For the updated version of this post, check out 29 Free Things To Do in New York City.
Starting May 3rd, every Thursday throughout the summer, creative bloggers from around the web are going to guest post and show us 10 fun, free, family friendly things to do in their city! Today we’re kicking off the upcoming series with one of my very favorite cities! I bring you 29 free things to do in NYC, NY!
29 fun, free, family friendly things to do in NYC
1: Take a cheesy, sweet picture in front of the love sculpture at 6th Avenue and W. 55th.
2: Borrow a bag of fun from north meadow recreation center. A photo ID will get you a wealth of bats, balls, Frisbee, jump ropes, and hula hoops. Just ask for it! Call 212-348-4867 for more information. The address is mid-park at 97th st.
3: Walk/jog/skip/rent a bike across the Brooklyn Bridge. Bring a camera and take pictures of the Manhattan skyline… or the bridge 🙂
4: Take the free Staten Island ferry for great views of Lady Liberty. Try to avoid the rush hour ferry from 5-6. Enjoy a free ride around the New York Harbor and lots of fun photo ops. You will never have to wait more than 30 minutes for the next ferry!
5: Visit the Hello Deli from David Letterman take a picture with Rupert. The sandwiches are yummy too.
6. Get free tickets to live taping of a live TV show! We’ve been to David Letterman. Remember, this requires planning ahead.
Here are some shows to see:
- The Daily Show
- Late Night w/ David Letterman
- The Dr. Oz Show
- Late night with Jimmy Fallon call: 212-664-3056
- Saturday night live email: [email protected] Enter a lottery for the entire season in August.
- The Martha Stewart Show
- The Rachel Ray Show
- Good Morning America
7: Sony Wonder Technology Lab. It’s free admission to a 4 story interactive technology wonderland! This is a must do for kids. Call (212) 833-8100 to reserve tickets 7 days to 3 months before you plan to visit. The hours are: Tue- Sat 10-5 Sun 12-5. The address is 550 Madison Ave. at 56th St.
8: Roosevelt Island is a tiny island between Manhattan and Queens. The tram from Manhattan to the island is a 4 minute ride and offers spectacular views. It has been praised in the New York Times as “the most exciting view in New York City!” It costs $2.25 each way ($4 for a round trip) and students with tram permits ride free.
THIS fun restaurant is right around the corner from the tram [on the Manhattan side]…
have you ever tried frozen hot chocolate? YUM!
9: Visit the World Trade Center Site and check out the memorial at the St. Paul’s Chapel.
FYI: Century 21…a wonderful discount department store is right across the street.
Here is a post I recently did on 9/11.
I took this picture in 2008. The WTC site looks drastically different now.
10: Kayak in the Hudson for free at the Downtown Boathouse.They offer free kayaking from middle of May to the middle of October, and on many weekday evenings, weather permitting. Check the Calendar for specific dates. You can launch a free kayak from Pier 40, Pier 96 and 72nd Street. Be prepared to get a little wet!
11: Relax in the Strawberry Gardens, a 2.5 acre area of Central Park that pays tribute to the late Beatle, John Lennon, singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist of Central park. Strawberry gardens is on the west side at 72nd st].
12: A fun free, night time summer event activity requires a little patience– stand in line, for tickets to Shakespeare in the Park for FREE @ the Delacorte theatre 🙂 This summer there are 2 shows playing –always starts at 8…The Merchant of Venice and The winter’s Tale!
13: Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. Free admission.
14: Prospect Park- a 585-acre oasis in the heart of Brooklyn!! with lots of FREE fun for the kiddos including playgrounds, nature trails, carousel ride [$2.00], paddle boats, picnic tables, BBQ pits, and lots more!
15: Bronx Zoo – Pay what you want on Wednesdays! This zoo and can definitively be an ALL day event [take the subway: #2 or #5 train to East Tremont Ave/West Farms Square. At street level, walk straight ahead (follow train uptown) on Boston Road 21⁄2 blocks to the Zoo’s Asia gate entrance (Gate A)]
16: Socrates Sculpture garden– Always free admission- Take the subway- Monday through Friday take the N or W train to the Broadway stop in Queens and walk eight blocks west on Broadway (toward the East River) to the intersection of Vernon Boulevard. On Saturday and Sunday, take the N train to the Broadway stop.
17: Grand Central Station. The current look of Grand Central was completed and open to the public in 1913. Grand Central is “constructed of glass and steel, the 100-foot wide by 650-foot long structure rivaled the Eiffel Tower and Crystal Palace for primacy as the most dramatic engineering achievement of the 19th century”. There are lots of shops. My must stop place is Magnolia Bakery for a cupcake.
18. 5th Avenue. Window shop at all the fancy stores, check out St. Patrick’s Cathedral, see the famous Plaza Hotel, dare to go in the Apple Store glass cube (there is usually a long line), go into the famous FAO Schwarz toy store, admire the fancy uptown apartments as you head north along Central Park.
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Apple retail store is open 24/7:
The Plaza is right across the street from the Apple Store:
19: MoMA: Free every Friday from 4 pm to 8 pm. Get there early, the line can wrap around the block! This is my favorite museum in NYC. The address is:11 West 53 Street. Call
212-708-9400 for more information.
20: Whitney Museum of American Art: Pay what you want Fridays from 6 pm to 9 pm! Under 18 is always free.
21: Hudson River Park: Bring a picnic and enjoy the grass, sunshine, and great people watching!
22: Try to find the NYC Naked Cowboy in Times Square. I’ve also seen him roller skating the streets around Union Park! HERE is a little preview via you tube!
23: The New York City Fire Museum has free admission and is located on 278 Spring Street. The New York City fire Museum occupies a renovated 1904 Beaux-Arts firehouse built for Engine Company 30. The original apparatus doors, house watch entrance, stone floor, brass sliding pole and hose tower remind visitors of the building’s former role.Call (212) 691-1303 for more information.
24: Take a FREE tour of The Federal Reserves Bank of NY. Take the Gold Vault Tour Monday through Friday, except Bank holidays, at 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. The tour lasts approximately 60 minutes. To accommodate for security screening, arrive 20 minutes before your tour.
25. Rent bikes. While this is not free, it is personally one of my favorite things to do in Manhattan. You can usually find a groupon to help with cost. You can rent bikes from lots of places including Bike and Roll, Gotham Bikes, or Hudson Urban Bike Rentals (this is the cheapest I’ve found for $30 a day). Ride the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway. A 32- mile long walking and bike path around the island of Manhattan. I suggest the Hudson River Greenway because the entire path is separated from traffic and follows the river. You can rent tandems too :)
26. Union Square. Take a free, 90-minute walking tour Saturdays at 2 PM. The tour departs from the Abraham Lincoln Statue located along the 16th Street transverse. Here are the details. I love attending the farmers market every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 8 AM – 6 PM. Union square comes alive at night and hosts street performers every night of the week.
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27. Self Guided Walking Tours through the neighborhoods. Here is fun map of all of the Manhattan neighborhoods. I suggest the China Town walking tour. This route is 1.6 miles and should include a stop for dumplings. I also love Greenwhich Village where you can see John Wilkes Booth and Mark Twains houses, the “Friends” Apartment building, and the narrowest home in NYC (10 feet wide)! This is a 3.5 mile stroll.
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China Town:
And there you have it, 27 fun, free, family friendly things to do in NYC. Do you have any other must do things to add to my list? I’d love to hear…
28. The High Line Park. The High Line was originally built to ensure safer travels for trains and cars in the early 1930’s. Before 1930, 10th avenue was nicknamed Death Avenue because of all of the train and street traffic accidents. The growth of interstate trucking led to a decline in the use of railroads and the high line. The last train runs on the high line in 1980. The park is renovated and fully opened to the public in June of 2011. Read more history here.
29. Chelsea Market. This market is located below the High Line at 15th Street. This is an always changing venue complete with restaurants, bakeries, markets, artists, and a flea market. Grab the kids lunch and a cupcake, while you browse the cuteness. It is open Monday – Saturday from 7am to 9pm and Sundays from 8am to 7pm.
And there you have it… 29 free things to do in NYC. Have you and your family ever been to NYC? Do you love it? Do you hate it? Would you ever want to live there? What’s your favorite thing to do in in NYC? I’d love to hear.
p.s. take a cupcake tour of downtown Manhattan
p.p.s. Tales of a Trophy Wife let me know that “NYC loves the military. With a military ID you can get your entire family in free to: Museum of Natural History, and the MOMA. The USO often times gives away free Broadway tickets. The Navy Lodge on Staten Island is great and well under $100/a night for the entire family.” Check out the comments for more great tips!
I forgot to “Thank You” for this and if you have anything to add for December 1-3…I’m going for the Tree Lighting Ceremony, I’m sure I won’t be back..I have Cancer, so I want to see as much as I can in 3 days. Not much money to work with and your list has given me something else to look forward to. I actually bought the airline tickets 21 years ago and they are still good. Now to find the least costly accomodation for my little “Bucket List” trip….
How can I find all the other cities that you had a post about in this series? Do you have a list of links somewhere?
Thanks
Hi Laura! Here is a link to a list of all of the cities! http://www.creatingreallyawesomefunthings.com/c-r-a-f-t-trips/
I feel so lucky to live just 45 minutes away from this wonderful city! We don't go as often as we should but I am saving this post for our next visit!
Isn't that awesome?! The city is super supportive of the military. We did this and when we went to see the ball drop on New Years Eve we got let into the closed sections so we ended up being right by the side stage where all the Broadway shows performed.
This is super handy- my husband and I are going to NYC in a few weeks, for the first time. Perfect timing for this post, thanks!
I will be linking up a post about things to do in the Black Hills, South Dakota, my hometown. Bet you won't get many posts from there! (there's not too many of us)!
Wow, that is amazing!!! Too bad we didn't know all that when we were in NYC for a day… we've seen almost nothing 🙁
Thanks for sharing!!! I will definitly search this post again, when we're planing to go there again!!!
Rita @ martenssmily
Oh yea! I've been waiting for this since I will be there for 2 months this summer-I haven't done some of those-thanks for the tips!
Thank you for the tips 🙂 Just another wonderful thing about NYC!
This is an awesome list! Never been to NYC before– now I really want to!
If you work for a big corporation check with them too. My hubby worked for Citi when we were there last and we got into a bunch of museums for free too.
I love it! The bag of fun…SO FUN!
You and your BF are SO CUTE!
If you are in uniform, you can ride up to the top of the Empire State Building for free.
We love NYC. FYI NYC loves the military. With a military ID you can get your entire famiy in free to: Museum of Natural History, and the MOMA. The USO often times gives away free broadway tickets. The Navy Lodge on Staten Island is great and well under $100/a night for the entire family.
Our other fav free activitiess: Central Park, [email protected] TImes Square, FAO Schwarz and the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and watching them blow up the big balloons the afternoon before.
My daughter and I also love, love, love MOOD Fabrics. 3 stories of fabric heaven. They have lots of outfits and other things from Project Runway. I guess it's free to get in, but we sure didn't make it out of there w/out spending $.