Your guide to tackling the Big Apple -- with kids
April 2, 2018
Writing a travel guide for NYC is like writing a travel guide to space. Do you rise with the sun or stay up late watching the stars? It’s a whole universe out there, and you can do and see and eat just about anything your heart fancies on a moment’s notice. (We’re talking about New York again, not space. You’ve got to keep up).
A travel guide to NYC could never be complete; it could never reflect everyone’s favorite gems. And there’s no such thing as a “must-do” here. There are simply solid options should your orbit through the boroughs swing you near enough to land. After all, we locals notoriously hermit-hole up in our own micro-neighborhoods and forget why we on Earth we still live in this city only to remember in April when the skirts come out of deep storage, the kids can get the hell out of our 500-square-foot apartments and our ancient office heating systems stop trying to murder us slowly via skin dryness.
But you’re here. And you have kids. So, check “listen to a local NYC mom whine” off your list, and move on to the recommendations below. Oh, and if you really want to see stars? You can catch them (and their celeb kids) in the most surprising of New York City spots — but almost never the sky.
Chelsea Piers & the High Line
A monstrous recreational facility, Chelsea Piers offers skating, parkour lessons (see aforementioned "spirited" child), a climbing gym, pools, courts of all kinds and pretty much any indoor athletic activity you can think of. You can even access sailing cruises of the Hudson River here because it is literally a pier. Just up the street, access the High Line, which is the West Side’s famed park built atop retired train tracks. There, you can stroll through gorgeous landscaping; snack on empanadas, ice cream sandwiches and Blue Bottle coffee; then plop down on amphitheater-style benches overlooking 10th Avenue when you literally can’t walk a second more. (See a theme? Play stuff for kids, pretty walk for grown-ups, snacks everywhere for everyone.)