Free Highlights: Things to Do in NYC, February 2025
Celebrate Black History Month in New York City
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For this month’s free highlights, I include many events from my more expansive February 2025 Blankman List, along with plenty of additional events in the interest of celebrating Black History Month.
Some highlights this month include a talk about 1960s Brooklyn politics, which was largely divided into Irish, Jewish, and Black racial and cultural lines, an art exhibit on how modern Black artists engage with ancient Egypt, and—as suggested by the top image—a special tour of Louis Armstrong’s archives.
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.
Theater for Black History Month
Through Sunday, February 2: The 16th Annual Ten-Minute Play Program
Series of six short plays as part of The Fire This Time, an annual festival for playwrights of African and African-American descent
$28
Wild Project
195 E 3rd St
Monday, February 3–Sunday, February 23: Gil Scott-Heron Bluesology
Off-Broadway play on the music and poetry of spoken-word performer Gil Scott-Heron
$46
SoHo Playhouse
15 Vandam St (SoHo, Manhattan)
Through Sunday, February 16: When Gold Turns Black
Off-off-Broadway play about Olympic-bound sprinters challenged to speak out against racism on a college campus
$20 general / $15 student/senior
Theater for the New City
155 1st Ave (East Village, Manhattan)
Previews begin Tuesday, February 25: Purpose
Broadway play written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and directed by Phylicia Rashad about a fictional family who has been a longtime pillar of Black American politics
$79–$299
The Helen Hayes Theatre
240 W 44th St (Times Square, Manhattan)
Black Writers & Poets
Tuesday, February 4: Vinson Cunningham: Great Expectations
Discussion with author Vinson Cunningham on the paperback release of his national bestseller Great Expectations; 7–8 pm
$8 (admission only) / $22 (includes book)
Strand Book Store, Rare Book Room
828 Broadway (Union Square, Manhattan)
Tuesday, February 18: A Birthday Celebration of Audre Lorde
Celebration of poet Audre Lorde, featuring readings of her work and work that was influenced by her, followed by a reception; 7–9 pm
Free
Poets House
10 River Terrace (Rockefeller Park, Manhattan)
Thursday, February 20: The Greenlight Poetry Salon
Evening of wine, poetry, and performance, including readings by poets Roya Marsh and Brittany Rogers; 7:30–8:30 pm
Free
Greenlight Bookstore
686 Fulton St (Fort Greene, Brooklyn)
Through Friday, February 28: Celebrating 100 Years of James Baldwin: JIMMY! God’s Black Revolutionary Mouth
Exhibition featuring selections from James Baldwin’s archive of personal papers
Free
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
515 Malcolm X Blvd (Harlem, Manhattan)
Food & Drink for Black History Month
Thursdays through Saturdays: Dept of Culture Prix Fixe Dinner
North-central Nigerian tasting menu in an intimate setting; seatings at 6 & 8:30 pm; every Thursday, Friday & Saturday, plus Wednesdays through Feb 12
$98
Dept of Culture
327 Nostrand Ave (Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn)
Tuesday, February 4: Quiet Reading Brooklyn at Book Club Bar
One hour of unstructured reading at a Black-owned, woman-owned bookstore/wine bar, followed by one hour of socializing; 9–11 pm
Free entry, plus one drink purchase
Book Club Bar
197 E 3rd St (East Village, Manhattan)
Thursday, February 13: Sip the Caribbean
Public discussion between microdistiller Jackie Summers and historian Ramin Ganeshram on the food and drink legacy of the African Diaspora; 6–9 pm
$40 (includes snacks, four tastings of Sorel Liqueur, and access to museum exhibit on flavor)
Museum of Food and Drink
55 Water St, 2nd Floor (Dumbo, Brooklyn)
Friday, February 21: Funk Flex – The Biggest R&B Dinner Party
Dinner with renowned hip hop artist Funk Flex performing an R&B-focused DJ set; 7:30 pm (6 pm doors)
$32–$50, plus $25 food and drink minimum
City Winery NYC
25 11th Ave (Chelsea, Manhattan)
Learn About Black History
Thursday, February 6: Joining the Clubs: Inside the Ethnic Power Centers of 1960s Brooklyn Politics
Interview recordings and panel discussion about Brooklyn’s political history in the 1960s and 70s being divided along racial and ethnic lines; 6:30–8 pm
Free
Center for Brooklyn History
128 Pierrepont St (Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn)
Thursday, February 13: The Rising Generation: The 19th-Century Black New Yorkers Who Changed a Nation
Talk between historians Sarah L. H. Gronningsater and Christopher Brown on the topic of nineteenth-century Black New Yorkers born into a world of gradual abolition; 6:30–7:30 pm
$35
The New York Historical1
170 Central Park W (Upper West Side, Manhattan)
Tuesday, February 18: It Happened Here: An Afternoon of Black History
Guided tour of the African Burial Ground, followed by a symposium highlighting three NAACP Legal Defense Fund collaborators; 3–7 pm
Free
African Burial Ground National Monument
290 Broadway (Lower Manhattan)
Friday, February 28: Drunk Black History
A “booze-fueled lesson in Black history,” led by comedian Brandon Collins; 8–10 pm (7 pm doors)
$19–$35
Littlefield
635 Sackett St (Gowanus, Brooklyn)
Black Musicians & Dancers
Wednesday, February 5–Sunday, February 9: Camille A. Brown & Dancers – “I Am”
New dance work by dancer and choreographer Camille A. Brown inspired by the television series Lovecraft Country and movie Drumline
$52–$72
The Joyce Theater
175 8th Ave (Chelsea, Manhattan)
Thursday, February 6: What’s Happening? Film Series: Women in Jazz
Evening of film and discussion centered on two documentary screenings about Black female jazz musicians; 5:30–7:30 pm
Free
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, Bruno Walter Auditorium
40 Lincoln Center Plaza (Lincoln Square, Manhattan)
Saturday, February 8: Book Launch: Stomp Off, Let’s Go and Special Archival Tour
Talk with author Ricky Riccardi on Stomp Off, Let’s Go, a new book on Louis Armstrong’s early years, followed by a guided tour of Armstrong’s archives; 3–4 pm
Free
The Louis Armstrong Center, Jazz Room
34-56 107th St (Corona, Queens)
Friday, February 21: Nichelle Lewis
Cabaret concert by singer Nichelle Lewis, who recently starred as Dorothy in the Broadway revival of The Wiz; 7 pm (5:30 pm doors)
$51–$79+, plus $25 food and beverage minimum
54 Below
254 W 54th St, Cellar (Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan)
Black Artists
Through Saturday, February 1: Portraits Art Exhibition
Group exhibition at a Black- and minority-owned art center focused on portraits on the themes of self-expression and identity; 2–7 pm on Feb 1
Free
Brooklyn Art Cave
897 Broadway (Bushwick, Brooklyn)
Opens Wednesday, February 5: Yusuf Ahmed – Between Nostalgia & Dreams
Photography exhibition by Ethiopian-American photographer Yusuf Ahmed on objects that people with immigrant identities have held onto the longest
Free
The Africa Center, Alika Dangote Hall
1280 5th Ave (East Harlem, Manhattan)
Friday, February 7–Thursday, February 13: Paint Me a Road out of Here
Documentary by activist Catherine Gund about the mishandling and whitewashing of Faith Ringgold’s 1971 painting “For the Women’s House”
$17
Film Forum
209 W Houston St (Hudson Square, Manhattan)
Through Monday, February 17: Flight into Egypt: Black Artists and Ancient Egypt, 1876–Now
Art exhibition on how Black artists and other cultural figures have engaged with ancient Egypt
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)
I am sad to say that one loss in 2024 was the quirky hyphen in the now-defunct “New-York Historical Society.”