Five Free Things to Do in New York City

A vacation to New York City is always an exciting and unique experience, but the Big Apple is known to cost a pretty penny, which is not always good news to those hoping to take in the sights on a tight budget. Luckily, there are tons of fantastic events, sites and museums that all offer free or donation days, so be sure to plan your stay in the city to take in all these local attractions and save your money for a rainy day.

1. HBO Bryant Park Summer Film Festival
Every Monday from June 15th until August 17th a film will be screened in the beautiful Bryant Park. The grounds open at 5pm for blankets and picnics and films begin at sundown, roughly between 8 and 9pm. The atmosphere is calm and cool and full of laid back movie goers, there to see such classics as, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Dog Day Afternoon and The Sting.

2. Union Square Farmer's Market
A fabulous, open air market at the historic Union Square, opened from 8am to 6pm every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday year round. The market specializes in organic foods driven in from local growers, traditional homemade foods such as cheese, cider, wine, maple candies and more. The area is vibrant with local artists, selling photographs, paintings, silk screen shirts, buttons, baskets, and so much more. In the summer, the market is especially overtaken with florists. Besides the market itself, Union Square is known to have musicians and dancers about, putting on crowd pleasing spectacles.

3. New York Public Library
An absolutely beautiful building, lovely to walk through and explore. The range of titles and sheer mass of their collection is breathtaking and worth stopping to check out. They hold special exhibits and have a great gift shop as well.

4. Sony Wonder Technology Lab
This four story, hands on lab is full of fun and entertainment for adults and children. They hold film screenings for children like, Sesame Street and Dora the Explorer, as well as those for the older visitors, such as, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and A River Runs Through It. They hold workshops for families like, nature art and wiring LEDs for individuals. It should be noted that admission is free but due to their heavy traffic, they highly suggest groups get reserved admission tickets.

5. Bronx Zoo
Open seven days a week from 10am to 5pm on weekdays and until 5:30pm on weekends, the Bronx Zoo is an absolute must stop while in the city. They have special exhibits like, Madagascar, Tiger Mountain, as well as a petting zoo for the little kids, camel rides, and a butterfly garden. The zoo's donation day is Wednesday, where they have suggested prices but it is a pay what you can situation, where all proceeds go to support the work of caring for the zoo animals.