How we make it
How Boroughs & Brood is made
A short, honest account of where the information comes from, how we check it, and how AI is involved.
Where the information comes from
Events come from the organizer's or venue's own page wherever we can find one, and from established sources: NYC Parks, the three library systems (New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library and Queens Public Library), NYC Tourism + Conventions, the MTA's own station and accessibility data, and NYC Open Data, where the city publishes its playgrounds, spray showers and subway stations. Each event in The New York Almanac has two links: one to the organizer, where you can book or register, and one to the page where we checked the date and time. School break dates come from the New York City public school calendar.
How we check it
- We only list an event when we can find its date on a page we can name.
- If a price, time or age guide is not published, we leave it blank rather than guess.
- We call a subway station accessible only when the MTA lists it as accessible, and we always point you to the MTA's elevator status, because elevators go out of service.
- Every weather call links to the forecast it came from.
- Some facts cite reference sites such as Wikipedia where an official page was not available, and each one says so through its link.
How AI is involved
We use AI tools to help research, spell check and give tips on each edition, the guides and the calendar. No invented events, it comes from our own experience or a source is verified from trusted local sources for every claim.
Updates and corrections
The Weekend Brood goes out on Thursdays and the calendar is refreshed every week, with past events removed. If you spot a mistake, tell us on the contact page and we will fix it.
Money
Boroughs & Brood is free. There are no ads, sponsored listings or affiliate links today. If ads or affiliate links ever come, they will be clearly marked, and this page will say so.
Photos
Photos from our own trips are ours, and each one is labeled as our own photo with the month it was taken. Where we use someone else's, it is a photo published under an open license (Creative Commons or public domain) on Wikimedia Commons, and each one carries a caption naming the photographer, the license and a link to the original. Before a Commons photo appears here, it has to be proven to be of New York: its own coordinates, or the coordinates of its categories, must sit in the right place, or its description must name the place. If we have credited something wrongly, or you would rather your photo was not here, tell us on the contact page and we will fix it quickly.
Staying safe
Swim only at beaches and pools that are open, and only when lifeguards are on duty; rip currents at the ocean beaches are real, and the Hudson and East Rivers are not for paddling. Hold hands at crossings and watch for bikes and turning cars. Take heat and cold advisories seriously, with water and shade in summer and layers in winter, and agree a meeting point before parades, fireworks and other big crowds. Nothing in the guide replaces the advice of the organizer, NYC Parks, the lifeguards or the emergency services. In an emergency, call 911.
Our sister sites
The same family writes two sister guides in England, using the same rules: Fell & Family (our Cumbria and Lake District guide) and Bairns & Beaches (our Northumberland guide).
Boroughs & Brood is written by Dan Fitzpatrick (who grew up in Gateshead, in the North East of England) and his wife Julia. More about us.