(BPT) - Hooray for a holiday. You’ve got the day off, you’ve sent out the backyard barbecue invite and all your nearest and dearest are coming over to eat, drink and be merry.

MillionTreesNYC was established to greenify public spaces in the city, but private spaces, including backyards, apartment building courtyards and community gardens, are not included in the initiative.

In an effort to bring some of the greenery to Queens’ private areas, the Four Borough Neighborhood Preservation Alliance and the New York Restoration Project will be giving away 200 trees on Sunday in MacDonald Park in Forest Hills at Queens Boulevard and 70th Avenue from 1 to 3 p.m.

(NAPSI)—Superfruits—fruits that are exceptionally rich in vitamins and antioxidants—are popular ingredients in a variety of healthy foods.

(BPT) - As summer approaches, many parents are worried about the summer learning slide, and with good reason. Students who do not participate in enrichment and learning activities during the summer break can lose roughly 22 percent of the knowledge and skills they gained during the previous school year, according to the National Summer Learning Association.

(BPT) - With many states facing drought this summer, homeowners across the country will be looking for ways to save their landscaping while conserving water at the same time. Even if you’re not in a drought-affected area, it pays to keep conservation in mind when it comes to watering outdoors. Using less water is good for the environment and your wallet.

The sun is out and natures first green is our gold. Thank God, Spring is finally here. We are feeling it with the warmer days. Our energy levels are up, and now we find ourselves making weekend trips to the local Home Depot or Lowe's department stores. Some of us are looking for ideas, while others have a plan. Any home improvement big or small will have an impact.Whether you are looking to sell your property in the coming months or tired of being the worst house on the block, any improvement is better than none at all. Some home improvement can be value added, while others are personal preference to the way you want to live.

They’re going to need a bigger bus.

And because of that, bigger stops.

With chants of “save our centers” reverberating across the steps of Queens Borough Hall, hundreds of young students, representing various after-school programs and encouraged by their mentors and elected officials, made their voices heard at a rally on April 24 to protest proposed budget cuts that would leave many of them without a home away from home.

“How would you feel if your second home was gone?” 10-year-old Jessica Calvo asked the crowd as she stepped up to the podium.

Government and community leaders, including Tom Galante, president and CEO of Queens Library; Alan Nahmias, president of Stalco Construction; Borough President Helen Marshall and members of the construction crew hoisted the final beam of the new Queens Library at Elmhurst into place, completing the steel structure, at a ceremony on Tuesday, April 29.

The $27.8 million Elmhurst Library is scheduled to open in 2014. The new library is twice its old size and the second largest library in Queens. Features will include customer service on all four floors, a 32-computer Cyber Center, a new Adult Learning Center, an interior reading atrium and community gardens.

(BPT) - As the warmer weather is upon us, it brings many new activities: baseball, picnics, beach time and – best of all - garage sales. People are purging what they don’t need or no longer want. It’s the perfect opportunity to turn their trash into your treasure.  From outdated odds and ends to forgotten furniture, there is a wealth of worthy items just waiting to be found, re-imagined and re-purposed.

(BPT) - Is your backyard ready for bliss this summer? You probably look forward to spending as much time outdoors as possible during warmer months. But do you really have everything you need to ensure you can enjoy your outdoor living space from dawn to dusk – and beyond?

(BPT) - Fresh packets of seeds, the dirt between your fingers, and the smell of freshly churned earth – gardening season has officially begun. Whether you’re a seasoned green thumb or a newbie to home planting, gardening is a great activity that provides both physical and mental health benefits.

Don’t go to this show looking for works that just please the eye. Some are pretty or entertaining, yes, but all have a complex theory or analyze a social issue that goes beyond the aesthetics. Grab the curator’s essay and study the plaques.

‘Better Homes’ calls up images of women in pearls with their fine china as seen on the glossy pages of the iconic magazine Better Homes and Gardens. The SculptureCenter’s current exhibit by the similar name plays with this idea.

New sewers and new zoning are expected to be coming soon to Community Board 13 neighborhoods that have needed them for decades.

Speaking at the board meeting held Tuesday night at Bellerose Assembly of God Church, Tom Donnelly, an engineer with the city Economic Development Commission, said the agency has begun phase four of what is now a multiyear project to improve capacity in sanitary and stormwater sewers in portions of eastern and southeastern Queens.

(NewsUSA) - Last year, flowers and jewelry topped the list of popular Mother's Day gifts -- naturally. Many women enjoy the warmth that fresh flowers add to a room, almost as much as supplementing a never-ending jewelry collection.

(BPT) - It’s the season of sunshine and enjoying the great outdoors. Celebrate it with a style makeover for your home by tapping lively decorating trends and home decor ideas that will refresh and brighten your living space.

The Queens Museum of Art, the exhibit and education center located in what had been the New York City Building during the 1939-40 and 1964-65 World’s Fairs, is in the midst of an expansion that, upon completion, will double its size to 105,000 square feet.

Queens has a lot to brag about. 

But what it doesn’t have much of is open space. 

Perhaps that’s why denizens with green thumbs seek out any plot of dirt to plant colorful flowers and grow hearty vegetables.

Few words brought Mets fans greater joy than when the Amazin’s late broadcaster Bob Murphy would say “Back with the happy recap!” immediately following a victory. Howie Rose, the team’s longtime play-by-play voice, has his own signature phrase that gladdens the hearts of Mets fans following a win: “Put it in the books!”

Rose has written his first book, appropriately titled “Put It in The Book! A Half Century of Mets Mania” (Triumph Books), an interesting amalgam of autobiography combined with a breezy look back at the history of the Mets.