Explore the over 100-year-old contagious disease hospital on Ellis Island’s south side which has been abandoned since 1954. On a special behind-the-scenes hard hat tour, see an exhibition by the world-renowned artist JR, who has placed life-sized historic photographs of Ellis Island immigrants on interior walls of the hospital buildings, discover the kitchen, autopsy room and other usually off-limits places and get special access inside the original morgue and long abandoned FBI offices. Can’t make it on Sunday, there is a tour on  Saturday as well!

Behind-the-Scenes Hard Hat Tour of the Abandoned Ellis Island Hospital See Untapped Cities’ full lists of upcoming public tours and Insider events! Taste beers from independent and local breweries from all over New York state at the Dekalb Market Hall’s first ever Crawl at the Hall. From 2pm until 5pm the market hall will feature 16 beers from 8 different breweries. including Alewife, Von Trapp, Torch & Crown, and Big aLICe. General admission tickets get you two beers from each of the breweries and a souvenir mug. VIP packages are available as well!

Monday, April 8th

Join a conversation on artists taking action at the Brooklyn Historical Society. Hear how artist, often deemed harbingers of gentrification and neighborhood rebranding, are taking charge of their communities’ future by bringing attention to economic pressures and pushing for protections for long-term residents at Artist Resisting Gentrification. Speakers include Arts East NY Founder and Executive Director Catherine Green, author of How to Kill a City: Gentrification, Inequality, and the Fight for the Neighborhood Peter Moskowitz, and artist William Powhida. If you are an Untapped Cities Insider, you can attend this event for free! [mepr-show if=”rule: 518547″][uc_booking_button title=’Book Now’][/mepr-show][mepr-hide if=”rule: 518545″][uc_insider_button title=’BECOME A MEMBER TO JOIN THIS EVENT FOR FREE!’ url=’/plans/insiders/’][/mepr-hide][mepr-show if=”rule: 518546″][uc_insider_button title=’UPGRADE YOUR MEMBERSHIP TO JOIN THIS EVENT FOR FREE!’ url=’/plans/insiders’][/mepr-show]

Tuesday, April 9th

Photograph by Carly Hoogendyk, Courtesy of Caveat 

See if you can spot the fake story at New York City’s Secrets and Lies, a monthly storytelling show at the Lower East Side Speakeasy Caveat. This time, five storytellers are spinning tales about money. Corruption! Extortion! Bribery! Organized crime! Greed! If you can tell which tale is just too scandalous to be true, you could win a prize from Untapped Cities. If you are an Untapped Cities Insider, you can attend this event for free! [mepr-show if=”rule: 518547″][uc_booking_button title=’Book Now’][/mepr-show][mepr-hide if=”rule: 518545″][uc_insider_button title=’BECOME A MEMBER TO JOIN THIS EVENT FOR FREE!’ url=’/plans/insiders/’][/mepr-hide][mepr-show if=”rule: 518546″][uc_insider_button title=’UPGRADE YOUR MEMBERSHIP TO JOIN THIS EVENT FOR FREE!’ url=’/plans/insiders’][/mepr-show]

Wednesday, April 10th

Join Heather Ács and the NYC Drag March for The Drag March & Other Tales of Glamour and Resistance: A Storytelling Workshop, to share your own experiences of LGBTQ life in the Village and LES at the Tompkins Square Library. Reflect on your adventures in LGBTQ nightlife, art, activism and love, and develop the skills to share your stories publicly. The NYC Drag March is building an archive of stories and memorabilia, and attendees are encouraged to bring photos, t-shirts, flyers and other memorabilia for scanning and documenting. This is the second workshop in a series working to collect stories about the Drag March and part of the NYPL’s monthlong series of programming, Stonewall 50.

Photograph by Brian Geltner, Courtesy of Brooklyn Folk Festival

As we move further into spring, the weather is starting to get warmer and more outdoor events are popping up all over New York City. This week marks the start of the season for New York City’s largest food market, the celebration of Tartan Day and many other exciting events. Get outside this week with our picks for things to do:

Friday, April 5th

Celebrate the tradition of folk music at the Brooklyn Folk Festival inside the historic St. Ann’s Church. Presented by the Jalopy Theatre and School of Music, the festival features three days of performances from over thirty bands, vocal and instrumental workshops, family-friendly square dancing, film screenings, contests and jam sessions.

Grab some fresh fruits and vegetables at the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket. Hosted by GrowNYC, this year-round market at the northwest corner of Prospect Park runs from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m and offers an array of farm fresh products from local vendors plus cooking demonstrations and family friendly programming every Saturday.

Check out the City Reliquary’s latest exhibit Psychic City: The Medium of Mediums at the opening reception from 7:00pm  to 9:00pm. This reception will kick off the new exhibit’s limited run. Items on view include a vast archive of handbills, flyers, and other ephemera related to New York City psychics and mediums collected by Harley J. Spiller (aka Inspector Collector). The exhibition was curated and designed by Parsons students, who will be on hand with Spiller to  introduce the collection.

Saturday, April 6th

Enjoy a free lunchtime concert in Bryant Park as part of Tartan Week NYC. For the past seven years the American-Scottish Foundation has presented Pipes and Drums on the Fountain Terrace with Carnegie Hall. This year the concerts feature young musicians who reflect a shared Scottish and American musical heritage. After the show, catch the Tartan Day Parade which starts at 2:00pm with a march from West 45th Street, up 6th Avenue to 55th Street.

Photograph courtesy of Smorgasburg, by Scott Lynch

The Smorgasburg Outdoor Market returns to Brooklyn at East River State Park in Williamsburg. Smorgasburg is the largest weekly open-air food market in America, with hundreds of thousand of visitors each weekend. Enjoy foods from 100 local vendors at two different locations, Williamsburg on Saturday and Prospect Park on Sunday.

Take part in an international, pop-up pillow fight in Washington Square Park. Bring your own (not down) pillow or grab one in exchange for a $5 donation to the Mattress Firm Foster Kids program. This event is free and open to all ages, so swing those pillows lightly!

Sunday, April 7th