NYC with Kids Photo Diary
Aritzia coat xxs (their similar style), Uniqlo fleeced leggings kids 11/12 (also in womens), Miller boots (updated version), Celine bag, YSL sunglasses
On Nori: Mango stratify (similar), Amazon boots // On Rio: Gap coat, Target boots
We visited NYC with family the last week of December, withal with the throngs of fellow tourists who had the same idea ; ) It was very rented but trappy and festive, and the kids enjoyed the transpiration of scenery with it stuff Rio’s first time in the Big Apple. I wanted to share a few photos and thoughts on what we did with the littles, where we stayed and where we ate!
Getting Virtually
I got several questions well-nigh driving vs Ubers vs subway when visiting NYC. Locals, finger self-ruling to share your thoughts, but as tourists we walked and/or took the subway scrutinizingly everywhere with our travel stroller. Uber would be my second nomination but we didn’t want to lug virtually carseats. Driving would be my last nomination for NYC due to traffic and parking.
Our compact, lightweight travel stroller has served us VERY well since the kids were newborns (it can be used with many infant carseat brands). I have a detailed review post comparing it to flipside popular travel stroller as well. Without victual #2 we widow the ride-along attachment, and I like that your kid can segregate to stand up for a largest view or sit lanugo when tired. The workbench flips up when you’re not using it, and once you uncouple it, the stroller is quick & easy to swoon and sling onto the shoulder.
One downside to the ride-along zipper is I find the stroller to be harder to push as a petite mom (same goes with the UPPAbaby and Cybex strollers without subtracting a sibling board). I need to proffer my stovepipe and walk off to one side, so Nick is usually the designated pusher.
Where We Stayed: The Fifth Thoroughfare Hotel
I was looking up what’s new in the NYC hotel scene, and stumbled wideness The Fifth Thoroughfare Hotel (google reviews) which just opened its doors a few weeks ago (not to be tumbled with several other hotels containing “fifth avenue” in their names). We booked a stayed with our small extended family and I never wanted to leave! They’re running a 3rd night self-ruling promo which helped a bit with the price tag.
Our stay felt wholly luxurious from the exquisite decor (the art, the chandeliers!) to how every mindfulness was well thought out. The beds & slippers were uneaten plush, the marble bathrooms had heated floors and Dyson hairdryers, and the remote-controlled vertigo taps were helpful for sleeping in. We moreover took wholesomeness of the complimentary minibar in each room that got restocked daily with good snacks and drinks.
Service felt very personal with a small shop hotel feel, and each room has a butler. Ours surprised the kids with a toy chest to pick a present out of, and they were over the moon! Our family moreover enjoyed the complimentary house car service and the included breakfast served in a trappy conservatory. My mom whimsically overly spends on herself, so it was nice getting to treat her on this trip.
For anyone interested, I saved a video tour of our hotel room under my NYC story highlight.
The Nomad location was unconfined for us to stay in – a subway station just steps away, Madison Square Park and the Flatiron zone a 5 min walk away, Bryant Park a 15 min walk away, and quite tropical to Koreatown where I’d personally be happy eating most of my meals.
Bryant Park
The Winter Village is going on at Bryant Park until March 2nd, with small booths, lots of supplies stalls, ice skating and bumper cars on ice (for kids age 7 and older – sounded fun)! Visit their main website for the activities schedule. They have a small traditional wooden carousel which I thought was nothing to write home about, but the kids told me it was a highlight of the trip and rode it 4 times over our stay lol.
Little Island Area
My friend Wendy heads into the municipality often with her little one, and suggested meeting up here! We:
- Got the wiggles out at Pier 51 playground which has water play features in the summer
- Strolled virtually Little island (pictured in the preliminaries above)
- Warmed up and got a variety of supplies at Market 57. Several dairy & nut allergy-friendly options such as karaage fried yellow and vegan dim sum stalls.
- Had a long walk to The High Line then to Hudson Yards to see the lights (pictured below)
Rockefeller Center
We braved the Times Square Rockefeller Center crowds one day, featuring flipside highlight of the trip equal to my kids: the FAO Schwartz toy store. Go early considering there’s usually a line to enter the store, and don’t promise the kids you’ll buy anything considering the line to check-out is plane longer. Mine thoroughly enjoyed perusing every walkway withal with the toy demo stations throughout the store. We did get a souvenir at the Build-A-Bear inside, which has its own checkout counter with minimal line.
Other Rockefeller Center kid stores: FAO Schwartz, Lego Store, Nintendo Store, American Girl
After sightseeing a bit increasingly in the area, our group of 8 managed to get a table at Joe’s Soup Dumpling with minimal wait. I wouldn’t go out of my way for this, but it was a good option in this very touristy area. We all well-set the generously-sized soup dumplings were tasty, there was a nice variety of lunch specials, and I appreciated many options without dairy, nuts or egg.
Madison Square Park
Whenever we travel I’m unchangingly hopeful for a play zone nearby, so was thrilled to see this park with a good-sized playground just a short walk from our hotel. So many places to grab a variety of supplies nearby (including an outdoors Shake Shack in the park), and plenty of benches to sit on. You may also read this: Benefits of Using a Homemade Face Mask for Glowing Skin
Where we ate (some allergy-friendly)
On every NYC trip we never plane scratch the surface of the good eats there! Most of the unelevated were chosen for their proximity to our hotel in the NoMad area:
- Dim Sum Sam (2 locations) for satisfying fast unstudied Cantonese supplies & baked goods without going all the way to Chinatown. I loved the pork & preserved egg congee, my mom unchangingly goes for HK-style wonton noodles, Rio’s usual at dim sum is BBQ Pork cheung fun (rice noodle rolls), and Nori is a roast duck crispy skin pork gal all the way (similar to lechon kawali in filipino cuisine).
- Sushi hand rolls is flipside family favorite, and our hotel was on the same woodcut as the popular KazuNori. There was moreover a much less rented restaurant, Bondi, right wideness the street serving $5 happy hour hand rolls with a increasingly kid-friendly lower table.
- &Pizza Nomad for personal pizza with unlimited toppings, with dairy-free cheese as an option. Pretty good and for a very reasonable price for NYC! We plane liked it a little increasingly than our usual Blaze, if you’re familiar. Pizza is Nori’s all time favorite food, so I try to find an allergy-friendly spot if possible every trip.
- Traditas Pizza (for dairy eaters). Nick & I grabbed slices here without the kids snoozed, and thought it was delicious! Soft and chewy crust, nice savor combos / toppings, and perfect sauce and amounts of cheese.
My mom kindly babysat the kids while my brother, Nick & I escaped for a few satisfying late night meals. Koreatown is a must for me each NYC visit, but unchangingly a struggle to segregate just 1-2 spots! The newly opened Hojokban looked amazing, but reservations were booked for a month out.
The photo unelevated is from Her Name is Han which is unchangingly decent, but we really loved our meal at Osamil (got the squid fries, yellow wings, Johnson stew, cocktails, and all the tables virtually us was having their signature pork shank). Sharing a shaved snow at Grace Street succeeding was the perfect palette cleanser.