Hand-picked every week — checked against organizers’ own pages.
Stumblday's hand-checked ranking of the best cheap things to do in New York City the weekend of Oct 2–4, 2026: 12 picks, refreshed weekly.
12 picks · checked Sep 28
New York Historical, Upper West Side, ManhattanSarah_Ackerman from New York, USA · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsMore than 100 handmade Black dolls collected by artist Betye Saar go on view as a promised gift to New York Historical.
New York Historical, Upper West Side, ManhattanSarah_Ackerman from New York, USA · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsMore than 100 handmade Black dolls collected by artist Betye Saar go on view as a promised gift to New York Historical.
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Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Morningside Heights, ManhattanHyoshida · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsA 23-foot globe made from NASA imagery of Earth's surface, suspended and rotating in the cathedral nave.
Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Morningside Heights, ManhattanHyoshida · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsA 23-foot globe made from NASA imagery of Earth's surface, suspended and rotating in the cathedral nave.
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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.
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The Studio Museum in Harlem, Harlem, ManhattanJulie Mehretu, Alma Thomas, Jack Whitten and William T. Williams anchor a Studio Museum show on geometry as a way of thinking, newly opened in Harlem.
The Studio Museum in Harlem, Harlem, ManhattanJulie Mehretu, Alma Thomas, Jack Whitten and William T. Williams anchor a Studio Museum show on geometry as a way of thinking, newly opened in Harlem.
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Storm King Art Center, New Windsor / Mountainville, Hudson ValleyAnicka Yi's first big outdoor work grows microbes in glowing columns at Storm King's 500 acres — peak-foliage sculpture, open the holiday Monday
Storm King Art Center, New Windsor / Mountainville, Hudson ValleyAnicka Yi's first big outdoor work grows microbes in glowing columns at Storm King's 500 acres — peak-foliage sculpture, open the holiday Monday
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The Met Fifth Avenue, Upper East Side, ManhattanThe first US exhibition ever devoted to the Savonnerie: Louis XIV's monumental Grande Galerie carpets, in their debut weekend at the Met.
The Met Fifth Avenue, Upper East Side, ManhattanThe first US exhibition ever devoted to the Savonnerie: Louis XIV's monumental Grande Galerie carpets, in their debut weekend at the Met.
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Grounds For Sculpture, Hamilton, New JerseyForty-two acres of accredited arboretum holding 300-plus contemporary sculptures, including Seward Johnson's uncanny life-size tableaux. It stays open to 9pm Friday and the evening ticket is $15.
Grounds For Sculpture, Hamilton, New JerseyForty-two acres of accredited arboretum holding 300-plus contemporary sculptures, including Seward Johnson's uncanny life-size tableaux. It stays open to 9pm Friday and the evening ticket is $15.
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Wave Hill, Glyndor Gallery, Riverdale, BronxAndre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsSound work tracing the Bronx, New Orleans and the Sonoran Desert, shown in a Hudson-view gallery inside a Riverdale public garden.
Wave Hill, Glyndor Gallery, Riverdale, BronxAndre Carrotflower · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsSound work tracing the Bronx, New Orleans and the Sonoran Desert, shown in a Hudson-view gallery inside a Riverdale public garden.
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The Museum of Modern Art, Midtown, ManhattanMoMA opens a century of animation from its own collection, from early hand-drawn cells to contemporary experiments.
The Museum of Modern Art, Midtown, ManhattanMoMA opens a century of animation from its own collection, from early hand-drawn cells to contemporary experiments.
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Dia Beacon, Beacon, Hudson ValleyRenée Green's long-running Dia Beacon presentation closes — the last four days fall exactly across this holiday weekend.
Dia Beacon, Beacon, Hudson ValleyRenée Green's long-running Dia Beacon presentation closes — the last four days fall exactly across this holiday weekend.
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Queens Museum, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, QueensOptimumPx · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThe paperwork behind the Panorama of the City of New York, the 9,335-square-foot model of all five boroughs built for the 1964 World's Fair.
Queens Museum, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, QueensOptimumPx · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThe paperwork behind the Panorama of the City of New York, the 9,335-square-foot model of all five boroughs built for the 1964 World's Fair.
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Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, SoHo, ManhattanHuman, feline, robot and cyborg eyes morph into cells and galaxies in Hortensia Mi Kafchin's three-channel video on the Leslie-Lohman facade in SoHo.
Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, SoHo, ManhattanHuman, feline, robot and cyborg eyes morph into cells and galaxies in Hortensia Mi Kafchin's three-channel video on the Leslie-Lohman facade in SoHo.
Add to calendarBig weekends coming up — save them now, plan later.
