Openings & closings Coming spring 2015, a new indoor home for Brooklyn Bridge Park's environmental education programs at 99 Plymouth Street. Cool attractions for kids include a marine aquarium with a touch tank, and a hands-on discovery station. The site will expand the park's ongoing outdoor nature programs by offering after-school classes as well as public drop-in hours. Since my seven-year-old daughter has recently developed a fascination with sea life, I see a lot of trips to Dumbo in our future!

Is your kid more of a cat person? Then you'll want to plan a family visit to Meow Parlour, NYC's first official cat cafe opening December 15 at 46 Hester Street on the Lower East Side. For a nominal fee, you can reserve a half-hour slot to play with KittyKind's shelter cats looking for forever homes, while enjoying the cafe's baked goodies and complimentary Wi-Fi. Warning parents: While adopting isn't mandatory, be prepared for some whining if you don't.

Here's something you don't hear too often these days: a new independent bookstore is opening on the Upper West Side. Morninside Heights' mainstay Book Culture is opening a new location at 450 Columbus Avenue with a dedicated kids' section on the lower level featuring author readings, book clubs and other children’s programming. The shop is also offering a variety of memberships that come with different rewards.

Unfortunately, the news for Posman Books' Grand Central outpost isn't so positive: It's scheduled to close on New Year's Eve. Though the family-owned local chain has other outposts at Rockefeller Center and Chelsea Market, and will soon open one in Brookfield Place, the closure of this location means one less fun thing to do with kids in Grand Central Terminal.

You only have until December 5 to introduce the kids to one of our favorite treat spots in the East Village. After 110 years, De Robertis Pasticceria & Caffe is closing its doors. The De Robertis family owned the building but were compelled to sell due to a variety of factors (becoming instant millionaires is hard to resists). Stop in for one last tiramisu and a photo op in front of the bakery's iconic neon sign (see our pic above).

One of our top annual parades for families, Greenpoint's Santa Parade, isn't happening in 2014. Instead, organizer Town Square will host a pair of Santa brunches. We'll miss this family-friendly take on the tacky Santacon and hope it returns next year.

Finally, a closing averted! A few weeks ago, Lasker Rink abruptly announced it was shutting down for the season due to refrigeration issues. But due to public outcry and some fast repair work, it looks like the rink will reopen for public skating sessions on Thanksgiving Day (weather permitting). Regularly scheduled classes and hockey programs will resume on December 1.

Your art here Bob and Roberta Smith of Art Amnesty recently unveiled a satirical exhibit at MoMA PS1 where artists of all ages are invited to drop off their "bad art" to be displayed and ultimately destroyed. Visitors can make art onsite or bring in preexisting pieces, and are asked to make one of three pledges: "I promise never to make art again," "I am no longer an artist" or "I will encourage children to be all they can be. Choose art at school." Once the exhibition closes on March 8, 2015, all artwork will be destroyed and "amnesty" will be granted to those who dared make it. If your kids are okay with their art being hung and dumped (hey, it's to make a political statement!), check out the submission guidelines.

Help your local library by nominating it for the second annual NYC Neighborhood Library Awards. Residents from all five boroughs can go to nyclibraryawards.org and explain how a particular branch touched their lives. Five winners will be awarded $20,000 each in May 2015.

Let 'em code! As if Frozen sisters Elsa and Anna hadn't already infiltrated every aspect of your life, code.org just released a FREE computer programming tutorial featuring the princesses as part of its second annual Hour of Code campaign. Say what you will, it's an intriguing attempt to get girls into coding. Then they can get even geekier at the upcoming FREE Scratch Day event at Columbia University on Saturday, December 6, where budding coders of all ages (even preschoolers!) can take a variety of workshops.