Five separate free movie programs (four outdoors and one offering air conditioned comfort indoors) are within easy reach of Lower Manhattan residents this summer.
The Hudson River Park Trust (HRPT) is presenting two separate RiverFlicks programs. Pier 63 (near West 23rd Street) will host Big Hit Wednesdays, with films appropriate for adults and teens, at 8:30 pm each Wednesday. Upcoming titles include Trainwreck (tonight, July 20), The Big Short (July 27), Creed (August 3), The Hunger Games: Mockingly, Part 2 (August 10), and The Martian August 17).
HRPT’s RiverFlicks is also presenting Family Fridays (with films geared to parents and young children) on Pier 46 (between Charles and Perry Streets) each Friday at 8:30 pm. Screenings will include Shaun the Sheep (July 22), Kung Fu Panda 3 (July 29), Penguins of Madagascar (August 5), Goosebumps (August 12), and the Princess Bridge (August 19).
In the Financial District, the 28 Liberty Summer Film Series (on the plaza at 28 Liberty Street), will show free movies each Thursday starting at 8:00 pm. The roster of titles includes E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (tomorrow, July 21), Raiders of the Lost Ark (July 28), Spacebars (August 4), The Goonies (August 11), Jurassic Park (August 18), and The Wizard of Oz (August 25). All three programs also provide free popcorn.
Indoors, the Roxy Hotel in Tribeca (Two Avenue of the Americas, between Walker and White Streets) is hosting two complimentary programs of weekend screenings, one (at midday) for young children and another (in the late afternoon) tailored to older viewers.
The children’s series, called Family Friendly Screenings, will include Gnomeo and Juliet (July 24), The Princess and the Frog (July 31), The Lorax (August 7), Hercules (August 14), A Goofy Movie (August 21), and Brother Bear (August 28). All shows begin at noon.
The mature series, called Now Showing, will feature Fame (July 23), Saturday Night Fever (July 24), Cruising (July 30), Shaft (July 31), Moonstruck (August 6), Tootsie (August 7), When Harry Met Sally (August 13), 200 Cigarettes (August 14), Carlito’s Way (August 20), The Godfather (August 21), Dressed to Kill (August 27), and Fatal Attraction (August 28). All shows begin at 4:30 pm.
And for those willing to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge (or invest in a ferry ride from Pier 11, near where Wall Street meets the East River), Brooklyn Bridge Park is hosting a Thursday-night series of free screenings on Harbor View Lawn, near Pier 1 (near the intersection of Old Fulton and Forman Streets). Titles in the Movies with a View series will include Purple Rain (July 21), It Happened One Night (July 28), American Graffiti (August 4), Selma (August 11), and A League Of Their Own (August 18). All shows begin at 6:00 pm.