Cheap Chick Weekend Picks, February 27th through March 1, 2009

Friday February 27, 2009
Critical Mass Ride
7 p.m.
Go for a ride, take a spin, or blade with other eco-friendly folks.
Cheap Chick Info: Free!
Location Info: Meet at Union Square Park North, between 14th and 17th Streets
Subway: 4,5,6,N,R,W, Q, L to Union Square

Saturday February 28, 2009
National Girls and Women in Sports Day
10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Get in touch with your inner Sporty Spice at this all-day event with activities including arts and crafts, dance and yoga classes, sports clinics, fitness workshops, performances, and more! Prizes will be awarded and refreshments will be served.
Cheap Chick Info: Free!
Location Info: Chelsea Recreation Center, 430 West 25th street between 9th and 10th Avenues
Subway: C, E to 23rd Street

Free Apollo Theater Tours
12 p.m. to 5 p.m., also Sunday March 1, 2009 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Jazz up your weekend with a free tour of this historic landmark. Event includes tour, mock Amateur Night show, film screenings, and discussions.
Cheap Chick Info: Free!
Location Info: Apollo Theater, 253 West 125th Street
Between Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd & Frederick Douglass Blvd.
(also known as 7th Avenue & 8th Avenue )
Subway: A,C,D, 2, or 3 train to 125th Street

Sunday March 1, 2009
Morning Gull Walk
10 a.m.
Be the early worm who catches the bird at this bird-watching program held in Prospect Park.
Cheap Chick Info: Free!, for more info email nfo@prospectpark.org
Location Info: Prospect Park Audubon Center
Subway: Q,S,B to Prospect Park Station, F to 7th Avenue and Prospect Park Station, 2,3 to Grand Army Plaza Station

In the Red Room = a Play for the Right Price! Final Performance Feb. 26th, 2009

Gordon Farrell has taken the phrase "everyone has a story tell" literally in his new play "The Red Room/Every Woman Dances for Someone." The most shocking thing about the play is not, as one might think, the chosen setting of a strip club, but the slow realization that the character's tales of rape, abuse, and neglect were not the author's fictional creation, but true stories from real women; this is where the show finds its real power.

The rest of the production is deceptively simple; the set is marked in tape, the women's costumes are a study of black and red, with the only set adornment a set of wooden stools. While I was moved by the stories, which were delivered separately in monologue form, I found a few of the performances slightly exaggerated, the actresses putting on a show rather than actually connecting with the material.

Currently the production is playing on the second floor of a LES lounge. It's an intimate space, which fits the tone of the play, with most seating consisting of squashy couches sometimes cozily shared with one's neighbors. The only drawback of the space was the noise that sometimes filtered up from the first floor; I found its rowdiness an unfortunate contrast to the serious nature of the play.

Cheap Chick Info: $10 a ticket, Curtain rises at 8 p.m. sharp! Get there early because seating is limited.

Location Info: People Lounge, 163 Allen Street between Stanton and Rivington, Take the stairs to the second floor.

Subway: F, V to Second Avenue

Cheap Chick Weekend Picks (Feb. 20-22, 2009)

Friday February 20th, 2009
Fashion Week is winding up but you can still catch some of the "fierce" fashion excitement of the runway. (Bonus points if you get the Project Runway reference ;-)

amNewYork's Reality Runway Show
7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Come see your favorite D-list (and who are we kidding, E and F-list) celebs from shows such as America's Next Top Model, The Real World, and 8th & Ocean at the newspaper's fashion show. After gawking at the "models" and making sure they don't trip on the runway, you can buy the clothing off the model's back and win a date with one of the models at a silent auction. All proceeds benefit Reality Cares and Dress for Success.
Cheap Chick Info: $10 at http://www.ticketweb.com, $15 at the door
Location Info: Pressure (part of Bowmor Lanes) 110 University Place bet. 12th and 13th Street
Subway: N,R,Q,W,L,4,5,6 to Union Square

Saturday February 21st, 2009
Lunch Club Natural History Museum Scavenger Hunt
Hunt starts at 2 p.m. sharp
Join 100+ competitors as you race to hunt for facts and exhibits to complete the scavenger hunt. Be careful not to knock over any dinosaur bones!
Cheap Chick Info: $10 in advance or $15 at the event plus museum admission (as low as a $1.) To register (and teams are welcome) go here: http://www.thelunchclub.com/clubhouse/calendar.php
Location Info: Museum of Natural History, Hunt starts at the entrance to the planetarium, right out in front - it's the north side of the Museum of Natural History, on West 81st Street & Central Park
Subway: C to 81st Street, 1 to 79th Street

Sunday February 22nd, 2009
It's Oscar season again and time to snark on the worse-dressed stars as they walk the red carpet.
Academy Award Viewing Party at Comix
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for all the red carpet glitz and glam. Enjoy food with names such as Lord of the Wings, drink specials, an Oscar ballot contest, and Oscar trivia.
Cheap Chick Info: Free! BUT space is limited and reservations required. Email kcrews@comixny.com with your name and number of people in your party.
Location Info: Comix Comedy Club, 353 West 14th Street
Subway: A,C,E,L to 14th Street (8th Avenue)

Cheap Chick Weekend Picks

Friday February, 13, 2009
Artists Talk on Art: Art or Pornography?
7 p.m.
Come take part in this debate with painters and gallery folks at the School of Visual Arts
Cheap Chick Info: $7, $3 seniors/students, and SVA alums
Location Info: School of Visual Arts, 209 E. 23rd Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues
Subway: 6 to 23rd Street

Saturday February 14th, 2009-Valentine's Day Guide!
Valentine’s Day Personal Media Mixer and Confessional Culture Variety Show
8 p.m.
Share secrets, mixed tapes, love letters, life stories, your old diary, and a couple of PBRs with total strangers at Housing Works. Enjoy an evening of performances and activities by PostSecret, Found Magazine, Mortified, Six-Word Memoirs, Cassette from my Ex, and music by Michael Hearst of One Ring Zero.
Cheap Chick Info: $15, includes a copy of Six-Word Memoirs on Love and Heartbreak or a Mortified, FOUND or PostSecret book, while supplies last.
Location Info: Housing Works Bookstore, 126 Crosby Street (near Lafayette)
Subway: R,W to Prince Street, F to Broadway/Lafayette

Heeb Storytelling: Valentine's Day Edition
8:30 p.m.
Come enjoy another edition of the mag's story night.
Cheap Chick Info: $10
Location Info: 92nd Street Y, Tribeca, 200 Hudson Street at Canal
Subway: E,1,6 to Canal Street

"Rejected" Valentine's Day Heartbreak
Improv comedy with free beer!
10:30 p.m.
Cheap Chick Info: $10, includes beer!
Location Info: Upright Citizen's Brigade, 307 West 26th Street
Subway: A, C, E to 23rd Street

New Yorker Speakeasy
Hear Gabriel Byrne, Jeffrey Eugenides, and Karen Russell talk about literature and love and check out an acoustic set by Grizzly Bear.
8 p.m.
Cheap Chick Info: $10-$15
Location Info: powerHouse arena, 37 Main Street, DUMBO
Subway: F to York Street, A, C to High Street

Sunday February 16th, 2009
Open Reading at ABC No Rio
3 p.m.
Anything goes at these regular readings, come ready to witness creativity!
Cheap Chick Info: $2
Location Info: ABC No Rio, 156 Rivington Street between Clinton and Suffolk Streets
Subway: F to 2nd Avenue

Cheap Chick Weekend Picks

Friday February 6th, 2009
At the Hop
8 p.m.
Break out those poodle skirts and leather jackets for this 50's style sock hop. Dance to the 1950's hits of Nick Palumbo and the Flipped Fedoras at Connolly's a midtown pub with a large dance floor.
Cheap Chick Info: $15
Location Info: 121 West 45 Street (between 6th Ave. & Broadway
Subway: F to 42nd Street, N,R,W,Q,1,2,3,7,S, A,C,E to 42nd Street, N,R,W to 49th Street

Saturday February 7th, 2009
Winter Jam 2009
A variety of winter activities and events as will take place at this free event in East River Park. Free food samples will also be available. For more details please click here: http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_things_to_do/events/winterjam/
Cheap Chick Info: Free!
Location Info: East River Park
Subway: F to 2nd Avenue, F, J, M, Z to Essex Street – Delancey Street

Sunday February 8th, 2009
The Chili Takedown
5 p.m.
$10 gets you all-you-can-eat chili at this contest.
Cheap Chick Info: $10
Location Info: Union Pool, 484 Union Avenue at Meeker Street, Brooklyn
Subway: G, L at Metropolitan Ave.-Lorimer St.

James Joyce's Birthday Book Bash
4 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Celebrate the author's 127th b-day in style at one of Manhattan's independent bookstores. Event includes a lecture on Ulysses followed by wine and a discussion.
Cheap Chick Info: Free!
Location Info: McNally Jackson Booksellers, 52 Prince St.(between Lafayette and Mulberry)
Subway:R,W to Prince Street, 6 to Spring

Cheap Chick Bargain Bulletin

This just in...

Check out a variety of off-Broadway shows for just $20. Simply go to the ticket office 20 minutes before the show and say “20at20.”

This special deal is running from Monday, January 26, through Sunday, February 8, 2009.

Check out the list of shows and more detailed instructions here: http://www.20at20.com/

Cheap Chick Info: $20
Location: All over!

Comfort Food on the Cheap

Cold-weather comfort food takes an Australian-inspired twist on the Lower East Side at Tuck Shop, a small, unpretentious hole-in-the-wall "tucked" (like its name) onto the side of 1st Street. The scent of pastry is in the air and exposed brick walls, a Coors surfboard, and black and red tile flooring round out the restaurant's interiors.

Take a seat at the battered wooden bar or one of a few wobbly tables while the kangaroo on the trash cans looks on as you enjoy one of the eatery's classic meat pies and the "spud of the day," which may include Tuck Shop's heavenly scalloped potatoes, the perfect combo to warm your stomach on a cold winter day. Vegetarians don't fret, a seasonal vegetable pie is on the menu and on Thursdays a vegan pie is served. Ketchup or hot sauce are available to top your pie and a bewildering variety of Boylan sodas including my personal favorite, black cherry, can be paired with your meal.

Be warned though, on my last visit, I hadn't realized that the bearded counter guy's T-shirt was so literal (it said "I ate all the pies") when I found out that they had run out of my favorite classic meat pie, luckily I was saved with the suggestion of a meat and cheese pie, which was absolutely delicious.

Cheap Chick Info: Pies are about $5-$6, sides are $3, and sodas are $1-$2
Location: 68 East 1st Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues
Subway: F,V to 2nd Ave.