New York City on the Cheap » Midtown

Street Fair Schedule for NYC Labor Day Weekend

Evelyn Kanter — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 14:23:55 +0000

Street fairs and festivals are always free. What you buy from the food, crafts and housewares vendors is not. This is the schedule of Labor Day Weekend street fairs on Sunday and Monday:

Sunday, September 5

Broadway Festival,  on Broadway from 8th Street to 14th Street The 26th Annual Brazilian Day Festival, on 6th Ave. from 42nd – 56th St. [...]

Free Lecture on Japanese Cartoon Animation

Evelyn Kanter — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 05:36:40 +0000

The word ‘anime’ is short for Japanese “animation.” This cartoon style has been around as early 1917 and exploded in popularity in Japan in the 1960s. Learn more about it, and find out how it is different from the such American animation styles of Disney, Pixar and Avatar at a free lecture at the Mid-Manhattan Branch of [...]

iPhone App Delivers Take-Out Orders to Your Central Park Picnic

Evelyn Kanter — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 09:51:17 +0000

Through Labor Day weekend, you can order lunch, brunch or dinner from select restaurants via your iPhone, and have your meal delivered to your bench or picnic blanket in Central Park. The iPhone app is from CityMint. Delivery is limited to the Sheep Meadow. Participating restaurants include affordable (that’s another word for cheap) Upper West Side [...]

Free Shakespeare Performances in NYC Library Branches

Evelyn Kanter — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 13:42:20 +0000

Getting a ticket for the free Shakespeare in the Park series at Central Park’s Delacorte Theater means standing on line for hours in the July heat. There’s an alternative. Free Shakespeare in branches of the New York Public Library. The performances are by a troupe of professional actors and skilled amateurs who call themselves Instant Shakespeare [...]

Free Street Fairs this Weekend

Evelyn Kanter — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 07:37:47 +0000

Check out a new Big Apple neighborhood this weekend at one of the half dozen street fairs around town. Street fairs and festivals are always FREE, but they always wind up costing something, because you always find something interesting to buy from the craftspeople and food vendors.

Saturday, July 17

East Side Summer Festival, Lexington Ave. between 42nd [...]

Free Concerts by Monaco Boys Choir

Evelyn Kanter — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 09:49:18 +0000

The Monaco Boys Choir will be performing later this year at the royal wedding of Monaco Prince Albert, son of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier. Before then, you can enjoy them for FREE at two concerts in New York City. The boys are performing a combination of sacred music and Big Apple patriotic favorites in honor [...]

NYC’s First LEGO Store Opens in Rockefeller Center With Free Gifts

Evelyn Kanter — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 08:14:30 +0000

The first LEGO Store in New York City opens in Rockefeller Plaza on Tuesday, June 29th, with three days of special events and free giveaways. A team of LEGO Master Model Builders will be building a giant, 15-foot apple out of red LEGO bricks, and you are invited to help. The LEGO Big Apple is [...]

Free Career and Jobs Workshop at CUNY

Evelyn Kanter — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 13:29:12 +0000

Attend a free workshop to get advice on finding a career and a job that meets your personal values and lets you make a difference professionally. The free 90-minute seminar is led by Sean Harvey, a leading social-impact career expert and a faculty member of the Graduate Center CUNY. Be prepared to participate in this inter-active [...]

Celebrate Fleet Week 2010 in NYC

Evelyn Kanter — Wed, 26 May 2010 13:40:41 +0000

Celebrate Fleet Week 2010 NYC May 26 to June 2

Fleet Week in New York City begins today, Wednesday, May 26th with the largest parade of the year, as dozens of U.S. Navy ships sail up the Hudson River. There are Fleet Week 2010 events every day through Wednesday, June 2nd, including the opportunity to tour the ships [...]

Swimwear Show at Lord & Taylor

Evelyn Kanter — Sun, 16 May 2010 21:07:11 +0000

Lord & Taylor is suiting up with Lucky magazine’s fashion experts to help us get in the swim. It’s a free evening that includes a fashion show of latest swimwear trends plus advice to help us pick a swimsuit best suited to flatter our shape. The swim event is happening at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 20th at the NYC flagship store, 39th [...]

Ripley’s Times Square Discounts for May, Believe it or Not

Evelyn Kanter — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 05:46:41 +0000

Ripley’s describes its Believe it or Not exhibits as an “Odditorium”, but there’s nothing odd or strange about the discounts being offered for the month of May 2010. Use the coupon code VALPAK10 for discounts of $5 off the adult price and $4 off the kid price, for up to eight people at Ripley’s Timnes Square. Be [...]

Musical Instruments on Sale

Evelyn Kanter — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 09:00:08 +0000

Christie’s is having an auction of fine musical instruments, including a rare 400-year-old viola from Brescia, Italy. You might not have the $250,000 expected purchase price, but you can look — and that’s free. Instruments are on view April 24th to 27th. Christie’s in the Big Apple is at 20 Rockefeller Plaza. [...]

88 Cent Sale at JCPenney

Evelyn Kanter — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 04:34:26 +0000

Buy one item at full price, get one for 88 cents. That’s the BOGO sale at JCPenney through Saturday, April 24th. The 88 cent sale applies to clothing for men, women and children, shoes, and household linens. Also, if you apply for the JCP Rewards program before April 24th, you get a $10 certificate for each [...]

Earth Day Celebrations in NYC

Evelyn Kanter — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 19:09:18 +0000

Grand Central Terminal is home base for the 40th Anniversary celebration of Earth Day in New York. Earth Day New York kicks off April 19th with a week of activities that include events both inside and outside the historic train station. Here is some of what is planned:

a six-day indoor EarthFair in the terminal’s at Vanderbilt Hall, April 19th [...]

Easter Sunday Lamb Roast at Pera Mediterranean Brasserie

Evelyn Kanter — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 13:11:07 +0000

Go whole hog for lamb on Easter Sunday at Pera Mediterranean Brasserie which is serving an all-day feast that includes house-made lamb sausage, lamb bacon, a trio of appetizers including homemade warm hummus, a trio of sides including oven-roasted cauliflower, and, of course, special Easter roast lamb. Lamb, not ham. Pera is a charming brasserie-style bistro [...]

Cheap Tickets to Ringling Bros. Circus

Evelyn Kanter — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 12:11:54 +0000

Ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus, now called ”FUNundrum” is back in the Big Apple for its annual visit, and ticket prices are as low as $7.50 for performances through Wednesday, March 31. As always, the circus is under the big tent called Madison Square Garden.

Travelzoo is offering $15 Mezzanine [...]

Lindy Hop to 50s and 60s Music

Evelyn Kanter — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:59:48 +0000

Spend an evening dancing to the music of Elvis, Buddy Holly, Bill Haley and the Comets, Chubby Checker and other 50s and 60s favorites, at Iguana Swings. The DJs play a rotating mix of music for Lindy, West Coast Swing, Shag, and even a Cha Cha or two. It’s great fun and great exercise, and even if both of your feet [...]

Free Financial Planning for Boomers

Evelyn Kanter — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:28:45 +0000

The financial landscape has changed enormously in the last few years of economic upheaval, and there a lot new to know before you can retire. MetLife is offering a FREE financial planning lecture for Boomers. It’s being given by two of their financial planning experts, including one who is a Certified Financial Planner. The free program is Tuesday, [...]

Free Broadway Show Tunes Concert

Evelyn Kanter — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:37:49 +0000

Free Music Friday is a new series at the American Folk Art Museum. The first performance is A Musical Tribute to Broadway, featuring both classic and contemporary favorites, plus behind-the-scenes stories from actors and singers who have appeared in shows including Phantom of the Opera; Wicked, Mamma Mia, West Side Story, The Producers and Shrek.

The FREE performance is 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., [...]

One Day University on Sunday, Mar. 7

Evelyn Kanter — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:51:35 +0000

Go back to college for the day on Sunday, March 7, for the annual One Day University program. There are lectures on music, art, history, the environment, and more, delivered by top professors from top universities and colleges, including Columbia, Princeton, Harvard and Yale. And best of all, there’s no homework and no exams. Just learning. There are classes all day, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The regular one-day price is $249, but several groups are offering steep discounts. AARP has an $89 rate with coupon code AARP89. Get a $99 rate through EventMe with coupon code EM99.

The program is at the New York Hilton Hotel, 52nd St. and Sixth Ave. If you can’t attend on March 7, the program is being repeated on Sunday, April 25. Here is a sample of lecture subjects:

New Play Stars CSI Gerald McCullough

Evelyn Kanter — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 06:47:36 +0000

A new Off-Broadway show titled “Daddy” features CSI’s Gerald McCullough in the starring role. The play is about two close friends who examine their lives and their twenty year long relationship when one of them falls for a younger man. The play has a limited run, through February 13, at the TBG Arts Center, 213 West 36th Street. Performances are at [...]

Half Off New York Knicks Tickets

Evelyn Kanter — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:43:47 +0000

Love basketball? The New York Knicks have just put a block of tickets on sale at 55% off for two upcoming games, and you get a free Knicks T-shirt. There are a limited number of seats in the 300 Level and Mezzanine at Madison Square Garden are now just $20, instead of $44.50, for the Wednesday, Feb. 3 game against the Washington [...]

Free Theater Performances

Evelyn Kanter — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 09:30:24 +0000

Sundays at Six is a series of FREE performances by the Workshop Theater Company. These are readings by professional actors and actors of plays that are still works-in-progress, in a small, intimate theater. The actors sit on folding chairs, sometimes getting up and moving around to enhance their characters. There is no scenery, but there is a short discussion session after [...]

NYC Restaurant Week Begins Jan. 25

Evelyn Kanter — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:30:46 +0000

It’s enough to make you hungry. The Big Apple’s famous NYC Restaurant Week begins Monday, Jan. 25, and luckily for us, runs for two weeks, not one, through Sunday, Feb. 7. It’s a spectacular opportunity to have a three-course lunch in 266 of the city’s best restaurants for $24.07 or dinner for $35.00. Plus beverages and tips, of course. [...]

Free Yoga Classes on Sat. Jan 23

Evelyn Kanter — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:07:45 +0000

It’s called Yoga Day USA, and there are FREE yoga classes all over the United States, including right here in the Big Apple, on Saturday, Jan. 23. The free yoga day is sponsored by the national Yoga Alliance, whose mantra is ‘find upward bliss with downward dog’. The two New York City yoga studios offering free [...]