Kick off the month of May with exciting free concerts, new art exhibits, interactive shows and guided walking tours around New York City. Celebrations for Earth Day continue, the city shows support for Notre-Dame Cathedral, and an immersive symphony experience takes over the Brooklyn Army Terminal this week with our Untapped picks of things to do:

Friday, April 26th

Celebrate the spiritual and cultural significance of Notre-Dame de Paris by attending a free Public Solidarity Concert presented by the French Embassy in the United States. The concert series will be held in five different American cities including D.C, San Francisco and New Orleans. The New York City concert will take place at 7PM at the Cathedral of St. Patrick. The concert will feature French musician Daniel Brondel, Associate Director of Music and organist at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. No reservation is required.

Saturday, April 27th

Spend the morning Walking with Warhol on a guided tour presented by the Friends of the Upper East Side. On this tour, guests will see two of Warhol’s residences, find out where he created his iconic Campbell’s Soup cans, and get a taste of how the neighborhood supported and influenced his pioneering art. The route of the tour will follow Warhol’s storied career all the way from 89th Street to 66th Street, stopping for sensational stories from Andy’s uptown escapades. The tour will be led by architectural historian Matt Postal.

The abandoned Ellis Island Hospital complex—once the standard for United States medical care (and later transformed to the FBI headquarters when the island served as a detention center)—has been left to decay for nearly 60 years. Now, Untapped Cities is bringing you behind-the-scenes for a unique exploration of the abandoned facility. On this experience, you’ll visit the contagious disease wards, the autopsy rooms and have exclusive access to places usually closed to the public.

Behind-the-Scenes Hard Hat Tour of the Abandoned Ellis Island Hospital

Enjoy a special evening of orchestral music performed by over eighty musicians in the sub-level of the Annex at the historic Brooklyn Army Terminal. The debut symphonic performance from So&So // The Titan will include a an opening cello performance accompanied by dancer Kibrea Carmichael, a full-size orchestra of young professional top-caliber musicians playing Gustav Mahler’s epic 1st symphony, and an after party with Cuban band is Sonido Costeño. A custom light installation has been created by LowRes for this show. 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] Find out what happens when a TED-style talk goes off-the-rails at the Caveat show, Chaos Theory. Chaos Theory is a comedic, immersive experience exploring the underlying chaos in our lives. The format of the show is a lecture on chaos theory devolves into a series of interactive games guided by mathematical scientist, Dr. Genevieve Saoch, whose personal life continually interferes with her ability to be objective about her research as a Chaologist. Through a series of participatory experiments, audience members are invited to embrace their inner chaos agent as they embody facets of chaos theory. Enjoy the streets of Manhattan without worrying about traffic on Car Free Earth Day. Thirty blocks of Broadway from Times Square to Union Square with be closed to cars and open to people to explore on foot from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Programming is presented at six rest stops: Times Square (42nd Street and Broadway), Garment (38th Street and Broadway), Herald Square (34th Street and Broadway), City Zone (26th Street and Broadway), Flatiron (23rd Street and Broadway), and Union Square (17th Street and Broadway). Environmental programming is offered by City agencies and nonprofit organizations along the route to promote activism and education surrounding climate change, sustainability and other relevant topics. Get outside and enjoy the beauty of spring at the Sakura Matsuri Festival at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens.The two day, annual cherry blossom festival is a celebration of Japanese culture which will include live musical performances, martial arts demonstrations, dance, taiko drumming. Tickets are required for this family friendly festival.

Sunday April 28th

14-gritty-old-times-square_walking-tour_manhattan_nyc_untapped-cities_13 Travel back to the Times Square of the 1970s on Untapped Cities’ Tour of the Remnants of Gritty OId Times Square. This guided walking tour will reveal locations like those seen in HBO’s series The Deuce. Guest will learn about about the largest sex emporium in New York City (and maybe the world), the freak show where Diane Arbus found her inspiration, the last remaining hot sheet hotel and live peep show in Times Square, discover the dirtiest hotel in America, the oldest building on 42nd Street and more! Gritty Old Times Square Did you know there is a secret navigational device that keeps pedestrians from getting lost in Central Park? Or that there is a hidden bolt left behind from the creation of Manhattan’s street grid? Learn more about these Secrets of Central Park and much more on Untapped Cities’ walking tour to the famous New York City park. Secrets of Central Park Walking Tour Though you may recognize it or even commute through it everyday, Grand Central Terminal has many undiscovered secrets waiting to be revealed. Uncover the Secrets of Grand Central Terminal on Untapped Cities’ guided walking tour. Peek into the hidden tennis courts, see the largest Tiffany clock in the world, hear about the terminal’s near destruction and see the station in a whole new light. Tour of the Secrets of Grand Central Terminal

Tuesday, April 30th

Photo by George Del Barrio / The Vanderbilt Republic

Experience the latest exhibit to transform the creative space at The Bellewether, On Another Ground Zero: “Hiroshima.” This experience, which encompasses a sprawling curatorial immersion, performance art series, facilitated knowledge/awareness exchange, and pop-up 茶室 (chashitsu, “tea room”), is curated to explore the lasting consequences of atomic warfare and its relation to the global concerns of our times. On Another Ground Zero, which will run until May 12th, is presented by 1Future & Artrepeneurship and The Vanderbilt Republic. The series will kick off with a solo piano concert from Junko Ichikawa.

Thursday, May 2nd

Attend the Moniker International Art Fair, a five day event featuring highly-curated and thematic presentations centered around this year’s theme of Cause & Effect. This UK-based fair which is returning to New York for the second year will feature art that examines our shared roles and commitments in addressing the current state of political, social and ecological injustices. You can purchase tickets for individual or multiple days and even check out the fair during designated free times where anyone from the public can go in for free. Help save the Elizabeth Street Garden at a City Council hearing. Friends of the Elizabeth Street Garden are urging New Yorkers to speak out in opposition to the Haven Green application which is threatening the existence of the community garden. The New York City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises Hearing 1:00PM in the Committee Room at City Hall. See Untapped full lists of upcoming public tours and Insider events!