free things to do in New York City
Free events for Thursday, 12/05/19
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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 5, 2019?

68 free events take place on Thursday, December 5 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 5 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.
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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!

68 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Thursday, December 5, 2019

All events are free unless otherwise noted.

Editor's Picks

free events nyc A New York Times Correspondent on Reporting from Tibet
free events nyc Christmas in the City: Glee Actress Lea Michele Sings
free events nyc Christmas and Holiday Lights Tour
free events nyc Jokes and Jazz
free events nyc Two Time Grammy Nominated Jazz Duo Performs
free events nyc Tales of Two Who Dreamt (2016): Roma Family Seeks Residency
More Editor's Picks for 12/05/19
        

Workshop | Morning Fitness


One hour of walking, stretching, and strengthening exercises. For a breath of fresh air, take your workouts outdoors. Parks are becoming a logical alternative environment for those who want to add variety to their workouts, or who just don't like the gym. And, it's an affordable way to increase physical activity opportunities, because there's nothing special to build. Exercise with a view, in natural sunlight, with green scenery all around bestows health benefits that can't be found indoors. Scientific studies have shown that the pleasure of being outdoors for example gives your brain, psyche, and immune system an extra boost. Led by trained professionals, and suitable for all levels. Wear comfortable clothing and bring water.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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8:30 am
Free

Workshop | Sun Salutations and Intentions Morning Yoga


Starts your day with a morning yoga practice. You will experience luxurious stretching warm-ups, empowering standing poses, and energizing breath work as we align the movements with the inhales and exhales. You will feel more awake, strong, balanced, and positive as a result of this time spent on the mat. Sun Salutations and warrior poses stimulate the seratonin in your brain (the “happy hormone) and improve self-esteem! You will be ready for anything that meets you as your day unfolds. Bring a yoga mat if you have one. You may bring your own coffee or tea.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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9:00 am
$5 requested donation...

Tour | 13 Tours, All City Neighborhoods, Any Time Of The Day, Choose One Tour Or Many


These free tours take place at various times during the day, all day long. You can make reservations 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
   New York City, NY; NYC
10:00 am
Free

Tour | City Hall Tour For Individuals


The tour of City Hall includes a discussion of the building's history, art, architecture, and civic function. The building is the oldest city hall in the United States that still houses its original governmental functions, such as the office of the Mayor of New York. Constructed from 1803 to 1812, New York City Hall is a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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10:00 am
Free

Film | A Man for All Seasons (1966): Six Time Oscar Winner Including Best Picture


The story of Sir Thomas More, who stood up to King Henry VIII when the King rejected the Roman Catholic Church to obtain a divorce and remarry. 120 min. Director: Fred Zinnemann. Starring Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, Robert Shaw. A Man for All Seasons won the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 39th Academy Awards, while the cast and crew won another five, including Best Director for Zinnemann and Best Actor for Scofield.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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11:00 am
Free

Film | Christmas in Connecticut (1945): Christmas Romantic Comedy With Barbara Stanwyck


A food writer who has lied about being the perfect housewife must try to cover her deception when her boss and a returning war hero invite themselves to her home for a traditional family Christmas. 101 min. Director: Peter Godfrey. Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet.  A remake of Christmas in Connecticut was made in 1992. 
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:00 pm
Free

Talk | A New York Times Correspondent on Reporting from Tibet


Edward Wong is a diplomatic and international correspondent for The New York Times who reports on foreign policy from Washington, D.C. He has spent most of his 20-year career with the Times abroad, reporting for 13 years from China and Iraq. As Beijing bureau chief, he ran the Times' largest overseas operation.
   New York City, NY; NYC
12:00 pm
Free

Tour | Southern Park Welcome Tour


An introduction to some of the southern Park highlights, including Grand Army Plaza, the Pond, Gapstow Bridge, Wollman Rink, Chess and Checkers House, and the Dairy.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:00 pm
Free

Classical Music | Bach at Noon


The organ works of J.S. Bach (1685-1750) offered in 30-minute meditations. Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer and musician of the Baroque period. He is known for instrumental compositions such as the Brandenburg Concertos and the Goldberg Variations as well as for vocal music such as the St. Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor. Since the 19th-century Bach has been generally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time. "The term 'baroque' has been widely used since the 19th century to describe the period in Western European art music from about 1600 to 1750... Many famous composers from the first part of the baroque period came from Italy and have a link with Venice, including Claudio Monteverdi and Antonio Vivaldi. Monteverdi was born in Cremona, but moved to Venice where he was 'maestro di capella' at the San Marco basilica. Vivaldi was born in Venice and was one of the greatest baroque composers. It is thanks to these strong musical traditions of Venice that we have today's music. Without Venetian church music and Monteverdi's advances with polyphony, the great traditions of choral music in England, France, and Germany would never have developed. Without the operas written by Monteverdi, Cavalli and Vivaldi, not only would the later styles of opera never have been invented. There would be no basis for the American Musical or the German and Viennese Operetta, the Spanish Zarzuela, and even rock, pop, and contemporary music as we know it." The Venice Insider Bach at Noon concerts take place every Tuesdays through Fridays, from September 10, 2019 to May 20, 2020.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:20 pm
Free

Talk | The New Role of Board Director in Japan: A Global Context


Featuring: Ayako Weissman, Outside Director, Toshiba Corporation; Senior Vice President, Horizon Kinetics LLC; Jon Lukomnik, Managing Partner, Sinclair Capital; Senior Fellow, High Meadows Institute Moderator: Alicia Ogawa, Director, Project on Japanese Corporate Governance and Stewardship, CJEB
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:30 pm
Free

Gallery Talk | Memory Palaces: Inside the Collection of Audrey B. Heckler: Exhibition Tour


The collection of Audrey B. Heckler is emblematic of the growth of the field of self-taught art in the United States, which manifests a strong interest for African American artists, a consistent attention on American classics, a curiosity for European art brut, and a search for international discoveries. For the last twenty-seven years, Heckler has surrounded herself with excellent examples by the most significant artists associated to this art niche, among them Emery Blagdon, Aloïse Corbaz, William Edmondson, August Klett, Augustin Lesage, Martín Ramírez, Thornton Dial, and Anna Zemánková.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
Free

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. Tour times: 1:00pm, 2:00pm. This tour takes place Mondays through Fridays, except bank holidays.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
Free

Workshop | Lunchtime Meditation


Take a mid-day pause to refresh your mind and re-establish your center in the midst of bustling city life. Meditation is a powerful tool to eliminate stress, to heal the body, mind, and brain, and to enhance your personal well-being and positive relationship with the world.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
$10 suggested donation

Classical Music | Music In Midtown: Brahms, Schubert


Music In Midtown ends the fall semester with a program of chamber works, performed by extraordinary artists in the DMA program in music performance. Performers include Gabrielle Chou, piano; Carrie Frey, viola; Gregory Hartmann, piano; Graeme Johnson, clarinet; Marina Kifferstein, violin; Ari Livne, piano; Shiwen Mo, piano; Clare Monfredo, violoncello; Jennifer Roderer, mezzo-soprano; and Maren Rothfritz, viola. Works presented include Two Songs Opus 91 by Johannes Brahms, Limun by Clara Ianotta, Franz Schubert's Fantasy in F Minor D. 940, and Clarinet Trio Opus 114 by Johannes Brahms.
   New York City, NY; NYC
1:00 pm
Free

Classical Music | Pipes At One Organ Recital


Students of Ken Cowan from Rice University, Houston, TX.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
Free

Classical Music | Works By Italian Baroque Composer


Vocal sextet The Western Wind performs pieces by Italian Baroque Composer Salamone Rossi Hebreo. Linda Lee Jones, soprano; Eric S. Brenner, countertenor; Todd Frizzell, David Vanderwal, tenors; Eli Blaisdell, baritone; Rebecca Pechevsky, harpsichord. Salamone Rossi Hebreo was a violinist, singer, and composer at the ducal court of Mantua where he was employed by the Gonzagas. Rossi occupies a unique place in the evolution of Italian Baroque music as the creator of the trio sonata style, and in Jewish music as the first composer to set Jewish texts in the European musical language of his time. About the performers Vocal sextet The Western Wind has performed in such venues as Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, ArtPark, The Ordway Theater and The Metropolitan Museum, among others.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:15 pm
Free

Film | A Christmas Carol (1951): British Fantasy Drama With Alastair Sim


Old bitter miser Ebenezer Scrooge (Alastair Sim) is given a chance for redemption when he is haunted by three ghosts on Christmas Eve. 86 min. Director: Brian Desmond Hurst. Starring Alastair Sim, Jack Warner, Kathleen Harrison. The film was released in Britain under its original title, Scrooge.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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2:00 pm
Free

Film | A Matter of Life and Death (1946): Fantasy Romance Shot Right After The Second World War


A British wartime aviator who cheats death must argue for his life before a celestial court. 104 min. Directors: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger. Starring David Niven, Kim Hunter, Robert Coote. In 1999, A Matter of Life and Death placed 20th on the British Film Institute's list of Best 100 British films.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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2:00 pm
Free

Film | Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019): Action Comedy With Dwayne Johnson And Jason Statham


Lawman Luke Hobbs and outcast Deckard Shaw form an unlikely alliance when a cyber-genetically enhanced villain threatens the future of humanity. 137 min. Director: David Leitch. Starring Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Idris Elba. As of October 27, 2019, Hobbs & Shaw has grossed $173.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $586.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $760.2 million.
   New York City, NY; NYC
2:00 pm
Free

Film | Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019): Action Comedy With  Dwayne Johnson And Jason Statham


Lawman Luke Hobbs and outcast Deckard Shaw form an unlikely alliance when a cyber-genetically enhanced villain threatens the future of humanity. 137 min. Director: David Leitch. Starring Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Idris Elba.  As of October 27, 2019, Hobbs & Shaw has grossed $173.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $586.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $760.2 million.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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2:00 pm
Free

Workshop | Researching Naturalization Records


In this class the history of how our ancestors became citizens of the United States of America will be explored, the kinds of records they generated when they did so, what information those records contain, and where you can find them.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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2:00 pm
Free

Film | Strange But True (2019): Noir Thriller With Amy Ryan And Greg Kinnear


A woman surprises the family of her deceased boyfriend by telling them she's pregnant with his child. 96 min. Director: Rowan Athale. Starring Nick Robinson, Amy Ryan, Greg Kinnear. 
   New York City, NY; NYC
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3:00 pm
Free

Symposium | Hybrid Intersections: Fashion, Costume, Cinema and Television


3:00pm to 4:00pm: A conversation with Siobhan Nestor (New York City Ballet) and Deepsikha Chatterjee (Hunter and CUNY Graduate Center) Screening: The New Made in Italy. Video series showcasing the story behind Italian excellence in Fashion. Costume Design and Cultural Heritage by Massimo Mascolo, Claudio Napoli, and Eugenia Paulicelli. Followed by a Q&A with the authors 6:00pm to 8:00pm: A Master Class with two time Donatello Award winner Daniela Ciancio and Costume Concept Artist Christian Cordella on fashion and costume design, for cinema and television today, accompanied by slides, clips and videos.  
   New York City, NY; NYC
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3:00 pm
Free

Lecture | Interpreting, Performing, and Broadcasting the U.S. Black Freedom Struggles in the People’s Republic of China, 1960-1964


Speaker: Ruodi Duan, Harvard University. A reception with wine and cheese will follow the Q & A session. 
   New York City, NY; NYC
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4:00 pm
Free

Talk | MeMoSa: Dancers Speak on Age and Disability


Heidi Latsky, who started dancing at the age of 20 and is now dancing in her 60s while running her physically integrated company, will share thoughts about aging and her experiences with the disability community, particularly how her integrated work steers away from the “medical therapeutic” model even as there are clearly positive changes that occur for her dancers. Gregory Youdan, a former HLD dancer, is currently a PhD Student in Kinesiology at Teachers College, Columbia University. Greg will highlight the emerging research of dance as intervention for aging populations and those who have neurological diseases. Accompanying this talk will be some videos of Latsky’s work.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:00 pm
Free

Other | 23rd Annual Central Park Holiday Lighting


Celebrate the season at the 23rd Annual Holiday Lighting in Central Park. Meet Santa and friends, sing carols on the Plaza, and warm up with hot cocoa and cookies. The evening concludes with lighting a flotilla of trees on the Harlem Meer.
   New York City, NY; NYC
5:30 pm
Free

Lecture | 30 Years of Theorizing Justice: Intersectionality, Critical Race Theory and Contemporary Challenges


Looking back on its journey in the 30th year, in this talk, Prof. Kimberlie Crenshaw expounds on intersectionality through the lens of personal narrative. She reflects on formative experiences that shaped her political consciousness as a woman and as a Black person, and how those anecdotes directly informed her theorization and application of intersectionality. She grounds her observations against a backdrop of a rapidly deteriorating political environment in which the destabilization of new and old democracies underscores the naiveté of celebrating the Obama era as a “post-racial” moment. Reception to follow.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Concert | Christmas in the City: Glee Actress Lea Michele Sings


Christmas in the City reunites Lea Michele with songwriter and producer Adam Anders, as the two return for their first collaborative project since working together on Glee. The album features timeless hits like "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "Silent Night," "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and more, as well as "Christmas in New York," a new original that is sure to become an instant classic. Restrictions may apply. Call store for details.
   New York City, NY; NYC
6:00 pm
Free

Author Reading | Correspondents: War, Refugees and U.S. Policy in Both Life and Literature


Tim Murphy's novel is about the impact of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq on two families, one Arab-American, one Iraqi. Murphy will then be in conversation with his consultant on the novel, Yasir Dhannoon, a New York-based fashion and tech entrepreneur who is an Iraqi refugee and board member of The Syria Fund, which supports Syrian refugees in Jordan, and with Lexi Shereshewsky, founder of The Syria Fund, who met Dhannoon when they were both living in prewar Syria in the late 2000s.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Opening Reception | Cotton: Symbol of the Forgotten


John Dowell blends a unique mixture of spiritualism, historical awareness, racial angst and deft technique to create photographic works that inspire the viewer to recognize the injustices imposed upon the black community, especially in New York, over the past 400 years.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Opening Reception | Exposure: Week 2


With: Barbara Brockelbank, Lucky Checkley, Sachie Hayachi, Cathy Jarcho, Erin Karp, James Pasavento, Maisie Prince, Ilene Ritz, Jocelyn Russell, Ziya Tarapore
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Opening Reception | Light4Nights: Unusual, Magical Art


New work by Tom Fitzgibbon for the holiday season.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Author Reading | Moving Forward: A Story of Hope, Hard Work and the Promise of America


Author Karine Jean-Pierre is a Haitian-American political campaign organizer, activist, political commentator, and lecturer in international and public affairs. She is the senior advisor and national spokeswoman for MoveOn.org and a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Opening Reception | Rocked: A Fusion of Street Art and Pop Art


Jan Klein (born 1951) is a contemporary Danish artist. The work of Jan Klein is a fusion of street art and pop art is in the mixed media genre, combining paints and collages. His works are orgies of colors and he finds inspiration everywhere. Musicians from the 1950's up to today, icons, words, sayings, and statements are essential elements of most of his works.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Opening Reception | SurveillAnts: An Interactive Biological Installation


SurveillAnts is an interactive, biological installation that explores the unseen world of ants. Tracing the movements of living harvester ants, the artists reveal emergent patterns and interactions, inviting the audience to contemplate the relationship between individual and collective, and between emergent systems at different scales—from the micro to the macro. The effect is a real-time, augmented reality ant farm, that allows participants to explore the relationships between individual ants and their collective superorganism. The piece aims to provoke the audience’s curiosity about non-human life, touching on themes of emergent intelligence, biological algorithms, systemic pattern making, and creation. About the Artists Gal Nissim is a New York-based interdisciplinary artist and researcher who bridges art, science, and technology to create interactive work that invites participants to explore the dynamic relationship between nature, culture, and human-made environments. Leslie Ruckman is a Brooklyn-based designer and researcher exploring the impacts of an increasingly technologically mediated society.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Film | Tomorrow (2015): Solutions to the Climate Crisis


Climate is changing. Instead of showing all the worst that can happen, this documentary focuses on the people suggesting solutions and their actions. Directors: Cyril Dion, Mélanie Laurent Stars: Anthony Barnosky, Olivier De Schutter, Cyril Dion 118 min.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Opening Reception | Wreath Interpretations: An Array of Imaginative and Unusual Wreaths


NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver will join staff and artists to celebrate the 37th annual Wreath Interpretations exhibition opening, bringing in the holiday season with an array of imaginative and unusual wreaths. This year’s exhibition includes wreaths by more than 40 artists, designers, and creative individuals of all ages who employed a variety of unexpected materials to reinterpret the traditional holiday symbol, often with a touch of humor and lighthearted fun. Incorporating unconventional materials like woven dog leashes, candy, plastic trophies, foil coffee wrappers, and wigs, this year’s wreaths draw inspiration from a variety of themes, including the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and the bridges of New York City.
   New York City, NY; NYC
6:00 pm
Free

Forum | A Playlist for Our Future? Accelerating the Human Advantage in an Age of Technology and Complexity


The rise of intelligent technologies has given rise to ongoing debates about the challenges and impact of artificial intelligence, especially relating to privacy, jobs and access, social and ethnic bias, and questions concerning their regulation. One way to address these challenges, and to prepare for an increasingly complex future, is to develop a diverse workforce that values human capabilities such as imagination, flexibility, and critical thinking. How might we accomplish this? What will be the role played by industry and education in empowering agile, creative, problem-solving humans? Is there an enhanced role for history and the humanities in evaluating and contextualizing advances in machine intelligence? How should we work collectively to ensure that transformations in work and schooling broaden human capabilities and achieve positive results for all? Speakers: -- Lydia Chilton, Assistant Professor of Computer Science -- Matthew Jones, James R. Barker Professor of Contemporary Civilization -- Alison Lord, Global Head of Talent, Google Creative Lab -- Mickey McManus, Autodesk Fellow, researcher, computer scientist, serial entrepreneur, and author of Trillions: Thriving in the Emerging Information Ecology -- Moderated by Beth Comstock, former vice chair and CMO, General Electric, and author of Imagine it Forward: Courage, Creativity, and the Power of Change
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Lecture | Art and the Anthropocene


A talk by Professor Claus Leggewie (University of Giessen) in which he will discuss the changes brought on by the new geological age of the Anthropocene and its impact on culture and the arts.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Festival | Holiday Lights Event


Kick off the holiday season with a festive and charming evening of caroling, warm beverages and sweet treats with the community. If you wish, donate to those in need by bringing a new, unwrapped gift for Stockings With Care.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Discussion | Latin America's Mounting Water Crisis


Droughts and other water-related challenges pose a rising threat to tens of millions of Latin Americans. Forecasters say the biggest risks are centered in precisely the biggest centers of population and economic activity. The most obvious solution--to spend billions of dollars retrofitting houses with pipes and building new treatment plants--is neither economically viable in an age of austerity nor does it adequately protect water sources themselves. But some governments and companies are pointing the way forward. Americas Quarterly and an expert panel discuss realistic, creative, and multifaceted solutions to tackle Latin America's invisible crisis. Speakers: -- Hugo Contreras, Director for Water Security, Latin America, The Nature Conservancy -- Upmanu Lall, Director, Columbia Water Center -- Olga Reyes, Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications, Latin America, The Coca-Cola Group -- Cecilia Tornaghi, Managing Editor, Americas Quarterly; Director for Policy,
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Discussion | Midtown Local Voices Network: Everyone Is Invited To Be Heard


You can participate in this recorded community conversation on the topics that matter most to you. These recordings will be made available for journalists, decision-makers, and other local stakeholders to tune into real community stories and concerns. Here's how it works: Step one: You'll join a 4 - 6 person recorded conversation with fellow New Yorkers in your community, facilitated by NYPL staff. You'll share real concerns, stories, and ideas connected to your experience living in NYC. Step two: The recorded conversation will then be transcribed, keyworded and posted on a website to be shared with media outlets, local decision-makers, and other neighborhood stakeholders with the goal of offering a new window into issues that are important to our community. This will be a platform where everyone is invited to be heard. Space is limited. Please sign up at Refreshments will be served.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Classical Music | Piano Works by Schubert, Chopin


Program: Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849) 24 Preludes, Op. 28 (1839) Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928-2016) Passionale (2003) Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Sonata in B-flat major, D. 960 (1828) Alexei Tartakovsky, piano
   New York City, NY; NYC
6:00 pm
Free

Lecture | Russian Formalism: The Theory of Literary Estrangement and the Estrangement of Social Practices


Radical socio-cultural transformation constituted the very material and style, the texture and technique, of Russian Formalism. Estrangement, shift, deformation, struggle between old and new genres, mutual antagonism of successive literary generations, tension between archaists and innovators: these concepts, which took shape as the terminological framework for Russian Formalism and determined its analytical optics, constituted a form of figurative transference. These were conceptual metaphors, translating the brutal literalism of social cataclysms into the conventional language of literary theory, transforming historical necessity into the freedom of theoretical thought. The power of the revolution’s elemental forces, manifesting in a series of deviations from normative social routine, demanded a turn to a singular conceptual horizon, in which the aesthetic and the political were intertwined under the onslaught of the revolution. Speaker: Ilya Kalinin, Associate Professor at Saint Petersburg State University
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Lecture | Synaesthetics: Making Senses of the Afterlife


Part of a series of readings/performative lectures by Abou Farman and Leonor Caraballo featuring tumors, shamans, insects, and hydrogen protons. How can we make sense of the afterlife beyond the limits of a secular frame? And how can the afterlife help us make senses - literally, as in cultivate new modalities of sensing? They will explore these questions through a notion of synaesthetics reformulated from Susan Buck Morss by way of MRIs, smells, sounds, and blindfolds.
   New York City, NY; NYC
6:00 pm
Free

Screening | World AIDS Day: An Homage To Experimental Filmmaker


In memorializing Worlds AIDS Day, this screening of 16mm film prints from the Reserve Film and Video Collection pays tribute to Warren Sonbert, one of the seminal figures of American experimental film. Archivist and guest curator Jon Gartenberg, who has worked extensively on preserving and furthering this unique artist’s legacy, will present Hall of Mirrors (1966), Noblesse Oblige (1981), Friendly Witness (1989) and Whiplash (1995/1997).  Sonbert died of complications from AIDS in 1995.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Talk | The Cuban American Sound Machine: Identity in the Music of Celia Cruz, Gloria Estefan and Pitbull


This presentation examines how the musical careers of Celia Cruz, Gloria Estefan, and Pitbull have defined and challenged Cuban-American identity over the last sixty years. Their musical and ideological commentary parallels the evolving attitudes and identities of the Cuban-American community towards Cuba and its politics. Each successive artist is a little more ambiguous about her/his political leanings in the American political sphere, but each of them continues to oppose Cuba’s Communist regime while trading in the musical currency of nostalgia for the Cuba of yesteryear. Speaker Dr. Horacio Sierra is an Assistant Professor of English at Bowie State University.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:15 pm
Free

Author Reading | The Best People: Clashes Between Old Money and New


Lawyer Marc Grossberg releases his new legal drama which portrays post-millennium Houston as a glitzy place full of larger-than-life characters where anyone can make it. It is a legal drama and social satire about the clashes between old money and new, about Texas-sized Ponzi schemes, and judicial corruption.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
Free

Talk | Artist Talk: The Traveling Artist


Lydia Rubio will be discussing her Featured Artist Project, The Traveling Artist. This exhibition features artistic documentation of artist Rubio’s travel narratives across linguistic and geographic landscapes. The works record the artist’s experiences across a variation of calligraphic, drawing and poetic compositions. This exhibition includes multiple series of work including The Genius Loci Book, Journal of a Trip to the Island, and Travel Journals.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
Free

Discussion | Bilingual Societies and Sustainability: Spain’s Other Languages


This roundtable and poetry recital will focus on the idea of cultural sustainability through the experience of three mayor editors of Galician, Catalan, and Basque literature. Francisco Castro, writer and director of Editorial Galaxia (Galicia), Rosa Rey, director of Angle Editorial and Capital Books (Catalunya) and Lorea Agirre, director of Jakin Magazine (Basque Country) will share their experiences of survival and resistance in a country with four official languages (Spain). This conversation aims to bring a different perspective on Spain’s other languages, and will combine music and poetry in Galician, Basque and Catalan.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
Free

Poetry Reading | 2 Poets Read


Chris Abani is a novelist, poet, essayist, screenwriter and playwright. His work includes The Secret History of Las Vegas, and the poetry collections Sanctificum and There Are No Names for Red. He is the recipient of an Edgar Prize from the Mystery Writers of America, PEN USA Freedom-to-Write Award, the Prince Claus Award, a Lannan Literary Fellowship, a California Book Award, a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, a PEN Beyond the Margins Award, the PEN Hemingway Book Prize, and a Guggenheim Award. Malcolm Tariq is from Savannah, Georgia, and is the author of Heed the Hollow (Graywolf Press, 2019), winner of the Cave Canem Prize, and Extended Play, winner of the 2017 Gertrude Press Poetry Chapbook Contest. A graduate of Emory University, Tariq has a PhD in English from the University of Michigan.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Gallery Talk | Czech Image: The Czech Republic Through the Eyes of Young Artists


The internationally acclaimed traveling exhibition through a discussion and presentation with the Deputy Director-General of the Czech Centres Monika Koblerová.  
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Play | Measure for Measure: An Adaptation of Shakespeare's Classic Comedy


It's 1979, Mardi Gras has been officially cancelled, yet the community is still celebrating. Temporarily left in charge by the Duke, the upright and uptight Lord Angelo has decided to crack down on the city's debauchery, arresting young Claudio for impregnating his fiancee Juliet before their wedding. When virtuous Isabella, Claudio's sister, hears of his death sentence, she begs Lord Angelo for mercy. But hypocritical Angelo propositions her instead, leaving Isabella with an impossible choice: save her soul or her brother's life. In this timely production, lovers and leaders in disguise reveal how those in power take advantage of those without it - asking the question, can the law be both just and merciful? The all-black women cast features Jasmine Batchelor (Isabella), Nora Carroll (Escalus/Juliet), Toccarra Cash (Lucio), Alfie Fuller (Pompey), Adrian Kiser (Angelo), Gabrielle Murphy (Provost), Jacqueline Nwabueze (Understudy), Latonia Phipps (Mariana/Overdone), and Grace Porter (Duke).
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Poetry Reading | Near, at: The Inherent Strangeness of One's Consciousness


This book follows the inherent strangeness of one's consciousness as it observes and comes into contact with the physical world. A sustained exploration of language, capitalism, gender, and nature, Near, at traverses and measures the movement of silence against the movement of thought and its pauses. Divided into five parts, each with its own form, and followed by a series of ongoing love poems called "My Christopher Poems," this debut collection is slow to assume but quick to adjust. 
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Opening Reception | No New Jails NYC: The Art & Design of a Movement


No New Jails NYC is a multiracial, intergenerational network of residents, community members, and activists committed to a safer NYC free of confinement and surveillance and filled with opportunities for all people to thrive. Over the course of a year, No New Jails has built on a long, gorgeous legacy of abolitionist and new economic activism in New York City by organizing people against the Mayor's jail expansion plan. Design, art, movement, dance, and cultural work have been critical to No New Jails NYC's organizing: to imagine and visualize safety without prisons or police; to distribute and center the imaginations of our incarcerated comrades; to communicate and conduct outreach across the city; to celebrate and archive our work while doing political education; and to make the goal of a jail-free NYC recognizable and attainable. Artists, filmmakers, poets and many many more people have contributed their work to the campaign, moved both by the promises of abolition and the passion of NNJ organizers.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Staged Reading | Pulp Verite: Returning to Society


A woman is released from overseas captivity after three years. Written by Crystal Skillman.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Film | Punk: Crashing into Being (2019): A Music Scene from the Inside


Pulled from archival interviews and rare first-person stories, this film details the punk scene from the inside--including how the business of punk got done--and how it gave voice to a community of misfits who gave voice to the world. It celebrates not just the legends but also the artists who inspired them, and the documentarians who captured their raw essence and energy for us to experience here and now. Director: Beth Lasch 75 min.
   New York City, NY; NYC
7:00 pm
Free

Performance | Search Sweet Country: Performance Art


If love songs about loss and overcoming are part of our history, Christian Nyampeta wants to know what happens to that history when we translate, remix, re-record and recompose them. Specially commissioned by MA Curatorial Practice, Search Sweet Country summons sculptures, images, sounds and movement for a lyrical performance about longing and belonging. The performance will be followed by a conversation with curator Maria Lind.    
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Author Reading | The Book of Collateral Damage: Accounting for Destruction


Sinan Antoon's new novel follows Nameer, a young Iraqi scholar studying in the US who returns to Iraq in 2003 and witnesses the devastation of the US invasion. Nameer encounters Wadood, an eccentric bookseller who is trying to catalog everything destroyed by the war, from objects, buildings, books and manuscripts, flora and fauna, to human beings and memory itself.
   New York City, NY; NYC
7:00 pm
Free

Author Reading | Theorizing Transgender Identity for Clinical Practice: A New Model of Understanding Gender


This book deepens our understanding of the developmental trajectory of trans and gender non-conforming individuals over their lifespan by offering new theories on gender drawn from on psychoanalysis, philosophy, neuroscience, consciousness studies, trauma therapy, sex therapy, gender theory, disability studies and trans studies. The author will talk about his theories and clinical work with patients in our community in psychotherapy. With author S.J. Langer.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Tour | Christmas and Holiday Lights Tour


See the holiday lights of midtown. Duration: Approximately 2 hours. Remember to bring your Metrocard.
   New York City, NY; NYC
7:00 pm
Pay-what-you-wish

Talk | The Long War in Afghanistan: How Does it End?


The war in Afghanistan is the longest war in American history. After 18 years, efforts have increased to find a settlement that will allow the United States to withdraw. Tamanna Salikuddin, a former State Department diplomat who now works at the United States Institute for Peace, discusses recent diplomatic efforts in Afghanistan, including the collapse of U.S. talks with the Taliban.
   New York City, NY; NYC
7:00 pm
Free

Jazz | Jokes and Jazz


Enjoy hilarious stand-up comedy in between sets of some of the country's most talented musicians. WBGO jazz radio personality Sheila Anderson hosts this dynamic evening, joined by international headlining comedian Wali Collins. Take in Anderson's wit and charm as she showcases the Willerm Delisfort Trio that she handpicked herself. Funnyman Wali Collins and two of his fellow headlining comedians--Joe DeVito and Joyelle Nikki Johnson-- will provide the belly laughs to make it a night to remember.
   New York City, NY; NYC
7:30 pm
Free

Opera | The Innocence Project: The Blind Injustice Opera


Nancy Smith was a single mother of four and a Head Start school bus driver when she was falsely accused of picking up young preschool students and molesting them at her "boyfriend's house," where they were allegedly molested all day, instead of driving them to school. Her case was part of the "Daycare Hysteria" cases in the 1990s, in which many across the country were wrongfully convicted for concocted daycare molestation at daycare centers funded by Head Start or otherwise had deep pockets that would afford the "victims" hefty settlements. Nancy's case represents one of the worst cases of ineffective representation in the annuls of wrongful conviction cases. Attendance records showed the children were at school and arrived on time on the day of the alleged molestation. In addition, the four young children, whose mothers' made the allegations, were never absent together on the same day during that time period. A bus aide was present on Nancy's bus every day to babysit the young children in the back of the bus, and could have testified that the stories were false. However, Nancy's attorney believed that the children changed their story so many times that Nancy would prevail, and did not call the bus aide as a witness or introduce any of the evidence that flatly disproved the state's case. The families of the children received seven-figure settlements.. After serving 15 years in prison for crimes that didn't happen, a judge reviewed the evidence anew and overturned her convictions, leading to her 2009 release. This is a selection from the Ohio Innocence Project’s Blind Injustice opera, premiered with Cincinnati Opera in 2019, followed by a conversation with opera subject exoneree Nancy Smith and Director of the Ohio Innocence Project, Mark Godsey, along with the NYC Innocence Project’s Senior Staff Attorney, Nina Morrison.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:30 pm
Free

Jazz | Two Time Grammy Nominated Jazz Duo Performs


When The Baylor Project performs, you'll see why the husband-and-wife team of vocalist Jean Baylor and drummer Marcus Baylor has been nominated for two Grammy Awards. Deeply rooted in jazz--Jean has performed with such stars as Marcus Miller and Buster Williams, while Marcus is a former member of the legendary Yellowjackets--their eclectic musical style is also steeped in gospel, blues, and soul.
   New York City, NY; NYC
7:30 pm
Free

Film | Tales of Two Who Dreamt (2016): Roma Family Seeks Residency


Tales of Two Who Dreamt is set in a housing block in Toronto and pivots on representation and self-representation. Here, a Roma family rehearses the stories of their past for the upcoming hearing on their residency status. Directors: Andrea Bussmann, Nicolas Pereda 85 min.
   New York City, NY; NYC
8:00 pm
Free

Staged Reading | We Take Care of Our Own: 3 in a Nursing Home


Three first-generation immigrants from Senegal, Albania, and South Korea who have all had distinguished careers as an astrophysicist, a chemist, and a filmmaker, find themselves in a nursing home in Europe. In their seclusion from the world they each knew, they form an unusual bond where they explore their existential anxieties. Youssouf agitates over the omnipresence of people in a panopticon, Moon-So has sleepless nights over haunting voices, and Bajran just wants to get baptized before he leaves this world. Written by Zainabu Jallo.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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8:00 pm
Free

Jazz | Jazz Ensemble Workshop


The Hunter Jazz Ensemble & Popular Jazz Music Combos.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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8:00 pm
Free
Complimentary Tickets

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

Theater | Family Theater Showcase

Regular Price: $49.50
CFT Member Price: $0.00

Classical Music | Ensemble Works by Vivaldi and More

Regular Price: $25
CFT Member Price: $0.00
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