Free things to do in New York City
22 places in New York City with free entry or no charge, based on guide listings and map data.
Ranked with the travel guide's picks and well-known places first.
Free things to do in New York City
SeeArchitecture museumSkyscraper Museum
The Skyscraper Museum is an architecture museum in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, founded in 1996. The museum focuses on high-rise buildings as "products of technology, objects of design, sites of construction, investments in real estate, and places of work and residence." The Skyscraper Museum also celebrates the architectural heritage of New York and the forces and people who created New York's skyline. Before moving to the current and permanent location in Battery Park City in 2004, the museum was a nomadic institution, holding pop-up exhibitions in four temporary donated spaces around Lower Manhattan since 1996.
Closed · opens noon tomorrowFree entry · Wheelchair accessible
_(51522244534).jpg?width=240 "Photo: ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0")
SeeMuseumNational Museum of the American Indian
The National Museum of the American Indian–New York, the George Gustav Heye Center, is a branch of the National Museum of the American Indian at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in Manhattan, New York City. The museum is part of the Smithsonian Institution. The center features contemporary and historical exhibits of art and artifacts by and about Native Americans.
Closed · opens 10 amFree entry · Wheelchair accessible
SeeMuseumThe Drawing Center
The Drawing Center is a museum and a nonprofit exhibition space in Manhattan, New York City, that focuses on the exhibition of drawings, both historical and contemporary.
Closed · opens noon tomorrowFree entry
SeeMuseumYeshiva University Museum
The Yeshiva University Museum is a teaching museum and the cultural arm of Yeshiva University. Along with the American Jewish Historical Society, the American Sephardi Federation, the Leo Baeck Institute, New York, and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, it is a member organization of the Center for Jewish History, a Smithsonian Institution affiliate located in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.
Free entry · Wheelchair accessible
SeeArt galleryStorefront for Art and Architecture
Storefront for Art and Architecture is an independent, non-profit art and architecture organization located in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood. The organization is committed to the advancement of innovative positions in architecture, art and design.
Closed · opens 10 am tomorrowFree entry
SeeArt galleryPilecki Institute
The 9/11 Tribute Museum, formerly known as the 9/11 Tribute Center and Tribute WTC, was a museum that shared the personal stories of family members who lost loved ones, survivors, rescue and recovery workers, volunteers and Lower Manhattan residents with those who want to learn about the September 11 attacks. It was located in the Financial District section of Manhattan in New York City, and offered walking tours and galleries with 9/11 artifacts and history before it transitioned to a solely online museum in August 2022.
Closed · opens noonFree entry · Limited wheelchair access
SeeMuseumMmuseumm
tiny exhibit space in a disused elevator
Open now · open 24 hoursFree entry · Wheelchair accessible
- DoBeach
Pebble Beach
A place to sit and look at the river or launch a canoe or kayak or even go for a swim. Its fairly noisy with the subway rumbling over the nearby Manhattan Bridge
Free entry
- SeeGarden
All People's Garden
Founded in 1980, protected in 1999 by The Trust for Public Land
Free entry
- SeeGarden
11th Street Community Garden
A garden maintained by community volunteers where visitors are welcome whenever the gate is open. It is funded completely by donations and grants. There is free WiFi and a community library outside the gate where you can exchange books for free.
Closed · opens 5:30 pmFree entry
- SeeViewpoint
Free Public Stargazing
Stargazing through telescopes with members of the Amateur Astronomers Association every Tuesday from dusk to park closure, weather permitting.
Tu dusk-19:00Free entry
- SeeGarden
Stuffolk Street Community Garden
Quaint, humble volunteer-run community garden. Often open in afternoons outside of posted opening hours.
Closed · opens noonFree entry
- SeeGarden
M’Finda Kalunga Garden
The M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden began in 1982 as a group organizing to rid the Sara Roosevelt Park area of drugs and crime and to protect low-income housing and services in the neighborhood.
Free entry
- SeeArt gallery
Karma Gallery
188 East 2nd Street
Closed · opens 10 amFree entry
- SeeArt gallery
La MaMa Galleria
47 Great Jones Street
Closed · opens 1 pm ThursdayFree entry
- SeeGarden
Siempre Verde Garden
181 Stanton Street
Hours unclear (When gate is open)Free entry
- SeeArt gallery
Martos Gallery
41 Elizabeth St
Free entry
- SeePublic art
The Wall Street
45 Wall St
Free entry
- SeeGarden
Clinton Community Garden (LES)
171 Stanton Street
Apr-OctFree entry
- SeeGarden
The Creative Little Garden
530 East 6th Street
Free entry
- SeeGarden
Bosque Gardens
Free entry
- SeeGarden
School Garden of City-As
Benches and seats with waterproof roof available.
Free entry
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Place data from Overture Maps. Some descriptions from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).