The Blankman List: Free September 2023 Edition Highlights

This is the first month where I stick to a promise I made: I’m selling out.

Well, kinda. I still love doing this: sorting through the overwhelming number of things to do in NYC and giving you a curated list. For this month, I am sharing—at no cost—some of my favorite finds below.

Like in previous months (here’s August), I have found at least one event for every day of the month. However, seeing the full list requires a paid subscription at $5 per month. Or at least having a friend who subscribes and forwards it to you.

To those who have already purchased a paid subscription, your willingness to do so is the reason this list remains alive. For that, I owe you gratitude and continue to listen to feedback about how this list can best serve you. Substack remains new to me, but I have so far found it to be a vibrant and supportive community.

To those on the fence: I understand that paying for a newsletter is a tough sell. I offer you this: searching event lists, vetting quality, researching costs, sometimes even literally calling a box office to confirm a theater address…making this list is work.

My earliest lists lacked food events, so in the past few months, I’ve made an effort to seek them out specifically. This city continues to showcase the breadth of humanity. Looking across my lists, I’ve found wine tastings, agricultural workshops, and moderated food discussions, to name a few. Whatever your passion, this city is capable of nurturing it however you like. One event that stood out to me this month is Vegandale, a one-day vegan food and drink festival on Saturday, September 16 on Randall’s Island. If you arrive after 4 pm and don’t care about seeing Rick Ross (who is not at all vegan), then entry is only $10 and includes dozens of free sponsor samples.

• Saturday, September 16: Vegandale New York (Manhattan)

  • Vegan food festival with interactive art and live music; 11 am–8 pm

  • $10–$50, depending on entry time and proximity to music stage; hundreds of vendors and many free samples included

  • Randall’s Island Park

  • 20 Randalls Island Park

While Vegandale can be experienced cheaply, this list is not restricted to free or cheap events. My quest to find food events has led me to more upscale options too, like a one-night-only curated bourbon and bacon pairing dinner on Monday, September 25 at City Winery for $179 per person.

• Monday, September 25: Bourbon & Bacon Pairing Dinner (Manhattan)

  • Curated five-course bacon-themed tasting menu with bourbon pairings; 6:30 pm (6 pm doors)

  • $179 per person

  • City Winery New York

  • 25 11th Ave (Meatpacking District)

But to be clear: you do not need to spend hundreds of dollars on fancy bacon to enjoy what NYC has to offer. There is a never-ending rotation of events that do not require spending a dime.

• Saturday, September 2: Movies Under the Stars: Eskawata Kayawai - The Spirit of Transformation (Queens)

  • Outdoor documentary screening about the Amazon Rainforest; 8–9:30 pm; part of 27th Inffinito Brazilian Film Festival

  • Free

  • Lawn Area in Rainey Park

  • Near Vernon Blvd & 34th Ave (Astoria)

• Through Sunday, September 10: Black Power to Black People: Branding the Black Panther Party (Manhattan)

  • Black Panther Party poster exhibition; 10 am–9 pm

  • Free admission every Friday; $8–$12 admission otherwise

  • Poster House

  • 119 W 23rd St (Chelsea)

• Sunday, September 10: Music Under the Willow (Manhattan)

  • Indie folk concert; 2–4 pm

  • Free (donations accepted)

  • The Creative Little Garden

  • 530 E 6th St (East Village)

• Wednesday, September 13: Trios: From Mozart to the Present Day (Manhattan)

  • Classical chamber music concert; 8–10 pm; part of New York Chamber Music Festival through September 25

  • Free (registration required)

  • Christ & St. Stephen’s Church

  • 122 W 69th St (Upper West Side)

• Wednesday, September 20: Designing Space (Manhattan)

  • Conversation on architecture and extended reality; 6:30–8 pm

  • Free (registration required)

  • Schapiro CEPSR (Davis Auditorium), Columbia University

  • 530 W 120th St (Manhattanville)

• Friday, September 22–Sunday, September 24: Bushwick Open Studios 2023 (Brooklyn)

  • Art festival spanning various galleries and venues; 12–11 pm; September 22–24

  • Free

  • Throughout Bushwick, Brooklyn

  • Official BOS2023 map not yet released

Image: wavelets, courtesy of momath.org

Perhaps my favorite free find of the month is for anyone interested in either mathematics or image compression. I recommend checking out a talk on Tuesday, September 19 at the Museum of Mathematics: “Wavelets: a Mathematical Synthesis of Ideas from Many Fields.” It is given by Dr. Ingrid Daubechies, a Belgian mathematician who has not only received Guggenheim and MacArthur fellowships, but is considered by many to be the “godmother of the digital image.”

• Tuesday, September 19: Wavelets: A Mathematical Synthesis of Ideas from Many Fields (Manhattan)

  • Mathematics talk exploring the topic of wavelets; 8 pm

  • Free (registration required)

  • National Museum of Mathematics

  • 11 E 26th St (NoMad)

I like a lot of different art forms, but I love musical theater. In September, New York City Tourism and Conventions—the city’s official tourism organization—is hosting NYC Broadway Week. They advertise “2-for-1 tickets,” but read the fine print once the full lineup is available. Depending on the day and the seat, the discount can vary. In past Broadway Weeks, my experience is that the best deals tend to be seats in the mezzanine’s front row.

• Monday, September 4–Sunday, September 17: NYC Broadway Week (Manhattan)

  • Broadway plays and musicals at discounted prices

  • Approximately $100–$150 (see lineup for details)

  • Various Theaters

  • Theater District (Times Square)

This city offers a ton of musical theater outside the Great White Way, however. There’s one show that I have always wanted to see live that is having a one-night-only cabaret performance at 54 Below on Sunday, September 24—Songs from an Unmade Bed: A Queer Song Cycle. The concept is there’s one young, gay man living in the city, and he performs 18 songs, all written by one lyricist (Mark Campbell). However, the music of each song is by a different composer, spanning from Duncan Sheik (who composed the 2006 musical Spring Awakening but may be best known for his 1996 pop hit “Barely Breathing”) to Jake Heggie (whose opera adaptation of Dead Man Walking played at the Metropolitan Opera House in 2021).

• Sunday, September 24: Songs from an Unmade Bed: A Queer Song Cycle (Manhattan)

  • Queer-themed song cycle by one lyricist and 18 composers; 9:30 pm (9 pm doors)

  • $30–$65, plus $25 food and drink minimum

  • 54 Below

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

Finally, I’ll venture from the obscure into the weird and experimental. MV Carbon’s website describes her music in this way: “Carbon forms soundtracks with amplified objects, voice, electric cello, magnetic tape, oscillators, keyboards, and field recordings, addressing psychological feedback through poetry, music, and performance.” Here’s a video of her May 2020 “Quarantine Concert.” She is among the artists in the Shinkoyo collective performing at Roulette in Brooklyn from Wednesday, September 6 through Saturday, September 9. You can catch MV Carbon specifically, along with other experimental artists, on the September 9 performance.

• Saturday, September 9: Mikel Patrick Avery’s Sore Thumb, MV Carbon, Matt Mehlan & Sonnenzimmer’s Slow Dances, Beautifulish (Brooklyn)

  • Interdisciplinary experimental music performance; 8 pm (doors 7 pm); part of 20 Years of Shinkoyo, September 6–9

  • $25 advance / $30 doors / $20 student/senior

  • Roulette

  • 509 Atlantic Ave (Boerum Hill)

The full Blankman List includes much more, including surf photography, Brazilian guitar music, free roller skating, “goth jazz,” Jewish-themed films, fermentation workshops, and a Q&A with original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory actors. If you would like the full list, which includes at least one event for every day of the month, you can subscribe here:

Disclaimer: before going anywhere, please confirm the date, time, and location using the listed website. Any event is at risk of being rescheduled, relocated, sold out, at capacity, or canceled. I try to vet quality, but I may misjudge, plus I recognize that all events are not for all people. Some events require advance registration, and if you are visiting NYC, please double-check how long it will take to get to the venue.