Steph C.
Yelp
I visited New York with my mom and my four-year-old son a couple weeks ago, and when I looked up things to do with small kids in the city, the Children's Museum of Manhattan was one of the first things that popped up. I was excited to find it, and immediately bought tickets for the least scheduled day of our trip. We went on a Thursday, for about an hour total, and while it wasn't a total bust, it wasn't really worth going to, either.
I spent almost $40 on tickets--$16.75 each for me and my son, and $13.75 for my mother. I didn't do my research, obviously, and I figured this would be our activity for the day, and we could eat while we were there. As it turns out, the Children's Museum doesn't offer any kind of food, and you're not even allowed to bring your own lunch or snacks into the building. This puts a pretty short limit on how much time you can spend here with a small child.
On the plus side, I can't imagine wanting to be here for more than a couple of hours. It took us maybe 20 minutes to see every exhibit on the main floor, and while these were cool, a collection of interactive art projects geared towards children, they were also both too complicated and too boring for my kid to enjoy. I'm honestly not sure who the museum is for, unless the answer is parents on Instagram. Any kid old enough to appreciate the art as art is likely too old to enjoy the meager entertainment it provides as play equipment. My son did enjoy attaching soft shapes to a velcro wall. Otherwise, he did maybe one lap around the floor and the only other thing that caught his attention was a box of Magna-Tiles, which we have at home.
We never made it past the first floor, but it looks like there are more traditional indoor playground areas on the upper levels. I've been to enough of these in Los Angeles that I didn't feel the need to see them in New York, and anyway, we were all hungry.
We hit the store on our way out and bought a few New York subway magnets. My son loves New York, and the subway is by far his favorite attraction. If I lived in the area, I might make good use of the Children's Museum of Manhattan. But if you're just in town for a short trip, there are plenty of better, cheaper things to do with your kids.