I’m a lifelong New Yorker, and my favorite kind of day is still one spent in the city. The trick, when it’s a family day with my husband and my grown kids, is finding something everyone actually wants to do. Cool, in this family, means the kids want to go.
So here’s the list I’m working from. If you’re plotting the same kind of day with your own grown kids, steal it.
1. Start with the Met (but the smart way)
The Krasner and Pollock show, Past Continuous, is on view through January 31, 2027, and it’s more than 120 works. Yes, that’s Krasner first. About time Lee Krasner got top billing over Jackson.
Here’s the part the tourists don’t know: New York State residents pay what they wish, with proof of residency (a license, an IDNYC, even a library card). The museum is open Sundays 10 to 5. Add lunch on the Upper East Side and you’ve got a great day.
2. Beat the Bomb (DUMBO)
This one’s for the competitive family. Your crew suits up in hazmat gear, plays an hour of team games, and if you lose, a paint (or foam, or slime) bomb goes off on you. It takes two to six players, so it works for a family group. There’s a bar and arcade after, which is how you get twenty-somethings to linger.
3. Swingers Crazy Golf (NoMad)
Indoor mini golf in a basement done up like a 1920s English golf club, with cocktail bars and street food vendors. It is ridiculous and fun and exactly the right amount of competitive.
4. Royal Palms Shuffleboard (Gowanus)
A 20,000-square-foot tropical room in Brooklyn where you play shuffleboard and drink cocktails courtside. Walk-in courts are $60 an hour. I cannot explain why shuffleboard is fun. It just is.
5. Masquerade (the splurge)
From the people behind Sleep No More: an immersive, masked Phantom of the Opera where you dress up, put on a mask and wander through the show. Tickets start around $199, so this is the big one. It’s also the one everyone will still be talking about at Thanksgiving. More of a Broadway family? My fall Broadway list has the shows worth the train ride in.
6. The Christmas Spectacular at Radio City
It just opened (November 4) and runs through January 4. Listen, we’re New Yorkers, not snobs. The Rockettes are a classic for a reason, and the kick line never gets old.
7. Ice skating at Bryant Park’s Winter Village
The rink itself is free – admission, that is. Skate rentals are extra, and sessions are timed. The holiday shops are right there. I’ll be honest: I’d be holding the hot chocolate and judging everyone’s form from the railing. That still counts as a family activity.
8. QC NY Spa on Governors Island
For the adult-kid crowd: it’s 21 and over. Heated outdoor pools with the Manhattan skyline right in front of you, saunas, steam rooms, the works. There’s a sunset entry (from $98, starting at 5pm) if you want the pools and the skyline in the evening.
If your grown kids have a favorite I missed, tell me. I’m always collecting ideas for the next family day. And if you get to any of these before I do, don’t tell the kids. I want them to think this was all my idea.
