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Fun for Free in New York City

By Dan Schlossberg
ConsumerAffairs.com

November 17, 2005
Coming to New York for the holidays doesn't have to break the bank. In fact, there are a myriad of attractions that cost absolutely nothing beyond the cab or subway fare needed to get there. Many can be reached on foot. Consider these:

• The Staten Island Ferry (718-815-BOAT) runs around the clock and yields great views of the harbor, the skyline, and the Statue of Liberty

• Rockefeller Center, home of NBC studios, has a free, self-guided tour

• Big Apple Greeter (212-669-8159) provides multilingual guides who provide personalized tours of their neighborhoods

• Eva & Morris Feld Gallery (212-595-9533) is a branch of the American Folk Art Museum without admission charge

• National Museum of the American Indian (212-514-3700) is a Smithsonian

• New York Public Library (212-930-0769) has films, concerts, and exhibitions

• New York Botanical Garden (718-817-8700), with 27 outdoor gardens and a Victorian conservatory, is free on Wednesdays and 10-noon on Saturdays

• Free all day Tuesday and Saturday mornings, Wave Hill (718-549-3200), towers over the Hudson and the 500-foot cliffs of the New Jersey Palisades

• Brooklyn Botanical Garden (718-623-7200) maintains similar free hours

• New York Hall of Science (718-699-0005) has free hours on Friday afternoons and Sunday mornings

• Browsing is free at South Street Seaport (212-748-8600), home of shops, restaurants, and riveting harbor views

• Forbes Magazine Galleries (212-206-5548) has paintings, Faberge eggs, objects d'art, toys, presidential papers, and free guided tours with advance reservations (30 days)

• Free neighborhoods tours are offered by the 34th Street Partnership (212-719-3434), Grand Central Partnership (212-883-2420), Times Square BID (212-768-1560), and 14th Street-Union Square Business Improvement District (212-460-1204)

• Advance planning may yield free tickets for David Letterman (212-975-5853) or Live With Regis And Kelly (212-456-3054)

• The 20 Historic House Museums (212-360-8282) sprinkled among the five boroughs include George Washington's 1765 headquarters, a 19th-century clubhouse used by the Brooklyn Dodgers, and little or no entrance charge

• Pay-what-you-wish policies prevail on Wednesdays at the Bronx Zoo (718-367-1010), Wednesdays after 2 at the Staten Island Zoo (718-442-3174), Thursday evenings at the Jewish Museum, Friday evenings at the Guggenheim Museum (212-423-3500) and Whitey Museum of American Art (212-570-3676), and daily at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (212-535-7710)

• Also free is the Official NYC Guide (800-NYC-VISIT, 212-397-8222, www.nycvisit.com).

Best advice? To get maximum mileage from minimum time, plan ahead.

Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is president of the North American Travel Journalists Association, and a frequent contributor to AAA Traveler and USAirways Magazine.

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