B4B NYC, Labor Day Edition: 5 Best Bang-for-Your-Buck Events in NYC This Weekend

NEW YORK, NY — In this special Labor Day edition of our bang-for-your-buck series — aka, B4B NYC — we offer a FOUR-DAY schedule of listings for you silly hipsters to get your culture jones fixed good and right. Now's your chance to take advantage of the summer's final outdoor festivals and events before fall sets in and you find yourself rushing the kids to soccer practice or, for the younger set, sitting alone in the dark with your Netflix.

As usual, we've got options in every price range. So no, you don't have to drop a stack of bennies on Kanye tickets to find a good excuse to skip the family barbecue!

But first, it's an ...

EARLY-BIRD ALERT!

VAN CORTLANDT BIRD WALK

Where: Van Cortlandt Nature Center, The Bronx [map]

When: Saturday, 9/3, 8 a.m. (See? We meant it when we said "early bird")

What: Memo to all our amateur ornithologist readers! Break out your binox and comfortable shoes, because — starting this weekend and running every Saturday through November — the New York City Audubon Society will be leading free birding walks through Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. Bring your spreadsheets, too: Over 230 avian species have been recorded in the park, and more than 60 breed there, including the great horned owl and rose-breasted grosbeak. Maybe you'll even glimpse a feather of last autumn's painted bunting? More information here.

How much: FREE! (Because getting up this early on a holiday weekend is payment enough)

MEASURE FOR MEASURE

Pictured: The Drilling Company in a recent production of As You Like It

Where: Bryant Park, Midtown Manhattan [map]

When: Friday, 9/2, and Saturday, 9/3, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday, 9/4, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

What: Also beginning this weekend, and running through Sept. 17, is the final installment of the excellent "Bryant Park Presents Shakespeare" season. For the series finale, the Manhattan-based Drilling Company will perform Measure for Measure on the Park's Upper Terrace. This Bard comedy (for wont of a better word — say, comedio-tragi-problem) is basically an episode of some Elizabethan Maury Povich show: We've got an unwanted pregnancy, a pimp, a death sentence and a sex partner secretly switched in the dark. In other words, it's all just good family fun in Bryant Park this weekend, with the skyscrapers of Midtown as a backdrop! More information here.

How much: FREE!

THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT!: MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS

Where: Brooklyn Academy of Music's Rose Cinemas [map]

When: Friday, 9/2, and Saturday, 9/3, at 2 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.; Sunday, 9/4, at 4 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

What: The era of the big-budget MGM screen musical may be long gone, but the folks at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) are keen to rekindle that flame this fall with the film series That's Entertainment!, continuing from now until September 21st. The big attraction this holiday weekend is Vincent Minnelli's classic Meet Me in St. Louis, featuring a young Judy Garland singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." On Sunday and Monday, there are also screenings of Babes in Toyland, Strike Up the Band and Take Me Out to the Ballgame. For a full schedule and to buy tickets, go here.

How much: Tickets are $14 each ($7 for members and $10 for seniors)

SUMMER'S END MUSIC FESTIVAL

Pictured: Sonnymoon (left); Honduras (right)

Where: Aviv, Greenpoint [map]

When: Friday, 9/2, Saturday, 9/3, and Sunday, 9/4, 7 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

What: The Earth rotates on its axis and the seasons begin and end only when the Bushwick hipster cabal commands they do — so with the Summer's End Music Festival dropping this weekend at Aviv, it's apparently time for the rest of us to put away our water wings and Webers and hit da club for three full evenings of genre-hopping live music. The lineup includes killer regional talent like trip-beat duo Sonnymoon on Friday, alt-rock hook meisters Honduras and the fantastically ethereal Surf Rock is Dead on Saturday, then singer-songwriter gobbinjr and Pill (one of our favorites!) on Sunday. The venue, Aviv, just announced it'll be closing soon, so its final festival will likely double as a nostalgic send-off. More information and tickets here.

How much: One-day tickets are $10 and $15. Three-day passes are $35

SUMMER SHORTS

Where: 59E59 Theaters, Midtown Manhattan [map]

When: Friday, 9/2, 8:15 p.m. (Series A); Saturday, 9/3, 2:15 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. (Series B)

What: Do you find theater more palatable in bite-sized chunks? This one's for you. Labor Day weekend is your last chance to take in the six short-form plays (divided into two three-piece series) that make up 59E59's Summer Shorts program. Series A features works from A. Rey Pamatmat; cynical pot-stirrer Neil LaBute; and Cusi Cram, whose full-length "A Lifetime Burning" graced the same stage a few years ago. Series B, meanwhile, features works from playwrights Alexander Dinelaris, Idris Goodwin and Richard Alfredo, whose "The Dark Clothes of Night" brings noir detective films to life, thanks to a fantastic three-person cast. More information and tickets here.

How much: Tickets are $25 each, and $40 for both Series

BREAKFESTIVAL

Where: Stuyvesant Cove Park at Solar One; Kips Bay, Manhattan [map]

When: Two sessions each on Saturday, 9/3, and Sunday, 9/4, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

What: What's the best meal of the day? If you said breakfast-for-dinner, you're correct. You're also in luck: Hold on to your bialys, because this weekend we get an entire festival devoted to eating breakfast food around the clock. It's called — duh — the Breakfestival. For two three-hour sessions each day, attendees can stroll the East River waterfront to the music of Hudson Horns while sampling morning treats from more than 10 different vendors — along with coffee, craft beer, and cocktails. Evening sessions feature a whole-hog pig roast. You can even sign up to compete for the title of Breakfast King or Queen (all hail!). More information and tickets here.

How much: Single-session tickets are $45 each

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