Children under 12 ride free with a paying adult on several NY Waterway ferries through Labor Day. For schedules, prices and additional information please call 1-800-533-3779 or visit http://www.nywaterway.com

If Downtowners are sick of living in a perpetual construction zone, they are at least getting a little relief. The Downtown Alliance is commissioning artists to turn the ubiquitous scaffolding and street barriers into works of art.

KaBOOM! is dedicated to bringing play back into the lives of children. This Fall KaBOOM! is encouraging people to take to reclaim the streets and host a community play day. To help this happen, they are giving away free Play Day kits with everything you need to host a playday in your community. Register to get yours.

I can't believe that the Corn Refinery Association is running ads trying to convince people that High Fructose Corn Syrup is not bad for you. Really? Haven't we been down this road before?

At least some companies are taking the hint graciously. I went to an event for DelMonte Fruit Chillers this week (they're like frozen go-gurts, but made out of juice and fruit puree) and was pleasantly surprised to see just fruit and a little bit of food color in the ingredients list. It's heartening to see that the big guys are getting on the band wagon. No wonder the Corn Refinery Association is mad.

As people have been fervently tossing their plastic water bottles and switching to aluminum, it turns out that SIGG water bottles may have BPA in their liners after all. But don't panic. Reliable third party tests verify that the SIGG bottles do not leach BPA. Z Recommends takes an in-depth look.

Does your spouse annoy you? Probably not nearly as much as the chick who dedicated her blog to it. MyHusbandisAnnoying.com chronicles the annoying misdeeds of one lucky guy's every waking moment of this newlywed couple. It now even has readers writing in with their husband's annoying personalities. IF you need a little bedtime blog surfing I recommend this site. Nothing will gratefully send you off to crawl into bed with your so much less annoying souse than reading this blog. If nothing else just be glad your sig other hasn't created a blog to how annoying you are. [via Brooklyn Heights Blog]

If you’re looking for ways to beat this (albeit, late) summer heat, you could head to one of the top 5 beaches near NYC, but hurricane Bill is predicted to make the water a bit rough, and in some cases, un-swimable. So maybe head over to one of these free and cheap city pools or water playgrounds instead, or cool off at a free dance show or music festival, or any of these true “New York Summer” events, like meeting Robinson Crusoe, or seeing generations of writers come together at the Fort Greene Park Literary Festival. 

Or maybe you want to head out of the city to some of our New Jersey Weekend Events...or Long Island. Plus don't forget to check our event calendar for even more fun stuff to do. Whatever you do, we’ve been asking for this heat, so get out and enjoy it!

If you are looking for a free and fun place to take to the water this summer, look no further than Union City, NJ.  Not only does the city boast one of New Jersey's best sprinkler parks, the newly opened Firefighter's Memorial Park is a dream come true for kids of all ages looking to keep cool during the hot summer days.

One request I hear frequently is for more stuff about things to do with kids in Queens. Every time I hear it I think, "Yeah, I want that too!" Luckily, I discovered Leni and her great blog, Queens Mamas. Leni has agreed to keep us up to date on all things Queens starting today with some free Shakespeare performances in Queens parks. Thanks, Leni!

On any given night, it can be hard to find a visible star, let alone a constellation, here in the City. With all of the ambient light, you might think it's near impossible to do any star gazing at all. But even with the neon signs and lights, there are amateur astronomy clubs that gather weekly and find wonders in the nighttime skies, not to mention the university observatories that are open to the public.

It's always interesting around here. This week we've been watching the blowout between Whole Foods CEO and irate customers over Healthcare Reform and "Mommy Bloggers" and each other over paid reviews. Plus New York City always keeps it interesting with developments like a group that's giving away books to read on the subway, a couple that are trying to actually provide good school photography (as in class pictures), and an awesome free entrepreneur boot camp for teens. Check it out.

This weekend marks the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, and although we can't promise a 3-day event where kids camp out, play marathon games of Guitar Hero and drink all the juice they want, we can tell you about all the cool events gong on that can make this weekend (almost as) memorable. After all, wouldn't you rather be enjoying car-free Manhattan, rockin' out to kid-friendly Beatles tunes, chowing down on international food, and catching the last few movies under the stars, anyway? 

Some random freebies for NYC folks from free food to where to fill up your water bottle when you are out and about (for free) to a Play-Doh "cooking" contest with a prize of $10,000 and a cool-sounding play just for kids that is being performed for free in New York City parks. Note: I can't take responsibility for the promotions enclosed. Please visit the linked site when available and sally forth with a free spirit and a sense of humor if the burgers are gone when you get there.