The #1 attraction in America according to TripAdvisor, the Empire State Building is home to 1,000 businesses and offices (it even has its own zip code!) but also attracts over four MILLION visitors every year. Now the 6th tallest building in America and the 43rd tallest building in the world (as of 2023), the Empire State Building stands 1,250 feet tall (not counting the antenna at the top).
On a recent trip to New York City, we enjoyed a tour of the largest opera house in the world, the Metropolitan Opera House. Now part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Metropolitan Opera was founded in 1883 and the first opera house was located at Broadway and 39th Street. As the Met Opera grew in popularity, it needed more space and joined other organizations to form The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, a 16.3 acre complex on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Lincoln Center first opened in 1962 with the New York Philharmonic, adding the New York City Ballet in 1964 (in the Koch Theater) and then the inauguration of the Opera House in 1966. Across the complex, Lincoln Center is home to 30 indoor and outdoor facilities, including water features and a grassy hill across from the Juilliard School.
New York City is a magical place any time of year but the holiday season is an especially wonderful time to visit with children. There are the famous window displays and decorations on every street corner and building, and countless pop up shops and restaurants, but most children will tire of just “looking” pretty quickly. This week, we’re sharing (early because tickets for many events just went on sale and will sell out quickly!) nine holiday activities for kids in New York City and we promise adults will want to do them, too!
We were thrilled to be invited to the brand new Museum of Broadway in New York City this past weekend. The 26,000 square foot, three floor museum opened in November 2022 and is already receiving a lot of positive buzz.
The Museum of Broadway is designed to take guests through a chronological history of “the Great White Way” (the nickname for Broadway because of the bright lights of the theater marques), with three major segments: The Map Room, The Timeline, and The Making of a Broadway Show. All three parts include tons of original costumes, scripts, daily itineraries, mock ups of sets, film footage of interviews with casts and crews, awards, and highlights of popular shows from each era. Guests begin by walking up three flights of “backstage stairs” to the dressing room area and following a path through three floors of exhibits.
YES! There is actually a museum to celebrate math; a museum filled with dozens of hands-on, interactive puzzles, challenges, and activities that celebrate all facets of mathematics. Located across the street from Madison Square Park, the National Museum of Mathematics opened in 2012 and welcomes visitors of all ages through daily family friendly activities, field trips, after school programs, enrichment workshops for teachers and students, and a museum that is open all year.
Our family is fortunate enough to live just a short train, or car ride from Manhattan. We can be in “The City” in under 90 minutes any day of the year. We try to take advantage of this opportunity frequently and have explored so many great places (see this index, this collection of rainy day activities, and this collection of holiday activities). Of course, whenever we’re in The City, we stop for at least one meal. Over the years, we’ve found several restaurants we keep coming back to: good food, good prices, good ambience, and attentive staff. Here are places, as a family with children, we especially enjoy: