Cheap Chick NYC, Cheap and Free Weekend Events, May 6-8, 2011! Happy Mother's Day NYC!

Friday May 6, 2011

Sing the babysitter blues with a screening of that 80’s classic Adventures in Babysitting! Cast member Anthony Rapp will be on-hand for the intro and to answer all your questions, 7:45 p.m., 92ndY Tribeca, 200 Hudson St., $12, buy tkts here: http://www.92y.org/shop/92Tri_event_detail.asp?productid=T-MM5FM29!

Start your weekend off in a “berry” fine way with NYU’s Strawberry Fest featuring the city’s longest strawberry shortcake and live music! 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Laguardia Place bet. W. 3rd and 4th St., free!

Thank her for being a friend who is “hot in Cleveland!” Betty White will be appearing at Barnes & Noble today to promote her new book, If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won't), 12:30 p.m., 555 Fifth Avenue, free!

The Neue Galerie is free tonight from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. as part of their First Fridays program! https://www.neuegalerie.org/programs/first-fridays

Saturday May 7, 2011

Discover the diverse ethnic groups that make up the LES during Big Onion’s Immigrant New York Walking Tour! “Stops could include: The "Tweed" Courthouse, Five Points, the African Burial Ground, and sites associated with Dr. Sun Yat Sen, Jacob Riis, Abraham Cahan, Pierre Toussaint, Emma Goldman, and many others.” 11 a.m., meet at the southeast corner of Broadway and Chambers Street, at City Hall Park, $15!

Waited until the last-minute to buy your Mother’s Day gift? Then head to the Prospect Park Craft Fair! The sale of many homemade items from local artisans will benefit the local elementary school, P.S. 154. 10 a.m., Bartel-Pritchard Square, near Prospect Park/15^th St. on the F line, free!

Learn about the women who shaped Wall Street history during the Museum of American Finance’s Women of Wall Street walking tour! Stops include sites related to Muriel Sieber and Victoria Woodhull. 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., Meet at the museum (48 Wall Street), $15, buy tkts in advance here: http://www.moaf.org/events/walking/evt_20110507 (museum admission is included in the price.)

Relive those carefree childhood days of the 60s and 70s with the NYC Parks’ 4th Annual Street Games event with activities designed to bring out the child in you, including pogo stick jumping, skateboard clinics, hula hooping, stickball, double-dutch, yo-yoing, soccer clinics, and bike riding lessons. WABC-TV Reporter Carolina Leid and Knicks alumni John Starks, Charles Smith and Cal Ramsey will also being making special appearances at the event, and music and dancing are also part of the festivities. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Thomas Jefferson Park, 114th Street and First Ave., free! (the event will happen rain or shine, with plans to relocate to Thomas Jefferson Recreation Center located in the park in case of bad weather.)

Discovery Walking Tours is hosting the East Village/NOHO History and Dessert Tour at Twilight! “For Mother’s Day Weekend, a historical tour of the two neighborhoods, which served as home to both immigrants and the some of the most exclusive New Yorkers of the 1800s. Stops include Cooper Union, where Lincoln spoke; McSorley’s Ale House, one of New York’s oldest; Andy Warhol’s Factory; Colonnade Row, home of the Astor family; and Grace Church. Along the way, a sweet sampling from some of the area’s patisseries, including DeRobertis and Veniero’s – just like Mom used to make!” 5:45 p.m., Call 212-465-3331 for meeting place and to RSVP, $26 (includes treats!)

Try not to rock the boat when you’re listening to a free concert at Bargemusic today! 1 p.m., Bargemusic is at Fulton Ferry Landing near the Brooklyn Bridge (A,C to High St., F to York), free-but first-come, first-served seating!

Saddle up and head to the Bell House for a Kentucky Derby party, complete with mint juleps, music, dancing, and karaoke! 1 p.m. (race at 6 p.m.), 149 7^th St., Bklyn, free!

Race through the bowels of the Met on a scavenger hunt sponsored by the social group The Lunch Club! 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., $15 per individual, meeting details will be given out once you buy tkts! Come with your own team of four or five or join a group there! For more info go here: http://metnighthunt-eorg.eventbrite.com/ and buy tkts here: http://metnighthunt-eorg.eventbrite.com/.

Poets House is hosting Bridging Cultures: A Day–Long Series of Panels and Readings all-day today! For info on specific panels and readings go here: http://poetshouse.org/illuminverse.htm?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Bridging+Cultures&utm_content=Bridging+Cultures+CID_3cf162ccb15f88d5d647dc5c044ff243&utm_source=Email+marketing+software&utm_term=a+hrefhttppoetshouseorgilluminversehtmmay7Bridging+Cultures+Day-Long+Panel+Discussions++An+Evening+Celebration#may7, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 199 Chambers Street, free!

Don’t forget that the Brooklyn Museum is free today as part of its First Saturday program (http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/visit/first_saturdays.php), Girl Scout Cookies are for sale at Launchpad 10 am to 1 p.m. (http://nostrandpark.com/2011/05/04/girl-scout-cookies-for-sale-sat-may-7th-at-launchpad), The Hester Street Fair also reopens today with its special LES Feast Side Food Festival (http://www.hesterstreetfair.com/), it’s Wildlife Appreciation Day with the Urban Park Rangers (http://www.nycgovparks.org/events/2011/05/07/2nd-annual-wildlife-appreciation-day-with-the-urban-park-rangers)!

Saturday and Sunday May 7 and 8, 2011

Immerse yourself in the world of Jane Jacobs with a ton of free walking tours sponsored by the Municipal Art Society and held all day long! For more info go here: http://www.janeswalkusa.org/!

Take a sweet trip through Prospect Park and Park Slope with Discovery Walking Tour’s Park Slope and Prospect Park History and Dessert Tour! “Join us on a tour of Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, discovering its hidden places, with stops at Long Meadow, Vale of Cashmere, Battle Pass, and the Ravine. We will also stroll through the Park Slope neighborhood surrounding it, with stops at such architectural gems as the Montauk Club, Temple Beth Elohim, and St John’s Episcopal Church. And what would make this tour even sweeter for Mom? Why, a sampling of sweets from the Slope’s notable shops along the way, where you can try Hamentashen, chocolate truffles, and apple crumb, to name a few!” 2 p.m., $26 (includes treats!) Call 212-465-3331 to RSVP and for meeting place!

Plus Housing Works Bookstore is having a 30% off sale (http://www.housingworks.org/events/detail/monthly-30-off-sale-all-day-may-7th-and-8th) and the free NYU Graduate Film Festival is going on (http://skirballcenter.nyu.edu/calendar/tischfilmmarathon)!

Sunday May 8, 2011

I sure hope there are enough nachos to scoop up all that guacamole at Nachosny.com’s Guactacular 2011! The Brooklyn Brewery will be giving away free beer, Frito Lay is donating Tostitos chips to go with all the green stuff flying around, and there will be a scavenger hunt too! 5 p.m., The Bell House, 149 7th Street, $15 advance/$18 door, ws says tkts sold out, but might be worth checking into…didn’t indicate if door tkts were still available.

Celebrate Mother’s Day on the LES with the Yiddishe Mamas – Mother's Day Walking Tour organized by the Eldridge Street Synagogue! “We’ll follow in the footsteps of beloved balabustas, freethinking feminists, and turn-of-the-century working girls, and fête you with home-made rugelach, bagels and coffee.” $25 per person – Space is limited. RSVP required! RSVP here: http://www.eldridgestreet.org/index.php/may

Catch a sneak peek of the new HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce today (appropriately on Mother’s Day, no?), 2 p.m., Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35 Avenue, (R train to Steinway, N to 36^th Avenue), $10, tkts are first-come, first-served!

Listen to a free organ recital at St. Patrick’s Cathedral-sounds like a great way to spend Mother’s Day! 4:45 p.m., 460 Madison Ave., free!

Nosh your way through Hell’s Kitchen as the Gourmet Food Truck Bazaar returns! (every second Sunday each month through October), 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market
39th Street and 9th Avenue, free (aside from food purchases)!

Bring Mom along for some LES treats with Big Onion’s Mother’s Day Multi-ethnic Eating Tour! Our "noshing" tour combines the history of the multi-ethnic Lower East Side with diverse tastes of the neighborhood. Learn about the Jewish East Side, Little Italy and Chinatown as we walk through New York’s historic "ethnic quarter." As we explore the history we will makes a series of food sampling stops from some of the significant and historic shops & markets in the area.” 1 p.m., Meet at the southeast corner of Delancey and Essex Streets, in front of the Olympic Diner, tour is $20, and reservations are required! To RSVP email info@bigonion.com. Please include your name; date you wish to attend; number of people in your party. We will confirm via email.

Today (Sunday) Union Square also plays host to the free Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Festival! (http://capaonline.org/)

All weekend long the Festival of Ideas for the New City is going on (http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/), Starbucks is serving up half-price Frappuccinos® during their happy hours 3-5 p.m., thru the 15^th (http://www.starbucks.com/blog/happy-hour-returns/1005), and DUMBO The Scene:Brooklyn film festival is happening through the 12^th (http://www.brooklynartscouncil.org/documents/44)!