There’s never a dull moment in the best city on the planet, with FREE Earth Day events, drive-in movies in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, FREE financial seminars, FREE live concerts, dance performances and museum admission, and so much more.
Get more NYC for less money with NYC on the Cheap.
That’s out motto and we’re sticking to it.
Add these virtual and in-person events to your calendar for this week,
Monday, April 19 to Sunday, April 25.
Indoor dining has returned to NYC, with 50% capacity.
NYC restaurants and bars can stay open for indoor or outdoor dining until Midnight, one hour longer than the previous 11pm closure rule.
NYC nightclubs and small theaters including comedy clubs have re-opened, with limited capacity
NYC movie theaters are open again, with 25% capacity, with a maximum of 50 people per theater.
See our full posting about what to see at the movies
The MTA has reduced its overnight subway shutdown. Now in effect, the shutdown is 2-4 a.m, instead of the year-long 1-5 a.m. shutdown for overnight cleaning.
See our 2021 FREE parking calendar.
photo: Eventbrite
FREE Earth Day Events This Week
One Earth Film Festival: Online screening of I Am Greta
Online screening of Chasing Coral
All-day EarthFest with the scientists of American Museum of Natural History
Also FREE on Thursday, April 22
Image: SummerStage
SummerStage Celebrates National Poetry Month
SummerStage partners with longtime collaborator Nuyorican Poets Cafe, showcasing New York City poets Caridad de la Luz, reg e gaines, J.F. Seary, Advocate of Wordz, Helena D. Lewis, Suzen Baraka, Ramya Ramana, Carlos Andrés Gómez, plus Darian Dauchan who will be performing with a loop station.
Percussionist Chembo Corniel performs a conga solo, and jazz vocalist Rome Neal will be accompanied by Andre Chez Lewis (piano), Lonnie Plaxico (bass) and Chembo Corniel (congas). The performances will be recorded both live from The Sultan Room in Brooklyn and remotely.
The event also pays tribute to Nuyorican Poets Café co-founder Miguel Algarín and Craig “muMs” Grant, a poet, actor, and playwright who frequently graced the cafe’s stage and SummerStage.
- Thursday, April 22, 2021
- 7:00 pm – 7:45 pm
See more daily NYC events on our
Free & Cheap Events Calendar
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NYC Covid Update
New York has dropped quarantine requirements for visitors and residents traveling domestically. The new rule does not apply to international travel.
Details here.
Starting this week, any New Yorker over 50 can get a FREE Covid-19 vaccination without an appointment at NYC vaccination centers.
If you want a FREE Covid-19 vaccination, check our guide on how to find out if your are eligible and find a site nearest you.
- Vaccination sites now require proof of local residency, to prevent “vaccination tourism”.
If you need a FREE Covid-19 test, find one by zip code or address on the official NYC location finder site, or text “COVID TEST” to 855-48
Now Underway
Carnegie Hall Voices of Hope image
Carnegie Hall Voices of Hope Festival
More than 100 FREE virtual concerts, discussions with artists and exhibition showcasing the life-affirming power of music and the arts during times of crisis, from World War I and the Spanish Flu pandemic through today’s Covid-19 Pandemic, the Holocaust and the genocides in Rwanda and Armenia, and more.
Concerts this week include:
- The Jerusalem Quartet,
- Grammy-award winning Third Coast Percussion
- African music with vocalist Somi
Full daily schedule and how to watch information
Kusama photo courtesy artist
KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature at NYBG
This is the first-ever comprehensive exploration of the artist’s lifelong fascination with polka dots and with the natural world.
The exhibit includes monumental sculptures, paintings and other artifacts across the Garden’s 250-acre landscape, including material that has never been displayed publicly before. Plus, of course, one of the artist’s famous Infinity Rooms.
Opens April 10. Get tickets now.
Ticket information here.
Frick Madison Fragonard’s Progress of Love
Frick Madison
Frick Madison is now open, with its famous artworks showcased over three floors of the famous Breuer-designed landmark building on the Upper East Side.
There’s space enough for some works to be displayed for the first time. and for the museum’s signature The Progress of Love by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, to be shown together in its entirety for the first time in the Frick’s history.
NYC on the Cheap visited recently and we can report that the new Frick Madison is absolutely fabulous.
Queens Drive-in Theater
Outdoor movies have returned to the parking lot of the Hall of Science in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
Full schedule and ticket information here.
Staten Island Children’s Museum (SICM)
Now open on weekends with comprehensive new safety precautions, advance online ticketing, changes to the way guests explore the building, and new activities in the exhibits.
Closing Soon
Not Long Ago Not Far Away
For the first time in America, a traveling exhibition about Auschwitz featuring over 700 original artifacts from more than 20 international institutions, some never shown before publicly. It is the largest exhibition about the horrible things that happened not long ago, not far away.
Many of the items have never been displayed before in North America. Some come from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, on the site of the old death camp, which was visited by more than two million people every year in pre-Pandemic days.
Some artifacts and photos are some from the Museum of Jewish Heritage, which has received thousands of donated items by Holocaust survivors who settled in New York City.
The exhibit will tug at your heartstrings, and make you ask the questions –
How did this happen? Can it happen again?
- Auschwitz: Not Long Ago Not Far away closes on Sunday, May 2, 2021, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust.
Free on Tuesday In-Person Performance
Artichoke Dance at Battery Park
This popular modern dance group returns to live performance with a FREE outdoor show at Battery Park, in partnership with Battery Park City Authority.
This event is FREE but if you want a distanced seat, RSVP here. Standing room is also available and does not require a reservation.
Free Webinar on Wednesday
Investing in Bonds: What You Need to Know
Bonds and bond mutual funds often can be an important component of a diversified investment portfolio.
Gerri Walsh, Senior Vice President of Investor Education at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), discusses what investors need to know about different types of bonds, bond risk, and smart strategies for investing in bonds.
Presented by FINRA and the NYPL Business Center
- Wednesday, April 21 at 12 Noon
Next week
Wednesday, April 28 at Noon Staying Safe in the New Normal |
Thursday, April 29 at Noon Mutual Funds/ETFs: What They Are, How They Work. |
More FREE Financial Services at the NYPL
These FREE services are available remotely with experts at the NYPL Thomas Yoseloff Business Center
Video Consultations with a Business Librarian –
Have questions about your business that require research? NYPL librarians can help and point you in the direction of the resources to help you.
Job Search Coaching and Resilience Coaching –
Feeling stuck and isolated? Looking for a job? Looking for a better life? NYPL coaches offer free and confidential coaching sessions to help you get unstuck and accomplish your goals — no matter how big or small.
Financial, Credit, and Medicare Counseling –
Questions about your current financial situation? Credit issues? Medicare? NYPL counselors are available to help with free and confidential sessions to answer your questions and provide the info and guidance you need.
Free on Saturday and Sunday
Photo (C) Evelyn Kanter
Live Music in Riverside Park
The band is back. Put on your dancing shoes, or just your listening ears.
David Ostwald’s Louis Armstrong Heritage Band has returned to Riverside Park this week for live concerts of classic music from the 30s, 40s and 50s, several days a week.
The band performed regularly last spring, summer and fall, and I’m happy they are back, now that the weather is warm enough not to freeze the fingers of the musicians.
Performances are FREE, but since these musicians have been out of work for more than a year, you are encouraged to drop a few dollars, or purchase one of their CDs.
Concert location is Riverside Park Promenade, at 84th St.
As many of you know, I’m a swing dancer, and I LOVE this band and also the opportunity to dance outdoors. Look for me on the dance “floor”.
This weekend’s schedule is
- Tuesday, Thursday, Friday – 4pm to 6pm
- Saturday and Sunday, Noon to 2pm.
FREE Museum Admission
Several NYC museums have brought back free admission for certain days and times.
The Rubin Museum of Art offers a collection of art, sculptures and tapestries from India, Nepal, Tibet, China and other Asian nations.
Free Friday Nights are a great time to explore, but timed entry tickets go quickly.
All gallery tickets become available for reservation two weeks in advance. The new installation is The Lotus Effect,
- FREE Friday nights are 6pm to 10pm
The Guggenheim Museum of Art
- Pay-what-you-wish Friday and Saturday, 4pm to 6pm
- Reservations are required.
Museum of the City of New York
- Open again after emergency building repairs
