Statue of Liberty
Shopping or window shopping: so many giant flagship stores with fun displays (American girl, Lego, M&M, Hersheys, etc.)
Some kind of crazy dessert or milkshake experience

My kids still remember getting a shake at BlackTap restaurant. They are expensive but memorable. Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer https://share.google/xFcRRkH03N7sm9DWo

The playgrounds around the World Trade Center are fun and gorgeous.

The Edge
Petty cab ride through central park
Jellycat diner (probably no more reservations available)
M&M store (make your own M&Ms)
You're already seeing a show, but Lion King is amazing too

Serendipity
Ellen's Stardust Diner

PP again - our kids liked the tenement museum even as kind of little kids - if they have a tour that focuses on your family’s origins it can be fairly compelling. From the tenement museum you are very near Katz’s deli - if counter service is chaotic then you can go to little hidden restaurant area in the back. From here you can also walk to Chinatown to get dim sum. The kids like golden unicorn.

PP here. I forgot the Japanese bookstore that our kids love - Kinokuniya. That’s at the Bryant park subway stop. Bryant park is really nice, too. Can walk there from Times Square. The public library is at the end of the park as well

We live in NYC with teens.

The NYC ferry is a cheap way to see the east river sights (and some of the boats have cute names - like tooth ferry, seas the day, mushiny, and lunchbox). If you are on UES then the only convenient stop is 90th, though Carl schurz park at the stop is nice. The Astoria ferry line will stop in Astoria, Roosevelt island, LIC, 34th, Brooklyn navy yard, and down to Wall Street. The seaport area at wall st is nice with a great bookstore (McNally) and a seaport museum.

Our kids liked walking across Brooklyn bridge - start in Manhattan and end up in Brooklyn and eat at one of the famous pizza places (ie julianas). We let them buy some crud from the vendors on the bridge - like a baseball hat or llama toy. They like that.

I personally love the natural history museum. You can walk across the park if you are on UES. Our kids like the decorations in the museum subway stop, but the subway seems to scare people. There’s a pink fish scavenger hunt in the new rocks and mineral exhibit - 5 little garnet fish hidden around the room.

Our kids really like the whale watching tour but that’s not very “NYC.” Tons of whales out in the harbor, it’s so odd to see them around the Statue of Liberty. Our kids also like governors island, but we go there with cousins who live in Brooklyn & probably not great bang for your buck when it comes to being a tourist.

When we have friends with kids in town we always take them to Tony’s Di Napoli - the one near the Q train at 63rd. It’s not fine dining but great with kids bc the food is good but inoffensive to kids. They mix the Cesar salad at your table, which intrigues our out of town friends’ kids. Family style, so 2 meals will feed the whole family with leftovers. The brownie sundae is good. Our kids love Korean bbq - down by 34th. “Love” bbq is easy if you haven’t done Korean bbq before. Don’t order too much food- It’s so much food! You can walk around to see Korean beauty shops, fancy bubble tea places, and the Empire State bldg is there.

The Met is nice (if you are with a ny resident go in at sidewalk level so you can do “pay what you wish” - otherwise I suspect it’s expensive). Egypt and “arms and armor” are our favorite stops (can read “from the mixed up files of mrs basil e frankweiler” in preparation!) - if you haven’t been there in a while the Oceania exhibit was recently completely refurbished. From there you can walk to turtle pond, which is aptly named.

Our kids thought the Guggenheim building was cool even when they were 9 or 10. Museum of the city of NY is, reportedly, “boring” but our kids have been there multiple times with school. Their cousins love the transit museum, but we have - somewhat bizarrely in retrospect - never been there. The intrepid is also good if your kids are into ships or the space shuttle. Our kids liked the slime museum - that said, I’ve never been in person bc my spouse would take the kids there when I was out of town for work. The kids’ friends say the ice cream museum is “dumb” because the samples are limited. One of our kids is a nerd and loves the JP Morgan library (they also go with school) - she says the book tour is interesting. If you want to answer hard questions on the tour, the red dye in the 600 year old books is made of beetles.

In Central Park, the zoo is cute. Yes, it’s touristy, but the locals like it too. When the kids were little we had a membership. I have fond memories of the times we spent in the outdoor parts of the zoo and the rest of Central Park during the pandemic. The shopping area is just south of the park. If they are into manga, there’s a good store in the entryway to the subway at Columbus circle in the underground stores - it’s just south of the big mall with the Whole Foods underground. Our kids like Uniqlo, which has a huge store just south of the park -near MOMA.

Are 7 and 9 considered pre teen now? Really?

If the weather permits, Central Park: the zoo, one of the playgrounds (Heckscher is great), the carousel, explore around the ramble.

Kid-friendly museums: AMNH, The Met, MOMA, the Intrepid.

When my DCs were younger, we visited the Met pretty often. I would set up a "scavenger hunt" for them to find things around the museum, and it made it really fun for them. I made up my own, but there are resources out there for this if you're interested--e.g., https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/THE-METROPOLITAN-MUSEUM-OF-ART-SCAVENGER-HUNT-The-Met-Passport-9507893

The Central Park playground is amazing for their ages. The Met. Statue of Liberty, FAO Schwartz,

Anonymous wrote:Great ideas, thank you! Can you tell me more about the Jellycat Cafe?

The first question is whether your kids are already into Jellycat stuffed animals. If not, skip the cafe.

Here is info:

https://us.jellycat.com/jellycat-diner-experience-new-york/

it's expensive, but we've done the similar experiences in London and Paris, and it's supercute (and just visiting the cafe is adorable if you're into jellycats, without the diner experience).

Great ideas, thank you! Can you tell me more about the Jellycat Cafe?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jellycat Diner at FAO Schwartz

This is huge for tween/teens right now and also get reservations for serendipity.

My kids, same age loved the circle line tour so we could see the Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, skyline, etc.

Just know that for Jellycat Cafe, you have to get reservations on their website to do the dining experience. Reservations become available a few weeks in advance every Monday around 3pm or so and get booked VERY quickly.

If you can still get tickets, go in the crown of the Statue of Liberty.
Other stuff my kids loved:
-natural history museum
-Cloisters (& the regular Met— esp the Egyptian part)
-fun stores, esp Harry Potter
-walking around Central Park
-Chinatown
-the Inrepid aircraft carrier