Cheap Stuff
Although New York is an expensive city, there are plenty of things you can do for free or cheap. The city is best seen on foot. In addition to the most current cheap options listed below, check out The Skint and FreeNYC.
Among the free things to do are Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge, the Staten Island Ferry, most national park sites many of the museums, some guided tours, and all TV show tapings.
2010 Winter Restaurant Week set for Jan. 25 to Feb. 7
NYC Winter Restaurant Week will return Jan. 25 through Feb. 7 with prices frozen at the same rate as in recent years: $24.07 for three-course prix-fixe lunches and $35 for three-course prix-fixe dinners.
The deal does not include beverages, tax or tip. It’s suspended on Saturdays and only some restaurants partake on Sundays.
The dates were announced today by NYC & Co. the city’s official tourism marketing group, but participating restaurants have not yet been named.
Earlier: Restaurant Week deals extended through Labor Day
November 13, 2009 11:30 AM Comments (0)
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Free admission at NYC's National Parks, everyday
Although all National Parks were free today for Veterans Day, it didn’t mean much for New York City - but for a good reason.
All the National Park Service properties in NYC are always free.
The last one to charge a fee, the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site, dropped its $3 admission charge as of Oct. 1.
The only caveat, a parks spokesperson told NewYorkology, is that a few of the sites charge transportation-related fees, such as the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, which may only be reached by a ferry operated by Statue Cruises. But once visitors reach the island, admission is free.
Other National Parks sites in New York include the African Burial Ground, Federal Hall, General Grant National Memorial, St. Paul’s Church, Floyd Bennett Field, Fort Wadsworth, Fort Tilden and Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.
Picture crredit: Grant’s Tomb. Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.
November 11, 2009 7:58 PM Comments (0)
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Free wi-fi turned on in Times Square
Starting today, there is free Times Square wi-fi.
Related: Free Bryant Park wi-fi
Free Downtown Alliance wi-fi
NYC Wireless hotspot map
Picture credit: Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.
(Thanks to Budget Travel for the tip.)
Earlier: Central Park unplugged; free wi-fi shut down
November 10, 2009 12:09 PM Comments (1)
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Museums, zoos, ice rinks, clubs open Thanksgiving Day
In case you find yourself in New York City on Nov. 26, 2009 looking for something to do besides share a bird with your beloved family members, here are some places that will be open on Thanksgiving Day in NYC:
The Macy’s 83nd Thanksgiving Day Parade will begin at 9 a.m. at 77th Street and Central Park West. The new route this year starts out the same, traveling south down Central Park West to Columbus Circle. But this year it will skip Broadway,and instead turn onto Central Park South and then south on 7th Avenue. Once it reaches, 42nd Street, the parade will head east until it reaches Bryant Park at 6th Avenue. The parade will continue south on 6th (Avenue of the Americas) until it reaches 34th Street, where it will turn towards Macy’s at herald Square.
Restaurants open Thanksgiving Day
Radio City Christmas Spectacular - performances at 2, 5 and 8 p.m.
Cirque du Soleil’s “Wintuk” at Madison Square Garden - performances at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Broadway Thanksgiving Week schedule includes Thanksgiving Day performances of “Hamlet” at 7:30 p.m. as well as “Chicago,” “Oleanna,” “Phantom of the Opera” “West Side Story” and “White Christmas” at 8 p.m.
Big Apple Circus - 2 p.m. performance
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island - 9 a.m. - 5:15 p.m. (Although tickets to the statue’s crown are sold out through 2009, you can still reserve free pedestal/museum access with your ferry tickets.)
Empire State Building open from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. (Last elevator goes up at 1:15 a.m.)
Rockefeller Center’s Top of the Rock open from 8 a.m. to midnight (Last elevator goes up at 11 p.m.)
Socrates Sculpture Park - 10 a.m. to sunset
Discovery’s Times Square Exhibition featuring “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition” and “DaVinci’s Workshop” from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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November 9, 2009 10:56 PM Comments (0)
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'Present Laughter' to sell Broadway tickets from $10
 Tickets go on sale today for the Broadway revival of Noel Coward’s “Present Laughter” with Victor Garber.
And since the comedy is a production of the Roundabout Theatre Company, 100 tickets will be sold for only $10 each, but only to the first four preview performances starting Jan. 2. Tickets may be purchased online, via phone (212) 719-1300, or at the box office.
“Present Laughter” will play the American Airlines Theatre, 227 W. 42nd St., map. Opening night is set for Jan. 21; the play is set to close March 21.
Image source: Roundabout Theatre Company.
Earlier: ‘Hamlet’ starts $35 student rush after $25 seats sell out
$10 Broadway tickets for ‘Miss Julie,’ ‘Wishful Drinking’
November 9, 2009 8:35 AM Comments (0)
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Met Opera lottery to offer free dress rehearsal tickets
 Update: Here’s the link to enter the free ticket lottery before Nov. 18 at 8 p.m.
On Friday, the Met Opera will open a free-ticket lottery to the final dress rehearsal of Bartlett Sher’s new production of Jacques Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann.”
The Met Opera will hand out 3,000 tickets for the Nov. 30 daytime dress rehearsal. The lottery will remain open through Nov. 19.
The Kafka-inspired opera stars Joseph Calleja, Anna Netrebko and Alan Held; James Levine conducts. Following the dress rehearsal, it will premiere at a Dec. 3 gala.
Image source: Met Opera’s detail page for “Les Contes d’Hoffmann.”
Earlier: $16 open rehearsals at NY Philharmonic all season
Met Opera free rehearsals start with ‘Tosca’ on Sept. 17
November 9, 2009 7:34 AM Comments (0)
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Yankees to parade up Canyon of Heroes 11 a.m. Friday
 A parade honoring the World Champion Yankees will begin at 11 a.m. on Friday and head north up the Canyon of Heroes, according to a taped message on 311, the city’s official information service.
The parade will be followed by a ceremony at City Hall Plaza.
Update: An early-morning press release from the mayor’s office offered a few more details abut Friday’s ticker-tape parade.
The parade will begin on Broadway at Battery Place at 11 a.m. and continue northbound up Broadway toward Chambers Street. The parade will be followed by a ceremony at City Hall Plaza, at which Mayor Bloomberg will present the Yankees with Keys to the City.
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November 5, 2009 12:52 AM Comments (0)
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Museums open late for fall/winter 2009/10 in NYC
 Many museums stay open late at least one night a week, often in conjunction with free admission hours, live music and cocktails.
Here are the New York City museums with late-closing hours listed by day of the week:
Mondays
New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex at Grand Central Terminal - 8 p.m. (always free)
Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame Annex - 8 p.m., with last admission at 7 p.m. ($24.50)
Tuesdays
China Institute Gallery - 8 p.m. (free 6 to 8 p.m.)
Society of Illustrators - 8 p.m. (always free)
New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex at Grand Central Terminal - 8 p.m. (always free)
Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame Annex - 8 p.m. with last admission at 7 p.m. ($24.50)
Wednesdays
Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art - 7 p.m. ($10)
New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex at Grand Central Terminal - 8 p.m. (always free)
Museum of Jewish Heritage - 8 p.m. ($12)
Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame Annex - 8 p.m. with last admission at 7 p.m. ($24.50)
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November 4, 2009 10:28 AM Comments (0)
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Unlike Paris, NYC's free bikes survived the summer
 In Paris, more than 80 percent of the bike-sharing cycles have been trashed or stolen, the New York Times reported over the weekend.
In New York, it’s an entirely diffent story.
Downtown Alliance’s 30 free bikes were used more than 7,000 times this past summer. There were “no thefts and no vandalism,” a spokesman told NewYorkology on Monday.
The free rentals were available in two-and-a-half-hour windows from May 13 through Sept. 30 through Bike and Roll. The catch was that you needed to provide a credit card, which would be billed for the bike if you never returned.
The program may return for summer 2010 if funds are available, a Downtown Alliance spokesman said.
Details on the 2009 Bike Around Downtown program:
- Approximately 7,612 bike reservations were made, an increase of 52 percent over 2008.
- 87 percent of riders were New York City residents; 4 percent were from New Jersey; 2 percent were from Long Island; and 1.2 percent were from California.
- Among the NYC residents 65 percent were Manhattan residents, including 46 percent from south of Chambers Street. Half of all participants described themselves as Downtown Workers.
Picture credit: Brooklyn Bridge bike lane. Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.
Earlier: In demand: free bike program at max on weekends
November 3, 2009 10:23 AM Comments (1)
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Met Opera, NYC Opera offer rush seats for $25 or less
Some of the best seats in the house at the Metropolitan Opera are available for a mere $20 through the Varis Rush Tickets all season.
All regular performances Mondays through Thursdays will offer 150 orchestra seats for $20. The catch is the tickets go on sale only at the Met Opera box office starting two hours before curtain, subject to availability.
An extra 50 tickets are reserved for seniors (65 or over) at the $20 price. The senior tickets are available starting at noon on the day of each performance and may be reserved online or by calling (212) 362-6000.
The $20 tickets are not available for special events, galas or opening nights.
The New York City Opera, which begins its season later this week, again will offer tickets for $25 or less through its Opera for All program.
There are two ways to get the cheap seats at City Opera. On Mondays at 10 a.m., you can buy that week’s $25 orchestra rush seats at the box office, online or by phone (212) 721-6500. Use the offer code OFA1.
In addition to the rush seats, City Opera also sells $20 and $12 tickets for for every performance in the theater’s 4th and 5th ring.
Picture credit: Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.
November 3, 2009 9:16 AM Comments (0)
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