Free Downtown Bus Service Starting this month, residents and tourists will have a new way of getting from one side of Lower Manhattan to the other. A free shuttle bus service, run by the Alliance for Downtown New York, will launch during the week of Nov. 17 and operate from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week. The Downtown Connection, as it is called, will run from the South Street Seaport neighborhood down Water Street, around the tip of Manhattan along State Street and Battery Place, and through Battery Park City to Chambers Street, returning along the same route. The Alliance says that it will have six buses running on weekdays, with about 10-minute intervals between them, and four on weekends. The route has 16 stops in each direction, most of them existing stops used by other bus services, and the 5-mile round trip is expected to take about one hour. “It will help knit together our community and provide easier connections for Downtown for residents, workers, shoppers and visitors,” said Brian Evans, an Alliance spokesman. The buses, which have 19 seats and are handicap-accessible, are diesel-powered and will produce little pollution, the Alliance says. The service first had been scheduled to start last fall, and then in the spring, using electric buses. Manufacturing problems caused delays, and the electric-bus plan was scrapped after the Tennessee company producing the vehicles filed for bankruptcy. For more information on the service, go to www.downtownny.com or call 212-566-6700. Downtown Arts Club A group of Lower Manhattan residents has created a club to promote arts and culture Downtown. Billed as an organization for “people who enjoy and appreciate the arts,” the club will organize social events, such as a “Beaux Arts Ball” in February, and work to foster culture Downtown. Its first gathering takes place on Nov. 20. Dues are $20 per year. For information go to www.downtownartsclub.com Rescue Mission Help The New York City Rescue Mission, at 90 Lafayette St., could use some help preparing its annual Great Thanksgiving Banquet for the homeless. Volunteers are sought to prepare food, fill gift bags and do other organizing work during the week prior to the event, on Monday, Nov. 24, which feeds almost 1,000 people. Volunteers also serve meals to the homeless 365 days a year. Call Del Solis at 212-226-6214, ext. 110. P.S. 150 Tours Tours of P.S. 150 (the Tribeca Learning Center), at 334 Greenwich St., are being given through February. The school is pre-K through fifth grade and open to all District 2 children. For open tour dates, call Christine at the school at 212-732-4392. Grant for Battery Dance Tribeca’s Battery Dance Company has been selected to receive a $70,000 grant from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. The two-year grant will help the company expand programs in Tribeca and in the city’s public schools, as well as its participation in international cultural-exchange projects. Battery Dance will give three public performances at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center on Dec. 10 and 11. Information is at www.batterydanceco.com. Fine Dining for $20.03 Almost 50 restaurants, including Bayard’s, Bridge Cafe, Steamers Landing and Vine, are participating in Downtown for Dinner, a week-long promotion featuring prix-fixe dinners for $20.03 (excluding drinks, tax and tip). The event, organized by the Alliance for Downtown New York, which manages Lower Manhattan’s business improvement district, runs from Nov. 3–9, and reservations are strongly recommended. For a list of restaurants, go to www.downtownny.com. Cooking Classes The food will be kosher but you don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy chef Einav Gefen’s upcoming cooking classes at Synagogue for the Arts, 49 White St. Gefen’s specialty is modern Mediterranean cuisine, and the focus of the classes, on Nov. 5 and 19 and Dec. 3, from 7–9 p.m., will be “fast, fresh, and fabulous” food and fish entrees. The fee is $115 for the series or $40 per class, which includes recipe booklets, generous tastings and wine. To sign up, call 212-966-7141 or e-mail info@synagogueforthearts.org. Eldercare Group Benefit For 27 years, Friends and Relatives of the Institutionalized Aged (FRIA) has helped people evaluate their options for taking care of elderly family members and worked to improve New York State nursing homes. The group, based at 11 John St., is holding a fundraiser on Nov. 17, from 6:30–8:30 p.m., at Bayard’s restaurant, One Hanover Square. The event will honor Mary Jane Koren, an internist and geriatrician, and celebrate the publication of “Nursing Homes and Alternatives.” Tickets cost $150. For more information, call 212-732-5667 or visit www.fria.org.