Free New York!
This is a post I've been wanting to write for a long time. Call me crazy, but I'm in love w/ New York City. I think I always have been, but living here for more than 25 years and raising my two extraordinary children here, I've come to love this city even more.
I feel so very lucky to be able to live here, and I hope everyone has the chance to visit at least once. It's one of those Bucket List things. To that end, I'm going to do my best to help you enjoy the Big Apple without going broke. There are a surprising number of free things to do in New York, but like everything, you need to do a little looking...
Let's start w/ free attractions: the Highline (an elevated freight rail line transformed into a public park), the Staten Island Ferry, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Museum of Modern Art on Friday evenings, Central Park, the Governor's Island Ferry and Parks Department pools in the summer, ice skating at Bryant Park in the winter...and on and on. All are free.
Central Park alone is a wealth of free attractions. I highly recommend the Conservatory Garden in Autumn for chrysanthemums and in Spring for tulips. It's a traditional Victorian Garden at 103rd Street and Fifth Avenue. You'll feel like you are in Europe. Of course, you've heard of Strawberry Fields, the Imagine monument to John Lennon on the West side near where he used to live at the Dakota on 72nd Street. The Carousel is a favorite - though not free - attraction for kids, but the playgrounds that dot the park are free and incredibly fun. The Central Park Zoo is also not free, but if you join the Wildlife Conservation Society, you get free admission not only to the Central Park Zoo, but the Bronx Zoo, the New York Aquarium & Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn, and the Queens Zoo...plus a really cool T-shirt!
Here's a really cool thing. Throughout the park, look for little green signs at 40 attractions that instruct you to dial 646-862-0997 and then a 2 digit number that coordinates w/ the attraction. You'll get a free history lesson/audio tour of the space by a celebrity!
If you have any kind of Bank of America credit card, on the first full weekend of every month in 2013 you can get in free at Museums all over the country. The ones in New York are:
Brooklyn Children’s Museum, El Museo del Barrio MuseodelBarrio.org, New York Historical Society
Soloman R. Guggenheim Museum, Staten Island Children’s Museum, Queens Museum of Art,
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art.
New York is a wealth of ferries - many free: Staten Island, which gives you a great view of the Statue of Liberty for free; the IKEA ferry to Red Hook, Brooklyn is free on weekends and $5 on weekdays but buy something at IKEA and they will deduct $5 off your purchase. If you have kids, go on Tuesday, when kids eat at IKEA for free! The Governor's Island Ferry is free on weekends.
Another highly recommended but not free ride on the water is the East River Ferry. $4 for a multi-stop ride around Brooklyn to 34th Street or Wall Street in Manhattan. For the price of a MetroCard, try the Roosevelt Island tram over the East River.
Now I trust you are sufficiently water-logged and might want to head back to dry land! How about a stroll around Rockefeller Center for a glance at the gorgeous murals? Across the street is St. Patrick's Cathedral. Window shopping is free and at Christmas time you cannot beat the Lord & Taylor windows, my personal favorite, but there is heavy competition from Barneys on 60th and Madison Avenue. New York at Christmas time is magical. All the stores are gussied up for the season...and if you plan to take your kids to see Santa Claus, you must go to MACY's. Their Santaland display is organized and fun and free!
Please let me know if you've found more fun, free stuff to do in NYC. I hope this gets you started!
Next time, saving money and saving the environment.
Keep calm & carry on...Lori
Central Park alone is a wealth of free attractions. I highly recommend the Conservatory Garden in Autumn for chrysanthemums and in Spring for tulips. It's a traditional Victorian Garden at 103rd Street and Fifth Avenue. You'll feel like you are in Europe. Of course, you've heard of Strawberry Fields, the Imagine monument to John Lennon on the West side near where he used to live at the Dakota on 72nd Street. The Carousel is a favorite - though not free - attraction for kids, but the playgrounds that dot the park are free and incredibly fun. The Central Park Zoo is also not free, but if you join the Wildlife Conservation Society, you get free admission not only to the Central Park Zoo, but the Bronx Zoo, the New York Aquarium & Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn, and the Queens Zoo...plus a really cool T-shirt!
Here's a really cool thing. Throughout the park, look for little green signs at 40 attractions that instruct you to dial 646-862-0997 and then a 2 digit number that coordinates w/ the attraction. You'll get a free history lesson/audio tour of the space by a celebrity!
If you have any kind of Bank of America credit card, on the first full weekend of every month in 2013 you can get in free at Museums all over the country. The ones in New York are:
Brooklyn Children’s Museum, El Museo del Barrio MuseodelBarrio.org, New York Historical Society
Soloman R. Guggenheim Museum, Staten Island Children’s Museum, Queens Museum of Art,
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art.
New York is a wealth of ferries - many free: Staten Island, which gives you a great view of the Statue of Liberty for free; the IKEA ferry to Red Hook, Brooklyn is free on weekends and $5 on weekdays but buy something at IKEA and they will deduct $5 off your purchase. If you have kids, go on Tuesday, when kids eat at IKEA for free! The Governor's Island Ferry is free on weekends.
Another highly recommended but not free ride on the water is the East River Ferry. $4 for a multi-stop ride around Brooklyn to 34th Street or Wall Street in Manhattan. For the price of a MetroCard, try the Roosevelt Island tram over the East River.
Now I trust you are sufficiently water-logged and might want to head back to dry land! How about a stroll around Rockefeller Center for a glance at the gorgeous murals? Across the street is St. Patrick's Cathedral. Window shopping is free and at Christmas time you cannot beat the Lord & Taylor windows, my personal favorite, but there is heavy competition from Barneys on 60th and Madison Avenue. New York at Christmas time is magical. All the stores are gussied up for the season...and if you plan to take your kids to see Santa Claus, you must go to MACY's. Their Santaland display is organized and fun and free!
Please let me know if you've found more fun, free stuff to do in NYC. I hope this gets you started!
Next time, saving money and saving the environment.
Keep calm & carry on...Lori
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