June is generally one of the most pleasant months of the year in NYC, before the stickiest bits of summer heat set in. Of course there are Pride events aplenty, as well as free concerts, theater performances, art exhibits and more. Read on for nine fun and (mostly) free things to do in town this month.
Enjoy a month of free Pride programming at the Whitney Museum.
Some of New York’s biggest Pride parties have gotten pretty pricey over the years. There are no shortage of smaller parties and events before the city’s blowout Pride parade closes out the month.
But the Whitney Museum is hosting a series of completely free events all month, including a “Legends of Drag” revue, a Queer Teen Night, special tours highlighting LGBTQ+ perspectives in the museum’s collection, and a “Radical Joy Ball” to highlight disabled members of the community. Details and a full schedule are available here.
See Shakespeare in the Park in a different park.
With its traditional home at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park closed for renovations, Shakespeare in the Park will hit the road this June and take its production of “The Comedy of Errors,” performed in both English and Spanish, to different parks and spaces in all five boroughs.
There are 28 performances in June, with free reservations and a full schedule of times and locations available here. The Public Theater has also created a map of the various locations here.
The Mobile Unit's "The Comedy of Errors"
See photography exhibited in all five boroughs via Photoville.
Photoville is best known for bringing large-scale photography to shipping containers, fences and other surfaces in Dumbo and Brooklyn Bridge Park. The photography festival returns there for its 13th year, and will also show photos in parks throughout the boroughs.
Exhibitions include a series about the transient feeling of summer called “I Hope Summer Never Ends,” by Obidigbo Nzeribe, a series on the American Muslim experience, and an exhibit called “100 Years of WNYC,” which is curated by the NYC Department of Records as well as WNYC’s in-house archivist Andy Lanset.
The festival kicks off June 1, with a full list of exhibits and locations available here.
Witness (or participate) in the biggest wedding imaginable.
On June 22, Lincoln Center once again hosts “The Wedding: New York’s Biggest Day,” a mass wedding event that is open to all. Attendees can get hitched, renew their vows, or celebrate from the sidelines.
There are live music performances, as well as clergy from all faiths, and an evening dance floor party.
“The Wedding” is free, with pre-registration, and kicks off at 5 p.m. Details are available here.
A couple celebrates at a previous year's "The Wedding" at Lincoln Center.
Sean CheeAvoid the crowds by hiking Breakneck Ridge on a weekday.
If you can manage to get away on a weekday, June is generally the perfect weather to clamber up to one of the Hudson Valley’s most popular hiking trails: Breakneck Ridge, just outside of Cold Spring, New York.
The Metro-North Hudson Line only stops across from the trailhead on the weekend, but it stops in nearby Cold Spring every day, and weekdays are the time to go, as weekend crowds have made the hike unpleasantly busy on Saturdays and Sundays. The Cold Spring station is 2.4 miles from the trailhead.
The 1.5 mile “short loop” is the most popular version – just note that the first mile of the hike is a mile-long near-vertical scramble that may require you to use your hands.
Eat egg rolls, egg creams and empanadas at the Lower East Side’s multicultural fest.
Whether or not you’ve been to the nearby Tenement Museum, you likely know that Manhattan’s Lower East Side has been where successive waves of the city’s immigrants have arrived for hundreds of years.
The Museum at Eldridge Street celebrates the many folk traditions the neighborhood has housed with its annual “Egg Creams, Egg Rolls and Empanadas” street festival, which will return for its 23rd year.
The fest, which takes place from noon to 4 p.m. on June 16, features Puerto Rican, Jewish and Chinese food, music and more. A full schedule of performers and vendors will soon be available here.
Breakneck Ridge mountain is located just outside of Cold Spring, NY.
See the debut of a new operatic biography of Paul Robeson.
OK, this one’s not free: Tickets are $25. But that’s a great price to see this newly commissioned biographic treatment of the celebrated Harlem Renaissance man Paul Robeson in the Amphitheater on Little Island, with the Hudson River as a backdrop.
Robeson is a rich source for biography. He was a hit singer, a Columbia Law School graduate, a Hollywood and Broadway star, and even testified before Congress about his political activism and potential ties to communism. His life story is now receiving a musical treatment in this show conceived by opera singer Davóne Tines.
Performances begin June 26, with tickets available here.
Celebrate Juneteenth with a program of Black American music at Lincoln Center.
“Some Sing” is Lincoln Center’s free summer celebration of the holiday, when the arts center hosts multiple performances across its sprawling Upper West Side campus.
The shows include free jazz from the pianist and composer Cooper-Moore, singer-songwriters Tamar-kali and Stephanie McKay, and more, as well as “Freedom Songs,” a participatory concert led by singer Toshi Reagon, who's accompanied by her band and a large choir.
Details on all the performances are available here.
Take a day trip (or more) to Fire Island.
Fire Island is a surprisingly accessible day trip that takes about two hours by train and ferry from Penn or Jamaica stations on the Long Island Rail Road.
While Cherry Grove and the Pines are the most popular destinations for Pride month events, each of the island's 17 communities has its own distinct character, from the quieter towns of Saltaire and Davis Park to the wilderness or National Park Service areas in Watch Hill or Sailor’s Haven. You can even camp out on the dunes if you’d like to extend your trip.
