Well, the strangest thing has happened. I have a woman who is willing to date me. Neither of us has much money so I need ideas for inexpensive wooing.
There are several museums that have no set charge (AMNH, The Met, etc.) that make for a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. There are also lots of free events all over the city that you can take advantage of…I’ve been on dates to free concerts in Central Park, walking tours, museums, and all sorts of other stuff. There is also an art installation every November called Canstruction that is really pretty cool and the cost of admission is a donation of one canned good per person. My first date with my husband was in fact a free concert and that worked out really well so I highly recommend free events for a date!
92Y-Tribeca has a lot of inexpensive events, including the Comedy Below Canal series, the Mortified storytelling series, and lots of films, including a monthly singalong event.
http://www.92y.org/tribeca/index.aspx
Also from what I can tell this exhibit is well worth the $12 entry fee: Experience at the New Museum.
Walk through the Met, then grab a hot dog, check out the artists selling their wares in front of the Met, then go for a walk in Central Park and grab an ice cream while you’re at it.
I really need to do that again soon with my wife…
I need to do that again soon with your wife, too…
Visit the free Central Park Conservatory Garden around 105th St. and 5th Ave., it’s far less visited than the Sheep Meadow, Bethesda Fountain or Central Park Zoo yet very beautiful (and free).
Visit “suggested admission” museums, or other ones on free or pay-what-you-wish days (recommended: the Frick Museum, Gugggenheim Museum, MoMA, the Bronx Zoo, NY Botanical Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, New-York Historical Society)…
http://gonyc.about.com/cs/museums/a/museumdeals.htm
The Staten Island Ferry is supposed to be a nicely romantic boat trip to SI and back, and still (as far as I know) for free. (Though admittedly I’ve never done it.)
If fine dining would be your thing except for the cost, get on the Restaurant Week mailing list for some under-$30-with-tip prix fixe lunch menus (about $40 for dinner) at some of the city’s top restaurants. Or, on a similar budget, some very good and occasionally outstanding food at L’Ecole, the “school restaurant” of the French Culinary Institute.
You very funny man! 
One down, hopefully lots more to go.
You know, I really wouldn’t put “recommended admissions” museums on an early cheap date list. The counter people at the Met & AMNH totally pressure you to pay the recommended amount. It can be embarassing paying less than the recommended if you’re not mentally equipped for a staredown, or to endure speeches and recitattions when paying less than the rec. That doesn’t happen every time, but its happened to me more than never. Not something I’d really want to experience in front of a date.
Wha’dja do? Wha’dja do?
From the thread title, I assumed you were looking for an inexpensive date. I was going to suggest hanging out in the Bowery. They can be cheap, but you get your money’s worth. I’ve heard.
I’m curious how long it’s been since you were in NYC. The Bowery’s quite the high rent district these days.
http://ny.curbed.com/tags/bowery-gentrification
Scroll down to learn about the 20,000/mo rentals on Cooper square, and plans to turn a closed Salvation Army shelter into a fancy sushi joint. No joke.
Really? I’ve never had that happen. I always give them at least $2 per person so maybe the fact that I’ve already got cash in hand makes a difference but I’ve never had them so much as mention a suggested donation or make a face about the amount of money I’m paying. I suppose if that is a concern a suggested donation museum may not be your best bet though.
I got a speech once at the Met “your donations go to blah blah blah are you SURE you don’t want to pay the suggestion donation of $whatever?” And at the AMNH, I’ve had the counter person reiterate the suggested donation. “here’s $5.” “The suggested donation is $whatever.” “I know that, and I choose to pay $5.” “so you aren’t going to pay the suggested donation of $whatever?” “No. $5. You want it or not?”
Now this exchange doesn’t embarass me because I’m shameless like that, but some people could find it awkward. The one at the Met happened quite a few years ago, when I used to go at least once a week to sketch and always gave a dollar. But the AMNH incident was around 2005. I wouldn’t say its a frequent occurance, but like I said, there’s a non-zero change of an awkward exchange.
Admittedly, it’s been a while. But I stand by my joke, gol-durn it!
We went to this small but free exhibition. She is a working on her PHD in history. She knows this stuff very well. It’s great to date smart people. Then we walked a bit in Central Park. I know the park and showed her some stuff she had not seen like the castle. We talked a great deal. I hope she is still into me.
Another data point here: I’ve gone multiple times to both the Met and Natural History Museum, have never paid anything near the recommended price, and have never received so much as a bat of the eyelids. I’ve paid less than a dollar and never been told anything.
Not saying it might not happen, just that it’s never happened to me, and this is the first I’ve heard of it happening to anyone.
Anyways, just tell your date you’ll met at the museum, get there twenty minutes early, buy two tickets on the cheap before she gets there, deal with whatever unpleasantness you may encounter, then meet your date acting like nothing happened.
My recommendation is a nice night-time walk across the Brooklyn Bridge going into Manhattan. Take the subway to Brooklyn Heights, walk around the historic district, get a slice of pizza, then walk to Manhattan as the sun’s going down.
Well, cool. Hope it worked out - “talked a great deal” can be a very good thing.
*Awwwww! *Tell us about her! Burst into song, if you feel the need.