NYC Free & Cheap Events Through April 5, 2018

Your plans begin here, with more than a dozen FREE and cheap things to do this weekend of Passover and Easter and through the week, including free museum admission, the New York Auto Show, with your first look at 2019 model cars and trucks, and the world famous Easter Parade on Fifth Avenue.

The NYCOTC weekend guide is $25 or less so you can take bites out of the Big Apple without eating up your budget, plus a few occasional splurges worth the money. And everything is family-friendly.

NYC isn’t expensive when you know where to go and what to do, and we do.

Unless a price is noted, our weekend list is FREE, but we usually remind you anyway, to be sure you know.

No Fooling – Closing April 1st

Mod New York: Fashion Takes A Trip: Immerse yourself in the sights, sounds, and trends of the 1960s to explore the American fashion revolution as designed and worn on the streets of New York City. This exhbit traces the full arc of 1960s fashion, shedding new light on a period marked by tremendous and daring stylistic diversity. Works by designers as diverse as Mary Quant, Geoffrey Beene, and Pauline Trigère illuminate the communicative powers of fashion in the ’60s.

Spotlight sections on Truman Capote’s legendary Black and White Ball and Kwame Brathwaite’s photographs of Afrocentric clothing paint a full picture of how the era’s aesthetic revolution reflected the sweeping cultural changes of the same time period. At the Museum of the City of New York.

Downton Abbey: The Exhibition – This fabulous three-floor exhibit of Downton Abbey fashions and household furnishings was scheduled to close this weekend. But it’s been extended through Labor Day Weekend, and that’s an April Fool joke. et $25 discount tickets for your chance to drool over three floors of luscious costumes, sumptuous family rooms, the kitchen and servants quarters below stairs, plus see unseen footage from the popular series. In Midtown.

Sat., March 31

Easter Egg Hunt – Join the first-ever Easter Egg Hunt at Rockefeller Center, for FREE family-friendly activities 10-2pm on the center plaza. In Addition to the Easter Egg Hunt for children ages 2-10, there are live musical performances, Easter bonnet making stations, prize giveaways, and more. Additionally, there are FREE skate rentals for all children under 11 years of age at The Rink at Rockefeller Center from 8:30am-6pm on Saturday only.

Onsite registration is required for the Easter Egg Hunt, and participants are accommodated on a first-come, first-served basis.

Saturday and Sunday

In honor of Passover, the Jewish Museum is offering FREE admission Saturday and Sunday.

FREE Saturday admission at top NYC museums every Saturday all year includes the Jewish Museum and the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum.

Easter Sunday

Easter Parade – The annual display of elaborate bonnets and haberdashery has been a New York City tradition since the 1870s. It’s not really a parade, but it’s enough of a tradition that Irving Berlin wrote a timeless classic song about it, and Hollywood made a movie about it.

It’s really more about seeing and being seen, with people in photo-worthy, Instagram-worthy, TV news-worthy outfits wandering around on Fifth Avenue, between 49th and 57th Streets, waiting to be admired, and onlookers willing to do the admiring. It’s FREE, and fun, and one of those “only in New York” things that makes New York such a special place. 10am to 4pm.

All Week

New York International Auto Show – Go kick the tires and smell the leather of some 1,000 cars and trucks, including a first look at new 2019 models. See everything from affordable family-friendly sedans and hatchbacks to versatile SUVs to multi-million dollar supercars, including a 1,000-plus horsepower all electric.

Macy’s Flower Show – The annual extravaganza of flowers and plants takes over Macy’s flagship Herald Square store through Sunday, April 8. The flowers are FREE, as are seminars on flower arranging, gardening, spring entertaining, and more, including events for kids, celebrity appearances, and the chance to win tickets to shows.

This year’s theme is Once Upon a Springtime, transforming the store into enchanted gardens of beauty and renewal and the whimsy of a fairytale journey, with princesses, evil queens, fairy godmothers, and noble knights that lead to a wondrous journey.

Now Open

Luna Park – The rides at Coney Island are daily through Sunday, April 8, then open weekends only through Memorial Day, when they open daily again through Labor Day, including the historic and iconic Coney Island Cyclone. Those open/close dates have almost enough dips and curves as the Cyclone.

Tuesday, April 3

Say cheese! – Shake Shack has teamed up with longtime beef supplier Pat La Frieda to introduce its first-ever cheesesteak to the original Shack in Madison Square Park. Get your hands on one from 11am, while supplies last. On opening day, $1 from every purchase goes to Stand4Heroes, which supports programs for military veterans and first responders.

Stargazing– Head to the High Line each Tuesday at dusk for a romantic walk along the park and a chance to take a closer look at the stars. Peer through high-powered telescopes provided by the knowledgeable members of the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York to see rare celestial sights. Through the end of Oct.

Wednesday, April 4

Giants of the Lower East Side – Explore the tall tales of turn-of-last century figures, and the buildings where they lived, worked and prayed, in this Holy Week walking tour. It starts in the historic sanctuary of the Eldridge Street Synagogue, where you will learn about the characters associated with this fabulously restored house of worship, and a small kosher for Passover snack.

The tour includes the building that housed a newspaper edited by a famous Yiddish Socialist, the settlement house founded by a tenacious 26 year old nurse, a yeshiva associated with one of this century’s most famous rabbis, and a former Bank building currently undergoing a major renovation, and ends with a visit to the Magnificent and wildly colorful Bialystoker Synagogue, where you will see the memorial plaque of a noted gangster.

Sponsored by The Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy and The Museum at Eldridge Street. At 10:45AM. Tickets are $30.

Birding Basics – Located along the Atlantic Flyway, Central Park welcomes more than 270 bird species each year. Learn the basics of bird identification while exploring the North Woods, the largest woodland landscape in the Park. Along with beautiful arches and peaceful waterfalls, the North Woods provides 40 acres of rare habitat in the middle of New York City, making it an important stopover for birds during spring migration. Bring your own binoculars or borrow a pair from tour guides. Suitable for children.

Meet at the Charles A. Dana Discover Center at 110th St., by the Harlem Meer, at 10am. Walk is 90 minutes.

Closing Soon

The Virtue in Vice – The Seven Deadly Sins – pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth – are on display in these objects chosen from Cooper Hewitt’s collection. Through mid-April. Save $2 on tickets purchased online.

The Butterfly Conservatory – Warm yourself in the beauty and color of thousands of butterflies, flittering around you in this annual winter treat at the American Museum of Natural History. FREE with museum admission, through mid-May.

The perennially popular Orchid Show is back for its 16th season at The New York Botanical Garden with thousands of colorful orchid blooms, plus large-scale installations floral artist Daniel Ost. The specially commissioned works pay homage to his training in ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging. In ikebana, artists value the ideas of wabi-sabi, a philosophy that finds beauty in imperfection, asymmetry, and impermanence.

There also are special Orchid Evenings on weekends, with music and performances that make the orchids even more magical. At the New York Botanical Garden, through April 22.

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.

Subscribe to our email newsletter and get NYC on the Cheap in your inbox at 8am each morning. That’s FREE, too, and you’ll start the day with what you need to know to be a NYC cheapskate.

Let’s hope the weather cooperates for outdoor events. If not –

5 FREE and cheap things to do in NYC on a rainy day

Best FREE things to do in NYC any day of the year

Every Friday in NYC

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.

Every Saturday in NYC

FREE Saturday admission at top NYC museums every Saturday all year includes the Jewish Museum and the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum.

FREE guided tour of the High Line. Hear the story behind NYC’s trend-setting park in the sky on a special winter walking tour! Join us for a free 45-minute long tour led by High Line Docents, knowledgeable volunteer guides who offer you an insider’s perspective on the park’s history, design, and landscape. Saturdays through April 7. Meet at the Gansevort Steps at Noon.

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Every Sunday in NYC

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. Every Sunday at 11am, rain or shine. No advance registration is required. Comfortable walking shoes are recommended.

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Also, check the list of best free things to do in NYC any day of the week, including weekends.

Enjoy your free and cheap NYC weekend.