Things To Do
| Museums | || | Stores & Shopping | || | Tickets & Theater | || | Comedy & Poetry | || | Sports |
| Summer in NYC | || | TV Shows | || | Festivals & Parades | || | NYC Neighborhoods | || | Tourist Attractions |
Museums
Museums are an ideal form of entertainment – and they’re very cheap, especially for students. Most have “pay what you will” days, which means you can get in for as little as a penny, or even nothing at all! Here’s a quick list of the cheapest ways to access this educational form of entertainment (Arranged alphabetically):| (Central Park West @ 79th St. – C to 81St.; 1,2,3 to 79th St.) Suggested (but not required) price of $11.00 for students. Also visit Starry Nights at AMNH -- Free live jazz and tapas on the upper west side in the recently renovated Rose Planetarium. |
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| (Fordham Rd. & the Bronx River Parkway – 2, 5 to E. Tremont Ave.) It’s free on Wednesdays, and they also run fun seasonal activities like Boo at the Zoo and the Winter Lights. The babies are the best! |
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| (B, Q to Prospect Park station; 2, 3 to Eastern Parkway) $4 for students, free on Tuesdays & Saturdays all day- go see some green stuff. |
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| (2, 3 to Eastern Parkway) Always $7 for students, but it’s FREE the first Saturday of every month – they have an enormous event called First Saturdays, with music, interactive programs, Q & A, performance art, dancing, film, and more. All free. |
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| (A to 190th St.) A division of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. $10 recommended for students. (That means they can’t make you pay.) |
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| (212 W. 83rd St. – 1, 9 to 86 St.) Renew the child within. The CMOM features exhibits by the people we grew up with – Dr. Seuss, Beatrix Potter, Peanuts, and Maurice Sendak (you know, Where the Wild Things Are). $10 for adults and children. |
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| (1071 5th Ave. @ 89th St. – 4, 5, 6 to 86th St.) $15 for students, pay what you wish on Fridays, 5:45– 7:15 pm. |
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| (Broadway @ 155th St. – 1 to 157th St.) FREE. |
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| (1133 6th Ave @ 43rd St. – F, V, 7, S to 42nd St.) $8 for students. |
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| (1109 5th Ave. @ 92nd St. – 4, 5, 6 to 86th St.) $7.50 for students, Pay what you wish on Fridays, 5 – 8 pm, and free on Saturdays, 11 am – 5:45 pm. |
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| (90 Orchard St. – F to Delancey St.; J, M, Z to Essex St.) Accessible by private tour only; purchase tickets for $13 (student price) at the museum. |
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| (5th Ave. @ 82nd St. – 1, 4, 5, 6, 9, C to 86th St.) $10 suggested donation, also good for the Cloisters on the same day. |
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| (1230 5th Ave. @104th St. – 6 to 103rd St.) Students pay $4. |
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| (36-01 43rd Ave., Queens – 7 to 33rd St.) $3 for students. |
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| (11 W. 53rd St. bet. 5th and 6th ave.) $12 for students, free on Fridays from 4 pm – 8 pm. |
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| (One Bowling Green – 4, 5 to Bowling Green) FREE, always. |
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| (200th St. & Kazimiroff Blvd, Bronx – Metro North Railroad from
Grand Central Station to NY Botanical Garden) Students pay $3 for Grounds Only admission. Free Saturday 10 am – noon and Wednesday all day. |
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| (22-25 Jackson Ave. @ 46th Ave., Queens – E, V to 23rd St., Ely
Ave., walk 2 blocks south on Jackson to 46th Ave.) An offshoot of the MoMA, this contemporary art museum is an old public school. Students pay $2. FREE admission with a MoMA ticket purchased within thirty days. |
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| (200th St. & Kazimiroff Blvd, Bronx – Metro North Railroad from
Grand Central Station to NY Botanical Garden) A spectacular public garden and cultural center, overlooking the Hudson River and Palisades. $3 students, FREE all day Tuesdays, and Saturdays from 9am until noon. FREE from December – February. |
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| (954 Madison Ave. – 6 to 7th St.) $10 students, pay what you wish on Fridays from 6 – 9 pm. |
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For more museums, check out www.ny.com/museums/free.html.
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Stores & Shopping
Stores don't necessarily mean shopping! New York is home to some of the largest and most interesting stores. Sometimes just walking around and window-shopping is purely fun, free, and entertaining! We also have info for other places where shopping is affordable for the NYU student!(12th and Broadway- L, N, Q, R, W, 4, 5, 6 to Union Square) Find some great discounts somewhere in the 18 miles of used and new books or else sell your old books. |
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| Christmas in New York is magical – check out the tree at Rockefeller Center, the store windows as you wander up 5th Avenue, and organ concerts at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(5th Ave @ Columbus Circle – N, R to 57th St.) It’s crazy before the holidays but it’s such a cool place to roam around in and play with everything. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(151 W. 34th St. – B, D, F, N, Q, R, V, W to 34th St.) Home to many free, fabulous holiday extravaganzas that are true “New York Moments” such as Fourth of July fireworks, Thanksgiving Day Parade, and the Flower Show. You’re not a New Yorker until you’ve been to some of this stuff! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(N, Q, R, S, W, 1, 2, 3, or 7 to 42nd St.) You always wanted the two story Barbie Dream House and the life-sized Power Rangers, didn’t you? The store is HUGE (there’s a Ferris Wheel inside) and you can play for hours. Don’t forget about the candy store to feed your sugar high. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(Union Square South) Appearances and album signings by musical artists are common occurances. Sometimes you’ve got to buy the CD, but not always... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| These stores are cheap sources of furniture, clothes, and lots of good stuff. There are free buses that run from Port Authority to IKEA on the weekends – take the subway to Port Authority. The IKEA bus leaves every 20 minutes from gate #5 and no tickets are needed. For Jersey Gardens, a round trip ticket costs just over $7. Buy your ticket on the bus – Jersey Transit #24 and #40 or go to the Jersey Transit ticket window at Port Authority. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Flea markets are just plain fun. Start with the one on the corner of Broadway and West 4th Street, and venture outward to these (call first to confirm location and time for those that are further away or check google). |
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| Used CDs and DVDs are the way to go for your music needs. Cruise the Canal Street offerings (vendors offer most CDs for $5, DVDs for $10) and also try Disc-o-Rama on West 4th Street. They may even buy back your old music, so don’t forget to clean out your CaseLogic before you go. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Tickets & Theater
What can we say?! If you’re in New York, you have to take advantage of the shows offered… even if you are on a college student budget. Here are some alternatives to the box-office prices!|
(Right smack in the middle of Times Square) Kick off the theater season in September with performances from new shows and old favorites for free. Get there early, or you’ll have to compete with 50,000 others to see the stage. | |
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(Times Square & South Street Seaport) You have to pay cash, but you can get same-day tickets for current shows at a deep discount. It’s a best bet for when mom and dad come to visit. | |
| Want to see Broadway but can’t afford a ticket? Work for your pleasure! Sign up to usher, and after you show people to their seats, you can watch the show for free. We know of such deals at Blue Man Group, the Pearl Theatre, and Chicago. Ushers for the Lincoln Center Festival each July actually get paid! Contact the theatre for details on their policy. Don’t be scared to ask any theatre if they hire volunteer ushers! | |
| Speaking of Broadway shows, it’s always good to make yourself familiar with theatre policies on student rush tickets. Many shows offer deeply discounted prices on same-day purchases, standing room only, or ticket cancellations. Visit their website for policies about student seats for cheap. | |
| Here you’ll find listings of events in the city that are offering a limited number of student tickets for $5 on weekends and $2.50 on weekdays. It’s a great way to get into Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Broadway shows, as well as getting exposure to some smaller and lesser-known production companies. | |
| (30 Lafayette Ave. Brooklyn – 4, 5 to Atlantic Ave.) The Rose Cinemas at BAM screen independent films for a student price of $7.50 (Monday-Thursday). There are also many worthwhile events that go on here, including all kinds of dance, music, and film. The building is beautiful and their café is also great. |
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Comedy & Poetry
| This is a brand new, improvisational comedy theatre, located in Midtown Manhattan. The show has received national acclaim during their 15 year run nationwide. Performances - Friday and Saturday night at 7:30 & 9:45 p.m. Student tickets are $12. | |||||||
| Improv comedy is a cheap way to laugh the night away and there are many options surrounding campus! | |||||||
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| You can usually enjoy an entire night of slam poetry and open mic for about $4-7 cover, not including drinks. Three good venues are: | |||||||
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Sports
| Like basketball? New York Liberty tickets are much more accessible than Knicks, and cheaper too. You can also watch free basketball at the West 4th Street courts (at 6th Ave.). | |
| For baseball, check out the Staten Island Yankees. | |
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Free (or Practically Free) Summer Events in NYC
Do some research - from June through October, free concerts are everywhere in this city. Chelsea Piers, Bryant Park, Hudson River, Central Park, everywhere. Visit www.nyc.gov and click on “events.” You’ll also find listings of street fairs, fireworks displays, and more! Check out our listing of fun summer events by clicking visiting the "Special Events" section of our City guide:Back To Top
TV Shows
| If morning talk shows are your thing, ABC is the studio. Good Morning America tapes in the heart of Times Square. For tickets, call 212-580-5176. The View tapes at 320 West 66th Street (at West End Ave.) and you can request tickets online at www.abc.go.com/site/tvtickets/html. There is currently a nine-month wait for tickets, but they also have a standby policy. Since the show is live at 11 am, make sure you get there early enough to be at the head of the line. Live with Regis and Kelly also tapes at this studio, but ticket requests are on a 1-year delay. For standby, arrive at the studio (30 W. 67th St. at Columbus Ave.) by 7 am, Monday through Thursday. | |
| The Late Show with David Letterman (1697 Broadway between W. 53rd St. & W. 54th St.) is completely booked for the near future, but you can submit an online request form at www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/show_info/tickets/form. The only way to get standby tickets is to call 212-247-6497 at 11 am on the day of the show. | |
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(49th St. & Rockefeller Plaza) For free tickets to Late Night with Conan O’Brien or Last Call with Carson Daly, you can call NBC’s ticket hotline at 212-664-3056. These shows also offer standby tickets on the day of the performance, usually very early in the morning. For Saturday Night Live, expect to get on line in the early evening the night before. For exact ticket information, visit www.nbc.com/nbc/footer/Tickets.shtml. For more spontaneous, desperate attempts to see a show, you can always visit the Today Show. Notorious for its glass studio, maybe your face will make it on TV through the windows – or better yet, you can shake hands with Al Roker himself. The Today Show tapes from 7-10 am, Monday through Friday at their Rockefeller Center studio (down the street from NBC). During the summer on Fridays, Today runs concerts of famous singers outside the studio. | |
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Festivals and Parades Galore!!
| Practically every day in NYC there is some type of festival or parade celebrating a holiday, a culture, change of the season, or anything at all! The list is overwhelming, but for the current calendar of events, check out www.nycvisit.com/calendar/ (select "Calendar of Events" from the menu on the left) or www.nycstreetfairs.com/sched.html. |
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NYC Neighborhoods
Neighborhoods make this city unique. A great way to get to know the city is to familiarize yourself with local neighborhoods through cultural events and walking tours. You can go to visit these places to fully experience what NYC has to offer.| The Business Improvement District offers free 2-hour historical walking tours of Orchard Street, Sundays at 11 am from April – December. Meet at the corner of Ludlow St. and Houston St. outside Katz’s Delicatessen. | |
| The Downtown Alliance keeps updated listings of free cultural events in lower Manhattan. Every Thursday and Saturday at noon, the Alliance offers free 90-minute walking tours of Wall Street. | |
| The Village Alliance provides information on events in Greenwich Village and the businesses located here. Also, it runs free 90-minute alternative history walking tours on select Saturdays from St. Mark’s Place and 2nd Ave. | |
| (42nd St. @ Broadway – N, Q, R, S, W, 1, 2, 3, 7 to 42nd St.) Pretty much the center of Frenetic New York, this area truly never sleeps - and they never turn the lights off, either. It’s the center of the universe on New Year’s Eve when thousands of people come to watch the ball drop.There are loads of free events going on in the Times Square/Midtown area. The Times Square Visitors’ Center on Broadway between 46th and 47th Streets launches free walking tours of Times Square every Friday at noon. | |
| This site has listings of free events going on in all the parks of the city of New York. There are 19 historic house museums, which have free admission year-round, including Gracie Mansion, home of the mayor (though not the current mayor). | |
| (A, B, C, D, 1 to 59th St. Columbus Circle; N, R, Q, W, F to 57th St.) Central Park is NYC’s communal backyard – you could live here for years and never explore all that it has to offer. And it changes every season, too, so make some regular trips up to this oasis in the city. Check out the Eggstravaganza Egg Hunt, watch the row boaters in the pond, or scramble through the ramble. You can even rent Frisbees, footballs, and other stuff to play with while you’re there. You can also take a group walking tour. There are many free sporting activities as well, like swimming and yoga classes. If you enjoy bird watching, the Central Park Conservancy gives away free discovery kits including binoculars and sketching materials every Tuesday – Sunday at Belvedere Castle. In the summer, Central Park’s Summerstage offers many free concerts, ballroom dancing, and readings. Also in the summer look for the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic, and the New York Shakespeare Festival’s Shakespeare in the Park. | |
Coney Island Brooklyn (F, Q, W to Coney Island) | |
| Admission is free, it’s pretty clean, and all it’s going to cost you is the $2.00 subway ride to Brooklyn. Bring a picnic lunch. While you have to pay for the rides at the historical Coney Island amusement park, they put on a free fireworks show every Friday night at 9:30 pm. | |
Long Beach (A to Far Rockaway, then Long Island Bus to beach) | |
| Both of these beaches are free and serve as a nice release from the busy city. | |
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Tourist Attractions
| (City Hall @ Trinity St. & Vessy St.) Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to witness the amazing views of the city, and the effect of the seasons on the city's ever-changing personality. | |
| (20 W. 53rd St. – N, R, W to 49th St.) Regain your childhood by checking out the Donnell Library to see the real Winnie the Pooh and friends. It’s a different kind of library from the majestic Mid-Manhattan branch (the one with the lions) but both are great places to go for a lazy day. | |
| (1, 2, 3 to Chambers St., go west to the river, 6 blocks
north along the esplanade; or A, C, E to Canal St, go west to
the river, then 5 blocks south along the esplanade) Kayak on the Hudson for free or take free classes! (Yes, the water is clean enough to do this.) Guided trips also available – this place is a great free resource! | |
| (34th St. @ 5th Ave. – 1, 2, 3, A, C, E to 34th St./Penn Station) It’s not exactly free (admission is $18), but the view is priceless. Go at night to see the city sparkle. For more information visit www.esbnyc.com | |
| (112th St. & Amsterdam Ave. – 1, 2 to 110th St.;
or A, B, C, D to Cathedral Parkway) This Gothic Cathedral is the largest cathedral in the world! It’s still being built over 150 years later, and rebuilding is ongoing after it caught fire in winter 2001. There are tours, special concerts and exhibits, and a fabulous vertical view. Check out the celebration of St. Francis Day on the first Sunday of October at 11am – it’s a huge (and free) animal blessing on the street. | |
| (Broadway @ Whitehall St. – R. W to Whitehall St.) First of all, it is 100% free and runs 24 hours a day. Secondly, a round trip cruise will only take an hour of your time. Thirdly, you’ve got the best view of the skyline coming and going, as well as a nice little glide past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Circle Line takes 3 hours and you have to pay. Think about it. | |
| (Water Street at South St. – A, C to Broadway Nassau or
4, 5, 1, 2, J, M, Z to Fulton Street) The Seaport offers window-shopping, people watching, a decent food court, and a fabulous view of the rivers up the East River. It’s also home to a historic museum and several huge, restored sailboats and other ships, some of which you can tour. Come in October for Octoberfest, or December to see the Living Caroling Tree. And the best part? Take the South trolley downtown and it will let you off right across the street from the entrance – free transportation! | |
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