Free Things to Do in Bushwick
Free Things to Do in Bushwick this week
- TUE SEP 22 · 8PM
Pine Box Rock Shop · FREE
A screening of HOLES with drinking games, prizes, and maybe even trivia at Pine Box.
- WED SEP 23 · 5PM
Impact Arcade + Skate for the Planet
Xanadu Roller Arts · FREE
Climate Week kicks off with arcade games, skaterobics, and a skate session where every rental pulls plastic from the ocean.
- WED SEP 23 · 7PM
Hive Mind Books · FREE
A poetry reading and open mic lifting marginalized voices, this month raising funds for the Norwood library.
- THU SEP 24 · 12PM
Bushwick Community Blood Drive
NYPD PSA 3 Muster Room · FREE
Give blood at the PSA 3 muster room; bring photo ID and drink water beforehand.
- THU SEP 24 · 6PM
Cherry on Top · FREE
Acoustic rooftop sets, craft supplies, and homemade cake send off Warmly Zine's third issue at Cherry on Top.
- SAT SEP 26 · 10AM
242 Cooper St · FREE
Weed, aerate, and compost Bushwick's street trees with Big Reuse; all supplies provided.
- SAT SEP 26 · 1PM
Online · FREE
An online class on making generative poster art in TouchDesigner and prepping it for Riso printing.
- SAT SEP 26 · 4PM
Talon Bar · FREE
A day of cosplay contests, craft vendors, tarot, tattoos, dice games, and live music at Talon Bar.
- SUN SEP 27 · 2PM
Cafe Mia · FREE
A J-fashion walk winding from Cafe Mia through the Bushwick Collective to Maria Hernandez Park, with photos for Tenple magazine.
- SUN SEP 27 · 5PM
Filthy Diamond · FREE
A free monthly book club digging into Walter Rodney's How Europe Underdeveloped Africa.
- SUN SEP 27 · 7PM
Roberta's · FREE
Who Framed Roger Rabbit screens in Roberta's garden; come early for pizza and themed drinks.
Bushwick is one of the few corners of New York where you can spend an entire day out and never open your wallet, if you know where to look. The best free things to do in Bushwick are not the ones on a tourist list. They are the gallery opening two blocks from the L, the day party someone posted about six hours before it started, the mural you walk past every day and never actually stop for. Here is the stuff worth leaving your apartment for.
Walk the Bushwick Collective murals
The neighborhood's biggest free attraction is just out on the street. The Bushwick Collective, clustered around Troutman St and St Nicholas Ave, is an open-air gallery of large-scale murals that rotates as artists paint over old work with new. Get off at the Jefferson St L stop, walk slowly, and let yourself get lost down side streets. It looks completely different every few months, so it rewards repeat visits. Bring a coffee. Do not rush it.
Gallery openings (and the free wine)
Bushwick has a serious gallery density, and openings are almost always free and open to whoever wanders in. Show up on an opening night and you get new work, a room full of people who actually make things, and, more often than not, a plastic cup of wine you did not pay for. Nobody checks if you belong there. This is the cheapest, most reliable night out in the neighborhood, and it doubles as the easiest way to get a feel for art in Bushwick without a museum ticket.
Maria Hernandez Park
The neighborhood's living room. Maria Hernandez Park costs nothing, and on a warm afternoon it does the work of a bar, a gym, and a social scene at once: pickup soccer, dogs, someone's speaker, a chess board, a picnic that turned into a party. Come summer, the park and the blocks around it host free outdoor events and film nights. Grab a spot on the grass and stay a while.
Clothing swaps, flea markets, and browsing
Free does not have to mean sitting still. Bushwick runs regular clothing swaps where you drop off what you are done with and leave with someone else's better taste, no money involved. And browsing is its own afternoon: the vintage racks, record shops, and secondhand stores near Myrtle-Wyckoff and the Morgan Ave stop are free to dig through whether or not you buy. If you want the paid version too, our full guide to things to do in Bushwick covers the shops worth the trip.
Free comedy, open mics, and day parties
Plenty of bars and venues run no-cover comedy shows and open mics during the week, where the price of admission is buying one drink, or sometimes nothing at all. In warmer months, look for outdoor day parties and pop-ups, the ones with a DJ, a free entry, and a line by 3pm. A lot of these blur into live music in Bushwick, where a "suggested donation" and "free before 10" are doing a lot of quiet lifting.
The catch with free events
Here is the honest part. Free events are the worst-advertised events in Bushwick. There is no marketing budget, so they get announced last-minute, live in someone's Instagram story, and vanish. By the time you hear about the good one, it already happened. That is the whole reason we send a weekly email: we do the digging so you get the free stuff before it fills up. See what's on this week and, if you are planning ahead, what's on this weekend.
FAQ
What free things can you do in Bushwick?
Plenty. Walk the Bushwick Collective murals, drop into gallery openings (often with free wine), hang in Maria Hernandez Park, hit a clothing swap, browse vintage and record shops, and catch no-cover comedy, open mics, and outdoor day parties in warmer months.
Is the Bushwick Collective free?
Yes. The Bushwick Collective murals are outdoor street art around Troutman St and St Nicholas Ave, free to walk through any time, no ticket or tour required. They change often, so it is worth going back.
How do I find out about free events in Bushwick?
Most free events are announced last-minute on Instagram, which makes them easy to miss. The simplest way is our weekly email, which rounds up the free things worth going to before they fill up.
Never miss the good stuff
The hand-picked best of Bushwick, in your inbox every week. Free.