Good with

Family

Works with children and with parents. Not a compromise, just somewhere nobody has to be managed.

49 places

Best first

9.9Central ParkParkManhattanFree843 acres of engineered wilderness that the rest of the city was built around.9.9Rockefeller ParkParkTribecaFreeThe best open space downtown, and the one that hits differently if you actually live here.9.9Spicy VillageChineseChinatown$Big tray chicken on Forsyth Street — spicy, numbing, and built for a table, though we know someone who finishes one alone.9.8Coney IslandBeachConey IslandFreeA boardwalk, a wooden roller coaster from 1927, and the Atlantic at the end of four subway lines.9.8Joe's PizzaPizzaGreenwich Village$The benchmark. If you only eat one New York slice, this is the one every other slice gets measured against.9.8Prospect ParkParkPark SlopeFreeA wilder, more rural Central Park — the same designers, a decade later, on land they liked better.9.8Rockaway BeachBeachRockaway BeachFreeA proper beach town inside the city — and the ferry ride out is half the reason to go.9.8Wave HillGardenRiverdale$$A public garden on a bluff over the Hudson, looking straight at the Palisades.9.7Barclays CenterStadiumProspect Heights$Go for a Nets game: a cheap weekday seat up top, a loud Brooklyn crowd, and dinner and drinks before or after instead of inside.9.7Brooklyn Heights PromenadePromenadeBrooklyn HeightsFreeA third of a mile of cantilevered walkway with the entire skyline laid out in front of it.9.7Citi FieldStadiumFlushing$Cheap weekday seats, a Queens crowd and a whole ballgame for less than a night at a bar. Eat before, drink after, and just watch the game.9.7Hudson River GreenwayTrailManhattanFreeThe most scenic ride in New York — get lost on it, and the George Washington Bridge never seems to get closer.9.7Morningside ParkParkHarlemFreeA cliff face with a waterfall at the bottom, separating Harlem from Morningside Heights.9.7New York Transit MuseumMuseumBrooklyn Heights$A real 1936 subway station, closed since 1946, with twenty vintage cars parked on the platform.9.7The High LineTrailChelseaFreeA freight rail viaduct that was going to be demolished, replanted instead.9.7Times SquarePlazaTimes SquareFreeYes, locals put Times Square on the M List. There is nowhere else on Earth like it: the whole world in a few blocks, and energy you can't find anywhere else.9.7Yankee StadiumStadiumConcourse$A cheap weekday ticket, a seat in the upper deck and fifty thousand people around you. Eat before, drink after, and just watch the game.9.6Cafe VolkanCoffeeBoerum Hill$$Excellent coffee and food good enough to keep people in their seats long after the cup is empty.9.6Inwood Hill ParkParkInwoodFreeThe last old-growth forest left on Manhattan, at the very top of the island.9.6Pier 3, Brooklyn Bridge ParkPierBrooklyn HeightsFreeA local escape into greenery, with art installations you find rather than get shown.9.6Riverside ParkParkUpper West SideFreeFour miles of Hudson waterfront that the Upper West Side treats as its back garden.9.6Van Cortlandt ParkParkRiverdaleFreeA thousand acres with the oldest house in the Bronx, a freshwater lake and the first public golf course in America.9.5Carl Schurz ParkParkUpper East SideFreeThe mayor's front garden, on a promenade over the East River.9.5Grand Central Main ConcourseLandmarkMidtownFreeThe best room in New York, and it costs nothing to stand in it.9.4Joe & Sal's PizzeriaPizzaFort Greene$$Thin, well done, minimal flop — Myrtle Avenue pizza made by people who clearly care.9.4New York Public LibraryLandmarkMidtownFreeThe grandest free building in New York. Marble halls, the lions out front, and a reading room under a painted sky that you can walk into for nothing.9.3Museum of the Moving ImageMuseumAstoria$$Film and TV history in Astoria, with a permanent Jim Henson exhibit.9.2Fort Greene ParkParkFort GreeneFreeOlmsted and Vaux on a hill, with a 149-foot column on top of a crypt.9.2Louis Valentino Jr. Park and PierPierRed HookFreeThe closest straight-on view of the Statue of Liberty you can get standing on land.9.2Riverbank State ParkParkHarlemFreeA 28-acre park built on the roof of a sewage treatment plant, with a pool, a rink and the Hudson in front of it.9.1Arthur Avenue Retail MarketMarketArthur Avenue$$An indoor market La Guardia built to get the pushcarts off the street, still full of the same families.9.1Bennett ParkParkWashington HeightsFreeThe highest natural point in Manhattan, marked by a rock and a plaque almost nobody visits.9.1Cobble Hill ParkParkCobble HillFreeAn acre of brick paths and benches that works as somebody else's front garden.9.1Fort Tryon ParkParkWashington HeightsFreeThe best park in Manhattan that most of Manhattan has never been to.9.1KopitiamMalaysianLower East Side$$Malaysian food and drinks on East Broadway that hit the spot every single time — walk in, find a seat, order at the counter.9.1Pye Boat NoodleThaiAstoria$$Thai boat noodles in Astoria that taste authentic from the first bite — the dark broth most menus skip.9.1Surreal CreameryDessertGreenwich Village$Loud, photogenic sundaes — but the plain soft serve underneath is the actual reason to come.8.9Bryant ParkParkMidtownFreeMidtown's best place to stop. Sit down, rest your feet, eat something and watch the city go by, a block from everything you came to see.8.9Chinese Scholar's GardenGardenSnug Harbor$A classical Chinese garden on Staten Island, built by artisans from Suzhou.8.9Domino ParkParkWilliamsburgFreeThe old sugar refinery site, rebuilt as a waterfront park that kept its cranes.8.9HaandiPakistaniNoMad$Pakistani cooking on Lexington made with real care, in a room that has no interest in impressing you.8.9Orchard BeachBeachPelham BayFreeThe Bronx Riviera: a mile of crescent sand Robert Moses built by hand, and the city's best beach day if you are not going to Rockaway.8.9Pelham Bay ParkParkPelham BayFreeThe biggest park in New York City, three times the size of Central Park, with a saltwater shoreline.8.9The Metropolitan Museum of ArtMuseumUpper East Side$$Two million works and some genuinely magnificent rooms — go off-peak or the crowd wins.8.7Gantry Plaza State ParkWaterfrontLong Island CityFreeThe best head-on view of Midtown, from the Queens side of the river.8.6Marcus Garvey ParkParkHarlemFreeA rocky outcrop in the middle of Harlem, with the last fire watchtower in America on top.8.5Brooklyn BridgeBridgeDUMBOFreeGenuinely beautiful, and home to some of the worst crowds in the city — go early and it is a different bridge.7.5Roosevelt Island TramwayOddityNew York City$A cable car over the East River for the price of a subway ride. Worth it if you can make it, but you are not missing much if you cannot.6.9SmorgasburgMarketBrooklyn$$Dozens of food vendors outdoors on weekends. A huge, diverse spread, but it can feel overpriced: better as a group outing than a meal.

Going with someone else?

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Questions

What are the best family-friendly spots in New York?

Central Park in Manhattan is our highest-scored, at 9.9/10. 843 acres of engineered wilderness that the rest of the city was built around. We currently list 49 across 33 neighborhoods, all visited and paid for ourselves.

How are these chosen?

Every place on MUSEENYC has already earned its way onto the site — we visit far more than we post. These are the ones we would send you to specifically for this, rather than everywhere that would merely tolerate it. Nobody pays to be included.