Your weekend plans begin here, with a couple of dozen FREE and cheap things to do this weekend, including the St. Patrick’s Day parade on Fifth Ave, and another one in Brooklyn, and Super Sabado, a FREE event-filled day at El Museo del Barrio.
As always, everything NYC on the Cheap suggests is $25 or less, and most things are FREE, so you can enjoy more NYC for less money.
So much to see and do and so little time.
Let’s hope the weather cooperates with outdoor events.
And if it doesn’t, here are some rainy and snowy day activities in NYC, besides re-arranging your sock drawer.
Know before you go:
Weekend street and bridge closures
Last Chance to See
Voice of My City: Jerome Robbins and New York
Enjoy the exuberance and brilliance of dancer, choreographer, artist and poet – and native New Yorker – Jerome Robbins in this FREE exhibit celebrating the 100th year of his birth, and his hometown, where the Bronx is up and the Battery’s down, and the people ride in a hole in the ground, as we learned in On the Town.
Jerome Robbins was an inveterate observer, seeker, and creator. In diaries, drawings, watercolors, paintings, story scenarios, poems—and, especially, in dance—he reimagined the world around him. And New York dominated that world, where he was born one-hundred years ago and where he lived his entire adult life.
Ideas of New York have long inspired artists but often the city serves as a backdrop in an artwork rather than the basis for plot, theme, and meaning. Robbins put the city at the center of his artistic imaginings. From Fancy Free—his breakout hit ballet in 1944—to the musical West Side Story on stage (1957) and screen (1961) and the ballets N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz (1958) and Glass Pieces (1983), Robbins explored the joys, struggles, grooves, routines, and aspirations of New York. And in recreating the city around him on stage, Robbins found a place for himself.
Voice of My City traces Robbins’ life and dances alongside the history of New York, inspiring viewers to see the city as both a muse and a home.
- Open through March 30th, 2019.
- New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.
St. Patrick’s Day Parades
Sat., March 16
The 258th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade is the city’s oldest, and one of the city’s largest, with more than 10,000 marching bands, including from the NYPD and NYFD, and more than one million spectators. The parade marches north on Fifth Avenue, from 44th St. to 79th St., starting at 11am.
Sun., March 17
44th Annual Brooklyn Saint Patrick’s Parade
Prospect Park West and 15th St to Seventh Ave, starting at 1pm
SUPER SÁBADO: Voces Latinx
The annual all-day FREE celebration of all things Latino in New York City, at El Museo del Barrio. This year’s theme celebrate and honor the contributions of women with a fun-filled family day of art making and movement workshops, storytelling, and a live performance by Puerto Rican artist iLe, in partnership with Carnegie Hall Citywide.
- 11am to 5pm. El Museo del Barrio is at Fifth Ave. and 103rd St.
Here’s the full schedule, and it’s all FREE
Things to do in NYC every Friday

Freebie Friday – FREE admission to NYC museums including MOMA. No passes or coupons needed. Just go.
FREE Friday morning admission to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, until Noon.
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 in NYC every Saturday
FREE Saturday admission at top NYC museums every Saturday all year includes the Jewish Museum
Things to do in NYC every Sunday
FREE Sunday admission at top NYC museums including Morgan Library and Museum.
FREE Flatiron Walking Tour – Join professional guides on a 90-minute journey through this vibrant neighborhood, viewing some of the City’s most notable landmarks, including the New York Life Insurance Building, the MetLife Clock Tower, the Appellate Courthouse and the famous Flatiron Building.
SEE ALSO
You now get FREE admission to more than 30 NYC museums and cultural institutions with the new CulturePass. It’s a new perk to use with your library card from the NYPL, Brooklyn Museum or Queens Museum systems.
The NYCOTC Free & Cheap Weekend Guide is $25 or less, with an occasional splurge because we deserve to treat ourselves once in a while.
NYC isn’t expensive when you know where to go and what to do, and we do. And we love to share.
- Unless a price is noted, our weekend list is FREE, but we usually remind you anyway.
- Unless otherwise noted, outdoor events are rain or shine, so let’s hope for shine.
- Street fairs are 11am to 6pm, unless otherwise noted.
Getting Around NYC – Know Before You go
FREE apps on subway track work and schedulng delays – Know what trains are bypassing what stations so you aren’t late for one of these free and cheap weekend events.
NYC official street closures website – Know what streets are closed when for street fairs, parades, political protests and more.
2018 NYC parking calendar – Know when you have to move your car, or not.
Where to eat at LaGuardia Airport – Top NYC restaurants and cafes are replacing fast food joints.
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Enjoy your free and cheap NYC weekend.
What do you think about this? We welcome your comments.