as this story unravels you get the sense that Leslie and Ryan have no idea how these garments are made and who makes them. The Foundation Written by Jerome Parker. Lawrence has put his heart and soul into building a non-profit that aids inner cities on a national level. As he prepares to turn over his reign to his young nephew, the woman who helped him build the foundation plans her revenge for being passed over for the top position. A short play about the ties that bind mixed with live jazz. Target Monologue Written by Leegrid Stevens. Target reflects on his difficult childhood. Oh, Donna Written by Lucile Baker Scott. A beautiful young heiress (and friend of Paris Hilton's), who has orgasmic tendencies with organic juice and a few secrets, takes over the world's third largest communications company. Soon quite a bit of juice is spilled, along with a few drops of blood.
   New York City, NY; NYC
8:00 pm
Free

Dance Performance | Dance Works in Progress


A program of non-curated shared showings of experimentation and work-in-progress, for artists at all stages of their development. The events are centered around an audience discussion moderated by a Movement Research Artist-in-Residence or an occasional guest, where they will experiment with different feedback methods to support and inform the artists’ process. Dance Works-in-Progress: Tiana Hemlock-Yensen / Miguel Angel Guzman / Pappas and Dancers / Elinor Harrison
   New York City, NY; NYC
8:00 pm
$3 or more...

Concert | The University Orchestra performs Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich


Program: Mosolov: The Iron Foundry Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture 
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
8:00 pm
Free

Jazz | M-Base Ensemble


Directed by Andy Milne.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
9:00 pm
Free

Performance | Sketch Block Comedy Show


Sketch Comedy meets Block Party. This show features a guest host comedian, three guest sketch troupes and drinking. Come meet, mingle, and perform!
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
9:00 pm
$5

Theater | Euripides' Medea


Directed by Kathryn McHugh. A queen abandoned by her husband for another woman kills her own sons. This staging will incorporate Butoh movement and staging to provide new insight into this classic tragedy. Presented as part of Drama’s New Visions Directing Festival, which features three plays in repertory and highlights the work of Drama’s graduating directors and actors.
   New York City, NY; NYC
9:30 pm
Free
Complimentary Tickets

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

Concert | Christmas Concert

Regular Price: $55
CFT Member Price: $0.00

Classical Music | Works by Mozart, Dvorak and More

Regular Price: $50
CFT Member Price: $0.00
Join the Club!

Go!