53 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Friday, December 9, 2016
All events are free unless otherwise noted.
Are you a Bridge buff? Put your game face on and show off your best plays. Join the fun and meet new ...
more >> friends! All players welcome!
10:00 am
free, no reservation required
This is a 3-hour tour that begins with a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, an icon of New York City for ...
more >> 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.
The 3-hour walking and subway tour covers the Financial District including Wall Street and the World ...
more >> Trade Center, SoHo, Little Italy and Chinatown. These are neighborhoods that simply can’t be fully appreciated from a bus. There will be one or two opportunities to sample tasty treats. Takes place daily.
It is here, as much as anywhere, where American history started. It's where the first US Congress assembled ...
more >> and produced the Bill of Rights and where President George Washington took his first oath of office. It's here where the world's most important stock exchange and one of the most famous bridges stand. And it is here where an unspeakable tragedy took place and where a rebirth is underway. Mondays and Fridays.
Join a Manhattan Street Art Tour and experience the Lower East Side - SoHo, NoHo, Nolita and Little Italy. ...
more >> 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.
Don't have enough time to take all of the tours? Prefer to experience Manhattan with a smaller group, ...
more >> but a private booking is out of reach? Then consider our All-in-One New York Tour. This tour utilizes your feet and the New York City Subway to transport you from Lower Manhattan, the birthplace of New York, through Wall St and the Financial District, the World Trade Center, Greenwich Village, SoHo, Chinatown, Little Italy, Chelsea Market and the Highline Park. Tour takes place Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Explore more advanced features of Microsoft Word 2010. Topics include mail merge, tables, text boxes, ...
more >> headers and footers, footnotes and endnotes.
Test your coordination and dexterity with free juggling lessons in the park. All skill levels are welcome ...
more >> to join in the fun. Equipment is provided. The event is offered daily, except Sundays.
12:00 pm
free, no reservation required
The keyboard works of Bach offered in 30-minute meditations by Patrick Allen, organist and master of ...
more >> choristers, and Mary Pan, organ scholar. Bach at Noon concerts takes place Tuesdays through Fridays, from September 13, 2016 to May 25, 2017.
12:20 pm
free, no reservation required
Discover architecture and social history of Grand Central neighborhood; learn secrets of Whispering Gallery ...
more >> in Grand Central Terminal; gaze upon hubcaps and roadsters on side of Chrysler Building; discover favorite Midtown Manhattan hangout of Mercury, Hercules, and Minerva; learn why Pershing Square isn’t really square; visit original Lincoln Memorial by Daniel Chester French. Award-winning tour led by urban explorer, historian, and storyteller Justin Ferate. This tour takes place every Friday.
12:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Learn about central banking functions that Federal Reserve System performs and see Bank's vault of international ...
more >> 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. Tour times: 1:00pm, 2:00pm. This tour takes place Mondays through Fridays, except bank holidays.
Stars: Julie Christie, Peter Finch, Alan Bates. Bathsheba Everdene, a willful, flirtatious, young woman, ...
more >> unexpectedly inherits a large farm and is romantically pursued by three very different men. 160 minutes
1:00 pm
free, no reservation required
1:00 PM Guitar Duos Ensemble 7:00 PM Contemporary Songwriting I 7:30 PM Brazilian Choro Ensemble
New York City, NY; NYC
1:00 pm
free, no reservation required
New York City is a mecca for graffiti and street art, making it a very attractive playground for artists ...
more >> 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. Tour takes place Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
New York City is a mecca for graffiti and street art, making it a very attractive playground for artists ...
more >> 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. Tour takes place Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Greenwich Village is among Manhattan's most desirable and expensive residential neighborhoods. It's history, ...
more >> however, betrays it's monied status. The Village, with it's quiet, shaded streets, lined with lovely brick and brownstone townhouses, was once the incubating ground of artistic, social and political movements that have helped shape US history. From the Beats to the Folk Movement, from workers rights to gay rights, the Village has often been the center of it all. Tours are Mondays and Fridays at 2pm, and Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10am.
Although world famous, Harlem may be New York's best kept secret with some of the city's best architecture, ...
more >> 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. This tour takes place Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 2pm, and Saturdays at 10am.
Stars: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac. Three decades after the defeat of the Galactic Empire, ...
more >> a new threat arises. The First Order attempts to rule the galaxy and only a ragtag group of heroes can stop them, along with the help of the Resistance. 138 min.
2:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Rockefeller Center is one of the most popular public spaces and tourist attractions in New York City. ...
more >> This depression-era commercial complex takes up over three full city blocks and is rich with history, public art, and art-deco architecture. Built by business mogul John D. Rockefeller Jr. with his own money, he instructed his team of designers and architects to build the most beautiful commercial complex of it’s kind in the world. That vision resulted in what is still one of NYC’s greatest treasures and gave rise to some of NYC’s favorite traditions including the Radio City Christmas Spectacular featuring the famous dance team the Rockettes and the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.
You've seen the iconic skyscrapers, attended a Broadway show, visited Lady Liberty and relaxed in Central ...
more >> 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. Takes place daily.
In a small Muslim town in Northern Cameroon, four young soccer players prepare for a championship that ...
more >> will determine not only the future of the team, but the unique trajectory of each girl’s life. Incorporating choreography inspired by the games and practices of a real-life Cameroonian girls team, the play blurs the line between theater and sporting event.
In Egyptian mythology, the God "HU" represents the breath of creation and power of the spoken word. Hu ...
more >> is the personification of Divine Utterance and the sound essence of the first breath from which all things formed. The Hu(e)man Circle is an experience of sound, breath, and movement designed for bio-energetic synchronization and activation of our inner creative powers. No meditation experience is needed. All are welcome. La Vonne Natasha Caesar is a multilingual poet, healer, and artist. She is a Yoga Alliance certified Hatha Yoga instructor, Kemetic (Ancient African/Egyptian) Yoga instructor, Thai Yoga bodywork practitioner, Shamanic and Reiki attuned healer, and has a BA in French and MA in Creative Writing. In both her healing work and creative expression, she incorporates her study and practice of Shamanism, breathwork, birthwork, Sanskrit mantra, sound healing, Yoga Vedantic Fire Rituals (Agni Hotra), Vipassana, and other meditation techniques.
4:00 pm
free, no reservation required
The current state of the left political spectrum feels devastated and broken. The current focus on identitarian ...
more >> politics from “progressives” often falls short of addressing the larger problems that arise from our positioning within capitalism. The intention of this series of lectures is to offer basic insights and an analysis of capitalism and the socialist alternative, and in particular the role and place of art within these two systems. Brujas’s constant public engagement with “identity” as women of color and as skateboarders has often been presented by external sources as a marketing piece, or as a spinoff from street culture and the economy surrounding it. Examples like this demonstrate that, for youth operating in the creative economy, it is essential to understand not only their relationship with their identities but also their entanglement with the larger economic and labor systems that play a significant (and often under-recognized) role in defining identities.
4:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Welcome world-renowned arranger and producer Deke Sharon, whose credits include television’s The Sing ...
more >> Off and Pitch Slapped, the movies Pitch Perfect and Pitch Perfect 2, and, this fall, Broadway’s first a cappella musical, In Transit.
5:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Built exclusively around James Baldwin's words, I Am Not Your Negro delves into the complex legacy of ...
more >> three lives (and deaths) that permanently marked the American social and political landscape. Framing the unfinished work as a radical narration about race in America, Peck matches Baldwin's lyrical rhetoric with rich archival footage of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, and connects these historical struggles for justice and equality to the present-day movements that have taken shape in response to the killings of young African-American men including Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Mike Brown, and Amir Brooks. 95 min. Shown December 9th - December 15th at 5:00pm and 7:30pm.
5:00 pm
$10 suggested donation
5:30 pm Zoë Sundra Country-tinged folk 6:05 pm Joshua Garcia Folk singer/songwriter 6:40 pm Dina Regine ...
more >> Soulful, lyrical rock
5:30 pm
free, no reservation required
A screening of video work in Tomashi Jackson's current exhibition, The Subliminal is Now, followed by ...
more >> an intimate discussion around the sublime, the subliminal, and author Octavia E. Butler's term, the Grim Fantasy, with artist Tomashi Jackson, writer Ashley James, and artist Jacolby Satterwhite.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Images spanning nearly three decades portray South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s leadership throughout ...
more >> the apartheid movement and his more recent justice work, as captured by photojournalists Sumaya Hisham and Eric Miller.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
From 1952 to 1981, South Africa’s apartheid government ran an art school for the training of African ...
more >> art teachers at Indaleni, in what is today KwaZulu-Natal. The Art of Life in South Africa is the story of the students, teachers, art, and politics that circulated through a small school, housed in a remote former mission station. It is the story of a community that made its way through the travails of white supremacist South Africa and demonstrates how the art students and teachers made together became the art of their lives.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Five authors representing a new generation of Hungarian literature meet NYC audiences in a special showcase. ...
more >> The event featuring the launch of The Dispossessed by Szilárd Borbély (HarperCollins), the presentation of the new issue of The Hungarian Quarterly (review copies will be available gratis) and a panel discussion on recent developments in Hungarian literature. Participants: Géza Röhrig, Gábor T. Szántó, Andrea Tompa, Krisztina Tóth, Benedek Totth. On show: Photographer Anna Tihanyi presents her Lucie Award-winning set piece series Berlin bhf. Followed by the New Literature from Europe festival official reception at the Consulate General at 8pm.
Joyous Celebration is undoubtedly the most successful musical group in the history of democratic South ...
more >> Africa. 2016 marks the 20 year celebration of glorious worship and music as South Africa's biggest and most loved gospel ensemble. We hope you can join us and share in this magical celebration as Joyous Celebration brings gospel music to people of all ages, race and creed.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
They are having a book social! They hope you’ll come and share a book you loved reading! What to ...
more >> expect at Open Book Night: 1. Introduce your book with its title, author, publication date and genre (mystery, memoir, play, etc.). One book per person. 2. Tell what it’s about and why you loved it in 2 minutes or less. 3. They want to have fun, so no negative criticism please. 4. Learn about titles of books that you may enjoy and share with your friends. This month's theme is "Winter Reads."
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Presented by the UFT Players. You will enjoy seeing the staged readings of short plays written by United ...
more >> Federation of Teachers members. The plays cover a wide variety of topics, both comedy and dramas.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
ArteCinema, an international film festival of documentaries regarding contemporary art, was established ...
more >> in 1996 with the objective of making various facets of contemporary art known to the public at large by presenting a selection of documentaries about important artists, architects and photographers who have been active during the past fifty years and includes interviews, filmed biographies and narratives based upon archive materials which has made it possible to bring the universe of visual arts to life on the screen.
On Christmas of all days, the 12-year-old Kattaka finds out that that her papa is not her biological ...
more >> father. Disillusioned, and angry about her parent’s long silence, she wants to look for Alexej, the Russian sailor who was her mother’s first love. So with her elderly neighbor and her best friend she sets out on the path to Poland. The journey in Lene’s rickety van leads them to Stettin, Danzig and Masuria: A road movie in which a young girl and an old woman come to terms with their pasts, transcend the divide between generations and find themselves again. 90 min. In German with English subtitles.
6:30 pm
free, no reservation required
In recent Serbian cinema, coming-of-age narratives are frequently offered as frameworks for a critique ...
more >> of social, cultural and economic circumstances of precarity rooted in the country’s ongoing post-socialist transition. This focus on troubled youth in films such as Barbarians (Ivan Ikić, 2014), Skinning (Stevan Filipović, 2010) and Tilva Rosh (Nikola Ležaić, 2010) often highlights male subcultures and allows for an inspection of the links between nationalism, youth rebellion, post-conflict trauma and social class. Lecturer Dijana Jelača is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University.
6:30 pm
free, no reservation required
An intimate discussion about the art of poetry, featuring four very different poetic voices from Europe ...
more >> – Elena Alexieva
from Bulgaria and the author of Ladder on the Heart and Face of Killer Angel; Ann Cotten whose poetry plays with perspective, an intrinsic part of her poetic process; Immanuel Mifsud (pictured) who sees similarities between the way his own life is evolving and that of a fish in an aquarium; and Krisztina Tóth whose poetry deals in an emphatic, reflected and sometimes ironic way with everyday scenes and conflicts. Together, they’ll be in conversation with acclaimed poet, playwright and literary travel writer, Nathalie Handal.
6:30 pm
free, no reservation required
In the impoverished world of ex-steeltown Donora, PA, three brothers make a blood oath to escape by any ...
more >> means necessary. But each brother and the girls they love are caught up in the meth world and struggling to get out. Will love and family be enough to save them?
Translation, culture, class and race are at the forefront of this retelling of Eugene O’Neill’s seldom-seen ...
more >> satire Marco Millions. Lead Artists Claire Moodey and Bess Rowen, in collaboration Target Margin Theater and students, alumni, professors and staff, follow Marco Polo on a journey you will never forget.
Jose Maldonado presents a recital of music spanning centuries and continents performing rarely heard ...
more >> works for the guitar from Spain and France. The program will include one of the masterpieces for the instrument, the “Second Suite for Lute” by J.S. Bach. A native of Puerto Rico, Maldonado will also perform "Two Danzas from Puerto Rico" composed by Leonardo Egúrbida. Join this world tour of fascinating music for the guitar.
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Pianist Jiayin Shen, the youngest student ever admitted to the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, ...
more >> the most prestigious music school in China, brings to her performances extraordinary artistry and charismatic stage presence. She has toured extensively throughout her native China, as well as in Germany, Switzerland, England, Norway, Canada, and the United States, and performed at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China at the personal invitation of the U.S. Ambassador to China. Since 2009 Shen has been a member of the piano faculty at the Preparatory Division of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Guitarist and composer Nadav Lev is an exceptional virtuoso on both classical and electric guitar. His proficiency in through-composed as well as improvised music and his inspired, profound performances of the music of our time have made him one of today’s most captivating new performers. An Andres Segovia Award winner (Musica en Compostela, Spain), Lev’s Carnegie Hall debut was hailed by Classical Guitar Magazine as “sensitive and nuanced performance … talented and engagingly musical … his stage presence is entirely gracious and personable.” Classical Guitar Magazine described Nadav’s debut album as “a CD to savor and delight in. His playing is of the utmost authority … a sheer delight from start to finish.”
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
francine j. harris is the recipient of a 2015 NEA Fellowship and the author of two collections of poems, ...
more >> "allegiance" (Wayne State University Press, 2012) and "play dead" (Alice James Books, 2016).
Faculty member and violinist Hilary Castle presents “Heartbreakers: Musical Romantics,” an evening ...
more >> of music for violin and piano. Joined by guest pianist Daniel Anastasio, Castle will perform works by Schubert, Fauré, and Kreisler.
Editor's Pick
Winter weather got you down? Join the hui! By day, Dara Faust is the shoe supervisor of the New York ...
more >> City Ballet. By Night, Faust has the kuleana (responsibility and privilege) of teaching for Nā Lehua Melemele, a New York City Hui (group, club, alliance) that is comprised of individuals who are joined or united by a common love of the hula. Faust comes to the Library to lead an interactive evening exploring the native art of Hawaiian dance, expressing all that we see, hear, smell, taste, touch, and feel.
Editor's Pick
It’s time to celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah and the New Year as Midtown Manhattan lights up like no ...
more >> other place in the world. Mechanical window displays, synchronized light and sound shows, not to mention Santa Claus and toy soldiers surely await you in this winter wonderland. Check them all out on the New York Holiday Lights Tour. Experience the holidays in the city as only New York can offer. Take advantage of the subway to beat the street traffic, keep warm and catch some underground holiday music. Learn about the artists and backgrounds to these wonderful displays.
Stars: Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara. Jack Skellington, king of Halloween Town, discovers ...
more >> Christmas Town, but doesn't quite understand the concept. 76 min.
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Led by Artistic Director Joseph Colaneri, the critically acclaimed Mannes Opera Young Artists present ...
more >> a complete, fully staged performance in collaboration with the Mannes Orchestra.
7:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Built exclusively around James Baldwin's words, I Am Not Your Negro delves into the complex legacy of ...
more >> three lives (and deaths) that permanently marked the American social and political landscape. Framing the unfinished work as a radical narration about race in America, Peck matches Baldwin's lyrical rhetoric with rich archival footage of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, and connects these historical struggles for justice and equality to the present-day movements that have taken shape in response to the killings of young African-American men including Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Mike Brown, and Amir Brooks. 95 min. Shown December 9th - December 15th at 5:00pm and 7:30pm.
7:30 pm
$10 suggested donation
Told from the viewpoint of the father Morio, A Boy Called H follows a young boy named Hajime Senoh, nicknamed ...
more >> “H”. His father, Morio runs a tailor shop. With the onset of World War II, their family must endure difficult times. Nevertheless, H is filled with curiosity and a sense of justice. This movie shows how Japan was during the war. 122 min.
7:30 pm
free, no reservation required
The Trojan War is over. The warlord Agamemnon has been murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra; Clytemnestra ...
more >> has been murdered by their son, Orestes, avenging his father's death. Now Orestes lies haunted by Furies – spirits who avenge blood-crimes – as the city decides what to do with the perpetrator of this heinous crime. Can his sister, Electra, and friend, Pylades, save Orestes from the city's decree? Can cycles of violence ever be ended? Dec. 8-10
Zombie action in the Alps: a group of young snowboarder is stuck in a remote mountain ski resort, where ...
more >> an all-night aprés-ski party soon turns into a hellish nightmare of zombie mayhem. 75 min.