Cheap and Free NYC Weekend Events, August 5-7, 2011

Still need stuff to do? Check out my NEW August Guide (http://cheapchickinthecity.blogspot.com/2011/08/cheap-and-free-nyc-august-2011-events.html), as well as my Summer Museum Guide, (http://cheapchickinthecity.blogspot.com/2011/06/2011-nyc-cheap-and-free-summer-museum.html) and my Summer Movie Guide (http://cheapchickinthecity.blogspot.com/2011/06/cheap-and-free-nyc-summer-movie-guide.html ) for more cheap and free events in New York City!

Friday August 5, 2011

See what lies beneath the surface and explore illusions during Rooftop Films’ “Nothing is as it Seems” Short Film Festival! Doors open at 8 p.m., live music at 8:30 p.m., films begin at 9 p.m., Location is on the pier at Solar One, Kips Bay, 2420 FDR Drive, Service Road East at 23rd Street and the East River, take the 6 to 23^rd Street and then walk over, tkts are $10 at the door or online (can be bought here: http://rooftopfilms.ticketleap.com/rooftop-films-nothing-as-it-seems/)!

Plus the Noguchi Museum is open late today with pay-what-you-wish admission and a cash bar (http://www.noguchi.org/visitor-info/hours), First Fridays are free at the Neue Galerie from 6 to 8 p.m. (http://www.neuegalerie.org/visit/hours-and-admissions), Ra Ra Riot takes over the Prospect Park Bandshell (http://www.bricartsmedia.org/events/ra-ra-riot-with-delicate-steve-and-buke-gass), and the Paley Center begins special We Love Lucy screenings (running through September 3, 2011, http://www.paleycenter.org/2011-we-love-lucy-screenings)!

Friday and Saturday August 5 and 6, 2011

See “Henry V” as interpreted by the Classical Theater of Harlem at Marcus Garvey Park, 8 p.m., free!

Saturday August 6, 2011

Visit historic Wall Street Pubs and Taverns with Discovery Walking Tours! Enjoy “a walking tour of historic pubs and taverns in Lower Manhattan, all with historic associations, with stops at several for refreshment. Stops include where Washington bid farewell to his officers; a downtown pub frequented by Mark Twain and Abraham Lincoln; and a watering hole on a site once associated with the Cotton Exchange and Captain Kidd,” 5:45 p.m., Call 212-465-3331 for meeting place and reservations, $18 + cost of drinks!

Don those hats and dark glasses as Blues Brothers screens indoors tonight, pre-show starts at 8:15 p.m. with old-time shorts and previews, movie starts at 8:30 p.m., Coney Island Museum, 1208 Surf Ave. bet. Stillwell Ave. and West 12th Street, tkts are $6 and bar and concessions are available!

Find Mr. or Ms. Right (or Right Now) during Meet Market Adventure’s Famous Singles Pub Crawl! Visit a variety of NYC bars and participate in activities like interactive icebreaker games, 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., $19.99 cost includes all bar covers, skipping lines, event organizers, and prizes! Register and get tkts here: http://www.meetmarketadventures.com/events/4296/New-York-MMA-Famous-Singles-Pub-Crawl.html!

How far could you travel with a bunch of balloons? Crusty Carl Fredericksen attaches them to his house in the Disney movie Up, which is screening tonight, 8 p.m., Roosevelt Island, Firefighters Field, free (food and drink will be available for purchase)!

Cheer on Molly Ringwald as a girl from the wrong side of the tracks (is there every really a right side of the tracks?) in Pretty in Pink, 8 p.m., Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street, $7, buy tkts here: https://tickets.symphonyspace.org/public/auto_choose_ga.asp?area=8

Discover where the sidewalk ends, if there’s a light in the attic, or how to say your ‘A,B,Z’s’ at Shelebration! A Tribute to the Works of Shel Silverstein, 7 p.m., Central Park Rumsey Playfield, free!

Play King or Queen for a day as you preside over castles and other sculptures built by amateurs and professionals alike during the 21st annual Coney Island Sand Sculpture Contest! Feel like letting others do that gritty work? Watch on then and listen to live music, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., West 10^th Street on the beach, free to enter and watch!

Also it’s that time again, free First Saturdays at the Brooklyn Museum, tonight’s theme is Caribbean Countdown (http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/visit/first_saturdays.php)!

Saturday and Sunday August 6 and 7, 2011

Grab a taste of Brooklyn during Discovery Walking Tour’s new Park Slope and Prospect Park History and Dessert tour! “A tour of Prospect Park with stops at Long Meadow, Vale of Cashmere, and the Ravine along with a stroll through Park Slope with stops at the Montauk Club, Temple Beth Elohim, and St John’s. And what would make this tour even sweeter? A sampling of sweets from the Slope’s notable shops along the way, where you can try Hamentashen, chocolate truffles, and apple crumb, to name a few!” Call 212-465-3331 for meeting place and reservations, $26 cost includes sweets!

Sunday August 7, 2011

Do Brooklyn for free today as Heart of Brooklyn hosts a day of free admissions and programming at some of your fave Bklyn hangouts and cultural institutions! http://www.heartofbrooklyn.org/free!

Still having nightmare visions of melting on the sidewalk into a Wicked Witch of the West-type puddle from the last heat wave? Cool down with the Cold Soup Cook-off, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Grand Street at Lorimer, Brooklyn, $10!

Say aloha to hula dancing with free Hawaiian dance lessons with Josh Cho, 1:15 p.m., Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Boulevard (at the corner of Linden Place) Queens, free!

Celebrate that summer classic the road trip during the Jukebox Road Trip comedy show where comics will try to make you laugh with stories of hitting the road, 7:30 p.m., Union Hall, 702 Union St. bet. Fifth and Sixth Aves., Brooklyn, $5!

Plus save at Housing Works’ 30% off Books, Movies, and Music Sale on Saturday and Sunday (http://www.housingworks.org/events/detail/monthly-30-off-sale-all-day-august-6th-and-7th), Bank of America cardholders also get in free at some of NYC’s cultural institutions (http://museums.bankofamerica.com/, click thru for New York and then NYC museums), Can you generate 1.21 gigawatts of electricity? Doc Brown can in Back to the Future Pt. II, which is screening Saturday and Sunday at 12:15 a.m. at the IFC Center (http://www.ifccenter.com/films/back-to-the-future-part-ii/) , and join the lines-Alexander McQueen closes on the 7^th, but take note, the museum is open until midnight Sat and Sunday in anticipation of the crowds (http://blog.metmuseum.org/alexandermcqueen/)!