Free Highlights: Things to Do in NYC, January 2025

Ways to usher in the new year in New York City.

Going outside in NYC in January is occasionally not for the weak. Sometimes there is bitter cold wind that hurts your face, only to be slapped with blasting heat and clanking radiators as soon as you enter a building. God forbid icy subway stairs. Yet millions of tourists brave the city nonetheless, and so the Blankman List continues on with volunteer events, sales events, concerts, comedy, dance, theater, and plenty of (indoors) things to do around New York City.

The list below features many highlights from January’s list.

Disclaimer: before going anywhere, please confirm the date, time, location, cost, and description using the listed website. Any event is at risk of being rescheduled, relocated, sold out, at capacity, or canceled. Costs are rounded to the nearest dollar and may change. I try to vet quality and describe accurately, but I may misjudge. All views are my own.

Musical Theater

Residents, if you’ve been looking for an excuse to enter Broadway rush and lotteries, your time has come. Tourist season recedes in January and February, and many shows close. Lotteries are a bit easier to win, and the retail price of tickets dips. This month, I call attention to Suffs, a musical on the early twentieth-century women’s suffrage movement that won the Tony Awards for best book and score, which is sadly closing on January 5. Fortunately, theater—both on and off Broadway—keeps marching in the city, with year-round drama and theater-related events.

• Through Sunday, January 5: Suffs

  • Broadway musical based on the American women’s suffrage movement

  • $99–$347

  • Music Box Theatre

  • 239 W 45th St (Times Square, Manhattan)

• Thursday, January 9–Sunday, January 26: Show/Boat: A River

  • A reimagining of the seminal musical Show Boat that “reframes the 1927 classic for today’s audience”

  • $60–$120

  • NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts

  • 566 LaGuardia Pl (Washington Square Park, Manhattan)

• Tuesday, January 14: An Evening with Josh Gad

  • Storytelling and a moderated conversation on the memoir by actor and singer Josh Gad; 7:30 pm (6:30 pm doors)

  • $57–$100 (includes signed copy of book)

  • The Town Hall

  • 123 W 43rd St (Times Square, Manhattan)

• Friday, January 17: The Eras of Miley Cyrus in Concert

  • Cabaret of Miley Cyrus songs by musical theater performers; 9:30 pm (9 pm doors)

  • $29–$73, plus $25 food and drink minimum

  • 54 Below

  • 254 W 54th St, Cellar (Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan)

Even in the freezing cold, skaters brave the elements at Washington Square Park, the “90s epicenter” for skateboarding. Videos and artifacts from skateboarding’s formative years are on display through January 26 at the Museum of the Moving Image.

Winter Sports

I’ve blabbered on many times about my admiration for skateboarding and often share related events I hear about, such as the current exhibition on skate videos and artifacts ending this January at the Museum of the Moving Image. Skateboarding is just one of many ways to engage with sports even in the city’s colder months. Basketball season is especially in full swing, for which I call out an unusual January pride night happening at Madison Square Garden.

• Monday, January 6: New York Knicks vs. Orlando Magic

  • LGBTQIA+ pride night at a regular season NBA [National Basketball Association] game; 7:30 pm (6:30 pm doors)

  • $139–$600+

  • Madison Square Garden

  • 4 Pennsylvania Plaza (Midtown, Manhattan)

• Monday, January 20: Columbia University Women’s Basketball vs. Princeton

  • Women’s college basketball game between Columbia University and Princeton University; 7 pm

  • $13–$20

  • Columbia University, Levien Gymnasium

  • 3030 Broadway (Morningside Heights, Manhattan)

• Through Sunday, January 26: Recording the Ride: The Rise of Street-Style Skate Videos

  • Exhibition of videos and objects from skateboarding culture’s formative years in the late 1980s and 1990s; 12–6 pm; through Jan 26

  • $20 general / $12 student/senior

  • Museum of the Moving Image

  • 36-01 35th Ave (Astoria, Queens)

• Starting Friday, January 31: Monster Jam

  • Motorsports event with stunts, racing, and trucks competing in competitions of speed and skill; 7 pm; Jan 31–Feb 2

  • $36–$126+

  • Barclays Center

  • 620 Atlantic Ave (Prospect Heights, Brooklyn)

Post-Holiday Music

There’s something—authentic, shall I say?—about NYC music in January. The tourists are as gone as they’re gonna be, and residents don’t really want to leave their apartments. The result is perhaps among the realest music that NYC has to offer, from the patriotic pianism of Lara Downes to the surrealist blues poetry of Aja Monet (above).

• Saturday, January 4: Ukulele Club

  • Ukulele playing group for all skill levels, including beginning learners; 2–3:30 pm

  • Free (bring your own instrument, or ukulele provided)

  • Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library

  • 40 W 20th St #1 (Flatiron District, Manhattan)

• Thursday, January 9: Aja Monet, Sophye Soliveau, Fay Victor

  • Opening night of Winter Jazzfest, headlined by “surrealist blues poet” Aja Monet; 7:30 pm (6:30 pm doors)

  • $35–$45 advance / $55 day of

  • Le Poisson Rouge

  • 158 Bleecker St (Noho, Manhattan)

• Wednesday, January 15: Lara Downes: This Land Album Launch

  • Wide range of American music performed by pianist Lara Downes, with special musical guests and a public conversation with linguist and cultural commentator John McWhorter; 9 pm

  • $42 (entry only) / $60 (includes CD), plus 2 drink or 1 food item minimum

  • Joe’s Pub

  • 425 Lafayette St (Noho, Manhattan)

• Friday, January 17: Hoi Leong (Zach) Cheong, Piano

  • Juilliard student piano recital (2023 video); 5:30 pm

  • Free

  • The Juilliard School, Paul Hall

  • 155 W 65th St (Lincoln Square, Manhattan)

Dance

Whether you like to dance yourself or see others practice the art form, movement can be a great way to thaw from the icy outdoors. It certainly doesn’t stop in the city, anyway, with everything from experimentally choreographed performances to all-night EDM parties. In particular, I call out the Joyce Theater’s mid-month restaging of Ronald K. Brown’s seminal dance works Serving Nia (2001) and Grace (1999) by the Brooklyn-based EVIDENCE dance company (above).

• Thursday, January 9: Salsa Party

  • Salsa dancing class, followed by social dancing, live music, and dance performances; 6–9:30 pm

  • Free

  • Brooklyn Museum, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Lobby

  • 200 Eastern Pkwy (Prospect Heights, Brooklyn)

• Friday, January 10: Loving the Alien: Bowie Tribute Dance Party

  • Fifth annual dance party of DJ Steve Reynolds playing David Bowie hits and deep cuts; 10:30 pm–2 am (10 pm doors)

  • $7 advance / $12 at door

  • Littlefield

  • 635 Sackett St (Gowanus, Brooklyn)

• Tuesday, January 14–Sunday, January 19: Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE

  • Performances by the EVIDENCE dance company of landmark African-influenced contemporary dance works Grace (1999) and Serving Nia (2001) by choreographer Ronald K. Brown

  • $52–$72

  • The Joyce Theater

  • 175 8th Ave (Chelsea, Manhattan)

• Saturday, January 18: Black Spectrum Theatre Co. Presents Dance Concert

  • Performance by the Maimouna Keita African Dance Company and others celebrating African heritage; part of MLK Jr. weekend celebration; 7 pm

  • $32

  • Black Spectrum Theatre Co.

  • 177-01 Baisley Blvd (Jamaica, Queens)

Listen Up

Traveling to hear a talk about timber-based architecture or Earth’s geochemistry might be about as non-touristy as you can get. The city’s many museums and cultural centers (and—though not featured below—universities) mean that there are fascinating conversations and lectures happening year-round in the city.

• Wednesday, January 8: Earth’s Timekeepers

  • Talk by geochemist Lucien Nana Yobo on climate change and the deep-time record of Earth’s history; 7 pm; part of SciCafe

  • Free

  • American Museum of Natural History, Cullman Hall of the Universe

  • 200 Central Park W (Enter at 81st St; Upper West Side, Manhattan)

• Wednesday, January 8: More Mass Timber

  • Moderated discussion with architects designing timber-based public-facing conceptual projects; 6 pm; final program in the Tall Timber series

  • Free

  • Skidmore, Owings & Merrill [SOM] Architecture offices

  • 7 World Trade Center (Financial District, Manhattan)

• Tuesday, January 14: David Campbell and Jarrod Shanahan Discuss City Time: On Being Sentenced to Rikers Island

  • Moderated conversation with two authors who served sentences at Rikers and discuss the life and challenges of being incarcerated there; 6:30–8 pm

  • Free

  • Center for Brooklyn History

  • 128 Pierrepont St (Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn)

• Wednesday, January 15: And One to Grow On: Lessons from the Birthday Problem

  • Presentation by mathematician Larry Lesser on the history and applications of the famous “birthday problem” paradox; 4 & 7 pm; part of Math Encounters

  • Free

  • National Museum of Mathematics

  • 225 5th Ave (Madison Square Park, Manhattan)

In 2012–2013, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art held an exhibit on director Stanley Kubrick, including this typewriter from his 1980 film The Shining, which is being screened this January at the Museum of the Moving Image. Photo: Matthew J. Cotter

Watch a Movie

There’s something so cozy about getting situated in a movie theater when it’s freezing cold outside. You know you’re in for a warm, (usually) passive couple of hours. There are plenty of blockbuster films playing across every borough that aren’t particularly hard to look up. So here, I feature a few screenings, like Andrei Tarkovsky’s final 1986 film, that might fly a bit under the radar.

• Tuesday, January 7–Friday, January 10: Girl America

  • Screening of director Viktor Tauš’s 2024 avant-garde Czech fantasy film about a girl abandoned in totalitarian Czechoslovakia, followed by a Q&A with its creators

  • Free

  • Bohemian National Hall

  • 321 E 73rd St (Upper East Side, Manhattan)

• Sunday, January 12: The Shining

  • Screening of director Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 psychological horror film based on Stephen King’s novel; 3:15 pm

  • $18 general / $12 student/senior

  • Museum of the Moving Image, Redstone Theater

  • 36-01 35th Ave (Astoria, Queens)

• Wednesday, January 22: The Sacrifice

  • Screening of director Andrei Tarkovsky’s final 1986 film centered on a man who attempts to bargain with God to stop a nuclear holocaust; 6 pm

  • $21

  • Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Brooklyn

  • 445 Albee Square W (Downtown Brooklyn)

• Thursday, January 16–Thursday, January 23: I’m Still Here

  • Screening of director Walter Salles’ latest film focused on the real-life story of Eunice Paiva (Fernanda Torres) and her terrifying and transformational experiences during Brazil’s military dictatorship

  • $21 general / $20 senior

  • Angelika New York

  • 18 W Houston St (Soho, Manhattan)