100 Reasons to LOVE NYC!

Recently I was leafing through a magazine looking for ideas of things to write about....things that caught my eye and grabbed my attention by the seat of the pants. In this doctors office, I found a magazine where they are devoted to helping parents raise their kids and enjoy life in the big city (NYC) and beyond.....

 They came up with 100 reasons to love growing up and or living in NYC. Looking over their article, the criteria was simple: they looked for things that have a meaningful impact on the lives of children, for serious reasons (like health and education) or even just fun ones. Of course, there are many more things that they could have listed.... but the list might have become endless! I hope you'll look this over and be inspired to embark on a city adventure you haven't yet shared with your child or see something else and think it's time to do that again. (One final note: These are not rankings! Everything is #1.) I made changes and comparisons, nonetheless, all wonderful places to go and fun, entertaining, educational things to do!

My son moved to NYC a few months ago to join the fashion industry in Manhattan. He loves the city....and there is quite a difference with living in certain cities. We lived in west Michigan most of our lives where the population was around 170,000. In 2009 we moved to Houston Texas to be closer to my daughter. I thought that living in a city (Houston) where the population was growing rapidly at nearly 4.3 million I had seen it all, and that there was more than enough to do, what a beautiful city Houston Texas,....but it didn't even compare to the bright lights and the loving embrace of NYC. I highly recommend going there for a long weekend visit or for a vacation. You'll be caught up in the crowd but it's a joyous rush! Be advised that it's a go go go city and there is so much to see!

This list has now become my list of things to do when I go to NYC to visit, which btw I recently updated this blog (2013) as my daughter is now a full time resident of this beautiful city, and now two very important reasons to visit.

 Anyone can do these things.....and this is why so many people love New York! I highly recommend taking a bus tour of the city to see it all and this will enable you to get great pictures! Another great idea is to take a cruise around Manhattan. It's 3 hours and you see it all from the water!

1. The Diversity.

2. All Of The Wonderful Neighborhood Playgrounds.

3. Walking Over The Brooklyn Bridge.

4. The Great (Often Free) Programs from the Parks Department and The City Parks Foundation.

5. Symphony Space.

6. We're Becoming A Greener City Every Day.

7. Madison Square Garden (The Knicks, Plus All The Shows For Kids).

8. Snug Harbor (Including The Children's Museum of Staten Island).

9. Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

10. New York Botanical Garden and Brooklyn Botanical Garden.

11. Holiday Windows and Oversized Christmas Trees.

12. Free Activities! There Are Lots Of Them, Including Our Favorite: Movies Under The Stars.

13. Central Park.

14. Ellis Island.

15. Diners! All those restaurants!

16. The Children's Museum of Manhattan, The Children's Museum of the Arts And The Brooklyn Children's Museum.

17. The United Nations.

18. All Of The (Other) Amazing Parks We Don't Have Room To Mention!

19. The MoMA.

20. The New York Public Library.

21. Wave Hill.

22. Incredible Ethnic Eats (Whether Ordered In Or Sought Out).

23. Asphalt Green.

24. The American Museum of Natural History.

25. Big Apple Circus (And The Other Small Circuses We Don't Have Room To Mention).

26. South Street Seaport And The Imagination Playground.

27. The Park Slope Effect: Yuppie Family Gentrification.

28. The Williamsburg Effect: Hipster Family Gentrification.

29. The Harlem Effect: Diverse Family Gentrification.

30. All The (Other) Great Museums We Don't Have Room To Mention.

31. All the Wonderful Y's And The JCC Manhattan.

32. So Many Dog Parks.

33. The Queens County Farm Museum.

34. Pelham Bay Park/Orchard Beach.

35. Prospect Park.

36. The New Victory Theater.

37. From FAO Schwarz To West Side Kids,Cool Toy Stores Large And Small.

38. The Professional Sports Teams.

39. Awesome Ice Skating Rinks.

40. The Greenbelt Recreation Center.

41. The Wonderful Neighborhood Libraries Around The City.

42. Amazing Birthday Venues And Entertainers, And All Sorts Of Birthday Cakes.

43. Name A Sport or Hobby: There's A League Or Program For It.

44. Firefighters, Teachers, Writers--Whatever Your Dream, There's A Role Model.

45. The Statue of Liberty.

46. The Wonderful Children's Activity And Enrichment Programs In Every Neighborhood.

47. A Pizza Place Or Bagel Store Every Three Blocks. My favorite "Rays Pizza" Hole in the wall but YUM YUM!

48. Dave & Busters, Ripley's Believe It Or Not, Madame Tussauds.

49. The New York Hall of Science and Liberty Science Center.

50. Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.

51. The Riches Of Everyday Street Life (Plus, City Kids Walk!).

52. City Island.

53. The New York Aquarium.

54. Bike Riding For Kids (especially along Hudson River Park and Riverside Park).

55. Coney Island (All Of It: Beach, Fishing Pier, Rides, Nathan's And The Ball Park).My son's neck of the woods!

56. The Public Pools Around The City.

57. Compared To Most Big Cities, It's Safe Here.

58. Lots of Great Neighborhood Pediatricians and Pediatric Dentists.

60. It's Not Uniformly So, But There Are Lots of Great Neighborhood Public Schools.

61. And Lots Of Great Private Schools (Including For Families Favoring Single-Sex Education).

62. The Hordes Of Parent Volunteers Running PTAs And Sports Leagues.

64. The Bronx Zoo.

65. Broadway Shows.

66. Historic Richmond Town.

67. An Abundance Of World Class Hospitals.

68. Chinatowns.

69. Yankee Stadium or Citi Field: Take Your Pick.

70. Grand Public Beaches Like Jacob Riis Park and Brighton Beach.

71. Lincoln Center (With A Special Nod To The Kids Programming At Jazz at Lincoln Center).

72 . The Empire State Building.

73. All The Nutcrackers At Christmastime.

74. Radio City Music Hall.

75. Robust Neighborhood Parent Groups like Park Slope Parents And Hudson River Park Mamas.

76. College Kids Underemployed Actresses Underpaid Young Professionals = Lots of Great Babysitters.

77. The NBC Studios, Rockefeller Center, See the taping of SNL! Late Night Talk Shows! Get tickets!

78. It's A "No Smoking" City. 

79. If You Have A Child With Special Needs, There Are Social Service Organizations To Turn To.

80. Ground Zero.

81.Carnegie Hall And All Other High Culture Venues With Programming For Kids.

82. The Other Attractions And Stores In Times Square And Midtown... Didn't Have Space To Mention.

83. From Kayaking In The Hudson To Fishing In Van Cortlandt Lake--Water Recreation!

84. The Safety Net Of Incredible Charities And Social Service Organizations.

85. "Big Box" Event Shopping Like The American Girl Store and Nintendo World Store.

87. People Like Living Here.

88. A City Rich With Churches, Synagogues, Mosques And Other Religious Centers.

89. All The Wonderful Little Children's Theaters.

90. It's A City That Rewards Hard Work And Big Dreams (And Kids Get That).

91. Laurie Berkner And Dan Zanes.

92. Kids Love Trains, Buses, Cabs, And Airports,...They've Got Them.

93. Neighborhood Greenmarkets.

94. Grand Central Station.

95. Chelsea Piers.

96. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

97. We're Close To Many Wonderful Destinations: From Green Oases Like The Hudson Valley To Other Special Cities, Like Washington, D.C.

98. From Grand Candy Emporiums To Ice Cream Shops, It's A Yummy City.

99. Driving Adults Crazy By Zipping Around Sidewalks On Your Scooters!

100. "If You Can Make It Here, You Can Make It Anywhere."

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