Welcome Week can be overwhelming for students at NYU with over 500 programs to choose from. If you want to branch out from the university-wide options, however, there are plenty of alternatives offered around the city. Here are just a few.

Summer on the Hudson: Silent Disco
Saturday, August 29 5 p.m.-10 p.m.
Riverside Park South (near W. 70th St.)

The silent disco, true to its name, features two different DJs, both of whom are playing music of different genres straight into the headphones provided at the event. You are not limited to one DJ, as you can switch back and forth on a whim — never mind the fact that your dancing will seem incredibly strange if your friends are all on a different channel. The venue cannot be beat, and even if dancing isn’t your thing, you still get the priceless view of a sunset over the Hudson River.

Affordable Art Fair
Thursday, Sept. 10-13
125 W. 18th St. (between Sixth and Seventh avenues)

Haven’t covered your dorm walls in Polaroids of your summer vacation or band posters yet? Fear not. You can pick up some art from the Affordable Art Fair that will not make you sacrifice your morning Starbucks — at least, not for too many days.

Fireworks at Coney Island
Friday, August 28 and Friday, Sept. 4 at 9:30pm
Coney Island Boardwalk & Beach

While it is a bit of a trek from Washington Square Park all the way to the end of the DFNQ trains in Brooklyn, playing classic carnival games and walking the Coney Island boardwalk makes it worth the long ride. Be sure to catch one of the last two evenings of fireworks this season. For an even better view, you can shell out $7 and ride to the top of the Wonder Wheel to catch a bird’s eye view of the amusement park and boardwalk.

Tarot Reading, Palmistry and Astrology with The Tarot Society
Monday, August 31, 6 p.m.
424 Third Ave., Brooklyn

The Morbid Anatomy Museum is hosting the Members of the Tarot Society for “an evening of tarot reading, astrology, palmistry and other divinatory mediums.” Readers charge only $1-2 per minute, far less than any cover charge you will find at an 18+ clubbing event.