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free things to do in New York City
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Free Events, Free Things to Do in New York City! Read More
New York attracts world's best minds to its shores: they come here to interact with each other at conferences and seminars, and while they are here they are often invited to give a talk, a lecture, to be a part of a public discussion. We at Club Free Time give you an opportunity to be a part of it: to watch how those best minds in the world work! Don't miss the opportunities that only New York City (NYC) provides!
Join the Club!
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!
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!
63 free talks, lectures, discussions in New York City (NYC) Tue, 08/11/2026 - and on...
In New York City, you can talk with and listen to the best minds in the world without spending a dime! Just take a look at free talks, lectures, discussion, seminars, conferences listed on this page below!
Book Club | Discuss Jane Austen's Classic Novel, Sense and Sensibility, in the Park
This immersive book club event features Sense and Sensibility, along with beloved characters from the book. Hosted by Sarah Rose Kearns, Jane Austin Society of North America - New York Metropolitan. Sign up in advance (in person) to receive a free copy of Sense and Sensibility while supply lasts.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Aug 11
12:30 pm
Free
12:30 pm
Free
Book Discussion | "Strikingly Original" Novel Release, Hothouse Bloom, with the Author (+ Signing)
A conversation with Austyn Wohlers to celebrate the paperback release of her book, a millennial pastoral that is equal parts painterly and critical in its reflections on art, permaculture, and the natural world. She will be in conversation with Reuben Dendinger, followed by a signing.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Aug 11
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Talk | FAQ NYC Live: Experts Discuss the History of NYC Blackouts
A live podcast recording with Katie Honan and Harry Siegel, with special guest Asad Dandia. This live taping digs into seminal moments in New York City that speak to the past, present, and future of America at 250, along with special guest and Brooklyn Borough Historian Asad Dandia. At this event, FAQ NYC hosts Katie Honan and Harry Siegel will talk with Asad about Blackouts and much more, while Christina Greer is traveling.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Aug 11
6:30 pm
Free
6:30 pm
Free
Book Discussion | New York Times Bestselling Authors Discuss the Art of Writing with Purpose
Discover some examples of creativity as public service at this author panel with Sam Roberts, Are They Dead Yet: The Art of the Obit; Jennifer Shahade, Thinking Sideways: How to Think Like a Chess Player and Win at Life; and Casey Sherman, The Killer and Frank Lloyd Wright: The True Story of Mass Murder in Paradise. Sam Roberts, a 50-year veteran of New York journalism, is an obituaries reporter and formerly the Urban Affairs correspondent at The New York Times. He hosts The New York Times Close Up. Jennifer Shahade is a three-time National Chess Champion, PokerStars Ambassador, and author. A two-time Global Poker Award winner and chess Olympic medalist, Shahade was the first female to win the US Junior Open, and claimed two U.S. Women's Championship titles. Her writing has appeared in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, and the Financial Times. Casey Sherman is a New York Times Bestselling Author of 13 books, including The Finest Hours (now a major motion picture starring Casey Affleck & Chris Pine), Boston Strong, Animal, and Hunting Whitey. Sherman is a contributing writer for Time, Esquire, The Washington Post, The Boston Herald, and Boston Magazine.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Aug 12
12:30 pm
Free
12:30 pm
Free
Talk | Johns Hopkins University Mathematician Breaks Down Abstract Concepts with 3D Printing
In this interactive presentation, Mario Micheli explores how mathematicians bring abstract concepts to life. From geometric surfaces and fractals to stereographic projections, polyhedra, and art, discover how physical models can reveal patterns and structures that are difficult to see in a textbook or on a screen. Along the way, learn how mathematical objects are designed, transformed into printable models, and ultimately turned into tangible objects that can be touched, examined, and explored. No advanced mathematics is required -- just curiosity and a willingness to play.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Aug 12
4:00 pm
Free
4:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Read & Analyze a Modernist Poem by Pulitzer Prize-Winning Poet Marianne Moore
A poetry discussion on Marianne Moore's 1923 poem of nearly three hundred lines, "Marriage."
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Aug 12
4:30 pm
Free
4:30 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Lambda Award-Winning Writers Share Their New Book, Call Me by Your Name: The Graphic Novel (+ Signing)
A conversation with André Aciman and Sarah Maxwell-McNicol to celebrate their new book, Call Me by Your Name: The Graphic Novel, the graphic novel adaptation of Elio and Oliver's timeless summer romance. The conversation will be followed by a signing.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Wed, Aug 12
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Quiet Reading Meet Up
Bring a book or check one out of the library to read to yourself for one hour. After that, spend an hour socializing with those around you!
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Wed, Aug 12
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Talk | Johns Hopkins University Mathematician Breaks Down Abstract Concepts with 3D Printing
In this interactive presentation, Mario Micheli explores how mathematicians bring abstract concepts to life. From geometric surfaces and fractals to stereographic projections, polyhedra, and art, discover how physical models can reveal patterns and structures that are difficult to see in a textbook or on a screen. Along the way, learn how mathematical objects are designed, transformed into printable models, and ultimately turned into tangible objects that can be touched, examined, and explored. No advanced mathematics is required — just curiosity and a willingness to play.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Wed, Aug 12
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Talk | Fine Art Portrait Photographer (Worked with UK Prime Ministers & Royalty) Discusses His Craft & Career
A lecture and open Q&A with British portrait photographer Rory Lewis. His sitters have ranged from Sir Patrick Stewart, Sir Ian McKellen, David Warner and Rufus Sewell to former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Theresa May, HRH The Duke of Kent, and successive Chiefs of the General Staff of the British Army. Portraits by Lewis are held in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London and in the Royal Collection, and through his Heroes in Focus non-profit he has photographed the living Field Marshals, VC & GC recipients, and hundreds of British soldiers for the Soldiery archive. In this session he opens two decades of work: the sittings that shaped his career, the frames he'd defend and the ones he learned from, and the painters - Holbein, Caravaggio, Titian, Rembrandt, Lawrence - whose light still runs beneath every portrait he makes. Expect stories from rooms with five-minute clocks, honest breakdowns of how the most-recognised images were built, and the working philosophy of a photographer who treats the studio as a direct descendant of the easel. The final portion of the afternoon is given over entirely to your questions. Bring a notebook.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, Aug 13
1:00 pm
Free
1:00 pm
Free
Discussion | Emmy Award Panel Discussion with Creatives from Hacks, SNL, The Penguin, & More
Emmy Round Table and Live Q&A featuring industry professionals as they share insights and behind-the-scenes stories. From editing and visual effects to costume design, hear firsthand how these Emmy-recognized creatives helped bring some of TV's biggest hits to life. An inside look at the artistry behind award-worthy television with:
Jon Philpot -- Hacks | Editor
Lauren Connelly, ACE -- Beef Season 2 | Editor
Ryan Spears, ACE -- Saturday Night Live | Editor
Johnny Han -- The Penguin | VFX Supervisor
Caroline Duncan -- Sirens | Costume Designer
Meet fellow TV lovers and industry professionals while celebrating the season's biggest awards.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, Aug 13
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Music Historian/Journalist Shares Her New Book on Paul Simon, Days of Miracle and Wonder
A conversation with Ashley Kahn to celebrate his new book, a comprehensive history of the origins, anecdotes, and collaborations that went into the production of Paul Simon's timeless album, Graceland. He will be in conversation with Bakithi Kumalo and Mark Corbin, moderated by David Fricke. The conversation will be followed by a signing.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, Aug 13
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Talk | Live-Radio Romp with Radiolab on Nature & Food
Radiolab senior correspondent Molly Webster takes guests on a journey around the world and through all five senses to reexamine the thing right under our feet, with mind-changing stories about why and how grass, yes grass, is the largest food item in the world. Radiolab is the Peabody Award-winning show that turns deep questions into unforgettable sound, investigating everything from science to legal history to the lives of strangers halfway around the world. Seating opens 30 minutes before showtime and is available on the grass or benches.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Fri, Aug 14
5:00 pm
Free
5:00 pm
Free
Book Club | Discussing the Classic Short Story Collection: Borges' Labyrinths
A book club meeting focusing on Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges. While your hosts will come with some talking points and questions to kick off the discussion, please don’t be afraid to share your thoughts and ask questions openly. In this collection of work, Borges invites us to throw away the reality we live in for another. or another. or maybe another. With his mix of puzzles, magical realism, and odd language structure he explores our relationships with memory, infinite realities, and the metaphysical. Prepared to be tripped!
New York City, NY; NYC
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Fri, Aug 14
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Book Club | Discuss Your Favorite Romance Books with Fellow Readers
If you love romance or want to get into it, you're welcome at this romance book club! Attendees will be discussing their favorite romance books, current reads, and more!
New York City, NY; NYC
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Sat, Aug 15
10:15 am
Free
10:15 am
Free
Talk | Live-Radio Romp with Radiolab on Nature & Food
Radiolab senior correspondent Molly Webster takes guests on a journey around the world and through all five senses to reexamine the thing right under our feet, with mind-changing stories about why and how grass, yes grass, is the largest food item in the world. Radiolab is the Peabody Award-winning show that turns deep questions into unforgettable sound, investigating everything from science to legal history to the lives of strangers halfway around the world. Seating opens 30 minutes before showtime and is available on the grass or benches.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Sat, Aug 15
5:00 pm
Free
5:00 pm
Free
Talk | Live-Radio Romp with Radiolab on Nature & Food
Radiolab senior correspondent Molly Webster takes guests on a journey around the world and through all five senses to reexamine the thing right under our feet, with mind-changing stories about why and how grass, yes grass, is the largest food item in the world. Radiolab is the Peabody Award-winning show that turns deep questions into unforgettable sound, investigating everything from science to legal history to the lives of strangers halfway around the world. Seating opens 30 minutes before showtime and is available on the grass or benches.
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Sun, Aug 16
5:00 pm
Free
5:00 pm
Free
Talk | New York Times Bestselling Author Grady Hendrix Discusses Bruce Lee & Film History
A discussion about the 1973 Hong Kong movie, Five Fingers of Death, which opened in New York City and became a blockbuster hit. Within five years, Bruce Lee posters were on the walls of every American bedroom, martial arts movies were blowing up the box office, appearing on TV screens, and influencing everything from Hollywood to hip hop. Grady Hendrix's These Fists Break Bricks is the story of how a bunch of Asian, Black, and Latino kids learned how to do kung fu and changed pop culture for good. Grady Hendrix is the New York Times bestselling author of How to Sell a Haunted House, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, and many more. His history of the horror paperback boom of the '70s and '80s, Paperbacks from Hell, won the Stoker Award for Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction. He's a longtime journalist who has covered the Asian film industries for Variety, Film Comment, and Sight & Sound, and is one of the co-founders of Subway Cinema and the New York Asian Film Festival. He also wrote the 2019 Netflix documentary, Iron Fists & Kung Fu Kicks.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Mon, Aug 17
12:30 pm
Free
12:30 pm
Free
Book Club | Discuss the Thriller Novel When No One Is Watching
Read and analyze When No One Is Watching with a group. About the Book: Part Rear Window, part Get Out, NY Times Notable Author Alyssa Cole weaves a gripping thriller in which the gentrification of a Brooklyn neighborhood takes on a sinister new meaning. A psychological thriller that uses the backdrop of gentrification in a Brooklyn neighborhood to explore themes of racism, history, and paranoia.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Aug 18
4:00 pm
Free
4:00 pm
Free
Book Club | Discuss No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson with Fellow Readers
Read and analyze this award-winning nonfiction book by Gardiner Harris. About the Book: One day in 2004, Gardiner Harris, a pharmaceutical reporter for The New York Times, was early for a flight and sat down at an airport bar. He struck up a conversation with the woman on the barstool next to him, who happened to be a drug sales rep for Johnson & Johnson. Her horrific story about unethical sales practices and the devastating impact they’d had on her family fundamentally changed the nature of how Harris would cover the company—and the entire pharmaceutical industry—for the Times. His subsequent investigations and ongoing research since that very first conversation led to this book—a blistering exposé of a trusted American institution and the largest healthcare conglomerate in the world. Harris takes readers light-years away from the company’s image as the child-friendly “baby company” as he uncovers reams of evidence showing decades of deceitful and dangerous corporate practices that have threatened the lives of millions. He covers multiple disasters: lies and cover-ups regarding the link of Johnson’s Baby Powder to cancer, the surprising dangers of Tylenol, a criminal campaign to sell antipsychotics that have cost countless lives, a popular drug used to support cancer patients that actually increases the risk that cancer tumors will grow, and deceptive marketing that accelerated opioid addictions through their product Duragesic (fentanyl) that rival even those of the Sacklers and Purdue Pharma. Filled with shocking and infuriating but utterly necessary revelations, No More Tears is a landmark work of investigative journalism that lays bare the deeply rooted corruption behind the image of babies bathing with a smile.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Aug 18
4:00 pm
Free
4:00 pm
Free
Gallery Talk | Artists Discuss Artistic Practice and Housing, Public Space, & Community
A lecture by artist Martha Rosler on her landmark project, If You Lived Here (1989). Artist Alex Strada will be in conversation with Rosler, exploring some of the lessons carried forward into Strada’s current project, Public Address, currently on view across the city. Together, they will reflect on Rosler’s decades-long engagement with housing, public space, and community—inviting reflection on how questions raised over thirty years ago continue to shape socially engaged artistic practice, and the way we think about housing insecurity, home, and belonging today.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Aug 18
6:30 pm
Free
6:30 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Anthology Contributors/Editors Disucss Their Craft & Careers
This conversation features Kathy Curto, editor of What Are You Waiting For?: An Anthology, with contributors Terri Linton and Christopher L. Vaughan, as well as anthology editor and author Domenica Ruta. Kathy Curto is the author of Not for Nothing: Glimpses into a Jersey Girlhood. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, on NPR, and in other anthologies. Terri Linton's writing has been published in the anthology We Got This: Solo Mom Stories of Grit, Heart, and Humor; Catapult Magazine; Zibby Mag; Mother Mag; and other online sites. Domenica Ruta is a fiction writer and memoirist whose first novel, Last Day, was named one of the "100 Notable Books of the Year" by The New York Times. Christopher L. Vaughan is a freelance writer who covers disability and parenthood. His work has appeared in The New York Times and USA Today.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Aug 19
12:30 pm
Free
12:30 pm
Free
Book Club | Discuss & Analyze the Genre-Bending Novella, Meville: A Novel
The group is reading Jean Giono's 1941 work, Melville: A Novel, translated from the French by Paul Eprile in 2017. About the book: In the fall of 1849, Herman Melville traveled to London to deliver his novel White-Jacket to his publisher. On his return to America, Melville would write Moby-Dick. Melville: A Novel imagines what happened in between: the adventurous writer fleeing London for the country, wrestling with an angel, falling in love with an Irish nationalist, and, finally, meeting the angel’s challenge—to express man’s fate by writing the novel that would become his masterpiece.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Aug 19
4:30 pm
Free
4:30 pm
Free
Book Discussion | MTV & VH1 TV Personality Shares His New Book, Dispatches From the Kingdom of Outsiders: Writing on Music, Culture and More 1979-2025
Grab your copy and dive into such diverse subjects as 1970s Times Square, the A&R offices of Atlantic Records, Woodstock, Phil Ochs, New Orleans, and the Beatles with author Tim Sommer and Kay Kasparhauser.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Aug 19
5:00 pm
Free
5:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Quiet Reading Meet Up
Bring a book or check one out of the library to read to yourself for one hour. After that, spend an hour socializing with those around you!
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Wed, Aug 19
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Award-Winning Filmmaker & Public Speaker Shares Her New Nonfiction Book, What Will They Say?
Denise Soler Cox discusses her new book, What Will They Say?: Confront Cultural Taboos and Discover Your Inner Power, which exposes nine common Latin cultural taboos no one dares discuss and shares her road-tested advice to blast through them and reclaim your power. Through raw personal stories and unflinching honesty, Cox reveals the cultural taboos that have been quietly sabotaging Latina success, drawing from thousands of one-on-one conversations with Latinas after her keynotes who recognize these unspoken patterns but never had language for what was holding them back. Each chapter exposes a taboo through Cox's own vulnerability, creating space for readers to break through their own.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Aug 19
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Pulitzer Prize Finalist Journalist Shares Insights from His Latest Book, Revenge for the Sixties
A lecture and conversation with Peter S. Canellos, the author of The Great Dissenter: The Story of John Marshall Harlan, America’s Judicial Hero, and the editor of the bestselling Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy. He served as executive editor at POLITICO, leading the newsroom during the 2016 presidential campaign, and the editorial page editor of The Boston Globe. He has also been a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a recipient of the American Society of Newspaper Editors award in 2011 for excellence in editorial writing, along with the 2022 George Polk Award, Robin Toner Award, and News Leaders Association Batten Medal for his writing about the Supreme Court. Revenge for the Sixties: Sam Alito and the Triumph of the Conservative Legal Movement is the first-ever biography of Supreme Court Justice Sam Alito, the conservative legal movement that shaped him, and the future of a country reshaped by originalism, by prize-winning journalist Peter Canellos.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Aug 19
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Pushcart Prize-Nominated Writer Shares His New Novel, Nice Places
Vincent Chu in conversation with Ed Lin. Philosophical, tender, and hilariously observed, Nice Places subverts the “go find yourself” travel story, unpacking our shared desire for meaning, connection, and a true place in the world.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, Aug 20
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Talk | Vice-Contributor Discusses Her NYT-Bestselling Book, Here Where We Live Is Our Country
A sprawling account of the world of the General Jewish Labor Bund, Molly Crabapple’s recent book, Here Where We Live Is Our Country: The Story of the Jewish Bund, has captured the attention of readers at a fraught moment when Jewish communities are looking to the past to reimagine new political futures. This conversation, featuring artist Zoe Beloff; art historians Chelsea Haines and Gabriel Chazan; writer, editor, and Yiddish translator Jacqueline Nekhe Krass; and researcher and translator of mid-20th century Holocaust literature Ayelet Kaminer, will situate the book in relation to new and shifting approaches to narrating Jewish political memory and radicalism in popular culture and mass media. As the group explores the book, they are also interested in thinking about the role art plays in forging new political imaginaries.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Sat, Aug 22
5:00 pm
Free
5:00 pm
Free
Talk | On the Making & Legacy of Eyes Wide Shut with New York Times Bestselling Author
A conversation on Eyes Wide Shut with author Megan Abbott and host Scott Adlerberg. Megan Abbott is the award-winning author of twelve crime novels, including You Will Know Me, Beware the Woman, and the New York Times bestseller The Turnout, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She is also a screenwriter and the co-creator of Dare Me, the series she adapted from her own novel, now streaming on Netflix. She is currently adapting her latest novel, the national bestseller El Dorado Drive, for television for A24.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Mon, Aug 24
12:30 pm
Free
12:30 pm
Free
Book Club | Discuss Jane Austen's Classic Novel, Persuasion, in the Park
This immersive BookClub event features Persuasion, along with beloved characters from the book. Hosted by Sarah Rose Kearns, Jane Austin Society of North America – New York Metropolitan. Sign up in advance (in person) to receive a free copy of Sense and Sensibility while supply lasts.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Aug 25
12:30 pm
Free
12:30 pm
Free
Discussion | Exploring How Sesame Street Helped Kids Navigate the Aftermath of 9/11 (In Person AND Online!)
In conversation with 9/11 Memorial & Museum President and CEO Beth Hillman, Sesame Workshop’s Senior Vice President of Global Education Dr. Rosemarie Truglio, television producer Carol-Lynn Parente, and actor and retired FDNY Captain Bill Walsh reflect on Sesame Street’s response to 9/11 and Sesame Workshop’s long history of helping young children and their families navigate tough topics. In the season of Sesame Street that followed the 9/11 attacks, show makers built upon their decades of experience writing for a preschool-aged audience to help children and families manage fear, cope with grief, and understand the importance of tolerance.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Aug 25
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Club | Mystery Novel Discussion in a Fifth Ave Mansion: The Queens of Crime
You are invited to discuss The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict. To miss this would be a crime. About the book: London, 1930. The five greatest women crime writers have banded together to form a secret society with a single goal: to show they are no longer willing to be treated as second-class citizens by their male counterparts in the legendary Detection Club. Led by the formidable Dorothy L. Sayers, the group includes Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy. They call themselves the Queens of Crime. Their plan? Solve an actual murder, that of a young woman found strangled in a park in France who may have connections leading to the highest levels of the British establishment.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Aug 25
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author Shares His New Novel, Villa Coco (+ Signing)
A conversation with author Andrew Sean Greer, to celebrate his book, a witty yet insightful meditation on what you give and take and becoming who you've always wanted to be. The conversation will be followed by a signing.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Aug 26
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Quiet Reading Meet Up
Bring a book or check one out of the library to read to yourself for one hour. After that, spend an hour socializing with those around you!
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Wed, Aug 26
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Civil War Historian Shares His New Book, Boss Lincoln: The Partisan Life of Abraham Lincoln
A lecture and conversation with Matthew Pinsker, who serves as Director of the House Divided Project, a popular educational initiative on nineteenth-century US history. He is the author of three books, including most recently, Boss Lincoln: The Partisan Life of Abraham Lincoln, which The Wall Street Journal has labeled a "landmark book" and which New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie has called “extraordinarily relevant to our political moment.” Matt appears regularly on TV channels such as C-SPAN, PBS, and History. Boss Lincoln: The Partisan Life of Abraham Lincoln offers an eye-opening portrait of Abraham Lincoln behind the scenes. With an array of newly discovered and previously overlooked private documents, Matthew Pinsker helps readers understand the career-long party politician whose brilliant coalition-building during the Civil War set the foundation for emancipation and Union victory.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Aug 26
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Architect Celebrates His New Book, Shingle Style Houses: The Evolution of an Inventive Architecture (+ Signing)
A conversation with John R. DaSilva to share his new book, a comprehensive survey of historical and modern American shingle-style homes. He will be joined in conversation with Thomas A. Kligerman, followed by a signing.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, Aug 27
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | New York Times Journalist Shares Her Book on Crime in Guilded Age NYC (In Person AND Online!)
A book talk on The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum with author Margalit Fox. About the book: The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum paints a vivid portrait of Gilded Age New York—a city teeming with nefarious rogues, capitalist power brokers, and Tammany Hall bigwigs, all straddling the line between underworld enterprise and “legitimate” commerce. Combining deep historical research with the narrative flair for which she is celebrated, Margalit Fox tells the true story of a once-famous heroine whose life exemplifies America’s cherished rags-to-riches narrative while simultaneously upending it entirely.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Sun, Aug 30
2:00 pm
donations suggested, registration...
2:00 pm
donations suggested, registration...
Book Discussion | Quiet Reading Meet Up
Bring a book or check one out of the library to read to yourself for one hour. After that, spend an hour socializing with those around you!
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Wed, Sep 2
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | "Erudite, Elegant & Stubbornly Experimental" (New York Times) Writer Shares Her New Short Story Collection
Diane Williams has been called one of the great masters of the American short story: her tiny, coruscating tales are among the most tender, funny, peculiar, and searching works in all of contemporary literature. I Liked Rex is Williams’s newest collection, which explores sex, love, marriage, and all that comes after; it is a book about living, but more importantly, about how to be alive. In these stories, a woman sees her soon-to-be ex-husband on the street, walking patiently at the end of a line of geese; a mother implores a total stranger to watch over her small child at the beach; a guest arrives at an orgy uninvited, and takes a nap beneath a dusty carpet; a woman reflects on her life with a man who used to belong to another, but is hers now—though can anyone really possess anyone else, truly?
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Sep 8
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | National Book Award- & Pushcart Prize-Winning Author Shares Her Latest Work, Dèy (In Person AND Online!)
The author Edwidge Danticat introduces her new novel of family, grief, and the meaning of home. Edwidge Danticat discusses with author Nicole Dennis-Benn Dèy and the questions that drive its narrative: Can love or family protect us from harm? Do you choose home, or does home choose you? What will conquer your heart—optimism or fear? Dèy explores what happens in the aftermath of random violence to a person’s understanding of their place in this world. Moving from Haiti to Brooklyn to Miami, it follows Magnolia, who was caught seeking shelter inside a shopping mall restaurant during an outbreak of gunfire. Given a second chance at life, she begins to see with fresh eyes the labyrinth of her past and the complex joys and traumas within her own family, from the extraordinary bond with her daughter to the nearly broken relationship with her father.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Sep 8
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Quiet Reading Meet Up
Bring a book or check one out of the library to read to yourself for one hour. After that, spend an hour socializing with those around you!
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Wed, Sep 9
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | The New Yorker-Contributing Journalist Shares Her New Book, Seasons of Fury (In Person AND Online!)
An award-winning journalist examines the U.S. government’s broken compact with its Muslim citizens. In this sweeping narrative history, Rozina Ali demonstrates how the War on Terror, conceived in the wake of the September 11 attacks, only accelerated long-standing conflicts between American law enforcement and Muslim communities around the country. Ali follows four Muslim families across eight decades to narrate a range of experiences shaped by relentless suspicion and prejudice. From the surveillance of Arab activists that began in the 1960s and laws in the 1990s that broadened the definition of terrorism, to mass detention in the 2000s and the rise of think tanks and nonprofits that sowed panic about the threat of Islam itself, Seasons of Fury reveals the history of policies that have warped the American perception of Muslim communities—and disillusioned generations of Muslims who sought the promise of the American dream.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Sep 9
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Talk | Discussions, Panel Conversations, & Artistic Presentations Celebrating Nobel Prize Laureate
An evening of conversations, performances, and international perspectives celebrating e Elfriede Jelinek on the occasion of her 80th birthday. Bringing together leading scholars and artists from Austria, Japan, Poland, and the United States, the program explores the role of theater as a space for democratic dialogue, artistic resistance, and feminist intervention. This "Jelinek Day" examines Elfriede Jelinek's enduring relevance in today's global debates on democracy, gender, and the performing arts. Centered on the theme Theater & Democracy, the event highlights how contemporary theater can challenge authoritarian and patriarchal structures while creating new forms of artistic and political engagement. The evening features keynote discussions, panel conversations, and artistic presentations exploring Jelinek's work in dialogue with international theater practices. Additional sessions examine gender and democracy on stage, women shaping democratic structures through performance, and the relationship between comedy and subversion in contemporary theater.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, Sep 10
5:00 pm
Free
5:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Literary Fiction Novel Book Launch
Michaela is the story of the Murphys, who meet on a playground in Upper Manhattan, court at Coney Island, and bring four children into the world. It’s a great life until catastrophe strikes, and the surviving Murphy kids find church, family and one another inadequate for coming to terms with the loss.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, Sep 10
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Journalist Shares His New Book, Wake Me, Shake Me: New York City, the '60s & the Pop-Rock Youthquake
Mitchell Cohen in conversation with author and musician Richard Barone! Book Synopsis: New York City in the 1960s was a musical melting pot in which Folk, R&B, Rock and Roll, Blues, Girl Groups and Brill Building Pop produced a wealth of great artists and records. This book tells their story.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Sun, Sep 13
2:00 pm
Free
2:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Read & Discuss Real Americans by Rachel Khong
Readers lead a lively discussion and thoughtful socializing! Book Synopsis: In immersive prose, Rachel Khong weaves a tale of class and striving, race and visibility, and family and inheritance—a story of trust, forgiveness, and finally coming home. Real Americans is a social novel that asks: Are we destined, or made, and if so, who gets to do the making? Can our genetic past be overcome?
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Sep 15
1:00 pm
Free
1:00 pm
Free
Book Club | Read & Discuss Ursula K. Le Guin's Nebula Award-WInning Fantasy Novel
Book Discussion: A Wizard of Earthsea. Book Synopsis: Ged was the greatest sorcerer in Earthsea, but in his youth he was the reckless Sparrowhawk. In his hunger for power and knowledge, he tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. With stories as perennial and universally beloved as The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings--but also unlike anything but themselves--Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea novels are some of the most acclaimed and awarded works in literature. They have received accolades such as the National Book Award, a Newbery Honor, the Nebula Award, and many more honors, commemorating their enduring place in the hearts and minds of readers and the literary world alike.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Sep 15
4:00 pm
Free
4:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | New York Times -Featured Writer Shares Her Debut Novel, When She Was Ours
Anna Nordberg will be in conversation with Nicola Kraus, discussing Nordberg's new book. When She Was Ours follows Thea Erickson, a renowned surgeon, who is filled with both joy and grief as her family gathers at their home on a summer night in 1995. Her elder daughter Phoebe is getting married, but even the happiness of the day feels bittersweet, as Thea grapples with a terminal cancer diagnosis. She worries she won’t be around to support her younger daughter Astra, who’s still in college, but even Thea cannot foresee what is to come―a terrible accident the night of the wedding that changes Astra’s life forever. In a last-ditch effort to protect her family, Thea arranges a secret meeting with an old family friend and extracts a promise that will reverberate long after she’s gone.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Sep 15
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Lecture | Award-Winning Art Photographer Reframes the Evolution of Black Photographic Practice
Dr. Willis explores the history and legacy of Black photography through images that reveal how Black photographers have shaped self-representation and cultural memory from the nineteenth century to today. Drawing on her landmark publication, Reflections in Black, she shows how photographers transformed the camera from a tool linked to distortion and exclusion into an instrument of self-definition, resistance, and creative expression. Featuring artists such as J.P. Ball, James VanDerZee, Gordon Parks, Roy DeCarava, Carrie Mae Weems, and Ming Smith, the talk traces the evolution of Black photographic practice across portraiture, documentary, photojournalism, and contemporary art. Dr. Willis is a photographer, curator, NYU professor, and director of the Center for Black Visual Culture.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Sep 15
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Book Launch-- Telenovela: A Reader (with Researchers, Editors, & Contributors)
Celebrating the release of Telenovela: A Reader, featuring a panel conversation with the publication’s co-editors Aimé Iglesias Lukin and Mariano López Seoane. Telenovela: A Reader brings together artworks, archival documents, and multidisciplinary essays that examine telenovelas through the lenses of art history, sociology, anthropology, comparative literature, performance studies, and visual studies. Expanding on the themes explored in the exhibition, the publication considers the telenovela as a cultural form that has shaped collective imaginaries across Latin America and its diasporas. The program will feature a panel conversation with the publication’s co-editors Aimé Iglesias Lukin, director and chief curator of Art at Americas Society, and Mariano López Seoane, director of the Graduate Program and ISLAA fellow in Latin American Art at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, as well as the publication authors. Together, they will discuss the publication’s central themes, research, and the broader questions raised by Telenovela.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Sep 16
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Quiet Reading Meet Up
Bring a book or check one out of the library to read to yourself for one hour. After that, spend an hour socializing with those around you!
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Sep 16
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Lecture | Re-Examining the History & Legacy of the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island
A talk from Chérie Adrienne Butler, Deputy Superintendent of the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island. Chérie has served as Superintendent of the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park and now as Deputy Superintendent - Park Operations for the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island. America’s past becomes palpably alive as she discusses these extraordinary sites, integral to our Nation’s history and very soul.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, Sep 17
6:30 pm
Free
6:30 pm
Free
Discussion | Conversation with Artists on Strategies of Resistance & Resilience in Art
Panel discussion with members of Array Collective and invited artists to discuss varying strategies of protest and catharsis in art practice. How using performative elements such as song, chanting, keening, and karaoke can work to both disconcert the oppressor and encourage collective solidarity amongst allies.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Sat, Sep 19
4:00 pm
Free
4:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | New York Times' Food Writer DIscusses Her Craft & Career
Florence Fabricant discusses her new memoir, Salty, Not Sweet. She trains her sharp and inquisitive gaze on the food world then and now: the rise of farm-to-table cooking, the cult of celebrity chefs, the role of the restaurant critic, and the evolving way we cook and eat. At the Times, Fabricant's keen instincts led her to early coverage of food world titans like Thomas Keller, Martha Stewart, Eric Ripert, Alain Ducasse, and Tom Colicchio. This recounting of her singular life and career will speak to readers in love with food, New York, and the alchemy of a truly great dining experience.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Sep 22
6:30 pm
Free
6:30 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Book Launch: Vanity Fair-Featured Writer's New Memoir
Downhill is Juana Libedinsky’s account of a couple of terrible years, told with the sharp eye of a seasoned reporter and a signature dry humor that surfaces in unexpected places. Woven throughout are reflections on the writers who sustained her through interminable hospital stays and the logistical ropes course of caregiving: Joan Didion on grief, Jorge Luis Borges on memory, Abraham Verghese on the orderly nature of tennis. Their voices form a kind of chorus, grounding Juana as she—and we—are reminded of the transcendental and practical powers of reading.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Sep 23
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | Quiet Reading Meet Up
Bring a book or check one out of the library to read to yourself for one hour. After that, spend an hour socializing with those around you!
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Sep 23
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Lecture | Environmental Artist Discusses Artworks & the Climate Crisis
Artist Sarah Cameron Sunde will lead a panel on public art and climate change. They will discuss the role of art, rituals, and listening in preparing for extreme weather events, and how they can reveal invisible infrastructure all around us. Sunde is an interdisciplinary environmental artist and a cofounder of the Works on Water Triennial.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Sep 23
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Talk | Network Science Expert Discusses Modern Architectural History & Visual Journey of Networks
In this talk, Albert-László Barabási will chart the 25-year odyssey of BarabásiLab in crafting the visual lexicon of networks and connectivity. He will focus on their recent monumental project for the 2024 Venice Architecture Biennale, which charts 50 years of architectural history. Dr. Barabási is the Robert Gray Professor of Network Science at Northeastern University. He has exhibited at galleries all over the U.S and Europe and recently co-designed the opening experience for the Biennale Architettura di Venezia.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Wed, Sep 23
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Book Discussion | New York Times-Columnist Shares His New Biography on Literary Icon Judy Blume
Mark Oppenheimer pulls back the curtain to reveal the woman behind the icon, and the unlikely journey of her literary ascension, in this "vibrant, authoritative account" (Wall Street Journal). For fifty-five years, Judy Blume's work has rewired the world's expectation of what literature for young people can be--frank, candid, earthy, and unafraid to show the messier sides of humanity. Pen America cites Blume's titles among "the fifty-two most banned books" of recent years. Blume's novels --including Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret; Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing; Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great; Forever...; and Summer Sisters--have touched the lives of millions of adults and children.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Thu, Sep 24
6:30 pm
Free
6:30 pm
Free
Talk | Fashion Historian Shares Her New Book on the Evolution of Gilded Age Wardrobe
Author Raissa Bretaña shares her new book, Fashion of the Gilded Age. It's an in-depth look at the evolution of the fashionable silhouettes from 1870 to 1910, along with the cultural context and customs of etiquette surrounding dress during this dynamic period in American history. Raissa Bretaña has hosted a video series for Glamour, and appeared as a guest on Follow the Thread for Turner Classic Movies and HBO Max. She currently works at the Museum at FIT and is the author of Shoes (2021) and co-author of Moxie: The Daring Women of Classic Hollywood (2024). Nothing embodied the resplendence of the Gilded Age like the opulent fashions worn by the women of elite society. With their well-appointed wardrobes, they achieved social prominence by ensuring they were elegantly and appropriately dressed for every luncheon, reception, promenade, and ball. It was an era marked by an increasingly style-conscious public, shaped by the expanding fashion press that reported on both the couture houses of Paris’s Rue de la Paix and the department stores of New York’s Ladies’ Mile.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Fri, Sep 25
7:00 pm
Free
7:00 pm
Free
Talk | Art History & Curatorial Experts Discuss the Visual Culture of Pahari Paintings
Moving beyond questions of attribution, the conversation with art historian and professor Molly Emma Aitken traces artists, patrons and practices across regions. This talk reveals a shared visual culture shaped by movement and exchange. Between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, the Pahari kingdoms of the northwestern Himalayas created a luminous world of painting—intimate, expressive and richly coloured. In this richly illustrated session, celebrated curator Sonya Rhie Mace explores a remarkably dispersed collection that offers new ways of seeing these works.
New York City, NY; NYC
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Tue, Sep 29
11:00 am
Free
11:00 am
Free
Book Discussion | Quiet Reading Meet Up
Bring a book or check one out of the library to read to yourself for one hour. After that, spend an hour socializing with those around you!
New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Wed, Sep 30
6:00 pm
Free
6:00 pm
Free
Join the Club!
Complimentary Tickets
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Concert | Oscar and Grammy Nominee at One of the World's Most Famous Venues
Regular Price: $45CFT Member Price: $0.00
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