New York is the greatest place for kids. When my daughters were a little younger I would buckle them into the double stroller, pack up a couple of sippy cups, hard boiled eggs and rice crackers for lunch and go see the sights. We would do the playground hop, stopping at every playground on our way across town. My destination was either City Bakery (for a chocolate cookie) or the Cupcake Cafe across the street in Books of Wonder (for a cupcake). It was a dilemma, cookie or cupcake - which one to consume? I never had to worry about it being fattening because pushing the double stroller was such a work out. I always tried to time my expedition to coincide with the farmers market in Union Square so that I could purchase my groceries and tie them onto the stroller. The only thing I had to be careful of were the moments when my daughters would charge towards the swings, leaving my ... [more]
New York with Kids, Victoria Kann
Main Street Manhattan
My Snapple cap has just informed me that Manhattan is the only city in America without a Main Street. In fact, none of her streets or avenues could be considered primary arteries – this city is full of large, tiny, and in-between streets you will enjoy navigating.
The streets are numbered from the East Village north, starting at 1st Street and continuing to 220nd Street. Streets are typically three car-lengths wide: a traveling lane sandwiched between two sides of parked cars. On alternate side of the street parking days, the sandwich is open-faced.
You will also notice that the north/south blocks are short. Twenty north/south blocks equal one mile. The seven avenues of the east side equal approximately a mile (her width varies); the width of Central Park is one-half mile, and five cross-town blocks of the west side equal a mile. Crossing Manhattan from north to ...