This Week: Mommy Poppins App, Memorial Day Weekend Travel Deals, a Dino Ride at the Bronx Zoo, Coney Island Post-Sandy

5/16/13 - By Raven Snook

We're still basking in a Mother's Day afterglow (that's three generations of my family in the photo) but we're also counting down to Memorial Day weekend. Our Travel site rounded up some excellent getaway deals for the upcoming holiday weekend including destinations that are a short drive from NYC. Our regional sites are full of cool spring day trip ideas like the Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, New Jersey, the USS Nautilus and Submarine Force Museum in Groton, Connecticut or pick-your-own strawberry farms throughout the Garden State. If you decide to make it a Memorial Day weekend staycation, there's certainly plenty to do in town like the opening day family festival on Governors Island, the debut of the Dinosaur Safari ride at the Bronx Zoo and the start of the Coney Island season.

There's still time to subscribe to our Hamptons and North Fork newsletter and be automatically entered to win fun prizes. We also have another great giveaway going on: Enter to win a week of Summer Adventure Camp: City Edition run by NY City Explorers.

Wish you could enjoy all of our Mommy Poppins recommendations when you're on the go? Well, soon there'll be an app for that. We're readying our Mommy Poppins App for launch but we need your help. We started an IndieGoGo crowdfunding campaign so that we can raise enough money to make the app free to all. Contribute to our goal and you'll snag some cool swag and, of course, get the benefit of using the app once it debuts in June. We believe that Mommy Poppins is more than just a website, it's a community. This app is a way for us all to collaborate on something really cool.

Here's what else we covered on our NYC site this week:

OUR LATEST VIDEOS

Mommy Poppins founder, Anna Fader, shared a heartfelt Mother's Day post about her inspiration for the site: her own mom. It's a wonderful story.

Looking to buy your food locally? Consider joining one of NYC's five food coops.

Our special needs writer, Michaela, profiled one of her favorite local resources, the nonprofit AHRC New York City which offers a wealth of programs for families.

Lots of exciting news in our links roundup including a new dinosaur ride at the Bronx Zoo, a new mini-amusement park in Flushing Meadows Corona Park and a new ice cream parlor in Williamsburg.

Despite being ravaged by Hurricane Sandy, Coney Island is getting back on its feet. We've got up-to-date info on what to expect this season and a plea to help save the iconic Mermaid Parade.

Our month-long focus on Crown Heights continued with a look at five family culture spots in the area.

Ice cream season is almost here! We've got the skinny on the best scoops in Queens.

Find out how you can help launch the Mommy Poppins App and snag cool rewards for your support.

Best bets for the weekend include many free family festivals like the Ninth Avenue Food Festival, the New York Dance Parade and Madison Square Park's Spring Kids Fest.