Best of Manhattan 2025 - Kids

UES

Best Playground / Indoor Play Space

Billy Johnson Playground

Central Park

Fifth Avenue at East 67th Street

www.centralparknyc.org/locations/billy-johnson-playground

Sometimes it pays not to overthink things, to be too clever. You’re on the east side, you’re near Central Park, you’ve got a kid or two, maybe three or more and you, the adoring but harried parent, need, above all else to maintain your sanity, to wear them out, to exhaust them in the most convenient yet pleasing manner possible. This is where, and when, the brilliance of Billy Johnson Playground fully reveals itself. Designed by landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg, the playground eschews traditional play equipment for a more site specific design full of natural features and reflections of Central Park itself. Worry not, however, this isn’t some mere artist’s statement: climbing, hiding, running and sliding are all encouraged. The only downside of Billy Johnson is its lack of a restroom though these are available in the nearby Dancing Crane Café at the Central Park Zoo.

UWS

Tecumseh Playground

Amsterdam Avenue at West 78th Street

www.nycgovparks.org/parks/tecumseh-playground

For something a little different than the usual run of Riverside Park (Neufeld, River Run, Hippo) and Central Park playgrounds (Pinetum and Diana Ross being the best for most ages, not just toddlers) in this general longitude, Tecumseh is well worth visiting. If Tecumseh is relatively spartan—basketball courts with other open space, jungle gyms, a bathroom and eleven mapped trees—that’s fine; not everything needs a highfalutin design. Speaking in 2013, when the park was last renovated, Council Member Gale Brewer said, “I am happy to see that the renovations were completed in a timely manner and the result by the Parks Department is simply stunning. Children have stopped me on the street, and even at Fairway Market, to say that the schoolyard is absolutely beautiful, and I am sure it will be enjoyed by generations to come.” As for Tecumseh, it honors Union Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman, whose middle name renowned Shawnee Indian Chief and warrior from Sherman’s native Ohio. A lot of complex history there and many lessons for adults and kids alike.

DT

Complete Playground

30 Broad St.

www.completeplayground.org

212-248-3030

While we’d rarely recommend an indoor playground in lieu of a free outdoor one, including such downtown faves Playscape in nearby Battery Park; Teardrop Park in Battery Park City; Hester Park in Chinatown; and Seward Park on East Broadway and so forth, the weather, your work schedule and other circumstances, don’t always agree. Enter Complete Playground, a 40,000 square play space in the unlikely but welcome location of 30 Broad Street, which local workers and architecture might recognize as the 50-story art deco Continental Bank Building, opened in 1931. While Continental Bank, despite being co-founded in 1870 by such notable figures as H.B. Claflin, Joseph Seligman and Jacob Schiff went the way of Atlantis, the building remains, and the Complete Playground thrives. In addition to its plethora of open play (no shoes, grip socks required) in a wide variety of styles, it also offers holiday and break camps, party space and classes.

Best Toy Store

UWS

Stationery and Toy

125 W. 72nd St.

www.stationeryandtoy.com

212-580-3922

While a void remains in our heart where West Side Kids used to be, there was – and remains – the likewise beloved Stationery and Toy World, is still here to keep kids excited and give parents a good reason to pick up some odd items for themselves too. If as its name suggests, this isn’t a direct substitute for a specialist toy store, Stationery and Toy World gets the job done admirably and Donna Schofield, the store’s owner since 1986, is rightly a neighborhood legend. “This shop is a West Side Institution and has helped me over 25 years of school and work projects for myself, and then my kids,” wrote one woman when Schofield once found herself in a Kafka-esque regulatory battle with the de Blasio administration. “They are always helpful, provide steady good employment to their wonderful staff and are friendly and honest.” Nothing has changed since then except the mayor, so while West Side Kids is missed, give Schofield and West 72nd Street a chance—it’s unlikely you’ll be disappointed.

UES

Mary Arnold

1178 Lexington Ave.

www.maryarnoldtoys.com

212-744-8510

Mary Arnold, Mary Arnold, how do I love thee? This is the cry of the East Side child conflating their desire for a new toy and the exhortations they learned in grade-school drama class. The answers, of course, are manifold, and, if not quite infinite, it might take the same 90 years that Mary Arnold has been in business to list them all. And, even if they’ve heard it all before, that doesn’t mean store’s father and daughter owners, Ezra and Judy Ishayik, aren’t still happy to hear it. “Our customers have been so welcoming and supportive. We are so grateful to be a part of this community,” told the local preservation group, Friends of the Upper East Side. “Many are now grandparents. How wonderful to see the next generation shopping with us. We all get to do the cycle again. Not something you see every day in NY.” Pick hits: Magna-Tiles Dino World ($89), Nerf two-player hockey set ($30); Ooze Labs Alien Slime Lab ($32).

DT

Kidding Around

60 W. 15th St.

www.kiddingaroundtoys.com

212-645-6337

Joyous as it often seems, running a toy store isn’t easy—or in Manhattan, easily lucrative—work; if it was, which makes the continued prosperity of Kidding Around on the cusp of the West Village and Chelsea all the more praiseworthy. Not that needs to know anything about rent and commercial real estate to celebrate the store’s contents: Games, science sets, dolls, costumes, scooters, puzzles, puppets, balls, stuffed animals, art kits, some books and more more more. They also do mail order, including such Manhattan—centric random pick hits as MUNI PALS Nyc Subway Wooden C Train ($24.99); Maptote New York City Pigeon Coin Purse ($17.99) and Ravensburger Empire State Building at Night 3D Puzzle ($44.99).

Kids Bookstore

UWS

Strand Books

450 Columbus Ave.

Strandbooks.com

212-473-1452

Part of the legendary Strand Books, whose flagship store on Broadway at 12th Street is legendarily frenetic, this Upper West Side location offers a smaller, neater, less hectic, but still satisfying version of the classic Strand experience. Though not a children’s bookstore per se, their downstairs kids’ section is well-designed and well-stocked. One advantage of the non-specialist children’s book store is seeing what other things kids gravitate to, be it “adult” sports books, art books, graphic novels or the wide array of Strand-branded gifts and souvenir tchotchkes on display. What’s a “tchotchke”? Ask about their Yiddish books! A second UWS Strand opened this year at 2020 Broadway near West 69th Street, suceeeding the defunct Shakespeare & Co. Just steps from Lincoln Center, this location has similar virtues but also includes Cafe Fred, named to honor the Strand’s late co-owner and legendary bookman, Fred Bass.

UES

Corner Bookstore

1313 Madison Ave.

www.cornerbookstorenyc.com

212-831-3554

Ensconced on the ground floor of a handsome four-story brownstone townhouse on the southeast corner of Madison and East 93rd Street, the small but mighty Corner Bookstore isn’t exclusively a children’s bookstore but it’s a wondrous one nonetheless. What it lacks in size, the shop makes up for in nearly everything else including a weekly 10 a.m. Saturday storytime, special orders, free local delivery and even a house account. (Wait until your kid calls up some rainy day and orders 20 Harry Potter books; “Just put ‘em on the account!”). In his own youth, this reporter recalls a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum, and afterwards, stops at a nearby restaurant and the Corner Bookstore, at which he bought William S. Burroughs “Naked Lunch”– not kids’ reading, for sure, but still a welcome find then. It’s worth noting too that the Corner Bookstore has a child, or at least a godchild, of its own in that two former employees teamed up start the acclaimed Flatbush, Brooklyn, indie bookstore Lofty Pigeon. Go forth and multiply!

DT

Books of Wonder

42 W. 17th St.

www.booksofwonder.com

212-989-3270

You can’t go wrong at Books of Wonder, which sets such a high standard for children’s specialty store, its unlikely to ever be exceeded. Whispered fears that the store might falter when it moved from its former home on West 18th Street, or that the maddening street construction of a year ago would never, in fact, end, both proved unfounded. Indeed, when visiting the store in late 2025 one might not guess it was anywhere else, and that the store’s sidewalk and entry was always this pleasant. (If only!) But let bygones be gone From infants to teens, and nearly any category, or style of book you can think of, both new and old. For serious bibliophiles, there’s always an always fascinating selection of collectible, vintage books for sale. On one recent visit, a selection of old science-fiction hardcovers with extraordinary dust jackets stood out, including Letster Del Rey’s “Mission to the Moon.” The store’s stroller-friendly space and clean restroom can’t be faulted, and the store’s proximity to both Academy Records and Levain Bakery back over on 18th Street makes any visit an opportunity for multiple joys.

Best School Break - Holiday Camps

Central Rock Gym

21 West End Ave.

www.centralrockgym.com/manhattan/kids/vacationprograms

212-265-7625

There are all sorts of theories and practices regarding parenting and education and it’s the not job of “Best of” to advocate one approach over various others. That said, it’s difficult to imagine any apartment-bound Manhattan parent not wanting their kid to get as much physical exercise as possible—especially during school breaks For kids 7-12, Central Rock Gym out by West End Avenue and West 61st Street is a terrific option for any child with an interest in climbing. The “rock climbing” angle is notable, and representative of one of the more remarkable fitness and recreation trends of the last decade but it ought not be at at all intimidating: anyone who’s been to a playground with any climbing apparatus at all qualifies. (While Central Rock Gym has many other programs and times for both younger children and teens, its full-week holiday break camps are restricted to the 7-12 age group.) There’s also location at 537 West 27th St. in Chelsea.

UES

NORY, multiple Manhattan locations

Often at Temple Israel, 112 E. 75th St.

www.nory.co/camp

917-531-6630

First opened in 2017, NORY likens itself to “a STEM-powered Disney World”—minus the alligators and mosquitos, this frequent visitor to Florida might add. During school breaks and holidays NORY programs are offered at multiple Manhattan locations that are sometimes changing. For Upper West Siders, Bnos Aliya Montessori is often but not always used. On the East Side, the same goes for Temple Israel on East 75th Street, while downtown, NORY has held camps at both the Pine Street School and the Tribeca Community School on Hudson Street. Check their calendar to what’s happening where because it’s all very interesting, including half and full day (9am-3pm) programs with early drop off and late pick available. Age wise, NORY divides kids up into categories that label Explorers (3-4), Inventors (5-7), and Masters (8-12), the last “engages campers in advanced robotics, woodworking, engineering, and coding projects.”

DT

Taste Buds Kitchen Cooking Camp

109 W. 27th St.

www.tastebudskitchen.com/nyc/school-break-cooking-camp

212-242-2248

You’ve fed them, clothed them, bathed them, read them infinite stories, bought them an untold number of toys, books, balls, dolls, stuffies, streaming movies, pizzas, ice creams, pony rides, camp days, and more, now it’s time for these little people to give something back: by learning to cook for you! Enter Taste Buds Kitchen Cooking Camp in Chelsea. (Though Taste Buds Kitchen is today a small national franchise, this was company founder and Wall Street refugee Jessi Bralford’s first location.) Offered on days that follow both public and private school break calendars, they offer both single and five-day camps that run for three hours each; little kids 4-8 take the 9-12 morning shift, while older ones come in the afternoon from 1-4. While this partial day schedule won’t be ideal for all parents, for others it’s an attractive option, with early drop off and late pick up also available.

Best Kid Friendly Museum

New York Historical / DiMenna Children’s History Museum

170 Central Park West

www.nyhistory.org

212-873-3400

While the manifest greatness of the American Museum of Natural History is eternal and includes such overlooked—by kids anyway—adjacent wonders as Theodore Roosevelt Park with its Bull Moose Dog Run, the many glories of its neighbor just one block to the south, New York Historical, should not be forgotten. Who was Theodore Roosevelt? Why Bull Moose? These questions and more can be asked and answered at the New York Historical Society (NYHS) and its DiMenna Children’s History Museum—it’s a museum within a museum, like Russian dolls, one admission pays for both. Opened in 2011 as part of an extensive building renovation, its exhibits and programs, including regular Sunday book readings, are geared for children 8-13, though many NYHS exhibitions are themselves kid-friendly and engaging. Two current examples: “Holiday Express: Toys and Trains from the Jerni Collection” (through Feb. 22, 2026) and “Declaring the Revolution: America’s Printed Path to Revolution” (through April 12, 2026).

UES

Museum of the City of New York

1220 Fifth Ave.

212-534-1672

www.mcny.org

Up there by the park, where the flow of the Upper East Side turns into an East Harlem of the mind is where you’ll find it—your museum, my museum, our kids’ museum: It’s the Museum of the City of New York! Not even El Museo del Barrio a few blocks north, (which is also worth visiting) better exemplifies the Spanish motto Mi Casa, Su Casa: my house is your house. “Gingerbread NYC: The Great Borough Bake-Off 2025” (through January 19, 2026), invites amateurs and professionals alike to create gingerbread versions of iconic New York structures; Robert Rauschenberg’s New York: Pictures from the Real World (through April 19, 2026), focusing on the great Black Mountain artist’s photography practice; and the ongoing Activist New York exhibition, from American Revolutionaries to Abolitionists, Suffragists, Socialists, Pacifists, Prohibitionists, Communists, Anti-Communists and more. For parents who—understandably—wish to tame their children’s rebellious instincts for the sake of domestic peace, check the museum’s calendar for an abundance of kid-friendly events, including drop-in activities and stories.

DT

National Museum of the American Indian

1 Bowling Green

888-618-0572

www.americanindian.si.edu

The six-week-long shutdown of the federal government in October-November 2025 had numerous ill-effects, including the closure of National Museum of the American Indian. Why? It’s there in the world “national”—it’s run by the Smithsonian Institution, and just like the African National Burial Ground Monument and its attendant museum at 290 Broadway run by the National Park Service, it was caught in the shutdown. Happily, both have reopened and remain must-visit for older children and adults alike. Located in the stunning Beaux Arts-style, Cass Gilbert-designed New York Custom House building, the American Indian museum sits at the foot of an old Algonquin trade route known today as Broadway—formerly the Wickquasgeck Trail. Its open 364 days a year—taking off only on Christmas Day—and admission is always free. Pick Hit exhibition for kids: “Of Gods and Heroes,” by the Salish artist Jeffrey Veregge, a site-specific work described as “an epic battle between Marvel characters and aliens invading the streets of New York City.”