free things to do in New York City
Free events for Monday, 05/12/25
<

May 2025

>
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
    123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
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 May 12, 2025?

18 free events take place on Monday, May 12 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 May 12 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 May . Don't miss the opportunities that only New York provides!

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

Go!
The quality and quantity of
free events,
free things to do
that happen in New York City
every day of the year
is truly amazing.

So don't miss the opportunities
that only New York provides:
stop wondering what to do;
start taking advantage of
free events to go to,
free things to do in NYC
today!

18 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Monday, May 12, 2025

All events are free unless otherwise noted.
        

Workshop | Start the Day with Morning Meditation


Start your day by balancing your mind, body, and spirit during instructor guided meditation. This renowned practice lowers blood pressure, reduces stress, and strengthens the immune system.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
9:45 am
Free
Workshops, May 12, 2025, 05/12/2025, Start the Day with Morning Meditation

Tour | Bryant Park Tour


Discover how Bryant Park Corporation successfully transformed "Needle Park" of the 1970s into Manhattan's Town Square of today. The guides are loaded with expertise on the park's rich history, award-winning design, distinct amenities, and ongoing maintenance efforts. Tours will continue as scheduled in light rain, but will be cancelled in heavy rain or inclement weather. Bring an umbrella if needed!
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
11:00 am
Free
Tours, May 12, 2025, 05/12/2025, Bryant Park Tour

City Walk | Annual Atlantic Avenue ArtWalk, Featuring 125+ Local Artists


This spring, Brooklyn will come alive with creativity with over 125 local artists exhibiting their work at 70 local businesses for the Annual Atlantic Avenue ArtWalk. This vibrant,self-guided, 1.5-mile art event will showcase the diverse talents of emerging and established artists at galleries, salons, boutiques, restaurants, and home decor shops. Attendees will have the opportunity to experience a diverse collection of art ranging from paintings, drawings, three-dimensional art, mixed media, and photography. While enjoying Atlantic Avenue ArtWalk, people are encouraged to take time to visit and support the local, small businesses and restaurants in the area. They can grab a cup of coffee for their stroll, sit and eat, pick up a unique gift, or a new spring outfit, and explore new services- all of which help to keep the businesses that make up the fabric of the neighborhood thriving.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
12:00 pm
Free
City Walks, May 12, 2025, 05/12/2025, Annual Atlantic Avenue ArtWalk, Featuring 125+ Local Artists

Concert | Piano in the Park: Ragtime, Classic Tin Pan Alley


A five, six, seven, eight… Come on down and swing along to the best ragtime, stride, and jazz the Big Apple has to offer. This performance features Todd Robbins! Ragtime, Classic Tin Pan Alley Todd Robbins is a New York City-based performer who plays ragtime and classic Tin Pan Alley, and is renowned for his work in Coney Island, off-Broadway, and as an author of several books. Whether a sideshow, magic, circus, jazz, or burlesque act, Todd is a master of popular entertainment and can be seen on YouTube, heard playing piano with Woody Allen's jazz band (he has recorded two albums with that group), or watched as host on the Investigation Discovery Channel’s new series, True Nightmares.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
12:30 pm
Free
Concerts, May 12, 2025, 05/12/2025, Piano in the Park:&nbsp;Ragtime, Classic Tin Pan Alley

Jazz | Grammy-Nominated Jazz Artist Godwin Louis Serves Up Afro-Caribbean Rhythms and More


Saxophonist, composer, arranger, and educator, Godwin Louis is a trailblazer in the music world and beyond. Born in Harlem and raised in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and Port au Prince, Haiti, Louis taps into every corner of his multicultural background to create his work. The result is a diverse palette of jazz, gospel, classical, and world music bolstered with Afro-Caribbean rhythms. A professor at Berklee College of Music, Louis received a Grammy nomination for his composing and arranging contributions to vocalist Cecile McLorin Salvant's album Melusine. He has also been awarded a Jerome Foundation Emerging Artist Grant and received a Jazz Gallery Residency Commission.
   New York City, NY; NYC
1:00 pm
Free
Concerts, May 12, 2025, 05/12/2025, Grammy-Nominated Jazz Artist Godwin Louis Serves Up Afro-Caribbean Rhythms and More

Film | A Real Pain (2024): Comedy-Drama Written and Directed by Jesse Eisenberg


Mismatched cousins David and Benji reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the odd-couple's old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history. Director: Jesse Eisenberg Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin, Will Sharpe, Jennifer Grey, Kurt Egyiawan American actor, filmmaker, and playwright Jesse Eisenberg is well-known for playing smart but awkward characters. He's well-decorated, earning a British Academy Film Award and nominations for two Academy Awards and three Golden Globes. 
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
2:00 pm
Free
Films, May 12, 2025, 05/12/2025, A Real Pain (2024): Comedy-Drama Written and Directed by Jesse Eisenberg

Workshop | Walk and Creative Writing Session


This walk and writing session is led by Author and Poet Jon Curley. Participants will be encouraged to use observations as a way to enhance their writing styles in any preferred mode.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
2:00 pm
Free
Workshops, May 12, 2025, 05/12/2025, Walk and Creative Writing Session

Staged Reading | Into Your Hands: A Spiritual Battleground


The world never stops ending, and neither do we. After a six-year-long stay in a psychiatric ward, Kenneth Grey has finally returned home to their reservation in La Ronge, Saskatchewan. Now living with and working for the parents of their lifelong friend, Zanj, Kenny, and the other denizens of Alexandria Trading Post must navigate the trepidations of love, trust, and the power of secrets, as a trickster spirit sets their sights upon the store, and those within. The play is the story of this spiritual battleground and the cycles it is victim to. Written by Tommy Endter.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
3:00 pm
Free
Staged Readings, May 12, 2025, 05/12/2025, Into Your Hands: A Spiritual Battleground

Jazz | American Symphony Orchestra's Jazz Ensemble Performs Louis Armstrong's Hits


Experience the music of Louis Armstrong! American Symphony Orchestra's jazz ensemble performs the greatest pieces by this iconic jazz musician. ASO's jazz ensemble has performed numerous concerts dedicated to the great jazz composers of both the past and present, including Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Chick Corea, Count Basie, Charles Mingus, and many others. The ensemble's program will honor jazz trumpet virtuoso, innovator, and composer of more than fifty original compositions, including Cool Cart Blues, Don't Forget to Mess Around, Here Me Talkin' to Ya, If We Never Meet Again, and New Orleans Stomp, Louis Armstrong.
   New York City, NY; NYC
5:30 pm
Free
Concerts, May 12, 2025, 05/12/2025,  American Symphony Orchestra's Jazz Ensemble Performs Louis Armstrong's Hits

Museums | Remembrance, Reflection and Resilience


A place of commemoration: exhibition, artifacts, photographs, stories and more.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
5:30 pm
Free
Museumss, May 12, 2025, 05/12/2025, Remembrance, Reflection and Resilience

Film | Cluny Brown (1946): Romantic Comedy


Cluny Brown is sent to work as a parlormaid at a stuffy country manor, she proceeds to turn the household upside down, in this zany, zippy comedy of manners, set in England on the cusp of World War II. Director: Ernst Lubitsch Cast: Charles Boyer, Jennifer Jones, Peter Lawford
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
6:00 pm
Free
Films, May 12, 2025, 05/12/2025, Cluny Brown (1946): Romantic Comedy

Workshop | Hula Hooping Workshop for All Ages


Big Apple Hooping brings hooping fun to everyone. If you're looking to learn the fundamentals of hooping, work on refining your tricks, or meet fellow hoopers from the NYC area, this is the event for you. Hoopers of all experience levels, from beginner to advanced, are welcome, and all equipment is provided!
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
6:00 pm
Free
Workshops, May 12, 2025, 05/12/2025, Hula Hooping Workshop for All Ages

Play | Italian Play on the Fantasy-Nature of Memory: The Perky Theresas


The Perky Theresas follows an author as he retraces his childhood through the stories of three aunts. He onverses with them in the places and with the words that emerge from memories, and which merge with the personal memories of the spectators. A story of a family told with modesty by one aunt where places, facts and people are a mixture of reality and fantasy, between personal anecdotes and others told or heard from other family stories. Inspired by the literary atmospheres of the book Family Lexicon (Lessico Famigliare) by Natalia Ginzburg and the cinematographic atmospheres of the iconic movie The Family (La Famiglia) by Ettore Scola. Written & Performed by Alessio Piazza In Italian with English subtitles.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
6:00 pm
Free
Plays, May 12, 2025, 05/12/2025, Italian Play on the Fantasy-Nature of Memory:&nbsp;The Perky Theresas

Classical Music | Lincoln Center-Featured Jazz Trio Plays Reinterpretations of Iconic Tunes


Yang's Zodiac Trio employs its distinctive sound in their interpretation of Mary Lou Williams's Zodiac Suite (1945), creating a new album under the title Zodiac Suite: reassured (2022). Williams's original record is well known for its inventiveness and compositional genius, it has been inspirational to numerous musicians. Yang's unique interpretation has the bass upfront and center. This iteration will include Jeong Lim Yang on bass, Santiago Leibson on piano, and Tom Rainey on drums. Hear the trio perform tracks from Reassured!
   New York City, NY; NYC
6:00 pm
Free
Concerts, May 12, 2025, 05/12/2025, Lincoln Center-Featured Jazz Trio Plays Reinterpretations of Iconic Tunes

Gallery Talk | Unveiling the Legacy of the Visonary Founder of the Whitney 


The ceremonial unveiling of a plaque honoring Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, the visionary founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art, marks the site where she made significant contributions to the American art world. Whitney’s impact as an artist, collector, and patron reshaped the American art world. She provided a lasting platform for contemporary artists, establishing the first museum dedicated to American art. Her dedication to supporting artists and her groundbreaking vision for art institutions in the U.S. remain central to her enduring legacy. This plaque commemorates her extraordinary contributions to the arts. This is the 26th plaque unveiling in an ongoing series celebrating the lives and legacies of influential figures who shaped our community, including Jane Jacobs, James Baldwin, Allen Ginsberg, Frances Perkins, and others.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
6:00 pm
Free
Gallery Talks, May 12, 2025, 05/12/2025, Unveiling the Legacy of the Visonary Founder of the Whitney&nbsp;

Author Reading | Fear and Money: Unpacking Our Anxieties in a New World Order


Join art historian Isabelle Graw for a live conversation about her new book, Fear and Money. In this timely exploration, Graw delves into the anatomy of our anxieties in the face of an unpredictable global landscape. This special event brings together Graw, writer and curator Violaine Huisman, and artist Adam Pendleton for an insightful discussion on the intersection of fear and finance. Together, they will examine how our relationship with money shapes our fears and the social dynamics that underpin these anxieties.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
6:30 pm
Free
Author Readings, May 12, 2025, 05/12/2025, Fear and Money: Unpacking Our Anxieties in a New World Order

Staged Reading | Into Your Hands: A Spiritual Battleground


The world never stops ending, and neither do we. After a six-year-long stay in a psychiatric ward, Kenneth Grey has finally returned home to their reservation in La Ronge, Saskatchewan. Now living with and working for the parents of their lifelong friend, Zanj, Kenny, and the other denizens of Alexandria Trading Post must navigate the trepidations of love, trust, and the power of secrets, as a trickster spirit sets their sights upon the store, and those within. The play is the story of this spiritual battleground and the cycles it is victim to. Written by Tommy Endter.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
7:00 pm
Free
Staged Readings, May 12, 2025, 05/12/2025, Into Your Hands: A Spiritual Battleground

Play | Italian One-Man Show with Poetry Slam World Champion: My Mama Notarizes & Also Makes Risotto


“Mia mamma fa il notaio, ma anche il risotto” combines the languages of Teatro Canzone (an expressive genre related to theatricality, speech and music, with sung and acted parts) and performance poetry. This hybrid-language communicates the narrative of a Gen-Z boy in search of his own voice in a world that he doesn't fully understand. Moscerino doesn’t know how to talk to his mother and there’s no way his mother, an important and always busy notary, can really talk to him. The desire to communicate, in every way and by every means, accompanies him over the years. Poetry is the option for mother and son to understand one another. Written & Performed by Filippo Capobianco In English and Italian with English subtitles.
   New York City, NY; NYC
Join the Club!
Go!
8:00 pm
Free
Plays, May 12, 2025, 05/12/2025, Italian One-Man Show with&nbsp;Poetry Slam World Champion: My Mama Notarizes & Also Makes Risotto
Complimentary Tickets

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

Classical Music | Sacred Choral Works at a Landmark Venue

Regular Price: $50
CFT Member Price: $0.00

Musical | Hit Show Musical Parody

Regular Price: $58.50
CFT Member Price: $0.00
Join the Club!

Go!