Free 99: 10 Things to Do in NYC This Weekend That Won't Cost You a Dime

Image via Complex Original

Date: Sunday, June 9
Time: 11 a.m.
Location: 5th Avenue, from 44th to 79th Sts.
Website: nationalpuertoricandayparade.org

In honor of New York's largest Hispanic community, this parade and festival incorporate traditional music, dancing, live performance and even a beauty pageant. Come participate and show support, regardless of whether you're 'rican or not.

Date: Saturday, June 8
Time: 10 a.m.
Location: 980 Madison Ave., Gagosian Gallery
Website: gagosian.com

The director of 1969's cult classic Easy Rider, the late Dennis Hopper, will be having his work shown at the Gagosian Gallery. The images consist of work Hopper shot on a Nikon camera with a 28 mm lens, uncropped and shot on location. The images incorporate a combination of candid images and images of celebrity and public figures including the likes of James Brown, Paul Newman and Martin Luther King Jr. (who Hopper followed during the Selma-to-Montgomery marches of 1965).

Image credit:

Dennis Hopper
Irving Blum and Peggy Moffitt, 1964
Gelatin-silver print mounted on board
6 5/8 x 9 3/4 inches (16.7 x 24.9 cm)

Date: June 8 to June 9
Time: 10 a.m.
Location: Governor's Island (For more information on how to go to Governor's Island click here )
Website: figmentproject.org

This festival of creativity takes place on Governor's Island, a small refuge from the city found between Staten Island and Manhattan. Figment runs without corporate sponsorship and is heavily reliant on volunteers to help bring the festival to life. Ultimately the island becomes a conglomeration of activities, sculptures, and participation meant for both children and adults. In previous years its asked participants to bring things like kites, squirt guns, and hula-hoops.

Date: Saturday, June 8
Time: 10 a.m.
Location: 100 Old Slip
Website: nycpolicemuseum.org

Displaying the classic cars from the NYPD's history right outside the former 1st Precinct, this car show is one the Police Museum's biggest events of the year. If you like your cars a little more on the eccentric side, this show will also be displaying the Batmobile from the Adam West-era Batman series circa the 1960s.

Date: Sunday, June 9
Time: 12 p.m.
Location: 12 Eldridge St.
Website: eldridgestreet.org

It's not every day that you see a fusion of Chinese and Jewish influences, but for the inhabitants of Lower East Side, this is their neighborhood. Experience Chinese language lessons, mahjong games, synagogue tours and klezmer music. This festival truly is where east meets west.

Date: Saturday, June 8
Time: 8 p.m.
Location: Delacorte Theater, Central Park
Website: shakespeareinthepark.org

Hamish Linklater and Jesse Tyler Ferguson (of Modern Family fame) star in the classic Shakespearean comedy about two sets of identical twins who were separated at birth and incorporates mistaken identities, brilliant wordplay and classic Shakespearean mayhem. The series is rather popular, and with big names in the cast, you may miss the chance to get tickets if you don't get there early. Tickets are free and are available after 12 p.m. on the day of the show at the theater.

Date: Saturday, June 8
Time: 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Location: 709 Lorimer St., Brooklyn
Website: petescandystore.com

Loving live music will make "Afternoon Delight" at Pete's Candy Store a must. With musicians going from late afternoon to the early evening, audience members will be able to enjoy free performances along with drink specials, tucked away inside the quirky venue.

Date: Saturday, June 8
Time: 10 a.m.
Location: 620 Greenwich St.
Website: gavinbrown.biz

Hailing from Maine, Joe Bradley is a graduate of RISDI, showing recent work at Gavin Brown's Enterprise down in the West Village. While Bradley tends to go for a more abstract style and an aesthetic that would have some saying, "I can do that," his selection of colors and textures is the finesse behind his technique

Date: June 8 to June 9
Time: 11 a.m.
Location: Madison Square Park
Website: bigapplebbq.com

A strong selection of BBQ masters will be heading to Madison Square Park to serve up a selection of top notch grub. Ranging from Tennessee to Texas, these grill masters will be accompanied by live music from blues artist Marcia Ball and rock group the Dirty Guv'nahs. Roll through to sample some fine, down and dirty cuisine. Smells are, of course, free of charge.

Date: June 8 to June 9
Time: Varies
Location: Park Avenue Mall (between 49th and 68th Sts.)
Website: fundforparkavenue.org

The most recent public offering from the Fund for Park Avenue's Sculpture Committee focuses on Cuban-born Alexandre Arrechea and his series of steel sculptures that draw from famous New York City buildings. A number of the sculptures display a "twisted" aesthetic, with the iconic buildings emerging from the bends of the sculptures.