Best Free Things To Do in NYC This Week

“The quality and quantity of free events, free things to do that take place in New York City every day of the year is truly amazing. So don’t miss the opportunities that only New York provides: stop wondering what to do; start taking advantage of free things to do, free events to go to in NYC today!”

Join Club Free Time – I did, and it’s one of the best things I ever did. Here is a sample of FREE events this week. Get more information by going to the Club Free Time website.

Best FREE Things to do this Week

Monday, July 19, 2021

Mon, Jul 19 – 7:00 pm / free
Classical Music | Summer Serenades: Orchestra of St. Luke’s Musicians Perform Bernstein, Stravinsky, Joplin and More
Orchestra of St. Luke’s (OSL) musicians play wind quintet favorites by Stravinsky and Ibert, as well … more

Mon, Jul 19 – 7:30 pm / free
Opera | Met Opera: Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (virtual, streaming for 23 hours)
One of the most frequently performed operas in the world, The Marriage of Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro … more

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Tue, Jul 20 – 1:00 pm / free, tip-supported, booking required
Tour | Peru’s Cusco: The Inca Capital (virtual, live-stream)
Take a journey around the most important places in Cusco and learn about the beginning of the Inca c … more

Tue, Jul 20 – 6:30 pm / free
Jazz | The New York Swing Orchestra and A Tenor
Tenor Sean Mahony and The New York Swing Orchestra will perform well-loved classics to get you movin … more

Tue, Jul 20 – 7:30 pm / free
Classical Music | Period Instrument Orchestra and Soprano Perform Purcell and More
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra; Richard Egarr, conductor; Rowan Pierce, soprano … more

Wednesday, July 21, 2021

Wed, Jul 21 – 12:00 pm / free, tip-supported, booking required
Tour | Dubrovnik: Marvelous Old Town with Medieval Architecture (virtual, live-stream)
Old town Dubrovnik is a beautifully preserved architectural and historical jewel of Adriatic. On thi … more

Wed, Jul 21 – 3:00 pm / free
Classical Music | Summer Serenades: Orchestra of St. Luke’s Musicians Perform Bernstein, Stravinsky, Joplin and More
Orchestra of St. Luke’s (OSL) musicians play wind quintet favorites by Stravinsky and Ibert, as well … more

Wed, Jul 21 – 6:00 pm / free; no reservation required
Classical Music | Ensemble Connect: Baroque to Cutting Edge
The brilliant musicians of Ensemble Connect bring thrilling virtuosity and energy to everything they … more

Thursday, July 22, 2021

Thu, Jul 22 – 6:30 pm / Pay what you can
Play | Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost
Love’s Labour’s Lost is one of Shakespeare’s early comedies, believed to have been written … more

Thu, Jul 22 – 7:00 pm / free; no reservation required
Concert | Eli Fola: Saxophone Genius
Eli Fola is a Nigerian-born, New York- and Tulum-based multidisciplinary sound artist, saxophonist, … more

Friday, July 23, 2021

Fri, Jul 23 – 12:00 pm / free
Opera | Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin: 2007 Recording with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (virtual, streaming until Jul 30)
The opera is a radiant example of Russian lyric opera. The plot is based on Alexander Pushkin’s 1825 … more

Fri, Jul 23 – 7:00 pm / free; RSVP required
Play | King Lear — with a Happy Ending
This version of King Lear by William Shakespeare will employ Nahum Tate’s 1681 “happy endin … more

Saturday, July 24, 2021

Sat, Jul 24 – 4:00 pm / free; RSVP required
City Walk | Battery Park City Tour: The Business Core
The second of the Skyscraper Museum’s three thematic walking tours of Battery Park City covers the m … more

Sat, Jul 24 – 7:30 pm free
Opera | Met Opera: Verdi’s Il Trovatore with Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Anna Netrebko (virtual, streaming for 23 hours)
Verdi’s Il Trovatore (The Troubadour) is a staple of the standard operatic … more

Sunday, July 25, 2021

Sun, Jul 25 – 10:00 am / free
Fair | Flea Market in Brooklyn: Art, Jewelry, Antiques and More
Shop for vintage clothing, furniture, collectibles, antiques, jewelry, art, handicrafts, and more. E … more

Sun, Jul 25 – 11:00 am / free; no reservation required
Tour | Historic Flatiron District Walking Tour
Join a professional guide on a 90-minute journey through this vibrant neighborhood, viewing some of … more

Sun, Jul 25 – 6:00 pm / free
Concert | Jazz Trio with ‘the best jazz guitarist Japan has ever produced’ – All About Jazz
Jazz guitarist/composer Nobuki Takamen’s music draws influence from Paul Simon, James Taylor, Jimi H … more

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If you are looking for some of the best info on food and drink, restaurants and eating in New York City, then you want to head to New York magazine’s Grub Street.

Right now you want to check out: The Return of Restaurants

“Make up for lost meals. No takeout, no pasta kits, just 66 of the best new (or newly relevant) places to eat.”
Edited by Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld, Photographs by Dina Litovsky

Here are 3 more of my faves:

Hang Out in New York’s Best-Smelling Vestibule

Frenchette Bakery / 220 Church St.

Last fall, the abandoned Arcade Bakery space came back to life as Frenchette Bakery, ready to fulfill the carb-craving needs of Tribeca moms, the doctors in the medical practices upstairs, and passersby lured in by the sweet, yeasty promise of croissants and baguettes. Happily, the new owners have retained a big part of what made Arcade so special. Its unique design, using drop-down table ledges and inset benches, transforms a generic hallway into a gathering place for impromptu meetings, shared pizza lunches, and the kind of coffee breaks office workers never knew they’d miss. The bakers line the display case with their own enticements, too: exceptional loaves of sourdough and rye; savory breakfast pastries like the mortadella, egg, and Comté; and rich and flaky pain au chocolat. —Adam Moussa

Follow Your Nose to Great Bronx BBQ

Hudson Smokehouse / 37 Bruckner Blvd., Mott Haven

This recently opened barbecue joint is located at the southern tip of the Bronx on a street once populated by antiques shops, and you can smell the ’cue as you walk by. The corral seating in front catches the sun during the daytime, and inside there’s a high-ceilinged room where social distancing isn’t a problem. The meats include great fatty brisket, pork ribs worth gnawing, and pork-belly burnt ends that make deliriously good bacon. Even the beer list, with many mugs originating in the Bronx, draws you in.—R.C.S.

Start With Salteñas in Sunnyside

Bolivian Llama Party / 44-14 48th Ave., Sunnyside

The Oropeza brothers have pulled off a rare pandemic feat: They closed their tiny takeout outpost in midtown, which focused on soupy salteñas (Bolivia’s take on the empanada), and rebooted in Sunnyside with a sit-down location serving creative South American fare. On any given Saturday, a young crowd may show up to eat (and ’gram) craggy fried-chicken chicharrón sandwiches with spicy Llajua-spiked mayo, stark white bowls of sopa de maní (peanut soup), vegan “chola” sandwiches crammed full of charred jackfruit instead of the usual pork, and cherimoya birthday-cake ice cream. The best time to swing by is just before dusk, when you can grab a seat on the streetside terrace and take in the Empire State Building framed against a pink sky while Andean music plays from the storefront.—R.P.S.

Also see Eater New York’s interactive map that highlights
all 66 restaurants that deserve your attention.