You never need to pay $30 for museum admission in New York if you know the weekly rhythm. Bookmark this definitive timetable for free and pay-what-you-wish museum hours across all five boroughs.

Ride the N or W train over the Queensboro Bridge into Astoria, where Greek seaside grills and Egyptian hookah cafés sit alongside a world-class film museum and a century-old Czech beer garden.

Trace the blocks where DJ Kool Herc ignited a global musical revolution in 1973, then explore the free contemporary art museums and Art Deco apartment palaces of the Grand Concourse.