Wednesday, June 4, 2014

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good-bye!

Welcome to all who have stumbled upon this little site in their Internet search! I hope you enjoy it and find some useful tips to help you live a cheap and free NYC life :-)

For those of you who were regular visitors, if you couldn't figure it out already, I ceased publishing new blog entries awhile ago. Unfortunately even tho I enjoyed maintaining the blog, it became a low-priority for me with moving (more than once!), grad school, job hunting and well, life.

I will leave you with one last cheap and free NYC tip:

You might not be aware of this, but you don't need to travel all the way to Amsterdam to visit the Anne Frank House and find out more about Anne's life. You can visit the Anne Frank Center USA right here in NYC, that features a permanent 3D exhibit about Anne's life before and after she went into hiding. The center also hosts educational activities and events on a wide variety of topics.

Here's a link to their ws: http://annefrank.com/

Anyway, the blogging experience has been great and it's always possible that I may revive this blog in the future. For now I'll just say "until we meet again!"

"Cheap Chick in the City"
  

Friday, September 14, 2012

P.S. to Editor's Note

Hi all,


An update from the Cheap Chick here. I have been v. busy w/some other things (like the GRE) recently. However I have still been Tweeting pretty regularly via @cheapchicknyc, so please come follow me there.

I do have a couple of longer-form blog entries on the back burner and may create a fall guide for you. So check back in the coming weeks for new content, and look to Twitter for some new cheap and free events in the city.

I’ll also say again that I am very open to any guest bloggers who may want to write for the site.

Cheers,

“Cheap Chick in the City”

Friday, August 24, 2012

Editor's Note

Hi all,


Apologies for the lack of posts lately, but I started a part-time job a few weeks ago and am prepping for the grad school thing and both of those things have been taking a lot of my time lately. I will be posting some longer-form blog entries after a bit, and I might start doing the weekend and other event posts soon, but we’ll see how it goes.

Again if anyone has any ideas for guest blog entries please do let me know!

Thanks,

Cheap Chick in the City

Monday, August 6, 2012

Looking for Guest Bloggers!

Hey all you cheap New Yorkers (OK that didn't come out sounding like I wanted it to...),


The Cheap Chick has not been able to post many long-form entries lately or work on her freelance writing as much as she would like, so she is taking a break from the weekend event listings (for now) and is seeking guest bloggers for original long-form blog listings. Going to a new cheap or free museum exhibit? Checking out a cool cheap or free event? A neat restaurant w/great lunch specials/prix-fixe deal and want to write a review of it? Or have a great Top Ten list relating to all that is cheap and free about NYC? Send all pitches  to me thru the blog!


Unfortunately I can’t pay anything :-(  but you can promote your own blog (or project) on the Cheap Chick in the City site. Looking forward  to seeing all your ideas!
Thanks,


Cheap Chick in the City





Friday, August 3, 2012

Cheap and Free NYC Events, Aug 3-5, 2012

Friday August 3, 2012

Savor the tastes of New York! And no I’m not talking about pizza, I’m talking wine from the state vineyards. Sample flavors from wineries in the Finger Lake Region and North Fork, Long Island today.5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Wine Heaven, 333 3rd Avenue (bet 24th and 25th St), cost: free!

Watch out for those dinosaurs when Jurassic Park screens on the Intrepid tonight as part of their Summer Movie Series! Movie starts at dusk on Intrepid, directions here. cost: free!

Today is also the free Target Passport Fridays: West Indies program at the Queens Museum of Art as a celebration for the 50th anniversary of independence for Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago  the Rural Route Film Festival starts tonight (and continues thru the w/e-see Saturday’s picks for a special MOMI event), and Rooftop Films screens Inocente for free in Brooklyn tonight!

Saturday August 4, 2012

The Museum of the Moving Image takes you on a trip to the farm tonight with their Rural Route Film Festival! Tonight’s screening tells the story of a city couple who buy a dairy farm. Producer Rudd Simon (The The Royal Tenenbaums) will be on-hand for a Q&A after the screening. 5 p.m., Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave. (at 36th St.), cost: (inc w/museum admission-$12)!

If you like creepy, crawly things then you’ll want to hit the Birds, Bugs, Bees (how alliterative!) at Brooklyn Bridge Park today! Julie Feinstein, collections manager at the American Museum of Natural History and author of Field Guide to Urban Wildlife, for a guided tour of Pier 1 focusing on these creatures! 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., cost: free! (But you must RSVP to the event here!

Enjoy a down-home Southern brunch and a movie this morning with a screening of that 70’s country classic Smokey and the Bandit! 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Nitehawk Cinema, 136 Metropolitan Ave, Williamsburg Brooklyn, cost: $16!

Today is also First Free Saturdays at the Brooklyn Museum , Bank of America card holders get free admission to a variety of NYC museums inc. the Met, Whitney and New-York Historical Society, the Art of Brooklyn Film Festival kicks off tonight (runs thru Aug 12) with a free screening of the Segal flick Out for Justice to (reserve tkts here), Find a new place to park your butt for the Parked! 2012 Food Truck Festival , watch the movie Patron Saints with Rooftop Films tonight at the Gowanus Can Factory! Plus I hear that there is lots going today on  with  Summer Streets today as well!


Saturday and Sunday August 4 and 5, 2012

Happy Birthday, Mr. President indeed! Join Discovery Walking Tours as they explore Marilyn Monroe’s New York on the 50th Anniversary of her death. “Stops include sites associated with her work at the Actors Studio, her marriage to Arthur Miller; four of her Manhattan homes; the site of her famed subway grate pose; and where she serenaded JFK only three months before her death – her last night in Sat: 2 p.m., Sun.: 2:30 p.m., call 212-465-3331 for reservations and meeting place, cost: $22!

Get already discounted books, movies, music, and more for 30 percent off at Housing Works Bookstore’s sale today! Housing Works Bookstore, 126 Crosby Street, cost: Pay-for–what-you-buy!

Dragons and boats oh my! Check them both out at the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival! Flushing Meadows Park, Festivities start at 10:30 a.m. Sat, and 10:00 a.m. Sunday, Directions here!  cost: free!


Sunday August 5, 2012

Fancy yourself the next Stan Lee? Aspiring comics of all ages can give it a go today with artist and educator Michel Levesque at WORD’s Comics Jam! Today all attendees work together to create one massive comic! Supplies will be provided, but you can bring items that you think will add to the day’s activity. 3 p.m., WORD Bookstore, 126 Franklin St., cost: free!

Feast on vegan goodies during a four course meal delivered directly to your door including desserts! Pre-order before 9 a.m. on Sundays by sending a text to 917-628-3926 in order to get a delivery on Sunday evening. 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., cost: $12!

Meet Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones as they discuss their upcoming flick Hope Springs today! Apple Store Soho, 72 Greene Street, 72 Greene Street, 4 p.m., cost: free!

Take a free historical walking tour of the LES today sponsored by the LES Business Improvement District, and learn about the neighborhood from its immigrant roots to today. 11 a.m., meet in front of Katz’s Deli, 205 E. Houston St., cost: free! (no reservations required)

Go on a different sort of walking tour organized by the Museum at Eldridge Street (one that cost and includes noshing)! Sample egg creams, bialys from Kossar’s, pickles and rugelach as well as learning about the neighborhood’s historic sites, meet at the Museum at Eldridge Street, 12 Eldridge Street, cost:$25 (inc food) call 212-219-0302x5 for reservations or RSVP via EventBrite here!

Also Fast Times at Ridgemont High screens for free tonight at Habana Outpost!






Friday, July 27, 2012

Cheap and Free NYC Events, July 27-29, 2012! Olympics Edition!

Friday July 27, 2012

After months of hype the Olympics are finally happening, here are some festivities throughout the city today (scroll down to end of blog for more recs on viewing venues):

Watch the opening ceremonies today @ Granduca Di Sicilia w/happy hour specials!

Dress like your favorite Olympian-and watch the opening ceremonies at One Stop Beer Shop, plus giveaways, music, and food! RSVP here! For more Olympics viewing options in NYC, scroll down to the end of the blog!

Learn about the “Lost Waterfronts of New York” at this illustrated lecture sponsored by the Obscura Society NYC, and presented by photographer and filmmaker Nathan Kensinger! 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Observatory, 543 Union Street @ Nevins), cost: $12! Buy tkts here!

Enter the magical world of Hugo Cabret w/tonight’s screening of Hugo on the Hudson River as part of the RiverFlicks for Kids series! Movies begin at dusk, generally around 8:30 p.m., Hudson River Park’s Pier 46 at Charles Street, cost: free! *Cheap Chick Recommends*


Just in time for the Olympics the London Street Photography Exhibit opens today at the Museum of the City of New York, the Met Opera series hits Brooklyn Bridge Park tonight, the 2012 Muppets movie hits the Intrepid tonight, and it’s Animation Weekend at BAMcinĂ©matek (thru July 29)


Saturday July 28, 2012

Sing-a-long (come on you know you always do anyway, might as well enjoy a band backing you up) to the (original) Muppet Movie with Loser’s Lounge at the Celebrate Brooklyn series tonight! 7:30 p.m., Prospect Park bandshell, cost: free/$3 suggested donation!

Miss Dirty Dancing last Wed night? Never fear The Sony Wonder Technology Lab has you covered! Don’t forget to help carry over some watermelons as a thank you! 3 p.m., Sony Wonder Technology Lab,
550 Madison Ave. at 56th St, cost: free! Reservations suggested, call (212) 833-8100 to save your spot! For the exact opposite movie experience see Footnote at 12:15 p.m., same time, same place, same cost!

With the end of the summer rapidly approaching, you need to get in all the BBQ you can before Labor Day! Today Sycamore is hosting free BBQ w/$5 beers all day, and iAdventure.com is hosting their First Ever BBQ Blowout 2012 for just $25 (includes beer, 50% off beers the rest of the day, One BBQ taste (lg. bite-size servings- approx 2oz.) call 212-201-1223 to make reservations!

So you think you are one of the Americans who’s got talent? Prove it @ the Coney Island talent show! Enter into one of the following categories: circus freaks, sideshow geeks, song and dance, drag performance, and celebrity impersonators! Coney Island Boardwalk bet 10th and 12th Streets 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., cost: free!

Drag yourself out of bed before noon in the hopes of snagging free tkts to a Mostly Mozart Festival preview concert, Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, part of Lincoln Center complex near 66th and Broadway, cost: free!

The Museum of Natural History’s Spiders Alive Exhibit opens today (runs thru Dec. 2, 2012), the Bushwick Block Party is happening, Watch classic digitally remastered Dr. Who eps @ the Paley Center today w/”Resurrection of the Daleks”  *Cheap Chick Recommends*

Need more Dr. Who in NYC look here!

Give Sherlock Holmes a run for his money at the Wall Street Scavenger Hunt sponsored by Discovery Walking Tours! “The second of three scavenger hunt in our series – now in New York’s oldest area. Instead of being led through Wall Street, this time discover its history by teaming up, using a map, and answering questions by deciphering clues on plaques, markers and signs nestled away in the neighborhood’s nooks, crannies and hidden side streets. First to come back with the most correct answers wins!” 4:45 p.m., call 212-465-3331for reservations and meeting place, cost: $20

Saturday and Sunday July 28 and 29, 2012


Cool off? See if you can w/Discovery Walking Tours’ walk thru Grand Central! “Join us as we explore one of New York’s finest landmarks -- from the cooler confines of the indoors! The commuter day is so hectic, that few New Yorkers rushing through Grand Central ever really get to learn about the hidden history and lesser known lore behind this classic landmark. Here's your chance as we celebrate Grand Central with a discussion of the symbolism behind its decor and the structure’s lesser known lore. Stops include Grand Central's "whispering arch"; Vanderbilt Hall; a secret apartment used as a speakeasy during the 1920s; JM Hewlett’s classic ceiling mural with its mysterious constellations painted in reverse; and Jules Coutan’s Roman group god sculpture -- a crowning masterpiece to the structure.” 12:45 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., Call 212-465-3331 for reservations and meeting place, cost: $20!


Sunday July 29, 2012

Namaste! Strike a yoga pose at Dekalb Market’s Pop-up Yoga session today! 11 a.m. to 6 a.m., Dekalb Market, cost: free!

Coming to Queens to look for a Queen? Too bad they’re not screening the Eddie Murphy classic Coming to America in the fabled borough…Instead catch it in Brooklyn tonight, 8 p.m., Habana Outpost, 757 Fulton St # A  Brooklyn, cost: free!

Check out a different side of BBQ with a pig roast at the Summer Sunday Pig Roasts with live music! 4 p.m., Crown Victoria Bar, 60 South 2nd St., Brooklyn, cost: ? Couldn’t get a read on the price, but am hoping it is Cheap Chick-friendly…if anyone goes report back!

No cable? No problem! Halyards has you covered with back-to back screenings of True Blood and Breaking Bad on the big screen Sunday nights! True Blood starts @ 9 p.m. and BB starts @ 10 p.m., so I would get there before whatever screening you want to catch, Halyards Bar, 406 3rd Ave. Brooklyn, cost: free! (pay for what you drink etc.)

Harlem Week starts today (the 29th), and runs thru August 25!



Looking Forward…

Need more Olympics in your life? Here is NY Mag’s round-up of where to watch around the city: here!

And TONY’s Olympics list is here!







Friday, July 20, 2012

Cheap and Free NYC Events, July 20-22, 2012

Friday July 20, 2012

Remember bell bottoms, peace signs, and mood rings? Well I’m betting you will after watching AMERICAN CANDY: The Super 70s sketch comedy with a 1970s theme tonight (and come on, we all know Mad Men is slowly inching toward the “Me” decade…)! 8 p.m., South Oxford Space 138 S. Oxford Street, Brooklyn, cost: $20 (inc. open bar)

Rooftop Films celebrates the theme “Coming Home” tonight with “spirited black comedies, fraught animations and intimate documentaries offers hope for reconciliation.” 8 p.m. doors open, 8:30 p.m. live music starts, 9 p.m. the shows start! Metrotech Commons, outdoors, downtown Brooklyn, 5 MetroTech Center, cost: free! (PLEASE CHECK ROOFTOP FILMS' WS HERE IN CASE OF RAIN POSTPONEMENT! SAME GOES FOR SCREENING LISTED BELOW.)

Fireworks and running go together like peanut butter and jelly, right? Well the Free Fireworks Fridays Group Run (FGR), hosted by the Prospect Park Track Club (PPTC) certainly thinks so, with their run tonight! 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m., meet in Prospect Park (Park Circle under the Horse Tamer Statues) for a six mile run down Ocean Parkway to Coney Island, hang out afterward for some “beer, singing karaoke, the Cyclone, dancing on the beach!” cost: free! (Please note that this event is repeated on Friday nights during the summer until August 31, 2012.) RSVP required here!

And…Travel to France w/o leaving NYC w/the Chelsea Triangle French Market, which opens today (and runs thru November) by featuring a wide variety of Frenchified food items, Superman, The Movie” screens for free at dusk as part of RiverFlicks for Kids at Hudson River Park’s Pier 46 at Charles Street, Star Trek screens for free at sunset on the flight deck of the USS Intrepid as part of the Intrepid Summer Movie Series tying in w/the newly-installed Space Shuttle Enterprise exhibit, where you can meet NASA astronauts (SCREENING MOVED TO SATURDAY DUE TO WEATHER), and Rooftop Films has another free screening tonight of Suite Habana outdoors at the Queens Museum of Art (remember tonight is Target Free Fridays at the museum)!

Saturday July 21, 2012

Explore the spooky side of the city with Discovery Walking Tours’ Gotham Ghost City at Twilight Walking Tour! “A tour of the historic, infamous and macabre of Greenwich Village history, laced with ghost stories along the way. Stops include Edgar Alan Poe’s home; the hanging elm, a legendary public execution site in New York City; the cemetery at St. Mark’s, and the burial ground at Washington Square. And you thought only subways ran beneath the city streets!” 6 p.m., Call 212-465-3331 for reservations and meeting place! Cost: $20!

Oink, oink baby! “Pig” out at Third Ward’s 5th Annual Pig Roast! 4 a.m. to 11:55 p.m., Thurd Ward, 195 Morgan Ave., cost: free! (BUT RSVP req. here!)

See Salmon Fishing in Yemen at the Sony Wonder Technology Lab today for free! 3 p.m., Sony Wonder Technology Lab, 550 Madison Ave. at 56th St, cost: free!

Live out your vicarious Ice Princess/Cutting Edge/Ice Castles fantasies at the free Ice Theatre of New York show! The early attendees will even get a free pass to the open skating session after the show. (around 8ish-skate rental still costs $5 tho!) 7 p.m., World Ice Arena in Queens, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, cost: free!

Even in the Internet Age, zines are flourishing! Celebrate the medium’s survival at Pete’s Mini Zine Fest! Mix and mingle with other zinesters, and cartoonists 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Pete’s Candy Store, 709 Lorimer Street, cost: free!

It’s not The Artist, (which I highly recommend btw!), but an actual silent movie, Hands Up! is screening as part of "The Silent Clowns Film Series" and dedicated to silent era film star, Raymond Griffith today! As a bonus the library will be screening Dog Shy (1926) with Charley Chase. 2:30 p.m., Library of the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, Bruno Walter Auditorium, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza (near 66th St. 1 stop), cost: free!

It’s the most fun you’ll have on two wheels! Today is Bike NY Pedal Stops featuring “bike checks safety instruction, ride suggestions, basic bike repair, informal bike skills, NYPD bike ID, and bike rentals through Bike and Roll.” 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., cost: free!

Relax and unwind after a hard work week with two outdoor concerts this afternoon (Hot Jazz/Cool Garden concert at 2 p.m. at the Louis Armstrong House Museum-$15 inc. house tour) , and tonight (New Juilliard Ensemble at MoMA’s Summergarden free concert in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden at 8 p.m.; galleries closed during the concert.)

Get in touch with the hip-hop side of the Bronx on a special Urban Farm Trolley Tour With Hip Hop Perspective of South Bronx! “Meet farmers as they tend to their plots of land, and see chickens that roam freely producing Bronx farm-fresh eggs. The day includes a garden related workshop, healthful lunch, and a fish fry. RSVP required. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Meet at The New York Visitors and Convention Bureau, 810 Seventh Avenue at 52nd Street, Manhattan, cost: $20-inc lunch/fish fry (email bronxfoodsummit@gmail.com or call (718) 817-8026 to reserve your spot on the tour!


And…The Harlem Book Fair, hits NYC shelves, Sculpt sand castles at Coney Island, The New Museum takes to the streets today with its New Museum Block Party (inc entertainment and free admission to the museum all day, it’s Super Sabado at El Museo del Barrio, Watch rare and never-before-seen footage of the Muppets, Sesame Street, and other childhood favorites at Nitehawk with special Muppet guests, the 411 is that you can see Clueless as part of the Bell House’s Party like it's 1999: Clueless in July Edition, and don’t forget PS1’s Warm-up is tonight (Queens residents get in free!)

Saturday and Sunday July 21 and 22, 2012

Are you a poet and don’t know it? Perhaps you are and you know it! Either way you should go to The 2nd Annual New York City Poetry Festival! Governors Island, Colonel’s Row, 11 am. to 5 p.m., cost: Day-of tickets: $5 per day! (in case you still don’t know where Gov Island is, you take the ferry from the Gov Is ferry station, right next to the SI Ferry Terminal.)

Hop on the PATH train for a visit to the Garden State just in time to celebrate St. Ann’s Feast with Discovery Walking Tours in Hoboken! “St. Ann’s Feast comes but once a year. Visit the feast and explore Hoboken – the Square Mile City and “sixth borough” – rich in history, with stops at the homes of Frank Sinatra, photographer artist Alfred Stieglitz, and composer Stephen Foster (Swanee River, Camptown Races) as well as the birthplace of baseball and locations associated with Edgar Allen Poe, Gen. William T. Sherman, Woodrow Wilson, and the film, On the Waterfront. Along the way, sample foods from the Italian district there and visit the Feast of St. Ann.” Call 212-465-3331 for reservations and meeting place, cost: $26 (inc. food).

Plus Stillspotting nyc: Staten Island continues both days (and next w/e as well!)

Sunday July 22, 2012

Learn all about Prison Ships during the Revolutionary War during a walking tour with the Urban Park Rangers! 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Fort Greene Park Visitor Center Myrtle Ave., De Kalb Ave. bet. Washington Park and St. Edward's St., cost: free!

Prepare for the long, cold winter ahead (I know it’s hard to imagine in this heat!) by learning how to can tomato sauce! 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, 53 Prospect Park West (Between 2nd and 3rd streets, Brooklyn, cost: $20 (inc jar to take home)! Participants should bring recipes, your questions and interests, and knife/ cutting board. BSEC will provide the rest. Space is limited, so register here now!

Can women be as funny as men? Or funnier? Decide for yourself at the "Saw Her Stand-Up There" comedy show! 6:30 p.m., Spike Hill, 186 Bedford Ave., Wiiliamsburg, cost: $5!

Did you know that Jewish people migrated to the UES? This special walking tour is sponsored by the LES Jewish Conservancy. From the conservancy, “Urban historian Barry Feldman will lead us past the Beaux Arts mansions of the Fifth Avenue 'Gold Coast' to the east end at York Avenue. We will discuss the evolution of this significant Jewish community: its prestigious sacred sites - Central and Park East Synagogues & Temple Emanuel; the unique 92nd Street Y, and glamorous architecture. Our conversation will contrast the serenity of life on the tree lined Upper East Side with the tenement and pushcart congested LES.” 10:45 a.m., meet at NW corner of E. 68 St. and Lexington Avenue, cost: $12 in advance, $14 day of tour. Buy tkts here!

Get your reggae and cookout all in one day! The event includes Stoli Sno Cones, tacos, and more! Plus live performances by JUDAH and EL! 12 p.m., The Paper Box, 17 Meadow Street, bet. Waterbury and Bogart, cost: free!


Also tonight…the Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra hits Brooklyn Bowl, dance under the stars with Hudson River Park’s Moondance and the Los Hermaes salsa band!

This w/e marks the last chanc  you’ll have to see "Twelfth Night" with NY Classical Theater at Battery Park, and Honor what would have been Gene Kelly’s 100th b-day this w/e with Lincoln Center’s Invitation to Dance: Gene Kelly @ 100! 

Looking Forward…

Monday July 23, 2012

It’s no longer Spaghetti Westerns anymore! It’s a perfect marriage of spaghetti and movies at Bar Toto on Monday nights! Tonight’s picture (I love the word picture to describe movies, I think it’s a shame it’s gone out of style.) is Matrimonio all’italiana (Marriage Italian-Style), a 1964 comedy starring Sophia Loren. Spaghetti and meatballs are just $11, plus you get to enjoy the picture! 9 p.m., Bar ToTo, 411 11th St at 6th Ave, Park Slope, Brooklyn, cost: buying something off the menu!

Tuesday July 24, 2012

Can you find your match made in wine heaven? You may not find your soulmate, but you may find a wine to keep you busy in the meantime ;-). Intrigued? Fill out this Questionnaire (http://ww3.efs-survey.com/uc/Grapepointwines/) to find your perfect wine match. Then come to Grapepoint Wines for a special mixer featuring wine tasting, cheese sampling, and a raffle for your wine match! 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Grapepoint Wines, 155 Norman Ave (corner of Newel Street), Greenpoint, cost: free!