Free Highlights: Things to Do in NYC, May 2025

Experiencing the music, art, food, and many books of New York City

New York City’s expansive library system is one of places I often turn to for book-related events. The Kings Bay Library shown here, for instance, is having a book sale on May 5. Photo: GK tramrunner RU

Books have always had a special place in my life, something I’ve written about as recently as a few months ago. They were overflowing in my home growing up, and my shelves at home contain a core collection of books I’ve held onto and cherished for decades alongside a constantly rotating library.

In assembling my monthly Blankman List of things to do in New York City, one category I regularly check for are book-related events. I check an ever-growing list of bookstores around the city, from large well-known ones like Barnes & Noble and Strand Books to more niche ones like The Nonbinarian Bookstore (queer books), The Ripped Bodice (romance books), and The Mysterious Bookstore (mystery fiction).

Book-related events in NYC are by no means restricted to bookstores, however. My full May 2025 list includes a library book sale, a volunteer event dedicated to getting books in children’s homes, and a talk about a recently-published book on women architects, to name a few examples.

To those of you uninterested in book talks, book fairs, and so on, fear not. The highlights below—many of which come from May’s list—largely don’t have anything to do with books. But some do, and I offer a few related bookstore recommendations along the way.

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.

Book Events

I start off on theme with a few upcoming NYC happenings that pertain to books. In particular, I want to advocate for the Brooklyn Book Bodega, an organization dedicated to increasing the number of 100+ book homes for children around the city. In addition to a variety of events they sponsor, you can volunteer to help with the work needed to sort and distribute thousands of books.

• Monday, May 5: Book Sale - $1 Each

  • Library book sale with children’s, adult, and Russian books available for $1 each; 11 am–1 pm

  • Free entry

  • Brooklyn Public Library - Kings Bay Branch

  • 3650 Nostrand Ave (Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn)

• Saturday, May 10: Rainbow Book Fair

  • LGBTQ+ book fair on the theme of “queer resistance” featuring exhibitors, authors, panels, and discussions; 12–6 pm

  • $5 suggested donation

  • The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center

  • 208 West 13th St (West Village, Manhattan)

• Tuesday, May 13: Women Architects at Work: Making American Modernism

  • Talk by architectural historians on a new book Women Architects at Work, profiling women who contributed to the modernization of American architecture and design; 6 pm

  • Free

  • The Skyscraper Museum

  • 39 Battery Pl (Financial District, Manhattan)

• Various weekdays throughout May: Brooklyn Book Bodega Onsite Volunteering

  • Volunteer work towards helping all children have access to books; 10 am–1 pm; various Tuesdays through Fridays

  • Free

  • Brooklyn Navy Yard

  • 141 Flushing Ave (Wallabout, Brooklyn)

Printed Matter is a bookstore in Chelsea dedicated to artists’ books. Photo: Wil540

Art & Fashion Events

I have a special liking to art books like, say, the catalog to the Met’s fashion exhibit on Black dandyism, opening on May 10. Art book lovers might especially like checking out Printed Matter in Chelsea, a store dedicated to artists’ books. Or perhaps you’re ready for me to stop blabbering on about books altogether and would just like to explore some of the art and fashion events happening this May.

• Through Sunday, May 4: Cult Gaia New York Sample Sale

  • Discounted sample products from Cult Gaia, a women’s fashion brand dedicated to “heirloom pieces that will live in your closet forever”; 11 am–7 pm; Apr 30–May 4

  • Free entry (there may be a long queue)

  • 260 Sample Sale, Lafayette

  • 148 Lafayette St (SoHo, Manhattan)

• Opens Wednesday, May 7: Will Cotton: Between Instinct and Reason

  • Exhibition of monumental paintings by American artist Will Cotton depicting mermaids in their “natural candy-laden habitat”; 10 am–6 pm; May 7–Jun 28

  • Free

  • Templon New York

  • 293 10th Ave (Chelsea, Manhattan)

• Opens Saturday, May 10: Superfine: Tailoring Black Style

  • Exhibition from the Costume Institute on the culture and history of Black dandyism

  • Free with museum admission, which is pay-what-you-wish for NYC residents and NY, NJ, CT students, otherwise $30 adults / $22 seniors / $17 students

  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art Fifth Avenue, Gallery 899

  • 1000 5th Ave (Upper East Side, Manhattan)

• Saturday, May 31: Swedish Folk Painting with Egg Yolk

  • Intro level workshop led by artist Pieper Bloomquist on making paint out of egg yolks in the style of Swedish folk painting; 11 am–2 pm

  • $30

  • Scandinavia House

  • 58 Park Ave (Midtown East, Manhattan)

Food & Drink Events

A quarter of all dedicated cookbooks stores in the US are in New York City. Perhaps the most famous among them is Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks, an East Village shop dedicated to rare and antiquarian cookbooks. While that shop doesn’t tend to have many events (at least to my knowledge), food and drink-related events are plentiful around the city, and I always try to find a few highlights to share each month.

• Saturday, May 3: Sake-Con 2025

  • Sake tasting with Japanese performances and vendors; 3–7 pm

  • $31–$123

  • Japan Village Courtyard

  • 934 3rd Ave (Industry City, Brooklyn)

• Saturday, May 17–Sunday, May 18: Ninth Avenue International Food Festival

  • Food festival featuring vendors with various international cuisines; 10 am–6 pm

  • Free entry

  • Along 9th Ave, between 42nd St & 57th St

  • 629 9th Ave (Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan)

• Every Sunday: Sunday Roast at Mar’s

  • Traditional British Sunday roast with carved roasted meat and sides; 5:30 pm until gone

  • Market price (for comparison, dinner menu entrees are around $18–$36+)

  • Mar’s

  • 34-21 34th Ave (Astoria, Queens)

• Every Monday: BYO Monday Wine Club at Hawksmoor

  • Weekly discounted corkage fee for bringing your own bottle of wine to a steak house; open for dinner 5–10:30 pm

  • $10 corkage fee; dinner menu entrees are $28–$110

  • Hawksmoor NYC

  • 109 E 22nd St (Flatiron District, Manhattan)

Kele Okereke is best known as the lead singer for the band Bloc Party, whose post-punk sound topped charts in the early 2000s. They are performing alongside Metric on May 31 in Queens. Photo: Drew de F Fawkes

Concerts

There were many factors that led to me moving to New York City. One was Colony Records, a cramped music shop that once had the best supply of sheet music available for browsing in the city. It left me feeling, “Holy cow—I can get this here?!” As fate would have it, the store shuttered its doors just a year after me moving here, permanently neutering the sheet music selection in the city and breaking my heart just a little. Though literal scores can be tough to shop for here, fortunately, hearing them is quite easy.

• Opens Monday, May 12: Antony and Cleopatra

  • Opera by American composer John Adams based on Shakespeare’s play about political strife and a troubled romance; 7:30 pm; May 12–Jun 7

  • $33–$490

  • The Metropolitan Opera House

  • 30 Lincoln Center Plaza (Lincoln Square, Manhattan)

• Saturday, May 17: Queens College Choral Society: Verdi’s Requiem

  • College performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s 1874 choral work Messa da Requiem; 8 pm

  • $25

  • Kupferberg Center for the Arts at Queens College, Colden Auditorium

  • 153-49 Reeves Ave (Flushing, Queens)

• Thursday, May 29: Lil Poppa

  • Concert tour stop by “delicate trap” Florida-based rapper Lil Poppa; 8 pm (7 pm doors)

  • $41–$76

  • Racket NYC

  • 431 W 16th St (Chelsea, Manhattan)

• Saturday, May 31: Bloc Party with Metric

  • Concert with indie rock bands Bloc Party and Metric, both groups who achieved success in the early 2000s; 6 pm (5 pm doors)

  • $62–$236+

  • Forest Hills Stadium

  • 1 Tennis Pl (Forest Hills, Queen)

Film & Drama Events

Sometimes a book is just the starting source material. I would be remiss in not mentioning the Drama Book Shop, a longtime Midtown mainstay for theatrical books. The shop was nearly put out of business during the pandemic but was saved in part by NYC theater legend Lin-Manuel Miranda. Whether or not I share any of their events in a given month, you can find the scripts to many plays and musicals I do share among its shelves.

• Opens Thursday, May 1: Bowl EP

  • Small, independent play about two skateboarding rappers produced by National Black Theatre, an organization dedicated to supporting Black artists

  • $38–$107

  • Vineyard Theatre

  • 108 E 15th Street (Union Square, Manhattan)

• Friday, May 2–Sunday, May 4: Margaret Mead Film Festival

  • Three-day film festival dedicated to “storytelling and documentary films from diverse voices”; screenings from 1 pm through 7 pm

  • $12 screening / $75 weekend pass

  • American Museum of Natural History

  • 200 Central Park W (Upper West Side, Manhattan)

• Friday, May 16: This Is What We Mean by Short Films: Opening Night 2025

  • Opening night of Rooftop Films’ 2025 season featuring a program of short films, with music, Q&A, and after-party; 7:45 pm doors

  • $22

  • Green-Wood Cemetery

  • 500 25th Ave (Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn)

• Previews begin Saturday, May 24: Call Me Izzy

  • New Broadway play about “one woman’s refusal to be silenced”

  • $99–$399

  • Studio 54

  • 254 W 54th St (Midtown, Manhattan)

On May 14, you can catch a free biology talk sponsored by the Simons Foundation on the family relationships of poison dart frogs. Photo: Dwayne Reilander

Lectures & Conversations

Talks around the city are often connected to books, most commonly an author speaking about a newly-published work. But they don’t have to be. Plenty of organizations offer lectures and panel conversations year round. Some of my favorite calendars to check each month are those of the Simons Foundation for science-related talks (like the one listed below on poison frogs) and The New York Historical for history-related ones.

• Monday, May 5: The Divine Nine: The Origins and History of Black Greek-Letter Fraternities and Sororities

  • Panel discussion on the Divine Nine—nine historically Black fraternities and sororities that helped to shaped Black American culture; 6:30–8 pm

  • Free

  • Center for Brooklyn History

  • 128 Pierrepoint St (Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn)

• Tuesday, May 6: The Libyan Pharaohs of Egypt and Their Rediscovery

  • Talk by Egyptologist Aidan Mark Dodson on the often-ignored era of Egypt being ruled by a series of pharaohs of Libyan ancestry; 6–7:30 pm

  • Free

  • Salmagundi Club, Smith Library

  • 47 5th Ave (Union Square, Manhattan)

• Wednesday, May 14: Lessons on Family Relationships From Poison Frogs

  • Talk by biologist Lauren O’Connell on using the family units of poison frogs to understand the neural basis of human family social bonds; 6–7 pm (5:30 pm doors)

  • Free

  • Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium

  • 160 5th Ave (Flatiron District, Manhattan)

• Thursday, May 15: The Great Nave: A Centennial Celebration

  • Talk by architect Nicolas Kemper on the history of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine starting with FDR’s fundraising drive one century ago; 6:30 pm

  • Free

  • Cathedral of St. John the Divine

  • 1047 Amsterdam Ave (Morningside Heights, Manhattan)