It’s now dead-hot beautiful summer and the only ones thinking about the cruel fall are those teacher types embracing their few months of sanity. If you’re a new graduate preparing for your first year in front of the classroom this September, one outgoing Sunset Park teacher may make your life a little easier. The class act is giving away a whole starting teacher kit for grades 2-5 including things like pocket charts, stickers, incentive charts, calculators, math books and “LOTS” of children’s books. You have to take the whole large suitcase of stuff at once. Betcha that teacher will be happy to see them go.

Give blood. If not for the needy, at least for your own apartment decorating.

At one lowpoint or another, you’ve surely considered giving of yourself in truly personal ways: selling your eggs, trafficking your sperm, being a guinea pig, putting your dirty crotchwear up for sale, or, if you’re like some of our more enterprising female friends, participating in the seemingly always-casting foot fetish parties in the city.

Let us instead make a pitch for something slightly more socially rewarding than letting your sperm set up franchises all across the country: did you know that every donation you make with the NY Blood Center earns you points for prizes from their Amazon-like selection of electronics, gift cards, sporting equipment, DVDs and more? Since you could be donating almost nine PBRs worth of blood throughout the year, you could earn something as swank as an air-hockey table, a guitar or a even a rack of lamb in just a few months? And you get a free STD test out of it too. It’s true! (more…)

Free Beach sand!

If you’re still a few rupees short of the zip car rental you need to make it out to the beach this summer, have you considered bringing the beach to you? A Brooklyn artist is giving away 8 yards of beach sand for free on Craigslist today, and they’re even willing to deliver locally in Brooklyn. The sand was used in a gallery installation but needs to get out today, so don’t dawdle. All you need is a kiddie pool full of murky salt water and a hairy guy in a speedo to complete your own Jersey beach experience! As always with Craigslist, like going to Jersey, proceed with caution.

Theater costumes and more for free

If you have a big DIY projects in the works — and we mean anything, from crafting to opening a bar to building a fire escape puppet theater — we’ve got a sweet tip for you. While it’s sad to hear the Manhattan Children’s Theatre is losing the lease on its TriBeCa space in two weeks, they’re turning it into a positive for brokesters by giving away a ton of stuff, including lumber, paint, props, costumes, chairs and tables, plus plenty of household items: toilet paper, soap, cleaning supplies, suitcases full of “regular people clothes” and even the cool seating units. “Honestly, if I owned a dive bar I’d be all over those things,” managing director Chris Alonzo says. ”A perfect substitute for the played out ‘backseat of a car’ bench seating thing.” And they’re setting up a special open house for Brokelyn readers on Sunday. (more…)

Hey kids, it’s tax day. And technically, Monday is tax day, too. We hope you’ve already tackled the challenge: Maybe you used a guy, maybe you used your brain, so long as you’re not sitting in front of your computer right now cursing at Turbotax’s back button. The upside of this time of year is that a lot of companies feel your pain, and they would like to give you free stuff over the next week. Want to wake up with some coffee? Get it for free! Maybe your financial-paper-carrying tote bag busted? You can get one for free, too! A comprehensive list of tax time 2011 freebies, below. (more…)

Tomorrow’s agenda: pick up a free flowering cherry tree in Clinton Hill then hoof it to Park Slope to recycle our vintage electronics. Here are the details on the tree giveaway:

NY Restoration Project and MillionTreesNYC have announced the species of the trees that are going to be available for FREE at the Putnam Triangle in Clinton Hill (Fulton Street at Grand Avenue) for the Free Tree Giveaway on Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 10 a.m. They are:  (more…)

We’re not that site that just runs a random poster or flier we happen to find and calls it a blog post. OK, maybe once in a while, like when our editor is in New Orleans. What can we possibly add? We know you folks love clothing swaps, and all the info’s here….

I can’t be the only one who hates on n+1 for being so cool, yet so inaccessible (read: costly). Electric Literature debuted a free iPad app, but if you can afford an iPad you probably don’t need our lit mag app to be free. As a publishing ingénue, I’m always on the lookout for quality writing from not yet overexposed writers that I can afford to read on an entry-level salary. Our humble borough offers digital dosages of not only Booker-Prize-worthy fiction, but also journalism, poetry, scholarship, and works that can’t be classified into any genre. If you worry that your cultural relevancy wouldn’t survive a New Yorker subscriptionl, treat yourself to one of these literary magazines, the best of the Brooklyn slush pile.  (more…)

Prospect Park hipsters, 1910: Those knickers were considered incredibly tight at the time.

We laughed when Watson wrote “What is Toronto?” in final jeopardy last month, but we should have wept. Robots can do enough already – trivia is our thing! So let’s get it together and hit Watson where he’s weakest: we’ll take American cities for everything, Alex. From Coney Island to Greenpoint, Brooklyn stinks of history, and it’s our responsibility to get out there and smell it. Luckily, Brooklyn has tons of free resources for people who take their learning like their subway trips: cheap, efficient and victorious. Don’t just be in Brooklyn: become part of it by learning your neighborhood, and help us beat back the evil tide of the singularity. (more…)

SeamlessWeb — the online/app-based food ordering service —has been handing out free coffee around Manhattan for a month now; today, the promotion finally jumped over to our fair borough: 10 places from Williamsburg to Sunset Park are giving away free cups a joe from today through Sunday. You can come once a day and bring friends if you like. And if you’re feeling the urge to order some delivery this week, SeamlessWeb offers you a $5 discount code too (and they send you regular coupon codes once you sign up). Full details here.