Free & Cheap Things to Do This Weekend Oct. 13-15

Your weekend plans begin here, with a couple of dozen FREE and cheap things to do this  mid-October weekend, some family-friendly, others for adults only.

The NYC on the Cheap weekend list is $25 or less, and most things are FREE, so you can enjoy NYC more for less money.

Unless otherwise noted, street fairs are 10am to 6pm, rain or shine, so let’s hope for shine.

So much to see and do and so little time.

Let’s hope the weather cooperates with all the outdoor events.

And if it doesn’t, here are some rainy day activities in NYC, besides re-arranging your sock drawer.

 October calendar of free and cheap things to do

Best things to do with in NYC in October

Where to go pumpkin and apple picking near NYC

Through Sunday

David Yurman Friends and Family Sale

Get a head start on your holiday shopping, including for yourself at this semi-secret sale.  Discount prices on gold, silver and gemstone jewelry for women and men, plus watches.  Sale is in Chelsea.

Through Tuesday

Marie Antoinette’s Jewelry

See a fabulous collection of baubles worn by the last Queen of France, plus items from her fabulously wealthy and powerful Bourbon-Parma family.  The collection is on display, FREE, at Sotheby’s before an auction next month.

Through Thursday

PaleyFest New York

Meet your favorite TV stars, including Norman Reedus, Candice Bergen, Christine Baranski, David Tennant, Mark Cuban, Daymond John, Audra McDonald, Jane Pauley, Natasha Lyonne, John Goodman, Sara Gilbert, Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio, at this annual festival celebrating great television, at the Paley Center for Media, named for Bill Paley, founder of CBS.

• Tickets start at $10.
• There’s also FREE gaming on many of the most popular games,  on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox, and high-performance PCs, plus cutting-edge virtual reality titles on Oculus, to play without an admission fee or ticket any time the museum is open (closed Monday/Tuesday).

Halloween Events Already Underway

Halloween Harvest – Luna Park
Ahoy, me Hearties! It’s time to get aboard for the thrills, chills and Halloween frills during Luna Park’s fifth-annual pirate-themed Halloween Harvest in Coney Island. The park is humming with festive seasonal activities to celebrate autumn on weekends  through October 28th. In addition to nonstop rides and candy, this year’s Halloween Harvest will also features spooktacular entertainment including its newest addition, Tillie’s Tractor— riders can hop on a tractor and race throughout the park to find their treasure. Other entertainment includes: face painting, pumpkin picking and decorating, caricatures, storytelling, pirate entertainment, Argghs & Crafts, pirate puppet show, magic shows and more.

• All activities are included in a Luna Park day pass.

Blood Manor

New York City’s favorite haunted house is back with a host of fright-filled environments, including attractions The Crypt, Thunderdome, The Wake, Maggot Invasion, Hannibal’s Hell, Killer Clown Room and Mayhem!, in which beasts and demons will vie for your body — and your soul.

• Discount tickets start at $19, for dates through early November.

Museum Exhibits Worth Noting

Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow examines the meaning of citizenship for African Americans following the abolition of slavery, through Reconstruction and the rise of the Jim Crow era. By 1868, all persons born in the United States were citizens and equal before the law, but efforts to create an interracial democracy were contested from the start. A harsh backlash ensued, ushering in the “separate but equal” age of Jim Crow. Marking the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment and featuring art, artifacts, photographs and media, the exhibition highlights the central role played by African Americans in advocating for their rights and also examines the depth and breadth of opposition to black advancement. Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow is part of New-York Historical’s new initiative to dedicate rotating gallery space to covering topics of freedom, equality, and civil rights in America.

• New York Historical Society, Central Park West at 76th St., through early 2019.

Also at New York Historical Society is the Harry Potter History of Magic exhibit.

See both for the same ticket.

 

Pink: The History of a Punk, Pretty, Powerful Color – FREE exhibition organized by the museum’s director and chief curator, Dr. Valerie Steele. Pink features approximately 80 ensembles from the 18th century to the present, with examples by designers and brands such as Elsa Schiaparelli, Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Alessandro Michele of Gucci, Jeremy Scott of Moschino, and Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons. The exhibition is organized by the museum’s director and chief curator, Dr. Valerie Steele, and will be accompanied by a book published by Thames & Hudson

• The Museum at FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology), Seventh Ave. at 27th St., through early January 2019.

Things to do Friday

Family Night at Madison Square Park

Family Night with Gustafer Yellowgold. Artist and musician Morgan Taylor takes us on a funny and touching multimedia journey of live music, colored-pencil animations and storytelling, FREE. Melt Bakery will be on site selling ice cream sandwiches, and Shake Shack will be open, too.

• 6pm to 7:30pm, rain or shine.

Freebie Friday –  FREE admission to NYC museums including MOMA. No passes or coupons needed. Just go.

Get FREE admission to more than a dozen NYC museums with the IDNYC card.  Enrollment is also FREE.

Freebie Friday: Family Fridays at MoMath – Solve puzzles, family-style, and learn how math affects everything, from music to space flight. 6:30pm, FREE  The National Museum of Mathematics is at 11 E. 26th St.

Freebie Friday – Grand Central Neighborhood Tour. FREE every Friday at 12:30, docents from the Grand Central Partnership guide you through the history of the fabled Grand Central Terminal and some equally-fabled nearby landmarks including the Chrysler Building.  There are no tickets, no reservations.  Just meet at Sculpture court at 120 Park Avenue (southwest corner of East 42nd Street). Tour is 90 minutes.

Things to do Saturday

Bronx Coquito Masters 2018: Season Opener – Bronx Music Heritage Center

• To register as a contestant, please contact Debbie Quinones at [email protected]

Street Fairs & Fall Festivals on Saturday