NYC Free and Cheap This Week May 30-June 2

Cheap is good, free is better, as we tell you often here on NYC on the Cheap. Take advantage of one or more of these free and cheap things to do this week, includng a free Broadway show concert, because NYC doesn’t have to be expensive when you know where to find freebies, and we do. Here’s where to be a NYC cheapskate the week after the three-day Memorial Day Weekend.

Daily through Thursday, June 1

Immigrant Songs – This is a special film festival about the immigrant experience, mostly about the immigrant experience in NYC, with such films as The Godfather, Moscow on the Hudson, Hester Street and America, America, the 1961 film about a Turkish family’s efforts to get to America. Also on the roster is Superman, because he was an immigrant to Gotham from another planet. Immigrant Songs is at the newly-renovated Quad Cinema, 34 West 13th St. in the Village. Tickets are $15 and screenings begin as early as 9:30am.

Tuesday

Fleet Week New York – Wave goodbye to the troops as they leave NYC today for their homeports. Watch the departure of the Parade of Ships out of New York Harbor from points along Shore Parkway in Brooklyn and the Hudson River in Manhattan.

Manhattanhenge – See the sun set directly between the streets of Manhattan. It happens just twice a year when the sun and the street grid are in direct alignment. If you miss it tonight, you’ll get another chance in July.

Wednesday

Bryant Park – FREE dancing to a live band, at Fountain Terrace. This week, it’s family-friendly disco party. At the Fountain Terrace, Family-friendly, starting at 6:30pm.

SEE ALSO Midsummer Night Swing outdoor dancing to live bands in Lincoln Center in June/July

Thursday

Ice Cream Festival – Scooper Bowl is the nation’s largest all-you-can-eat ice cream festival, a charity fund-raiser for kids with cancer and for cancer research. 100% of ticket sales support the cancer charities through the Jimmie Fund. Scooper Bowl is a three-day ice cream extravaganza in Bryant Park, June 1-3. Get $20 discount tickets through May 31.

I’m Dying up Here – Attend a FREE screening of the first two episodes of the new Showtime series in Midtown. Free screenings also in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Atlanta. Includes FREE popcorn.

Summer on the Hudson: Everybody Tango! – Every Thursday in June, enjoy Argentine Tango with a FREE introductory lesson, music, and dancing in the open air led by Strictly Tango NYC. Lessons at 6:45pm and at 7:45pm, dancing until 10pm. West Harlem Piers Park at 125th St.

Friday

Stars in the Alley – This is annual FREE outdoor concert in the heart of the Theatre District celebrates the end of the Broadway season and adds to the festivities leading up to the Tony Awards, with performances by stars of current Broadway shows. 1pm, in Shubert Alley, between 44th and 45th Streets, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. Rain or shine, so let’s hope for shine.

Participating musicals to include: Aladdin, Anastasia, Bandstand, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, A Bronx Tale, Cats, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Chicago, Come From Away, Dear Evan Hansen, Groundhog Day the Musical, Kinky Boots, Miss Saigon, Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, On Your Feet! The Story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan, The Phantom of the Opera, School of Rock – The Musical, Sunset Boulevard, Waitress, Wicked
Additional appearances from: August Wilson’s Jitney, The Little Foxes, The Play That Goes Wrong, Present Laughter, Six Degrees of Separation, Sweat, War Paint
Performances or appearances by: Christy Altomare, Alistair Brammer, Nick Cordero, Corey Cott, Trista Dollison, Barrett Doss, John Dossett, Ali Ewoldt, Christopher Fitzgerald, Alyssa Fox, J. Harrsion Ghee, Alan H. Green, Ellen Harvey, John Benjamin Hickey, Caitlin Houlahan, Rodney Ingram, Allison Janney, Telly Leung, Kristolyn Lloyd, Bianca MarroquÍn, Tedra Millan, Sean Montgomery, Abby Mueller, Mamie Parris, Will Roland, Charlie Russell, Athan Sporek, Douglas Sills, Ana Villafañe, Michelle Wilson, Michael Xavier, Nancy Zamit

Library After Hours – This occasional FREE evening event features special guided tours, a DJ, food, drinks and more, at the NYPL’s iconic main branch on Fifth Ave. Friday’s event celebrates the library’s newest exhibition, Viewpoints: Latin America in Photographs, with more than 100 images from the 1860s to the present that explore our perceptions what shaped what both foreigners and locals have had of the geography, people, and rich culture of Latin America. Starting at 7pm.