What's Free or Cheap in NYC?
Locations

Key to Abbreviations:

NYS = New York State
NYC = All boroughs
BX = Bronx
BK = Brooklyn
MN = Manhattan
QN = Queens
SI = Staten Island

Getting around New York
Note: Links in green are external to this website.

Please note: Everything listed here was correct at the time of publication, but is subject to change without notice. Please check when scheduling an activity. Thank you.

Shaking every tree, asking everyone we know and meet, connects us to our environment. Using the local environment, and not staying encased in the classroom, helps us connect to the world. Finding educational opportunities around every corner — the supermarket, the post office, US government at the local courts, ornithology at the local pet store, science in the park — makes us constantly alert for the next learning opportunity. Our senses are heightened. We look in unexpected places. We look up, at the architecture, at the birds and the trees, looking in the direction most people overlook. We look more closely at each other, through interviews, through "shaking every tree." Using our local community makes our lives more synchronous. Merging your own life and life-style with those of your family members and neighbors increases your connections and your communication. We become interconnected and begin to experience synchronicity in ever-increasing measures. Going beyond your four walls may just be about listening more closely, looking more carefully, being more aware, taking advantage of your environment, and becoming more connected to the world.

— Laurie Block Spigel, from Education Uncensored

Page Index

Arts Centers
Ice Rinks
Museums, Mansions, Monuments, & Places of Interest
Nature Centers, Zoos, etc.
Neighborhoods
Parks
Water sports, Swimming, etc.

Arts Centers

Asian American Arts Centre (Art & Architecture)
Bronx River Art Center (Art & Architecture)
Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts (Language Arts: Theater, Film, & Writing)
Center for Architecture (Art & Architecture)
Drawing Center (Art & Architecture)
International Center for Photography (Art & Architecture)
Irish Arts Center (Music & Dance)
Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning under Art & Architecture and Language Arts: Theater, Film, & Writing.

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Ice Rinks

Abe Stark Ice Rink (Phys. Ed.)
Bryant Park Ice Rink (Phys. Ed.)
Kate Wollman Ice Rink (Phys. Ed.)
Lasker Ice Rink (Phys. Ed.)
War Memorial Ice Rink (Phys. Ed.)
Wollman Ice Rink (Phys. Ed.)

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Museums, Mansions, Monuments, & Places of Interest

Place Matters helps foster the conservation of New York City's historically and culturally significant places. These are places that hold memories and anchor traditions for individuals and communities, and that help tell the history of the city as a whole.

Museum for African Art (Art & Architecture)
Alice Austen House (Art & Architecture)
Alice Austen House (Social Studies)
American Crafts Museum (Art & Architecture)
Museum of Art & Design (Art & Architecture)
Museum of American Financial History (Science and Math, including Economics)
Museum of American Illustration (Art & Architecture)
Museum of the American Indian (Social Studies)
American Museum of the Moving Image (Art & Architecture)
American Museum of Natural History (Science and Math, including Economics)
American Museum of Natural History (Social Studies)
Asia Society (Art & Architecture)
El Museo del Barrio (Social Studies)
Bartow-Pell Mansion (Social Studies)
Brooklyn Children's Museum (science)
Brooklyn Children's Museum (social studies)
Brooklyn Museum (Art & Architecture)
Brooklyn Museum (Social Studies)

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Governors Island (Social Studies)
Gracie Mansion (Social Studies)
Grand Central Terminal (Social Studies)
Harbor Defense Museum (Social Studies)
Historic Richmond Town (Social Studies)
Irish Hunger Memorial (Social Studies)
Illustration: Museum of American Illustration (Art & Architecture)
JFK International Airport (Social Studies)
Judaica Museum (Social Studies)
King Manor Museum (Social Studies)
Kingsland Homestead (Social Studies)
Lefferts Historic House (Social Studies)
Lenape Indian Caves (Social Studies)
Little Red Lighthouse (Social Studies)
Metropolitan Museum of Art (Art & Architecture)
Morris-Jumel Mansion (Social Studies)
Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden (Social Studies)
The Museum of China in America (Social Studies)
Museum of Jewish Heritage (Social Studies)
Museum of Modern Art (Art & Architecture)

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New Museum (Art & Architecture)
New Museum of Contemporary Art (Art & Architecture)
New York City Fire Museum (Social Studies)
New York Transit Museum (Social Studies)
NY Transit Museum Gallery (Social Studies)
Old Stone House (Social Studies)
Pierpont Morgan Library (Social Studies)
Poe Cottage (Social Studies)
Queens Art Museum (Art & Architecture)
Queens County Farm Museum (Social Studies)
Rubin Museum of Art (Art & Architecture)
St. Paul's Chapel (Social Studies)
Seguine Mansion (Social Studies)
Skyscraper Museum (Social Studies)
South Street Seaport Museum (Social Studies)
Staten Island Children's Museum (Science and Math, including Economics)
Staten Island Museum (Science and Math, including Economics)
Studio Museum (Art & Architecture)

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Museum of Television & Radio (Language Arts: Theater, Film, & Writing)
Theodore Roosevelt's birthplace (Social Studies)
Trinity Church (Social Studies)
Ukrainian Museum (Social Studies)
Valentine-Varian House (Social Studies)
Van Cortlandt House (Social Studies)
Whitney Museum (Art & Architecture)
Wyckoff House (Social Studies)

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Nature Centers, Zoos, etc.

Greenbelt Nature Center (Science and Math, including Economics)
Botanical Garden - New York (Science and Math, including Economics)
Birdwatching in Prospect Park (Science and Math, including Economics)
Blue Heron Park (bird banding) (Science and Math, including Economics)
Bronx Zoo (Science and Math, including Economics)
Brooklyn Botanic Gardens (Science and Math, including Economics)
Brooklyn Botanic Gardens (Language Arts: Theater, Film, & Writing)
Central Park Zoo (Science and Math, including Economics)
Clay Pit Ponds Preserve (Science and Math, including Economics)
Falconry Extravaganza (Science and Math, including Economics)
Jamaica Bay National Wildlife Refuge (Science and Math, including Economics)
Magnolia Tree Earth Center (Science and Math, including Economics)
New York Botanical Garden (Science and Math, including Economics)
Prospect Park Audubon Center (Science and Math, including Economics)
Prospect Park Zoo (Science and Math, including Economics)
Queens Botanical Garden (Science and Math, including Economics)
Queens County Farm Museum (Social Studies)
Queens Zoo (Science and Math, including Economics)
Staten Island Zoo (Science and Math, including Economics)
Wave Hill (Science and Math, including Economics)