Free Things To Do Today in NYC: Thursday, July 23 2009

Concert - Soul
Gladys Knight & The O'Jays at Asser Levy Seaside Park
W 5th St (at Surf Ave)
Brighton Beach/Brooklyn
(718) 469-1912
7:30PM

Gladys Knight-ya know, of the Pips?-had a string of hits in late 1960s and early 1970s with songs like "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "Midnight Train to Georgia." Catch her beltin' 'em out tonight. Openers the O'Jays offer springy grooves outfitted with string sections that aging crowds still yell for.

Seminar
Interactive Hit Factory Salon at Word
126 Franklin St. (at Milton St)
Greenpoint/Brooklyn
(718) 383-0096
7PM-9PM

The brains behind Hit Factorie designed a special multimedia installation inspired by summer reading (comprised of pieces called "Hit Books") which is displayed in the window of Word. Tonight, the artists explain the piece and their process, and invite visitors to create their own Hit Book.

Books
Non-Motivational Speaker Series at JLA Studios
63 Pearl St (b/t Broad St and Coenties Slip)
DUMBO/Brooklyn
7PM

The series welcomes two authors to reflect on the oddities, eccentrics and little-known tragedies of the Middle East: Neil MacFarquhar, Libyan-raised former Middle East correspondent at The New York Times and author of The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday, and Lucette Lagnado, author of The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit, a memoir of growing up Jewish in Egypt.

Dance
Stephen Petronio Company at Prospect Park Bandshell
Prospect Park West (at 9th St)
Park Slope/Brooklyn
(718) 855-7882
8PM

As part of the Celebrate Brooklyn festival, Stephen Petronio celebrates his company's 25th-anniversary season with I Drink the Air Before Me, an evening-length work inspired by the power of extreme weather, set to a gorgeous score by Nico Muhly.

Exhibit In The Making
Tea Cart Stories at Lower East Side Tenement Museum
108 Orchard St (at Broome St)
Lower East Side/Manhattan
(212) 982-8420
4PM-7PM

Artist Michele Brody is the brains behind this public art project/storytelling event: She invites participants into a large copper cart across the street from the Tenement Museum, where they can sip tea and tell her a story about themselves. She'll then transcribe the stories onto paper tea bags, which will be displayed in the museum window through December.

Gay
Bruce Benderson at Dixon Place
161 Chrystie St (b/t Delancey and Rivington Sts)
Lower East Side/Manhattan
(212) 219-0736
9PM

Nonconformist queer identity and hustlers loom large in the work of acclaimed author Benderson. Tonight he reads excerpts from his work, including his upcoming satirical novel Pacific Agony.