The Secret Glass Gardens

Sadly, this garden has closed. New York is filled with amazing little secret spots that are cool to discover. One that's fun for kids on a cold winter day is the Rusk Institute's Glass Gardens at NYU Medical Center. This beautiful 1,700 square foot conservatory garden is right in midtown Manhattan, has a koi pond, tropical birds, a sand pit for kids and extra-wide stroller-friendly paths, since it was designed as a therapeutic garden and to accommodate wheelchairs.

Take a tour of our new site design

We recently redesigned this site, as most of you know. It took a couple more weeks of tinkering, but the site is now pretty much working the way it should, so we thought it was time to take you for a spin and show off some of the new features.

It all started with our reader survey. We asked readers to answer a few short questions about what they liked about the site and what you wanted to see more of. We got almost 100 responses packed with lots of great comments. Thank you to everyone who took the time to answer the survey. If you haven't taken the survey yet, it's not too late to make your voice heard.. We'll be announcing the winner of our survey giveaway on Friday.

Mommy Poppins Redesign Site Tour

Barnes and Noble Storytimes

We recently wrote about the Battery Park City as a nice place to spend a day indoors., with lots of different activities amenities. Well, here's a nice addition to this little outing: there's a big, brand new Barnes & Noble bookstore just about a block away at 270 Greenwich Street (the entrance is actually on Warren).

Mommy Poppins Readers' Top 25 Places for NYC Kids

Our Custom Made for Kids personalized children's book giveaway is over, and what a great response we got. Not only did we have lots of responses, but each commenter told us their favorite thing to do in NYC with kids. The list is filled with some wonderful gems. After the jump, our contest winner and Mommy Poppins Readers' Top 25 Things to Do with Kids in NYC.

Drop + Dine takes the terrible out of eating out with toddlers

drop_and_dine_logo_low_res.jpgHaving a grown up meal out in a restaurant isn't really a luxury. It can be a survival tactic for stressed out parents who have virtually forgotten that they share anything in common besides the DNA of their children and their inability to get The Wonder Pets theme song out of their head. But figuring out the whole babysitter thing can make going out to eat more a chore than a treat.

So when Brian Kaplan, founder of Parent Play, told me they were starting Drop and Dine it sounded like a great idea. Drop and Dine lets parents eat in peace and quiet in a nice restaurant while their children are entertained and fed just steps away in the private party room of the same restaurant.

 

Video Post: The Museum of Money

The Museum of American Finance just opened last weekend in Lower Manhattan. Mommy Poppins and co. went to check it out and see if it was cool for kids. Watch our video post to find out. The Museum of American Finance is located at 48 Wall Street and is open Tuesday to Saturday 10am-4pm. Admission: $8 for adults, $5 for students and seniors, free for children under age 7.

Find more must-see exhibits in our Museum Guide.

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