NYC Children's playgrounds

This is a pretty comprehensive list. http://www.nycgovparks.org/facilities/playgrounds

You can see a map of playgrounds (and many other things!) here: http://www.oasisnyc.net/oasismap.htm

We raised two children in West Village/Chelsea. There is a really really great playground on Bleecker at Hudson. In Chelsea there is one on the corner of 22nd and 10th ave though nice a bit small. Also a great hidden gem is the park in the seminary located on 9th ave between 21st & 20th streets....pretty magical little spot.http://www.gts.edu/ Although it may not be your cup of tea the children's playground in Tompkins square park is also very good. And of course Washington square park has a very nice playground.

I never enjoyed the crowd at Washington Sq. Park (although the toddler playground was one of the best in the city). The parks do have very different atmospheres, attendance patterns, etc. If you're interested in any specific neighborhoods, you could probably get some input as to the nature of the given playgrounds.

Can't beat the West 70s/80s. We go to all of these on a regular basis - Central Park playgrounds (Adventure & Heckscher), PS199 playground, Trump (train playground), PS87 playground, Riverside Park playgrounds. Wet days - AMNH (not to mention the terrace in the summer) and the area outside Columbus St entrance.

UWS has the most parks. B/w the Promenade, CP, and the small playgrounds, we have at least 5 within a 10 minute walk. IMO, you can't beat being by CP if you have kids.

And one more thing, unlike the UES which only has a few parks, the UWS playgrounds are not so crowded. DS rarely waits for the slides and other structures. (UES has more school options though.)

Downtown is great also. A little grimier, but the crowds are nice. I liked Madison Sq. Park (very international), the Chelsea Park already named, the playground at 19th and 2nd, the one at 1st and 35th (had older equipment, but nice crowd), and Tompkins Sq. (great dad presence on weekends). The playground in Rockefeller Park and the one by PS 234 (Greenwich Market, maybe?) are also fabulous. The later has a great grassy open space for football tossing. Union Sq. was challenged in terms of facilities, but always active with a nice group and in a great location. We're in Peter Cooper, so we also had the on-site playgrounds, which are tremendous and have high attendance, whatever else might be said about the development.

IMO, it is good for kids to learn to wait for slides...

I agree that there are some very nice playgrounds downtown, but I don't know where you could live that is close to more than a couple.

I strongly believe in gun control, but some of the mothers at some of those UES playgrounds made me wish that I was packing a firearm. God forbid that Junior should get dirty, take off his shoes, play with an unkempt child, etc. I agree that it's not so bad for a child to learn to wait, but at the age of three or four it's quite helpful to have some reasonable adults present and able to facilitate the learning process. My daughter goes to an UES school, and I was so happy when she outgrew the playground (although I seemed to be more accepted once my daughter was wearing the uniform, sadly enough). Having said that, some of the UES playgrounds have beatiful facilities, not worth it imo, just saying.

nyc10023, we started out in Gramercy, E.20s, puts you within 5-15 minute walk of five or six, more if you had friends in or just felt comfortable crashing in Peter Cooper or Stuy Town (very easy to do). If you're a stay-at-home mom, the farther 20-25 minute walk pushing the stroller to Washington Square Park or Tompkins Square on a sunny day when the child is content can seem like free time.

Love the Madiscon Sq park playground myself....

Very helpful, but I am having trouble navigating the map (sad, I know). Specifically, anyone know if there is anything reasonably near 59th and 3rd? 72nd and York? 66th and 3rd? Thanks!

72 and York is close to John Jay (with a pool), and at 84th and EEA you have another. There's one with a very international bent somewhere in Mid-town east, but it's location escapes me. 59th and Third actually isn't that far from CP, as well as 66th and 3rd. I think there's a good CP playground (the one with the slide built into the landscaping, someone help me here) at around 66th and 5th. And there is the zoo.

UWS playgrounds are the greatest. The tot lots in Riverside Park are terrific for the younger crowd (wee ones can play without getting mowed down by the over 5 kids).

Yes, emphasis on "child" singular - once you have more than 1, it's no longer so pleasurable to walk 10 minutes + :)

It's so great that we have so many options all over the city. We love St. Vartan's playground on 35th and 2nd. Great and bathrooms too. We go there, Madison Square Park and Rusk Institute's glass garden - a little paradise with birds, bunnies, turtles, bikes and fish - great for toddlers.

To whom it may concern re playgrounds: Little Suri Cruise was playing at the Wild West playground on CPW & 93rd St this afternoon. Tom & Katie were there for a while then left her with the nanny and bodyguard.

My wife is definitely the expert in the family, but from all of the downtown playgrounds I have been to (a dad's weekend assessment), nothing matches Rockefeller park for a combo of nice parents and a really great kids environment. Plus super clean. Wash Market Park on Chambers is also nice, but is a bit snobbier -- lots of moms in $300 jeans and I Banker dads on their cell phones, plus super crowded. Bleecker street playground still hasnt washed off the grunge from the partiers the night before, so I would avoid (plus a Sex & the City tour stops there about 2x a day . . ).

Crashwait: That's a decent playground, but it doesn't offer many opportunities for real exercise. The closest thing to monkey bars/rings is the parabolic bridge/ladder thingy, and most of it is too low for kids to swing from bar to bar without hitting the ground. It also seems to be a very nanny-heavy playground; maybe it's my inner Schlafly, but I always prefer to see kids with their actual parents (moms or dads).

Nice of Tom and Katie to stop by. I hear his portrayal of von Stauffenberg is unintentionally funny.

Thanks again for everyone's help. I've lived in NYC for 10 years, but have only lived in NYC with a kid for a year and change, so I guess I am discovering a whole new NYC.

There are great playgrounds in Battery Park City by the water. The best ones (the toddler and for older kids) are by the North Cove, near the World Financial Center. There are water fountains, swings, sand pits and so on. There are many kids activities too hosted by Hudson River park, which puts out toys and things on the lawn for kids to play with.

On the UES Carl Schurz park is beautiful on EEA in the 80s

Many of the playgrounds in the city remind me of the prison exercise yards I've seen (on TV). The parks along Riverside are nice. Pier I in Riverside Park south by the Trump condos on Riverside Blvd is a gem with kids events all summer. My daughter loves dancing at the concerts in the evenings. We'll have a casual dinner there at the cafe, meet friends and enjoy the sunsets.. Monkey bars get old quickly. If you must, there's a playground at the top of the hill above the pier with a water fountain to cool them off. Hippo Park is the winner from a purely kids perspective but it gets out of control sometimes.

I would stay away from Carl Schurz on 84 and EEA. Its a beautiful beautiful playground but about half of the parents there just suck. The most self-absorbed SOBs around. Their kids are special and dont need manners. This is where you also find the kids with the most pretentious ludicrous names. Its a shame because they ruin it for the kids and their parents who are sensible and decent. My favorite playground is Hippo on 91st and Riverside. It gets crowded, but you have better behaved kids and parents for the most part.

The 70s on UWS rock - you are close to playgrounds in CP & Riverside, PS199 & PS87, as well as the promenade and bike path on Riverside. And you can organize soccer lessons in CP & Riverside. New skating rink at AMNH.

NYCNative, i have to agree with your assessment of Carl Schurz park. it has great facilities, and we would sometimes wind up there if in the neighborhood when our daughter was a toddler. the parents make outsiders feel like lepers (actually, they make quite a few insiders feel like lepers also). it's like neighborhood protectionism. someone actually criticized (in so many words) me once for letting my daughter go barefoot in the sandbox. all the kids were wearing their special "outdoor" shoes.

cccharley, you've had good experiences here? it is gorgeous, the dog run and promenade are fun, but the parents are a real buzzkill.

While we're on the subject, please call or visit https://www.riversideparkfund.org/ and www.centralparknyc.org.

You can direct your donation towards playgrounds.

Can't beat the UWS for playgrounds - to further Crashwait's star-gazing, my kid played around Tina Fey and her daughter for about 1/2 hour last weekend at the PS 87 park on 77/Amsterdam. We also love Diana ross PG, and Hippo Park on Riverside. We have found the parents (who are ethnically and racially diverse) to be fantastic - lots of "Sweety, that little boy is waiting for the swing, why don't we go to the slide so he can get on for a while." Despite the grit, grime and occasional arrogance, we are a civilized, polite city, IMHO.

We goto Carl Schurz park almost every day and never ran into any problems. The park is very large for a children's playground. It does get crowded on the weekend afternoons though. I've yet to find a park with as good a facilities in manhattan.

Maybe you are one of those parents that sucks and treats outsiders like lepers ;)

Just kidding.

I also like the park in northern bpc but spend most of the time in Washington Market park in tribeca because that's closer to home and I know most of the parents and kids that go there.

Riverside Park has great playgrounds. There's a delightful sprinkler park my kids love on the far side of the highway around 78th. 91st has a lovely shady playground and a Park Ranger office -- and it's by the community gardens that are gorgeous. Also on the UWS - don't forget the Museum of Natural History's Gems and Minerals room for rainy days. It's all carpeted stairs. toddlers love it -- it's enclosed and protected with just one door so you can lose sight of your baby for a minute without having a heart attack, and there's nothing to break.

divvie, i spent a great deal of time at rockefeller playground and washington market park. enjoyed them very much, including the parents. also dug tompkins square, madison, the stuy town/pcv playgrounds, st. vaartan's, hippo, dino, agustus st. gaudens, and, particularly, union square, a total dive of a place with great people. liked the pyramid one near the Metropolitan.

but, spent a small amount of time in carl schurz during the very early years, and quite a bit of time during K-3, and can count the times on one hand where i had a good time.

Tompkins has become really nice

Madison, too.