AARP Hearing Center
New York City is the world’s biggest architectural, cultural and culinary amusement park, and admission is free. You can fill your days with no- or low-cost activities, including some obvious ones — walking the beloved elevated rail turned urban park known as the High Line, taking in the glorious views of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry and, of course, wandering through Central Park. But here are a few others you might not come across on your own.
1. Museum duo. Many New York City museums have free or pay-what-you-wish hours. But here’s a great way to combine two: Line up early for the Museum of Modern Art's popular Friday freebie hours, from 4 to 8 p.m. — a bargain when the usual ticket price is $18 to $25, though children 16 and younger are always free — and spend a couple hours taking in MoMA's Pollocks, Picassos, Polkes, Mirós, Matisses and Mitchells. Then, a bit before 6 p.m., hop on the F or M train ($2.75) to 14th Street and head to the Rubin Museum of Art, which offers free admission from 6 to 10 on Friday nights. The Rubin is devoted to art of the Himalayas, India and Tibet, so you’ll likely not recognize the artists there. But it's a fascinating chance to explore those cultures — and the K2 lounge on the ground floor offers two-for-one beer and wine to a festive crowd of all ages every Friday from 6 to 7 p.m. (The Rubin, which normally costs $19 for most adults and $14 for those 65 and older, is also free to seniors the first Monday of the month.)
2. Kayak the Hudson. You didn’t come to New York to go kayaking, but what’s travel without pleasant surprises? Head to the Downtown Boathouse at Pier 26 in TriBeCa and take a paddle on the Hudson River. It's open during daytime hours on holidays and weekends (and some extended weekday evenings) in the warmer months. The kayaks (and the water) are beginner-friendly, come with an orientation and will cost you nothing more than your signature on a waiver. Amazingly, free kayaking has truly become a “thing.” There are a half-dozen other spots that offer it, too, though the hours are more limited. How about paddling out from Brooklyn Bridge Park with the city’s most famous river crossing towering above you. (Get there by walking across the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan, another classic NYC freebie.)
3. Cheap eats, part 1. What could be more New York (or more affordable) than bagels and pizza? But it's easy to make the tourist's mistake when picking your destination. First, the slice screw-up: 99-cents-a-slice pizza shops are everywhere in New York, but what they sell is hardly a New York slice. Most frozen pizzas taste better, even when they’re still frozen. If you’re in Manhattan and a slice costs less than $2.50, something is wrong. My favorites — and I am nowhere near alone — are the $2.75 slices from Joe’s Pizza on Carmine Street in Greenwich Village, with Sal & Carmine Pizza on the Upper West Side coming in a close second. Then there's bagel bungling: Never buy a bagel from a place that doesn’t make its own on the premises. And here’s a rule that works 99 percent of the time: Only buy bagels at shops that have the word “bagel” in the name. My two favorites: Murray’s Bagels (two locations on the West Side) and Pick a Bagel (three locations). I’d order pumpernickel with cream cheese, tomato and onion if I were you.
