I arrived on a late flight into New York, checked in at my hotel and dozily crossed the road to buy a book to fall asleep to - which is where I discovered that my credit card was blocked, maxed out, and that nothing could be done about it.

So, no, I won’t have a nice day. Thank you.

One expensive call later and I found out that the credit-card company could see my money was on its way, but it would take 24 hours to clear; very helpful.

I had my accommodation covered, no problem, and some pocket dollars, enough for the basics, but I wanted to be, like the song says, a part of it. It was evening, I was tired and sleep is cheap. But the next day, I would need a plan: a day in New York without spending any money.

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Luckily, I have a friend, Dan, in New York, who knows a bit more about the place than I do. I charged him with the task of showing me a side of the city that doesn’t cost a bean. And he did, so I thought I’d pass it on to you, too. For free, obviously. (Admittedly, this only works if you’re reading online or from someone else’s paper.)

I MET DAN at Grand Central station and told him I wanted to start with the best (free) view of the city. He knew just the thing, but first we had to visit Bryant Park (40th and 42nd Streets at Fifth and Sixth Avenues). A few years ago, it was known as Needle Park, and was full of druggies and prostitutes. Then local businesses and residents took control, redesigned it and replanted it.

Now there are free concerts, movies and shows in summer (in August, there were selections from the big Broadway shows - a sort of try before you buy) and in winter there’s a free 100ft by 170ft ice rink. There’s free WiFi all the time and free yoga and t’ai chi from April to October (for listings, see www.bryantpark.org ). It also has New York’s best free rest rooms: in neo-Grecian style, I’d say, with pillars, a giant marble urn for flowers, real bars of soap (delicately perfumed) and even a uniformed attendant.

For the best grand, sweeping - and free - view of Manhattan, we went downtown and walked onto the Staten Island ferry (www.siferry.com ). It leaves from the southernmost tip of Manhattan (South Ferry subway stop) and transports 20m people a year the five miles to and from Staten Island. The ferries depart every 15 or 30 minutes and the trip both ways across the harbour, with that stunning view of the downtown skyscrapers, is free. Nobody is really sure why, but one explanation is that it’s provided so that the citizens of New York can walk between all five boroughs.

Of course, you can pay $25 for a harbour cruise that takes 90 minutes, but why would you when you get exactly the same grand view of the downtown sky-scrapers? Sure, you don’t go right up to the base of the Statue of Liberty, but you’ve got a camera, so zoom in. We got off on Staten Island, walked through the terminal, then straight back onto another boat waiting to take us back. Twice the value.

I wanted some culture, but I didn’t want to pay. It turns out that most museums have free sessions. If you wanted to visit one for nothing every day of the week, you could just about manage it. TheNational Museum of the American Indian (www.nmai.si.edu ) offers free entry every day. The £12 admission for the Metropolitan Museum (www.metmuseum.org ; closed Mondays) is a suggested price only, so you can get away with paying as little as you dare. There’s a similar deal at the wonderful American Museum of National History (www.amnh.org ; open daily).

If it’s Wednesday, head to the Bronx Museum of the Arts (www.bronxmuseum.org ) for African, Asian- and Latino-inspired works. The Jewish Museum is free on Saturdays (www.jewishmuseum.org ). On Friday night, the Museum of Modern Art (www.moma.org ), the Whitney Museum of Art (www.whitney.org ) and the Guggenheim Museum (www.guggenheim.org ) are all free.

We found just what I was looking for: the Frick Collection (www.frick.org ), which has pay-what-you-can entry before 1pm on Sundays. Even the excellent audio guides are free. Before my credit crunch, I’d never even heard of the Frick. The first thing you notice when you walk in is that this collection of the works of the great European painters is just that: a collection, not a museum, with no stuffiness or officious red rope. A lazy Sunday morning, before the rest of the world has got up, is the best time to enjoy the grand old family-house atmosphere. Even when the Frick is charging, I’ll be back.

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