Food and Festivities on June 1 at 8th Annual Taste of Tribeca
The scrumptious and sumptuous Taste of Tribeca culinary celebration returns to Duane Street on Saturday, June 1, from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. More than 40 restaurants will serve food, including Odeon, Sosa Borella, Chanterelle, Capsouto Frères, Acappella, El Teddy’s and Tribeca Grill. There will also be a cheese and wine tasting.

Tasting cards for samples from six restaurants are $40 on the day of the event at Duane and Greenwich streets, or $35 in advance from Bazzini, at 339 Greenwich St., or Ticketmaster, 212-307-7171. A tasting card is required for admission. Children accompanied by a paying adult do not need a card.

Proceeds from the event fund the arts enrichment programs at P.S. 234 and P.S. 150.

Entrance to the Taste of Tribeca is at Duane and Greenwich streets. In case of rain, the event will be held at P.S. 234, at Greenwich and Chambers streets. For more information, go to www.tasteoftribeca.citysearch.com.

DID to Honor Principals
The spring fundraiser for the Downtown Independent Democrats, on May 20, will honor the principals of P.S. 234, P.S. 89, I.S. 89 and P.S. 150 for their work during the months after Sept. 11 when the schools were displaced. DID will also honor former school board member and community activist Sophie Gerson, whose son, Alan J. Gerson, represents Lower Manhattan in the City Council. The event will be from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. aboard the historic ferry Yankee, docked at Pier 25 at the end of North Moore Street. (The ferry will not leave the dock.) Call 349-0140.

Fun in Duane Park
The Friends of Duane Park invite you to celebrate springtime at the park on May 4, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., rain or shine, with a live band, a petting zoo and refreshments. Children can pot plants and everyone can get gardening tips from the park’s gardener-in-chief Oliver Allen.

9/11 Pregnancy Studies
The Center for Children’s Health and the Environment at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health are each conducting a study of the impact of the Sept. 11 disaster on pregnant women and their babies. Both studies, which hope to enroll 300 women who were pregnant and in or around the World Trade Center at the time of the disaster, are looking for more participants. For the Mount Sinai study, call Joan Golub at 241-8921. For the Columbia study, call Sally Lederman at 304-7955.

Small Business Help
The community development organization Seedco has launched the Lower Manhattan Small Grocer Initiative to help Downtown’s very small businesses, which some other 9/11 assistance programs have excluded. The $3 million program provides grants, loans, wage subsidies and support services like insurance and real estate consultations to delis, grocers, newsstands, candystands and other small businesses on or below Houston Street hurt by the terrorist attack. Call 473-0255 or go to www.seedco.org.

Popcorn and Sophisticated Puppetry Returns to the Park
If it’s spring it must be time for the Popcorn and Puppet Festival in Washington Market Park.

This year’s event, the third annual, takes place June 1 from 2 to 5 p.m. and features four repeating puppet shows stationed around the park as well as the returning Ohmland Band, Ralph Lee’s big dancing bunnies and other even bigger larger-than-life figures that wander around the lawn.

The event, sponsored by the Washington Market Park Board of Directors, will also allow kids to make puppets of their own and, of course, eat plenty of popcorn.

But make no mistake, says organizer Liz Liebeskind, this is sophisticated entertainment.

"All of the performers perform for adult venues, that why I love it so much," Liebeskind said. "It’s not Clifford the Big Red Dog. It’s very much entertaining for adults as well."

Washington Market Park is at Greenwich and Chambers streets.

Southbridge Yard Sale
Books, housewares, bric-a-brac and more are at the Southbridge yard sale on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, May 30–June 1, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., in the courtyard, off Fulton and Pearl streets. Rain dates are June 6– 8.