On our fourth day in NYC, we caught the subway to The Rockefeller Center and saw the iconic ice skating rink - although the famous Christmas tree had already been taken down. We had decided to not go up to the ’Top of the Rock’, the viewing platform at the top of the Rockefeller Center. Braino and I had visited this popular tourist attraction last time we were here and while the views across Manhattan are spectacular, we couldn’t justify the cost for a family of five.
The child friendly alternative was a visit to FAO Schwarz, the famous toy store at the bottom of the Rockefeller Center next to the Ice Skating Rink. It’s home to the floor piano that can be seen in the movie ‘Big’ and was likely the inspiration for Duncan’s Toy Chest in Home Alone 2. The girls had bit of Christmas money from their grandparents to spend so Hallie got her new toy Scarlet Macaw and Farley purchased some magic felt pens that change colour. (Rooney was saving hers for a skateboard)
On the next street over - 48th Street, we found an amazing book shop; McNally Jackson Bookshop. It had a great kids section but I loved the variety of non-fiction books on the upper level. I could have spent hours browsing.
Afterwards, we walked down to the New York Public Library and then Grand Central Station for the touristy photo op. We stopped at a Chic-Fil-a for lunch (a simple but tasty chicken takeaway menu ) and we also caught a glimpse of the Chrysler Building.
A note for parents; while the New York Public Library is an incredibly beautiful building and absolutely worth a visit for the architecture and the gift shop alone, the children’s library portion of it is is actually across the road at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation on 455 Fifth Avenue. There was an exhibit inside the New York Public Library that had the original toys of Winnie the Pooh that were owned by the real life Christopher Robin, son of the author A A Milne.
From there we walked back to our apartment and had a rest that afternoon. We wanted to kids to be well rested for our night at the basketball.
Ideally, Braino’s would have loved to have watched a game at Madison Square Garden but tickets for games there were incredibly expensive. The Barclay Centre in Brooklyn was a cheaper alternative, we were absolutely in the cheap seats, high up in the back of the stadium.
The game was Brooklyn Nets vs the New York Knicks, which was actually the very same game we saw at the Barclay Center in 2014 when we visited on our honeymoon.
Farley read a book for most of the game and by the second half I let Rooney play a game on my phone to keep her occupied but it was still quiet surreal to relive the experience with our girls, almost 11 years later.
We also saw Sydney Sweeney sitting court side. Last time, it was Phil Colins who was the celebrity sitting court side, they always show celebrities on the big screen.
