Suggestions for free stuff to do with guests Sunday

lnelson

My guests are a young family (parents and one infant) who have never been to NYC. They're totally psyched about coming, but I know they're going to find it overwhelming too, and since this is Mem Day weekend I don't want to take them someplace that will be insanely crowded. For various reasons we're trying to keep costs low, so even suggestions of free or very inexpensive places to walk around, sightsee, etc that will not be overly choked with crowds, would be great. I'm especially up for in-Brooklyn-and-nearby activities, as I have a Saturday planned that's full of schlepping around Manhattan.

mgraves-singletary

Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge....

If they are around on Monday, there is a free concert at Green-Wood

http://www.green-wood.com/store.php/store/category/2/event/40/detail

sweet tea

eat tacos at red hook ballfields. (not free, but cheap.)

if you can stand to tiptoe onto manhattan, take the ikea water taxi from wall street to red hook for harbor views, etc. (i know it costs on the weekdays now, but i think it's still free on weekends. check.)

SI ferry requires going to manhattan but is free and a good way to see the harbor, statue of liberty, etc.

get to bbg early on saturday and get in free while it's relatively uncrowded.

pay discretionary and go to the BK museum for cheap (you have to pay something, but it can be a dollar).

jeffrey

The new section of Brooklyn Bridge Park is pretty spectacular.

Order pizzas from Grimaldis TO GO (totally skip the line) and bring them into the park there for an *amazing* evening picnic.

If you are taking the A/C train:

1) Get off at High Street
2) Walk across the street to Choice DUMBO for yummy desert options
(or you could wait and do ice cream on the pier at the base of Old Fulton Street)
3) Continue walking West on Front Street and pick up drinks, fruit and other supplies and munchies at Peas and Pickles.

4) Continue down Front Street to Old Fulton Street and about a hundred feet down from the corner is Grimaldi's (of course). Get yummy pizzas to go.
NOTE: they do not have hard pizza boxes. They have a cardboard plate that sits inside thin paper bag, so carrying multiples may be a little tricky)

5) Proceed down to the water. Straight ahead is the old ferry pier with the ice cream shop in the lighthouse, and to the left is the brand new section of the park.

If you are coming from Brooklyn Heights via the 2/3 or whatever down towards the water, buy your drinks and stuff at one of the supermarkets across the street from the subway station and then walk toward the Promenade, taking Columbia Street all the way (North) down to Old Fulton Street (avoiding BQE ramp crossing) and Grimaldi's will be across the street to the right and the new park to your hard left.

Hope that helps.

jeffrey

Absolutely second sweet tea's vote for the Staten Island Ferry.
(and/or maybe the Ikea shuttle).

stacey

Luna Park opens this weekend also.

lnelson

This is great! Keep 'em coming. Except, what is "bbg"? (Sweet Tea says to get there early while uncrowded)

Also: I always have trouble figuring out what to do with people once we've gone over the Bkln Bridge into Manhattan - or conversely, near the bottom of Manhattan as we meander towards the bridge. I used to do that walk several times weekly as a commuter when I worked near the courts and City Hall, and that's such a sucky area. They're not going to be interested in Century 21, and Ground Zero, which they might care to see, is totally surrounded by a high fence, so it's not worth it. Any thoughts about a natural place to go besides immediately onto the subway and away from City Hall as you cross into Manhattan? Maybe a quick way to get to Battery Park?

architecture biscuit

lnelson wrote: This is great! Keep 'em coming. Except, what is "bbg"? (Sweet Tea says to get there early while uncrowded)

bbg = Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Entry is free on Saturdays mornings as long as you make it to the gate by noon.

sweet tea

brooklyn botanic garden -- free 10-12 on saturdays http://www.bbg.org/visit/hours/#/tabs-2

walk from the base of the bridge to south st seaport/wall street docks, ride water taxi to red hook, eat tacos. (or buy furniture.)

OR walk up to chinatown and eat. don't go all the way to canal. stay on the east side and eat at tasty handpulled noodle -- fabulous meal with a dirty name.
http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/tasty-hand-pulled-noodles/menu

jeffrey

You could combine the Brooklyn Bridge walk with the picnic in Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Take the subway to City Hall, walk the bridge and pop out right on Old Fulton Street, then get the pizza (or whatever) and continue down to the park.

Only issue there would be making sure you brought a bag or cooler with drinks and other munchies etc. with you, unless you bought sodas from the fridge at Grimaldis.

shredder

Excellent suggestions all around. I'll throw in visiting the Brooklyn Flea -- even if you don't feel like spending, it's fun to check out the vintage stuff and sample food from the local vendors. On Sundays it's at One Hanson Place by the Atlantic Center.

I took my parents to Governors Island for a visit, and they loved it. It's like being on a bucolic English estate a stone's throw from Manhattan. Only with weird art installations, abandoned buildings and a big historic fort. The ferry is free from the slip one pier (wharf?) north of the Staten Island ferry pier in lower Manhattan.

stacey

If you walk on South Street you will hit the South Street Seaport which is pretty cool to hang out at - they usually have street performers there as well as bands. Go past that you hit the SI Ferry and past that you hit the park.

If you want to go straight to the park best bet is to just head on down Broadway.

ETA - if you do walk on Broadway, Trinity Church is open to the public and has free concerts on the weekend. You can also grab some great street food and sit there to eat. There is also the Museum of the Native American at the Old Customs House at the foot of Broadway.

reader

It is Fleet Week, if you are on the ferry or Ikea shuttle, there should be some
even better than usual sights to see.

There is a historic village not too far from the Staten Island side ferry terminal.

If you go to Greenwood Cemetery, look for the parrots, No one ever believes they really exist until they see them.

booklaw

Per Wikipedia:

The Monk Parakeet, also known as the Quaker Parrot... have also found a home in Brooklyn, New York, after an accidental release decades ago of what appears black-market birds within Green-Wood Cemetery. The grounds crew initially tried to destroy the unsightly nests at the entrance gate, but no longer do so because the presence of the parrots has reduced the number of pigeons nesting within it. The management's decision was based on a comparative chemical analysis of pigeon feces (which destroy brownstone structures) and Monk Parakeet feces (which have no ill effect). Oddly then, the Monk Parakeets are in effect preserving this historic structure.

Brooklyn College has a Monk Parakeet as an "unofficial" mascot in reference to the colony of the species that lives in its campus grounds. It is featured on the masthead of the student magazine. Most of these Quaker populations can be traced to shipments of captured Quakers from Argentina.

bakedinbrooklyn

^ funny, because we were just discussing this on this thread:

http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=57598

and, Reader, I finally spotted them last week near the main entrance.

doublediamond

Luna Park in Coney Island, which opens this weekend. That would be a very interesting experience indeed.
South Street Seaport
the Met
MoMa
Govenor's Island if it's open and you can rent bikes on the island.

danielle123

Go to BWAC (Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition): http://www.bwac.org/
I think there's a suggested donation of a few dollars but you don't have to pay anything. There are 2 floors of art (though the quality of the work is uneven as it is not curated). They sometimes have free live music upstairs, as well.

Before or after, you could take them across the street to Fairway for some takeout sandwiches (cheap) and eat at the outdoor tables overlooking the views of the Statue of Liberty and the Verrazano (the priceless view is free).

If you're in the mood for more art, you can head around the corner to the Look North Gallery which has Inuit carvings. The proprietor is Jim Clark and he spent 15 years on Alaskan crab fishing boats which is where he met some of these artists (call ahead to make sure Jim is there): http://www.looknorthny.com/

local282

Bring them to BAM to enjoy the DanceAfrica Bazaar:
http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=2097

The performance itself in BAM's Opera House is ticketed, but the outdoor marketplace is free, interesting, and full of energy.

It'd be easy to combine with a visit to Brooklyn Flea...

arlette

Also go to the Brownstoners flea market on Vanderbilt Ave and Lafayette Ave.Look around , sit on the steps and eat some good cheap food from the food vendors.Sunday the flea is held at One Hanson Pl.

roux42

Ride the Staten Island Ferry!

veets

Sweetie.. Whatever plans you have developed for the weekend I hope you have a Great memorial Day Weekend with your company.