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Resource Directory
FREE Events (31) 
Listings of FREE events throughout the City of New York -- not just in our neighborhood -- that may be of interest to members of our community. For events in our neighborhood, visit the Events Calendar.
Summer Freebie Calendar
Fourteen weeks of concerts, films, festivals, opera, theater, and other entertainment that won't cost you a cent.
Club freeTime
20 Waterside Plaza, Suite 6F, New York, New York 10010.
This is the online version of Natella Vaidman's great Free Time newsletter. Don't miss the opportunities that only New York provides! Let New York City surprise, stimulate, entertain and excite you with FREE movies, concerts, theater, tours, walks, dancing, yoga and much more. List your free or low-cost event.
Alianza Dominicana HOPE Program
2340 Amesterdam Ave (corner of 176th Street), New York, NY 10032..
Tel: 212-927-6810.
Fax: 212-795-9645.
Provides individual counseling, prevention case management and referral services for the LGBTQ community. They also host community workshops and forums around lesbian and gay issues, including topics such as safer sex, sexual orientation, self-esteem, domestic violence, and drug and alcohol abuse. The HOPE program also participates in and conducts annual recreational activities for the Latino LGBTQ community. UPTOWN PRIDE, another HOPE program, is a six-week peer education training group for LGBTQ youth ages 14-21 that focuses on HIV prevention and LGBTQ support.
Arts & Events at the World Financial Center
World Financial Center, Liberty Street and West Street, by the Hudson River.
Tel: 212-945-2600.
Fax: 212-945-3392.
Overlooking New York Harbor, the soaring glass-enclosed World Financial Center Winter Garden is home to the Arts & Events Program, an innovative series of free performances, exhibitions, installations and festivals created to showcase emerging as well as established artists. While most of the performances take place in the Winter Garden, special summer events take place on the outdoor Plaza. Exhibitions and installations are housed in the Courtyard Gallery. All locations are public spaces.
Broadway in Bryant Park
Sixth Avenue and 42nd Street.
Every Thursday, experience the glamour of Broadway in the great outdoors. Each week, several of this year’s biggest hits come to the park for a dazzling afternoon song and dance revue. Performances are from 12:30 to 2 p.m.
Bryant Park Summer Film Festival
Sixth Avenue and 42nd Street.
Tel: Hotline - 212-512-5700.
Every Monday from the end of June till the end of August, this festival shows classic films in Bryant park. The lawn opens at 5 p.m. for blankets and picnicking. The films begin at dusk (typically between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.). Raindates are Tuesday nights.
Celebrate Brooklyn!
Prospect Park Bandshell. Entrance located at Prospect Park West and 9th Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
New York City's longest-running, free, summer outdoor performing arts festival presents a wonderfully eclectic mix of emerging, cutting-edge and world-renowned artists, as well as an amazing outdoor cinema series. It's a cherished summer institution that has earned a reputation for excellence that attracts artists and audiences from across the borough, the city and the world. Free. Suggested donation: $3 per performance.
Events at Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal, between 42nd and 45th streets, and Lexington and Vanderbilt avenues.
Tel: 212-340-2210.
Grand Central puts on a variety of events and exhibitions throughout the year -- most of them FREE.
Gay Pride Celebrations
Tel: 212-807-7433.
Every year at the end of June, New York City celebrates Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride to commemorate and celebrate the Stonewall Riots. These events are organized for and on behalf of all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals and groups, and all others who support the struggle for the liberation of these communities. Pride Week this year falls on June 20–27.
Good Morning America Summer Concert Series
Bryant Park, Upper Terrace, 6th Avenue, between 40th and 42nd streets.
Showcases a wide array of artists. All concerts are free and open to the public. They take place in Bryant Park live during Good Morning America, Fridays from 7 to 9 a.m. To attend these live performances, arrive at the park no later than 7 a.m.
Hudson River Festival
Annual celebration of the Hudson River, with music, dance, theater and art. All events are free and are located along the mile-long esplanade of parks and plazas from Battery Park to the World Financial Center.
Lincoln Center Out of Doors
Lincoln Center, between 62nd and 66th streets, and Columbus and Amsterdam avenues.
Every August, Lincoln Center presents a broad spectrum of free performances, including music, dance, storytelling, and puppetry. The Festival takes place day and night on Lincoln Center's beautiful open-air plazas and Damrosch Park. (The schedule will be available later this summer.)
Live at J&R
Performances at 23 Park Row and at City Hall Park.
J&R Music and Computer World puts on performances by a variety of recording artists throughout the year.
Major Street Events Calendar
Comprehensive listing of scheduled street fairs, parades, block parties, and much more, compiled by the Mayor's office.
Meetup New York City
Meetup is a free service that helps people organize local gatherings based on common interests. Meetups are organized online but happen at local cafés, bars, bowling alleys, donut shops, dog-friendly spots, videogame displays, and lots of other places. People vote on where their local Meetup will take place. A great way to get to know people in your community with similar interests.
Museum Mile Festival
Second Tuesday every June, 6 to 9 p.m. Along Fifth Avenue, from 82nd to 104th Street.
Tel: 212-606-2296.
All nine museums along Museum Mile open their doors for free on the second Tuesday of June every year. Fifth Avenue is closed to traffic for the entire length of the mile, and live bands, musicians and street entertainers create a convivial atmosphere in which people are encouraged to explore the full range of museum offerings. The festival also features outdoor art activities for children.
Music in Central Park
From May through Labor Day, Central Park offers a rich assortment of concerts and musical events, including the Harlem Meer Performance Festival and Dancing on the Plaza. The Great Lawn will be the pastoral setting for free performances by the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera. Rumsey Playfield will be the venue for SummerStage and the New York Grand Opera, and at the Naumburg Bandshell you can enjoy classical music concerts.
New York Classical Theatre in the Park
Location: Performances start at 7 p.m. sharp, just inside the entrance to Central Park at 103rd Street and Central Park West.
Tel: 212-252-4531.
Email: newyorkclassical@earthlink.net.
Every summer, two free environmentally-staged productions of classical plays are rehearsed and performed during a four-month residency of the company in Central Park. The great appeal of these productions is that they are adapted to work with the park's natural terrain -- the audience follows the performance from place to place, as the plot unfolds from scene to scene. This summer, the company is performing "The Winter's Tale" by William Shakespeare and "The Feigned Courtesans" by Aphra Behn.
New York Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks
Various parks throughout the city.
It's a New York City tradition: For the 40th consecutive season, the New York Philharmonic invites music lovers to bring a blanket, pack a picnic, and come enjoy great, free music under the stars in the city's parks.
New York Public Library Programs
Concerts, films, readings, story hours, workshops, lectures and many more free educational events hosted by the main and branch libraries throughout the city.
New York TV Show Tickets
Complete guide to getting free TV show tickets, hugely discounted tickets to Broadway shows, and more.
River to River Festival
Five hundred spectacular events -- from May to September -- presented by Downtown's major event producers and cultural institutions. Theater, music concerts, storytelling, readings, workshops, lectures, art exhibits.
Shakespeare in the Park
Delacorte Theater, Central Park. Enter at 79th Street and Fifth Avenue and follow the path.
Since 1957, free theater performances in Central Park during the months of June, July, and August -- including at least one Shakespeare production each season -- are one of the City's most beloved cultural traditions. This year, they're performing "Much Ado About Nothing," featuring Kristen Johnston, Brian Murray, Jimmy Smits, Elisabeth Waterston and Sam Waterston. Free tickets are distributed at the Delacorte Theater, at the Public Theater and selected locations in the five boroughs. For information call 212-539-8650.
South Street Seaport Events
Fulton Street and Water Street.
At South Street Seaport you'll find street performers any time of the day or night. Plus they have festivals, concerts, multicultural celebrations and plenty of family-friendly good times.
Street Fairs Calendar
This is a listing of street fairs and their locations. Each spring and summer, street fairs are held in all parts of the city. Many are small, only a block or two long, but some are HUGE and up to mile in length! The small fairs pop up along the side streets and are usually held by neighborhood block associations. You can find the most interesting rummage because many of the vendors are neighborhood people -- a New York version of the garage sale. Larger fairs take place along the wide avenues and are more a commercial venture with professional vendors.
SummerStage
Central Park, Rumsey Playfield, near the 5th Avenue and 72nd Street park entrance.
Annual concert and theater series with great performers from around the world. This year Summerstage kicks off on May 19th with a benefit concert and the release of the full schedule.
Take Me to the River
Hudson River Park, along the Hudson River from Battery Place to 59th Street.
A bevy of concerts, films, dances, workshops, swims in the Hudson, and much more along the newly redeveloped Hudson River waterfront.
The Upper Manhattan Experience
Tel: 917 613-7569.
Email: claudnotes@yahoo.com.
Living in Northern Manhattan can make it hard to meet people, since most residents travel downtown for work and socializing. This Meetup group is geared towards adults living in our neighborhood. Our goal is to bring people together to have fun locally.
Things to Do in Central Park
Weekly listing of events, walking tours, exhibitions, and much more in Central Park.
Today Show Concert Series
Rockefeller Plaza, 49th Street between 5th and 6th avenues.
These concerts are shown live on the Today Show, mostly every Friday at 7 a.m. Get there early to get a good spot.
Wave Hill
West 249th Street and Independence Avenue, Bronx, NY 10471.
Tel: 718-549-3200.
Wave Hill is a 28-acre public garden and cultural center overlooking the Hudson River and Palisades in the northwest Bronx. Award-winning gardens, greenhouses, and woodlands offer people of all ages the opportunity to explore their connections to the natural world. Programs are offered in horticulture, environmental education, woodland management and the arts.