Stumblday's hand-checked ranking of the best free things to do in Manhattan the weekend of Sep 25–27, 2026: 43 picks, refreshed weekly.
43 picks · checked Sep 7
Mulberry Street, Little Italy, ManhattanMusikAnimal · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThe feast's centrepiece: floats, celebrities and the gondola down Mulberry Street.
Mulberry Street, Little Italy, ManhattanMusikAnimal · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThe feast's centrepiece: floats, celebrities and the gondola down Mulberry Street.
Central Park, ManhattanPhotograph by Mike Peel ( www.mikepeel.net ). · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThe free, action-earned Global Citizen Festival returns to Central Park's Great Lawn with Ms. Lauryn Hill & Wyclef Jean, Lenny Kravitz, John Legend, Lainey Wilson, Shaboozey and TOMORROW X TOGETHER.
Central Park, ManhattanPhotograph by Mike Peel ( www.mikepeel.net ). · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThe free, action-earned Global Citizen Festival returns to Central Park's Great Lawn with Ms. Lauryn Hill & Wyclef Jean, Lenny Kravitz, John Legend, Lainey Wilson, Shaboozey and TOMORROW X TOGETHER.
Theater District, ManhattanFor one Sunday a year Broadway sells itself off folding tables: shows and theater organizations line West 44th and West 45th Streets with posters, props and costume pieces, with a silent auction in Shubert.
Theater District, ManhattanFor one Sunday a year Broadway sells itself off folding tables: shows and theater organizations line West 44th and West 45th Streets with posters, props and costume pieces, with a silent auction in Shubert.
Washington Heights, ManhattanDietmar Rabich · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThe American Academy of Arts and Letters reopens its Audubon Terrace galleries after a summer closure with a Yoshitaka Amano survey, alongside Arakawa and Madeline Gins' The Poetic Jump and a Christopher.
Washington Heights, ManhattanDietmar Rabich · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThe American Academy of Arts and Letters reopens its Audubon Terrace galleries after a summer closure with a Yoshitaka Amano survey, alongside Arakawa and Madeline Gins' The Poetic Jump and a Christopher.
Meatpacking District, ManhattanA 16,000-square-foot Peanuts fashion exhibition in the Meatpacking District, free and walk-in, on its final weekend. Open Friday and Saturday only; it closes before Sunday.
Meatpacking District, ManhattanA 16,000-square-foot Peanuts fashion exhibition in the Meatpacking District, free and walk-in, on its final weekend. Open Friday and Saturday only; it closes before Sunday.
The Drawing Center, SoHo, ManhattanEdward Lamson Henry · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsAsmaa Walton's 800-volume Black Art Library takes over The Drawing Center's bookstore as a free reading room. Closes Sunday.
The Drawing Center, SoHo, ManhattanEdward Lamson Henry · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsAsmaa Walton's 800-volume Black Art Library takes over The Drawing Center's bookstore as a free reading room. Closes Sunday.
Midtown, ManhattanA Miffy and Just Dutch shop inside Kinokuniya's Sixth Avenue bookstore, free to browse, in its final week.
Midtown, ManhattanA Miffy and Just Dutch shop inside Kinokuniya's Sixth Avenue bookstore, free to browse, in its final week.
Hauser & Wirth, 542 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, ManhattanKorean icon Lee Bul fills Hauser & Wirth with major new sculptures — cyborg bodies and glittering future ruins probing technology, nature and history.
Hauser & Wirth, 542 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, ManhattanKorean icon Lee Bul fills Hauser & Wirth with major new sculptures — cyborg bodies and glittering future ruins probing technology, nature and history.
Jack Shainman Gallery, 46 Lafayette Street, Tribeca, ManhattanGordon Parks' civil-rights photographs return with new written reflections from the families of Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X in a landmark Tribeca show.
Jack Shainman Gallery, 46 Lafayette Street, Tribeca, ManhattanGordon Parks' civil-rights photographs return with new written reflections from the families of Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X in a landmark Tribeca show.
The Museum of Modern Art, Midtown, ManhattanJason Persse · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThirty works of digital and analog information design in MoMA's street-level gallery, which is free and open to the public.
The Museum of Modern Art, Midtown, ManhattanJason Persse · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThirty works of digital and analog information design in MoMA's street-level gallery, which is free and open to the public.
El Museo del Barrio, East Harlem, ManhattanThe first major retrospective of Teddy Sandoval, a central figure of LA's queer Chicano avant-garde, opens at El Museo del Barrio for its New York run.
El Museo del Barrio, East Harlem, ManhattanThe first major retrospective of Teddy Sandoval, a central figure of LA's queer Chicano avant-garde, opens at El Museo del Barrio for its New York run.
Loreley Beer Garden, Lower East Side, ManhattanSix weeks of liter steins, twelve sausages and a heated Rivington Street garden, with free keg tappings Saturdays and a pig roast Sundays.
Loreley Beer Garden, Lower East Side, ManhattanSix weeks of liter steins, twelve sausages and a heated Rivington Street garden, with free keg tappings Saturdays and a pig roast Sundays.
Upper East Side, ManhattanClearview closes seventeen blocks of Lexington Avenue, from 79th to 96th Street, for one of the Upper East Side's largest street fairs.
Upper East Side, ManhattanClearview closes seventeen blocks of Lexington Avenue, from 79th to 96th Street, for one of the Upper East Side's largest street fairs.
Gagosian, 555 West 24th Street, Chelsea, ManhattanProvocateur Jordan Wolfson debuts a room of uniformly scaled new sculptures at Gagosian, each one built around found color and archival photographs.
Gagosian, 555 West 24th Street, Chelsea, ManhattanProvocateur Jordan Wolfson debuts a room of uniformly scaled new sculptures at Gagosian, each one built around found color and archival photographs.
Morningside Heights, ManhattanBroadway closes between 110th and 116th Street for the Upper Broadway Fall Fair, six blocks of food and craft vendors through Morningside Heights.
Morningside Heights, ManhattanBroadway closes between 110th and 116th Street for the Upper Broadway Fall Fair, six blocks of food and craft vendors through Morningside Heights.
Little Hell Gate Salt Marsh, Randall's Island Park, Randall's Island, ManhattanThe boardwalk gates open on a restored salt marsh, with the Natural Areas team on hand to name what you are looking at. Free, drop in.
Little Hell Gate Salt Marsh, Randall's Island Park, Randall's Island, ManhattanThe boardwalk gates open on a restored salt marsh, with the Natural Areas team on hand to name what you are looking at. Free, drop in.
Doris C. Freedman Plaza, Central Park, ManhattanTdorante10 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsBronze, stone and concrete dogs on leashes take over the Central Park entrance at 60th and Fifth — Camille Henrot's first public show in New York.
Doris C. Freedman Plaza, Central Park, ManhattanTdorante10 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsBronze, stone and concrete dogs on leashes take over the Central Park entrance at 60th and Fifth — Camille Henrot's first public show in New York.
City Hall Park, Civic Center, ManhattanMomos · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsConcrete birds pluck pennies from the City Hall Park fountain and two bronze Lady Justices preside — Genesis Belanger's first big public show.
City Hall Park, Civic Center, ManhattanMomos · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsConcrete birds pluck pennies from the City Hall Park fountain and two bronze Lady Justices preside — Genesis Belanger's first big public show.
King Jagiello Plaza, Central Park, ManhattanFree Sunday-afternoon social dancing on the plaza above Turtle Pond - swing, jump blues, hot jazz and cha chas, with lessons in the breaks.
King Jagiello Plaza, Central Park, ManhattanFree Sunday-afternoon social dancing on the plaza above Turtle Pond - swing, jump blues, hot jazz and cha chas, with lessons in the breaks.
Left on Friday, 228 Mott Street, Nolita, ManhattanThe Canadian swim label's Mott Street pop-up is in its final stretch - a full-color seasonal takeover, free to walk into.
Left on Friday, 228 Mott Street, Nolita, ManhattanThe Canadian swim label's Mott Street pop-up is in its final stretch - a full-color seasonal takeover, free to walk into.
East River Waterfront Esplanade: Pier 35, ManhattanA free trainer-led bodyweight circuit on the East River Esplanade at Pier 35 — squats and planks with harbor views, no equipment needed.
East River Waterfront Esplanade: Pier 35, ManhattanA free trainer-led bodyweight circuit on the East River Esplanade at Pier 35 — squats and planks with harbor views, no equipment needed.
Hudson Yards, ManhattanThree of McCall's solid-light works spanning fifty years, including the 1973 Line Describing a Cone and a new premiere, Swarm. Free walk-in at Sean Kelly.
Hudson Yards, ManhattanThree of McCall's solid-light works spanning fifty years, including the 1973 Line Describing a Cone and a new premiere, Swarm. Free walk-in at Sean Kelly.
Pace Gallery, 508 and 510 West 25th Street, Chelsea, ManhattanMonumental bent-metal sculptures and a new burnished clay series from Arlene Shechet, with artist-made aluminum chairs to sit and look from.
Pace Gallery, 508 and 510 West 25th Street, Chelsea, ManhattanMonumental bent-metal sculptures and a new burnished clay series from Arlene Shechet, with artist-made aluminum chairs to sit and look from.
David Zwirner, 537 West 20th Street, Chelsea, ManhattanCult painter Scott Kahn hangs moonlit, dreamlike landscapes and hushed interiors at David Zwirner — visionary scenes that feel like remembered dreams.
David Zwirner, 537 West 20th Street, Chelsea, ManhattanCult painter Scott Kahn hangs moonlit, dreamlike landscapes and hushed interiors at David Zwirner — visionary scenes that feel like remembered dreams.
Big weekends coming up — save them now, plan later.
