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 Monday menus — If you are hungry for a restaurant bargain, take advantage of this dinner deal in Midtown — $59 for a three course steak or sushi dinner for two at Statler Grill. The voucher deal from Groupon includes one appetizer, two entrees, two sides and coffee or tea. Value up to $133. There’s alsoa $72 deal at Kori Tribeca grill for a seven-course chef’s tasting menu that includes dessert and a bottle of wine. That deal is from Living Social. Find more cheap eats menu deals, along with goods and services, on the NYCOTC Daily Deals page. Click here for a round-up of 100+ local, regional and national deals from the best voucher sites.
 Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms and grammies who follow NYC on the Cheap.
Wishing everyone a beautiful day filled with love.
 iPhone/iPad/iTouch app Put New York City in the palm of your hand with the app version of NYC on the Cheap. The 1.3 version contains more NYC cheap eats, more listings about NYC history, neighborhoods and how to get around, and more links to the Twitter and Facebook pages of the restaurants, museums and shops included. Download it now from the iTunes store, and get hundreds of destinations for cheap eats, stores where you’ll never pay retail, museums that are always free, and lots more. Sort by category, neighborhood, price, or by distance. All in the palm of your hand, for $2.99, with FREE updates. It’s an ideal app for residents, newcomers and visitors — your best guide to NYC on the cheap.
My publisher, Sutro Media, the world’s top publisher of travel apps, is working on an Android version, and I’ll be sure to let you know when that’s available.
 Reminder to vote for your favorite historic place in NYC. Your opinion is worth millions — literally. Vote to help New York City get up to three million dollars, from a partnership between American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It’s a program called Partners in Preservation, a community-based program which provides preservation grants for historic places. This year, the program is giving away money in New York City, to protect and restore treasured NYC places and spaces. So what’s your favorite? The high dive board at the Astoria Pool? Cleopatra’s Needle in Central Park? The Coney Island carousel? Jefferson Market Library? The Louis Armstrong House Museum? The City Island Nautical Museum? These are just some of NYC’s historic spots that have been nominated. You can vote once a day — everyday — through May 21st. So what’s your favorite historic spot in NYC? Let Partners in Preservation know. You can also vote on the PIP Facebook page. Please vote.
This is the last weekend for the two-weekend Spring Crafts on Columbus, both Saturday and Sunday. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., local artists offer paintings, sculptures, jewelry and more, on Columbus Avenue between 77th and 81st Streets, along the back of the American Museum of Natural History on Columbus Avenue. Sponsored by the American Arts and Crafts Alliance.
The Times Square Fair on Saturday features entertainment, arts and crafts, food stalls by local restaurants and more. From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Broadway, between 47th and 57th Streets.
The Upper Broadway Festival is Sunday, from noon to 5 p.m., between 60th and 65th Streets, with arts and crafts and entertainment. Sponsored by the Committee for Environmentally Sound Development.
Take a walk this weekend, and learn something about New York City history with each step. Here are two FREE walking tours to enjoy while you also enjoy the great weather –
Saturday — ‘Union Square: Crossroads of New York’ focuses on the area’s political and social history. Meet at 2 p.m. by the statue of Lincoln in Union Square Park, near the 16th Street transverse. Sponsored by the Union Square Partnership.
Sunday — Flatiron — This A 90-minute tour of landmarks in the Flatiron district is sponsored by the Flatiron-23rd Street Partnership. It meets every Sunday at 11 a.m. at the William Seward statue in Madison Square Park, Broadway and 23rd Street. You’ll learn about the architecture of New York Life Insurance Building, the MetLife Tower and the Flatiron Building and the role they played in NYC’s business history. And if the tour guide doesn’t tell you about the origin of the phrase “23 skidoo,” be sure to ask.
 Get current season Orla Kiely handbags, accessories and other fashion items are half off retail at this multi-function sample sale/warehouse sale, through June 22nd. At Showroom Seven, 263 Eleventh Avenue, between 27th and 28th Streets, third floor. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sat., 11 a.m.-6 p.m, and there’s a daily Happy Hour with free cocktails from 5 p.m. to closing. Just don’t spill anything on the merchandise.
 NYC special events commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Titanic continue into May with a special FREE discussion about the world’s most famous sea disaster, at the NYPL Mid-Manhattan Branch. The discussion is moderated by WABC radio show host John Batchelor, with the bestselling authors, Charles Pellegrino, author of “Farewell, Titanic: Her Final Legacy,” and Stephen Spignesi, author of “The Titanic For Dummies.” They discuss historical and factual details, including construction, plus deep-ocean archaeology and the deep sea organisms converting the Titanic into a living reef. The Titanic lecture is Tuesday, May 15th at 6:30 p.m. The Mid-Manhattan library is at Fifth Avenue and 41st Street, directly across from the main branch with the stone lions out front.
 Spring sample sale of Gant menswear, women’s apparel and accessories by Gant, Gant Rugger and Gant by Michael Bastian, knocks prices down up to 80% off original retail. Sample prices are $175 for a blazer originally priced at $575, Gant’s iconic poplin button-down shirts at $35, and cotton sweaters at $40. The sale is Tuesday, May 15th to Saturday, May 19th, at 260 Fifth Avenue, the huge storefront between 28th and 29th Streets that’s become popular for designer warehouse sales and clearance sales. Hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday to Friday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. Cash and credit cards, no personal checks.
 Send your favorite mom a gift for free from Redbox on Mother’s Day — free one-day movie rentals on Sunday, May 13th. The freebie is offered on Facebook, and includes the opportunity to send free electronic greeting cards that include a promo code for free DVD rentals from a Redbox kiosk. The e-cards can be sent to moms, friends and other relatives — as long as they’re on Facebook. The promo code may only be used once, and is only valid May 13. Thanks to sister site Orlando on the Cheap for alerting NYC on the Cheap to this Mother’s Day freebie.
 Dance with the stars of the Harlem Swing Dance Society at a special FREE outdoor swing dance celebration in Harlem on Saturday, May 12th. Grab a partner and lindy, jitterbug or shim sham. It’s fun and great exercise. The swing dance event celebrates where swing dancing began — in Harlem. And even if both your feet are left feet, you can still watch and enjoy the music, which is favorites from the 30s and 40s, by musicians including Cab Callaway, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgetald. The outdoor swing dance event is 1:30 p.m. at the Savoy Monument, 140th Street and Lenox Avenue. As Ellington wrote, take the A train. You all know that I’m a swing dancer — and if I weren’t out of town on Saturday, I’d be there, with my dancing shoes on!
BABBLE stands for Big Apple Balboa, Blues, Lindy Exchange, and what it means is a weekend of great dance events, indoors and outdoors in New York City, May 11th to 13th. Dance to the music of some of the best DJs in the buisness, and get free balboa, lindy, shim sham, swing and West Coast swing lessons from some of the best instructors in the business. Guaranteed to turn your two left feet into one left and one right, and improve your moves on the dance floor. There are several FREE events included in the $96 weekend pass fee that will pay back the price of the registration, or, you can just pay anywhere from $8 to $25 at the door for a specific dance party. There also are several free events open to the public, including a picnic with music in Central Park. Click here for the full event schedule, and to purchase tickets.
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Monday menus — If you are hungry for a restaurant bargain, take advantage of this dinner deal in Midtown — $59 for a three course steak or sushi dinner for two at Statler Grill. The voucher deal from Groupon includes one appetizer, two entrees, two sides and coffee or tea. Value up to $133. There’s alsoa $72 deal at Kori Tribeca grill for a seven-course chef’s tasting menu that includes dessert and a bottle of wine. That deal is from Living Social. Find more cheap eats menu deals, along with goods and services, on the NYCOTC Daily Deals page. Click here for a round-up of 100+ local, regional and national deals from the best voucher sites.
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