65 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Wednesday, July 29, 2015
All events are free unless otherwise noted.
Energize your day with a workout before work. Join The Rise NYC, a community-driven pop-up fitness group, ...
more >> for a Boot Camp. Rotations through exercises like crunches, planks, push-ups, burpees, and mountain climbers ensure a mixture of cardio and strength training that will keep you coming back - and seeing results. No equipment necessary; smiles and high-fives encouraged. Rain or shine.
6:30 am
free, no reservation required
8:30 am
free, no reservation required
Join neighbors from the Integral Yoga Institute, the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center, and two surprise ...
more >> guests, for weekly guided meditations. Rise above the city streets and start your day focused, centered, and connected with nature. Beginners welcome.
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.
Once described as the lungs of the city, Central Park brings a breath of fresh air to New York's crowded ...
more >> urban terrain. What started out as the rocky and desolate northern fringes of a rapidly expanding city is today among the world's most famous and beloved public parks. With over 843 acres of meadows, hills, ball fields and bodies of water, it's impossible not to find something to enjoy in Central Park.
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.
Tour the High Line with a licensed guide, renowned photographer, and a downtown Manhattan resident of ...
more >> 40 years. See spectacular views and vivid details of the west side of mid-Manhattan. Your guide will provide you with photo opportunities galore and will direct you in how to get your shots - views over the Hudson River, a vast range and display of wild self-seeding plants, and a time-capsule (mid–19th century into the 21st) of urban architecture.
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.
Get inspired by the beautiful expanse of the Hudson River and New York Harbor and by the verdant park, ...
more >> with its very special Hot and Cool gardens; each flower-filled and colorful throughout the season. All art materials are provided. Participants can practice already known techniques or try new ones using water colors, pastels, colored pencils, and other media. An artist/educator will offer ideas,instruction and critiques regarding technique.
11:00 am
free, no reservation required
Travel from Grand Army Plaza, past the Pond and Gapstow Bridge, and stop at the Dairy on this trip through ...
more >> the southern Park highlights. Route involves moderate inclines and some stairs. 45 minutes.
11:00 am
free, no reservation required
At the top of the island sits a fortification that has seen nearly as many uses as it has years of completion. ...
more >> From war fort to music school to housing Confederate prisoners of war, to family housing, Fort Jay is the real star of the show. They say that because from the air, it is shaped like a star. This is a 30-minute tour.
Start times: 11:30am, 12:30pm, 1:30pm, 2:30pm.
11:30 am
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
Castle Williams, the centerpiece of the system of fortifications designed to guard New York City just ...
more >> prior to the War of 1812, has long been off-limits to the public. After an extensive rehabilitation project in 2011, the National Park Service opened the Castle's to the general public for the first time in the fort's 200-year history.
Tours of the Castle take visitors through all three levels and the roof. Tours are approximately 30 minutes in length. Visitors are advised that tours require climbing three flights of stairs. The Castle's upper floors are not handicap-accessible.
Start times: 11:30am, 12:30pm, 1:30pm, 2:30pm, 3:30pm.
11:30 am
Free tickets required,...
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. Lessons are weather permitting.
12:00 pm
free, no reservation required
From former SNL "Weekend Update" host and legendary stand-up Colin Quinn comes a controversial and laugh-out-loud ...
more >> investigation into cultural and ethnic stereotypes.
12:30 pm
free, no reservation required
12:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Roy Eaton has a most impressive career. His first Carnegie Hall performance was in 1937, and he won the ...
more >> first ever Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Award in 1950. His latest album I Play for Peace on RHAHM was released on 11/11/11. Other current albums include: Joplin Rags on Sony Classical; Keyboard Classics for Children on Summit; 24/7+7 The Complete Preludes of Chopin, Gershwin; Still on Summit; and The Meditative Chopin on RHAHM.
12:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Underground Horns is a Brooklyn based brass band playing Afro Funk Bhangra New Orleans grooves and beyond. ...
more >> In 2010 they recorded their second album BIG BEAT which was reviewed by Ken Waxman in The New York Jazz Record calling them “an unapologetic party band with brains…with tonal inflections from the Big Easy, central Africa, the Maghreb and the Baltic states.”
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.
Editor's Pick
Taste your way through NYC's first artisanal honey market. The Brooklyn Grange Farm invites you to meet ...
more >> beekeepers from all five boroughs at this pop-up gathering of sustainable, hyper-local food producers. Get an up close and personal look at the inside of a beehive through a glass-paned demonstration hive. Sharpen your eyes to spot the queen bee, or catch a glimpse of the nuanced "waggle dance" that bees use to communicate the location of nectar hot spots. Learn which plants these pollinators love to snack on.
Need help getting started with eBooks? Bring your laptop, eReader, tablet or smart phone to eBook Help ...
more >> Hour. Get assistance loading electronic library books on your Kindle, create your free Adobe ID, learn about 3M Cloud Library, and so much more. Make sure you bring your library card and any necessary access passwords for your devices so they can help you as quickly as possible.
2:00 pm
free, no reservation required
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.
Young Dancemakers Company will present an ensemble of talented, ethnically diverse high school dancer/choreographers, ...
more >> who will showcase their original choreography. The teens' original dances, which range from solos to group works, are created under the experienced eye of veteran director Alice Teirstein, who founded YDC 20 years ago, and music director William Catanzaro. The event ends with the lively "Dance With Us," in which audience members with dancing feet are invited onto the stage to improvise with the dancers, accompanied by percussionist Catanzaro.
Many people are challenged when trying to draw the human figure. This workshop offers everyone a chance ...
more >> to improve their skills through a wonderful outdoor figure drawing class. Each week a different model will strike both short and long poses for participants to draw. An artist/educator will be on hand to offer suggestions and give critiques throughout the class. All drawing materials are supplied.
2:30 pm
free, no reservation required
The tour for those that want it all. The most comprehensive program takes you to early every highlight ...
more >> in the historic district. No tickets or reservations required. Be prepared to walk 1.5 miles over 90 minutes.
2:30 pm
free, no reservation required
3:30 pm
free, no reservation required
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.
Hevo is a service that partners with primary care doctors to analyze lab data and deliver personalized ...
more >> directives to you on your smart phone or computer. Try out and learn about new skincare approaches, acupuncture, massage therapy, new technology and clinical research trials to improve patient experience. 2 free drinks per person.
Hevo is a service that partners with primary care doctors to analyze lab data and deliver personalized ...
more >> directives to you on your smart phone or computer. Try out and learn about new skincare approaches, acupuncture, massage therapy, new technology and clinical research trials to improve patient experience. 2 free drinks per person.
Learn more about urban planning, architecture, and community using LEGOs and your imagination. Led by ...
more >> an educator, these special programs for adults are part of Olafur Eliasson's work.
5:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Join us at our weekly Game Socials to meet up with like-minded players interested in the same games as ...
more >> you. On Wednesdays, play the popular strategy game Settlers of Catan.
5:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Two Dots is an award-winning game set to a uniquely vibrant soundtrack. Join in-house composers and sound ...
more >> designers Ross Wariner and Cody Uhler and play Two Dots as they lead a live eight-piece band through the game’s musical sequence. Developers from Two Dots will also be on hand to discuss the game and take questions.
5:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Take a cross-cultural musical journey - from France to Colombia, from the Balkans to Louisiana, from ...
more >> Cumbia to Jazz, and more - with accordions, harmoniums, concertinas, and bandoneons.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
What if you could live again and again, until you got it right? On a cold and snowy night in 1910, Ursula ...
more >> Todd is born to an English banker and his wife. She dies before she can draw her first breath. On that same cold and snowy night, Ursula Todd is born, lets out a lusty wail, and embarks upon a life that will be, to say the least, unusual.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
For her Studio Series showing, Moriah Evans will present an early incarnation of Social Dance 9-12: Engine ...
more >> (working title), a choreographic system in search of dance. Evans unfolds one possible core of the choreographic, where mind, muscles and affects are at work together towards the transmission of sentiment. In an open process for performers and audience, movements of memory, repetition and simulation get filled with life and exchange. Here, the choreographic is a process which is social in origin but biological and physical in effect. In-process talk moderated by Yve Laris Cohen.
A free concert with artists specializing in music from the Himalayas and South Asia. Featuring Ehren ...
more >> Hanson (tabla) + Abhik Mukherjee (sitar).
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
Hecuba, a former queen, is now a slave who must take justice in her own hands in revenge for the killing ...
more >> of her son. The story is a brilliant account of the unknown destiny of every human being, an examination of life's uncertainty, the aftermath of war, and how dreams can turn into nightmares.
This production by American Thymele Theatreis is presented fully staged without intermission.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
With a visionary take on nightlife and an obsessively curated collection of obscure 7-inch records, Jonathan ...
more >> Toubin’s dance-contest has proven to unite even the squarest of weekend dance floors, offering a supreme one-of-a-kind experience to nightlife denizens everywhere. The concept is simple – dancing to the 1960s soul and rock 45s of DJ Jonathan Toubin and, in the middle, a short dance contest determined by a community panel of judges.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Open space, fresh sea air, and the floral scent of the gardens will help you stretch away the stress ...
more >> of the workday and allow you to let go of the hectic buzz of city life. Whether you’re still learning Child’s Pose or have mastered the Twisted Half Moon, instructor Mary Ryan Barnes, who has been teaching Yoga for over twenty five years, will guide you through a routine that works for you. Bring your own mat or borrow one from us.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
A series featuring musical performances, gallery talks, art-making workshops, renowned DJs, festive summer ...
more >> drinks, local food vendors, and more.
There will be a variety of events, including a guided tour of both the venue and the Museum of the City of New York, brief artist talks in the galleries featuring artists from the exhibition PRESENTE! The Young Lords in New York. In the courtyard, Alicia Grullón presents her interactive performance Pick It!, in which she invites audience members to create signs protesting an issue of their choice. Also outside, enjoy sidewalk shenanigans by FEEGZ and crew. The cafe features the musical stylings of DJ Turmix, a specialist in Boogaloo, which was a favorite of the Young Lords and their generation; and video projections by Louis Cameron.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
An after-work volleyball game for adults. The scorekeeper and the ball will be provided and will instruct ...
more >> newcomers in the basics of the game. This good-natured game has been going for over a decade, and although many people have been attending year after year, players of all experience levels are welcome. Coming by after work is a great way to relax and make new friends.
6:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Stroll through the park and hear the epic story of New York's green oasis. Once described as the lungs ...
more >> of the city, Central Park brings a breath of fresh air to New York's crowded urban terrain. What started out as the rocky and desolate northern fringes of a rapidly expanding city is today among the world's most famous and beloved public parks. Originally intended to bring people of all walks of life together -- a people's park -- Central Park lives up to it's original designs. With over 843 acres of meadows, hills, ball fields and bodies of water, it's impossible not to find something to enjoy in Central Park.
End your day with relaxing Hatha yoga with instructor Hollis Lewis in a beautiful sunset setting. Suitable ...
more >> for all fitness levels. Please wear loose, comfortable clothing and bring your own mat.
6:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Lolë and FITiST bring you a summer of movement and well-being. A wide range of classes are offered, ...
more >> but space is limited to 75 people per class.
Hola! Ni Hao! Bonjour! Konnichiwa! Dobryi den'! Come try out the Mango Languages program and start learning ...
more >> one of 35 languages today. This is a conversation-based language learning program with a built-in recording option. Record your voice and compare your speech to the narrator’s to hear your progress.
Are you looking for images of the Lower Manhattan Skyline and sunsets? This photo tour is for you. A ...
more >> licensed guide, renowned photographer, and a downtown Manhattan resident of 40 years will guide you during what photographers call “the golden hour.“ You will tour Brooklyn Bridge Park and Dumbo as you strategically set up your shots for the evening sunset. The tour will finish with a walk back over the Brooklyn Bridge to Lower Manhattan providing you many photo opportunities as nightfall and the city lights up. You will be directed in how to get your shots no matter what’s the evening sky. Learn a bit about the the skyline of Lower Manhattan and the history that has connected Brooklyn and Manhattan for over 500 years as you hone your photographic skills.
Open to all levels of photographers and all cameras – yes, cell phones and any smart devices too. Even people without cameras will enjoy tagging along for this unique point of view of the end of the day in New York City.
This heroic true story of the three youngest children of a bourgeois Catholic family who worked together ...
more >> in the French Resistance.
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
A book about a little-known road trip Andy Warhol took from New York to LA in 1963 and the numerous artists ...
more >> and celebrities he encountered who profoundly influenced his life and art.
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
Join executive producer and actor Kevin Bacon for a discussion and Q+A. Cop Car is a throwback thriller ...
more >> that follows two young boys who stumble across an abandoned police car hidden in a secluded glade and take it for a quick joyride. Their bad decision unleashes the ire of the county sheriff and leads to brutal consequences.
This incredible introduction to the head-spinning Sonepur Fair, a festival held at the confluence of ...
more >> the Ganges and Gandak rivers on the full moon day of the Hindu month of Kartika, comes from the Horse Breeder, who, along with the Showman, the Rider, the Exorcist, the Dancer and the Mahut (elephant tamer) comprise the cast. This starry-eyed impression of the festival is sensory overload, complete with all the frenetic pacing and explosions of neon that only a visit to this fair could offer.
56 minutes. Film starts at dusk.
PRE-SCREENING PERFORMANCE AT 7PM.
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
The Inwood Shakespeare Festival was conceived and developed by Ted Minos as a way to bring free professional ...
more >> theatre and music to the Northern Manhattan community. NYC Parks is delighted to partner with Moose Hall Theatre Company in their high caliber productions of Shakespeare for the wonderful communities of Inwood, Washington Heights, Harlem, and beyond.
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
“La Orkesta does for mambo what the Dap-Kings did for soul, respect and building upon the spirit of ...
more >> a tradition, while incorporating a contemporary sound and audience.” (Music director of radio station KXCI, Tucson). Founded in 2009 in Tucson by multi-instrumentalist Sergio Mendoza, a longtime collaborator and sideman with Calexico and Devotchka, Orkesta Mendoza performs an arresting take on traditional mambo—Mendoza calls it “indie mambo”—that mixes in cumbia, merengue, and ranchera, with jazz and indie-rock, all shot through a prism of psychedelia. The band's otherworldly sound has been enthusiastically praised by The New York Times and NPR. The group’s debut studio album, Mambo Mexicano, was released in 2012 on Cosmica Records.
With a Cuban-American lead singer, garage band ferocity, an intense live show, and a deep love of 70s AM pop radio hits, bolero romance, and pure country they were raised on, The Mavericks became unlikely stars. Their raucous sound broke new ground for the Country format with hits like “Here Comes The Rain,” “Crying Shame,” and “Dance The Night Away.” In 2013, after multiple gold and platinum albums, world tours, breakups and re-formations, the band reunited and released the critically-acclaimed album In Time, (The Valory Music Co) that critics at The Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, and New York magazine, among others, named to their “Best Of” lists. Billboard.com called the band’s just-released CD, Mono, “The splashy, seasoned spirit of new-millennium Mavericks. Deceptively simple songs of lust and chivalry get a vigorously swinging, guitar-heavy but horn-heated attack. They veer from big-band salsa to frisky, danceable Latin rock, swaggering, shuffling R&B and more mellow pop flavors.”
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Join Lou Cornacchia, founder of Cobble Hill’s Body in Balance Studio, for her amazing Pilates Mat Class. ...
more >> Students will learn proper technique, core muscle strength, spinal alignment and shoulder stabilization. This dynamic class is intermediate/advanced and done to upbeat music, emphasizes stretching, good posture, upper body and serious core strength. Classes are open to ages 16 and older. Participants must bring their own mat and dynaband. You are required to fill out a release form and bring one to every class. Beginners are welcome to go at their own pace.
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
New york Classical Theatre presents this outdoor production of Shakespeare's timeless comedy.
New York City, NY; NYC
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
Known for his rapid-fire percussion skills, Winard Harper is an amazing band leader who brings together ...
more >> straight-ahead jazz and African beats, creating a show that is all jazz.
7:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
This hilarious new play, portrays a political primary that has been modeled on the X FACTOR, AMERICA’S ...
more >> GOT TALENT, and the traditional LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS format. Nothing is sacred.
8:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Stars: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry, Levy Easterly
Faced with both her hot-tempered father's fading ...
more >> health and melting ice-caps that flood her ramshackle bayou community and unleash ancient aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy must learn the ways of courage and love.
93 min.
Pack a picnic, bring a friend and settle in for a night at the movies on the pier.
8:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
The Philadelphia Dance Company (PHILADANCO!) is a nonprofit organization that presents the highest quality ...
more >> of professional dance performance and improves the skills of emerging and professional dancers and choreographers in a nurturing environment, while increasing the appreciation of dance among its many communities. Across the nation and around the world, PHILADANCO! is celebrated for its innovation, creativity and preservation of predominantly African-American traditions in dance. Founded in 1970, PHILADANCO! has a legacy of breaking barriers and building bridges across cultural divides, consistently performing for audiences representing an amalgamation of people from diverse communities.
Founded in 2004 by Toni Pierce-Sands and Uri Sands in Saint Paul, Minnesota, TU Dance is a leading voice for contemporary dance. The 12-member, professional company is acclaimed for its diverse and versatile artists, performing work that draws together modern dance, classical ballet, African-based and urban vernacular movements. The TU Dance repertory features original work by Uri Sands, as well as renowned choreographers including Dwight Rhoden, Ron Brown, Katrin Hall, Gregory Dolbashian and Camille Brown. Through celebrated performances of the professional company and accessible dance education at TU Dance Center, TU Dance provides opportunities for everyone to experience the connective power of dance.
8:00 pm
free, no reservation required
Speak about a cause you believe in. Join a revolution of intelligent passionate people doing real things ...
more >> to make this world a better place. Be part of a process to express your ideas and insights about the current social issues of the day.
Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan (KING LEAR, THE COMEDY OF ERRORS, PROOF) directs the Shakespearean ...
more >> fairy tale CYMBELINE, featuring Tony nominee Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater. In the Shakespearean fairytale CYMBELINE, Princess Imogen’s fidelity is put to the royal test when her disapproving father banishes her soul mate. Cross-dressing girls and cross-dressing boys, poisons and swordfights and dastardly villains all take the stage in this enchanting romp about the conquering power of love.
8:00 pm
Free tickets required
Stars: Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts.
A young boy whose parents have just divorced finds ...
more >> an unlikely friend and mentor in the misanthropic, bawdy, hedonistic war veteran who lives next door.
102 min. Movie begins at dusk (around 8:30pm). Free popcorn.
8:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Editor's Pick
Stars: Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Nick Apollo Forte.
In his attempts to reconcile a lounge singer with ...
more >> his mistress, a hapless talent agent is mistaken as her lover by a jealous gangster.
84 min.
8:30 pm
free, no reservation required
Stand-up comedy show (that has been featured on MTV, and that fills to standing-room only each week). ...
more >> The show is produced by Brendan Fitzgibbons (The Onion, McSweeney's) and Lance Weiss (Carolines on Broadway) with comedians from David Letterman, Vh1, MTV, The Onion, and Comedy Central. Free pizza!
9:00 pm
free, no reservation required