NYC Free & Cheap August Calendar

POSTED BY
Evelyn Kanter

So much to do, so little time. Here are some of the best NYC FREE events and cheap things to see and do in August. Add them to your calendar now before you forget.

Through August 17

NYC Restaurant Week – There’s still time to make a reservation and take advantage of this annual good deal for great dining, when nearly 400 top NYC restaurants serve specially priced three-course meals $26 at lunch and $42 at dinner. This is your chance to splurge on a gourmet meal in such top-rated locally owned restaurants as the 21 Club, Smith & Wolensky, Boulud Sud, and David Burke Kitchen.

Our recommendation is lunch, not because it’s cheaper, but because it’s easier to get a reservation at the restaurant and date you want.
TIP – Broadway Week, with half-price tickets to top shows, returns in September.

Starting Aug. 6

Andy Warhol – Today would have been his 90th birthday. Celebrate by buying tickets, which go on sale starting today, for the Whitney Museum’s upcoming exhibition this fall, “Andy Warhol — From A to B and Back Again,” the largest single-artist show since the contemporary art museum moved to its new location downtown in 2015.

Tuesdays in August

Garden After Hours – Enjoy extended hours at The Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Enter at any time and stay till 8:30 p.m. Enjoy an evening stroll through the Garden’s lush, fragrant grounds, treat yourself to specialty cocktails, snacks or dinner at the Yellow Magnolia Canteen, and sunset views.

Wednesday, August 8 and 15

Uptown Bounce – The last two Wednesdays of the FREE outdoor summer dance party at the Museum of the City of New York, with DJs, a different theme each week, and a party crowd. FREE with registration

The theme for August 8th is I Love the 90s, with the songs you loved from grunge to gangsta rap.
The theme for the final Uptown Bounce on August 15th is A Space Odyssey, with futuristic music from icons including David Bowie Grace Jones and Prince. The evening also celebrates the the film 2001: A Space Odyssey by renowned director Stanley Kubrick, subject of the current exhibition, Through a Different Lens: Stanley Kubrick Photographs.
6pm to 9pm, at MCNY, Fifth Ave.

Thursdays in August

Summer Salsa – Dance your way home from work every Thursday in August, starting this week, as the annual Downtown Brooklyn outdoor dance festival returns.

There’s a FREE dance lesson at 5pm, and a DJ spins Latin music afterward.

Saturdays in August

Summer Streets – The popular program returns for the first three Saturdays of August, closing seven miles of Manhattan streets to motorized traffic and turning the car free streets into one long street fair, with water slides, music and more along the route.

If you missed car-free Summer Streets this weekend, you get two more chances, on Saturday, August 11th and again on the 18th.

Sat./Sun.,August 11/12

Yellow Submarine – See a special showing of The Beatles’ classic animated classic movie at the Film Forum, which just re-opened after a $5 million renovation. It’s the 50th anniversary of this marvelous movie, and this is a restored version of the original. Because we all want to take a magical mystery tour and live in a yellow submarine.

Tickets are $9.

Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival – Watch the crews of dozens of intricately carved vessels race for prices, at this annual event with Asian food, music and dance performances.

In Flushing Corona Park, FREE.

August 24-September 3

Metropolitan Opera Summer Outdoor HD Festival – Ten nights of opera shown on a super-sized screen that covers the front of the Met Opera House.

Through August 31

Get Saturday Night Live Tickets – August is the only time all year to request tickets to a live taping of the hit show for the new season starting in September. Here’s how to score yours.