lochdaz-of-blantyre

Hey folks,
Well we touched down in NYC about 10 days ago and already we're discovering the difficulties of living in a big city with a child. Negotiating busy sidewalks with a stroller, getting in and out of cabs with a baby and strollers, crazy taxi drivers etc I'm at work during the day leaving my wife to deal with it all on her own.

Does anyone live in NYC and have some suggestions on how to make life easier? Any ideas on entertainment for a 2 year old in the city? We've done parks, soft play at Chelsea piers etc but I think we need more ammo. Also any regular meet ups in NYC with or without kids? (maybe should post in the Meetups room)

Other than the issue of being in Midtown with kid, its just a busy part of town. Ok so its only for a few months but we're gonna start looking outside the city asap. The building itself is awesome.

Cheers,
Daz

hobbes79

Nothing specific for NYC, but my wife went on www.meetup.com and found 3 mother-&-baby groups in our area. Sure you have loads in NYC.

She meets up 2 or 3 times a week for "play dates". Would recommend a look.

OT, but I found one in Boston for go-karting and went last week

EDIT: Oh, for making life easier, when we were in NYC briefly we would try to aim for subways with handicapped access. It means you get an elevator instead of struggling up stairs with a stroller.

penguinsix

Have you tried Central Park? There is a kids playground at 61st and 7th basically, and other places in there:

http://www.centralpark.com/pages/att...layground.html

http://www.centralpark.com/pages/act...ctivities.html

pejpm1

look outside of Manhattan. Park Slope and Brooklyn Heights are crawling with mothers with pushchairs and stuff like that. I'm sure they must have some mother/child groups or things to do.

Englishmum

When you decide to move out (to the 'burbs) do check out Maplewood in NJ, which is just 15 miles from Manhatten and beautiful. Loads of space and parks, plus a very diverse & artistic community. (Many people move to Maplewood from Park Slope - Brooklyn as you get more house/space for your money). It's only 30 mins on the MidTown Direct train from Penn Station and the trains also go to Hoboken (with PATH and ferries to Downtown) from Maplewood.

Many young families do move out from New York and Hoboken when the children arrive or the family is growing.

There is a large local and expat population with young children (I go to quite a few of the expat get-togethers, organised by a Brit and most people are from the UK or Down Under). Ridski who posts on here lives in Maplewood, I live in the next town (Millburn/Short Hills). Actually in Millburn there is a pre-school (St. Andrews) operated by an Englishwoman, Sheelagh Clark.

Info for you:

http://www.maplewoodonline.com (there is a very active messageboard!)

fogga4000

The childrens museum is supposedly great for kids of that age.