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This weekend, celebrate 233 years of our country’s independence, so it's a good opportunity to go beyond the standard cookout and rejoice in something else Americans value: free events!
Saturday, the Fourth of July, brings Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. Last year, Joey Chesnut of San Jose, Calif., was crowned champion after scarfing down 59 hot dogs in 10 minutes -- plus five more in overtime. The event at Nathan’s Famous in Coney Island (1310 Surf Ave, at Stillwell) begins at 10 a.m. with performances, followed by an 11 a.m. introduction of participants (sign-up is closed) and the noon contest.
Also on Saturday, indie rock darling Jenny Lewis (of Rilo Kiley) will join Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band in Battery Park at 3:30 p.m., as part of the River To River Festival. Space is first come, first serve. For future events coinciding with River To River, visit the festival's website.
And of course, Macy’s Fireworks, this year along the Hudson, caps off the day. Billed as the largest Fourth of July fireworks display in America, this year's "pyrotechnic extravaganza” also celebrates the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s historic voyage. As usual, the New York Pops will set the soundtrack in collaboration with award-winning composers and musicians, performing “American River.” Access points and further information can be found here.
On Sunday, mark the holiday with a Revolutionary War Walking Tour presented by the South Street Seaport Museum, free for members and $5 for non-members. Learn about the conflict and the crucial role New York played in the advent of independence. The tour is from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and starts at 12 Fulton Street.
And from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. that afternoon, Summerstage, Central Park's free summer venue provides African-inspired music by Oumou Sangare, Les Nubians and Asa. The three are billed as “pioneering African and Afropean chanteuses.”
- Celebrating All Things Free
- Block Party Weekend
- Art in the Parks
- Mutton and Movies
- Bike Around the Island
- All Aboard the Art Train
- Clipped Wings?
- DUMBO for Design
- Broadway in Brooklyn
- New York's Quadricentennial
- Broadway and Its Buildings
- A Ravaged South Bronx
- A Bridge Centennial
- Art in the Armory and Beyond
- Another 100 Days
- Under the Sidewalk
- Talking with Architects
- Beyond Astroland
- The Queens International
- Letters to Obama
- Drawings of a Changing Borough
- Green Day
- Green 'Ice"
- Tale of Two Cities
- Our Dutch Heritage
- Art with Heart
- Political Parties
- Fright Week
- Tour de Bronx
- Brooklyn Storefronts
July 3, 2009
New York City Trivia Rumble!
What subway line would you take to get from Yankee Stadium to Coney Island? On what street was Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti album cover shot? Which direction does traffic flow on Central Park East?
Test your New York City knowledge against other neighborhood know-it-alls at this popular trivia event held the first Friday of every month at the Bowery Poetry Club. Compete for fun, prizes and bragging rights and meet some pretty interesting New Yorkers. The event consists of three-rounds of questions, a speed round, and a stump the panel segment with guest historians, authors and tour guides.
This is a fund-raising event for the East Village History Project fund raiser, a non-profit organization dedicated to researching and documenting the history of the greater Lower East Side of Manhattan.
For more information contact: Eric Ferrara at 212 614-8702; eric@eastvillagevisitorscenter.com
Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery
6:00PM - 7:30PM
Cost: $6
Posted By: Gotham Gazette
July 4, 2009
Tour of C.B.J. Snyder Schools on the Lower East Side Tour
Superintendent of school building from 1891 to 1923 during the glory days of public education, C.B.J. Snyder designed nearly 400 schools and additions. Replacing unsafe, unsanitary factory-like buildings, his “palaces of the people” (Jacob Riis' phrase) convey Progressive and reform beliefs in light, play, health, good ventilation, schools as neighborhood anchors. This walk will look at six of his Lower East Side schools
Meet in the park on the southeast corner of Houston and Christie Street
10:00AM - 12:00PM
Cost: $15; MAS members, $10
Posted By: Gotham Gazette
Williamsburg Walks, Bedford Avenue
Promoting the enjoyment of Northside Brooklyn, both on Bedford Avenue and beyond, this event invites the community to come together, shop, stroll, socialize and enjoy activities in an area unobstructed by traffic. Activities will include free community classes from the YMCA, local art from the Gallery Association, chalk art for the children, urban gardening classes from the North Brooklyn CSA and more!
Similar events wil take place every Saturday through July 11.
For more information please e-mail williamsburgwalks@gmail.com or visit Williamsburg Walks.
Bedford Avenue (from N. 4th to N. 9th Street)
12:00PM - 9:00PM
Cost: Free
Posted By: Gotham Gazette
Nathan's Famous July 4 Hot Dog Eating Contest
Nathan's Famous is having its annual Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island. Covered by ESPN, the event will pit two-time champion Joey Chestnut against six-time champion Takeru Kobayashi.
1310 Surf Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11224
12:00PM - 1:00PM
Cost: Free
Posted By: Gotham Gazette
July 5, 2009
Historic Flatiron Walking Tour
The Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership is sponsoring free weekly walking tours of the historic Flatiron district. Guides lead a 90-minute journey through this vibrant neighborhood viewing landmarks, including the New York Life Insurance building, the MetLife tower, the Appellate Courthouse and the famous Flatiron Building.
Tours meet at 11 a.m. every Sunday year-round. For more information, please call 212 741-2323, or visit Historic Flatiron."
Southwest corner of Madison Square Park, at 23rd Street and Broadway in front of the William Seward statue
11:00AM - 12:30PM
Cost: Free
Posted By: Gotham Gazette
A Saint in New York Tour
Pierre Toussaint arrived in New York in 1797 at age 16 and as a slave in the company of his master and mistress. He became New York’s most sought-after hairdresser, with an expertise in designing the elaborate coiffures of the 19th century. While still a slave, he could have been one of the city’s wealthiest men, had he not given away everything he earned to the poor and to institutions that cared for them.
Follow in Toussaint’s footsteps from Reade St. to St. John’s Park to the Battery and learn why he was the jewel of antebellum New York.
Bring a Metro card.
Meet at Pierre Toussaint Square, corner of Church and Barclay streets, opposite Old St. Peter’s Church
1:00PM - 3:00PM
Cost: $15; MAS members $10
Posted By: Gotham Gazette
July 7, 2009
Smart Seniors Program Comes to Brooklyn
A representative from Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office will speak to the public on consumer fraud issues as a part of the statewide Smart Seniors Program. Rebecca Culley, assistant attorney general of program development in Cuomo’s New York office, will inform participants about how to best avoid consumer scams that frequently target seniors, such as sweepstakes, mail orders and identity theft.
Jay Harama Senior Center, 2600 Ocean Ave., Brooklyn
10:30AM -
Cost: Free
Posted By: Gotham Gazette
The Rights of Relatives as Parents in Family Court
This is a free workshop on custody, kinship foster care, child support, and visitation. The workshop is given by LIFT, a non-profit organization in New York City that helps people without lawyers represent themselves in their Family Court cases.
For more information about LIFT, visit LIFT. If you have questions about your Family Court case. call the Family Law Information Hotline at 212 343-1122, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
350 Broadway, Room 400
5:30PM - 7:00PM
Cost: None
Posted By: Gotham Gazette
Cool Green Edge: Central Park West Tour
The distinctive skyline of Central Park West tells the story of changing fashions and attitudes in architecture and planning over a 150-year period. This tour uncovers the layers of architectural and landscape history from the Dakota to Columbus Circle.
Meet at the northeast corner of Central Park West and West 72nd Street
6:00PM - 8:00PM
Cost: $15; MAS members, $10
Posted By: Gotham Gazette
Midsummer Night Swing
Midsummer Night Swing heats up Damrosch Park with the rhythms that keep New York dancing. This year brings out swing, salsa, tango, rockability and much more, showcasing fine musicians and DJs from this country and abroad. for dance fanatics, enthusiastic beginners, and everyone in between.
The dancing goes on for three weeks in July. Check out music and videos at Midsummer Night Swing.
Damrosch Park, Amsterdam Avenue and West 62nd Street
6:30PM - 10:00PM
Cost: Single tickets $15
Posted By: Gotham Gazette
Preserving New York's Smallest Islands: Ellis Island
The restored Ferry Terminal Building is only part of the architecture of Ellis Island. There were extensive hospital facilities to treat immigrants before they settled in New York City. Learn more about the buildings and the people who worked there.
New York Public Library, 524 Main St., Roosevelt Island
6:30PM - 8:00PM
Cost: Free
Posted By: Gotham Gazette
July 8, 2009
Attorney General's Community Forum
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's Community Partnership Initiative continues in Manhattan where he and his executive team will hold a community-wide forum for residents of New York City in Washington Heights. This initiative is designed to make the Ofoice more responsive to the needs of New York's communities.
The forum will be co-hosted by State Assemblymember Adriano Espaillat. It will be translated in Spanish and in American Sign Language and will be accessible to individuals with disabilities. Members of the public are invited to the forum to discuss issues about which the attorney general's office might be helpful.
Topics will include: health care, immigrants rights and consumer fraud and Identity theft.
S.T.A.R. Senior Center, 650 W. 187th St.
2:00PM - 4:00PM
Cost: Free
Posted By: Gotham Gazette
Music on the Oval
Music on the Oval, a unique outdoor summer concert series, will bring the sweet sounds of rock, funk, reggae, and soul to the famed Stuyvesant Town Oval every Wednesday night until July 15. The free family-friendly concerts start at 7 p.m. with a DJ show at 6 p.m.
The July 8 concert features Forro in the Dark, the Big Apple’s pre-eminent practitioners of forro, a northeastern Brazilian party music part samba and part country soul, that’s been setting Nublu a-dancing since 2002. DJ Probus will get things started.
For more information, call(212 598-5296 or visit Stuytown.
Between 16th and 18th Streets and Avenues A and B; enter at First Avenue and 16th Street
6:00PM - 10:00PM
Cost: Free
Posted By: Gotham Gazette
Hudson River Valley Lecture Series
This talk -- the finals one in the Institute of Classical Architecture and Classical America's series on the architecture, landscape and artistic legacy of the Hudson River Valley -- is titled "Edgewater: Building Classical Architecture along the Hudson River." IY will be given by Michael Middleton Dwyer, architect and editor.
RSVP required. Call 212 730-9646 ext. 109 or go to Classicist.
$20 per lecture Gen Admin; $65 for full series
General Society Library, 20 W. 44th St.
6:30PM -
Cost: $20; ICA&CA members, students free
Posted By: Gotham Gazette
Housing Advocate Thank You Party
This appreciation party and discussion will feature urban historian Kenneth Jackson, policy expert Sarah Ludwig and housing organizer Michelle O'Brian
Please RSVP by July 7 to preddy@queensmuseum.org or 718 592–9700 etx. 222.
Directions may be found at Queens Museum..
Queen Museum of Art, Flushing Meadows Corona Park
7:00PM - 9:00PM
Cost: Free
Posted By: Gotham Gazette
July 9, 2009
Mandela Day Installation Debut @ Grand Central Terminal's Vanderbilt Hall
46664 and the Nelson Mandela foundation will preview a Ralph Appelbaum Associates designed interactive installation in honor of Nelson Mandela. The free installation debuting to the public the afternoon of July 9 will be open daily through July 22 from 7:30 am–7:30 pm. The Mandela installation features six illuminated 3-D action words: act, listen, lead, unite, learn and speak, highlighting Nelson Mandela’s lifelong struggle against apartheid and other social injustice, and aiming to motivate our own potential for positive social change. Designer Ralph Appelbaum and the International Director of 46664, Tim Massey, will be available to speak about Mr. Mandela’s humanitarian efforts and the special events in New York surrounding Mandela Day.
The installation is part of a series of events culminating with the star-studded Mandela Day concert at Radio City Music Hall on July 18, Nelson Mandela’s 91st birthday. See Calendar for more information on the Mandela Day concert.
Vanderbilt Hall, Grand Central Terminal. 87 East 42nd St
10:00AM -
Cost: None
Posted By: Gotham Gazette
Financial Literacy
This is a free workshop on how to make a plan to pay your bills.
The workshop is located at LIFT, a non-profit organization in New York City that helps people without lawyers represent themselves in their Family Court cases. For more information about LIFT visit LIFT. For questions about your Family Court case, call the Family Law Information Hotline at 212 343-1122, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
350 Broadway, Room 400
5:30PM - 7:00PM
Cost: None
Posted By: Gotham Gazette

