Thursday is stacked and almost all free: free ragtime at Bryant Park lunchtime, a sunset Americana/jazz festival on Greeley Square, swing-then-salsa on the Bryant Park lawn and a free jazz-photography opening reception at The Jazz Gallery tonight — plus a $10 magic show in Astoria and a free drag-bingo night in Bushwick; the weekend brings free public art on the Rockaways shoreline Sunday and a week of free West African/Haitian dance and drum classes in Bed-Stuy.

Live Music

  • Piano in Bryant Park — TODAY 12:30–2:30pm, Upper Terrace, Bryant Park: free ragtime, stride and jazz — the weekday series runs through Oct 1, and the Thursday edition is the one that gets occasional special guests.
  • Golden Hour at Greeley Square Park — TONIGHT 6:30–8:30pm, Greeley Square Park (32nd St & Broadway): free sunset music festival — Americana, jazz and emerging indie acts curated by the park’s cultural partners; an easy walk down from the office.
  • Bryant Park Picnic Performance: Dance Party All-Stars — TONIGHT 7–9pm, Bryant Park Lawn: free — George Gee Swing Orchestra for the Lindy hop crowd, then salsa and Latin jazz from Alfredo De La Fé’s All Star Band; NYC Parks tags it a Must See Event.

Art & Public Art

  • Steven Sussman: Jazz, Seen — opening reception TONIGHT 5–7pm, The Jazz Gallery, 1158 Broadway: free, with Sussman present — two decades of his jazz-performance photography; stick around for the gallery’s Roy Hargrove Big Band residency afterwards.
  • Creative Time Sandcastle Competition — Sun 9/13 1–4pm, Rockaway Beach at Beach 108th St: free (RSVP) — eight artists turn the shoreline into a temporary outdoor gallery for the first edition since 2013; judging at 4pm, with a ticketed benefit bash at The Rockaway Hotel 5–7pm after.
  • 10th Annual Art Is Alive Festival — Sun 9/13–Sat 9/19, 506 MacDonough St, Bed-Stuy: free, donations welcome — Asase Yaa’s weeklong anniversary program: nightly 7pm dance and drum classes (West African, Haitian, Senegalese) plus wellness sessions, building to the second annual block party, noon–7pm Sat 9/19, with Asase Yaa’s dance theater and the Brooklyn United Marching Band.

Tonight in the Neighborhoods

  • Live Magic Show by the NYC Magic Ensemble — TONIGHT 7:30pm, QED Astoria, 21+: $10 for a brand-new lineup each month from a local ensemble of magicians supporting neighborhood venues.
  • Drag Bingo & Open Set at Tiny Cupboard — TONIGHT 6:30–8:30pm, Tiny Cupboard, Bushwick: free to attend, bingo cards $5 and half the night’s take goes to the round-3 winner; new weekly show, and there’s a signup link in the post if you’d rather perform.
All gathered items - what was cut and why (9)

17 events auto-dropped by the timing filter (past dates) - logged in the Obsidian raw dump.