Today we’re debuting a new feature focusing on “only in NYC” experiences. This fun-filled column will uncover some of the most unique and epic family destinations in New York City. Strap on your safety belts, grip those handlebars and come along for the ride!

Welcome to The Vessel, the most fascinating architectural landmark to hit New York City in several years. Families can not only gawk at this stunning work on the West Side near Chelsea, but they can also climb it to experience a unique vantage point of the city. On your ascent, you’ll be treated to sweet views of the Hudson River, Empire State Building, The Shed, High Line and over the Equinox Hotel’s pool.

This honeycomb shaped oddity designed by Thomas Heatherwick, nicknamed “the shwarma,” is the focal point of the Hudson Yards redevelopment project. Our family were thrilled to be one of the first to visit The Vessel during its opening weekend in March 2019. It’s so impressive that we visited seven times since. We believe it’s the most exciting new, permanent attraction to hit NYC since One World Observatory at One World Trade Center.

We raced, meandered, paused and soaked in the breathtaking views from the different platforms. The best part is that visiting the Vessel is completely FREE. However, you have will need to go online to reserve your timed tickets in advance or reserve tickets onsite for the same day at one of the interactive kiosks in the plaza.

Here’s some fast facts and other helpful information families will need before you visit:

• If you plan to visit during a regular weekday, you will most likely receive tickets to visit the stunning landmark instantly. If you visit on a weekend, your timed tickets might mean a wait time of an hour or two
• The Vessel features 154 different staircases, 80 platform landings and approximately 2,500 steps so you can get some great exercise while soaking in the views
• The structure does have a beautiful, glass elevator that is  ADA compliant, and it is meant to be used strictly for guests with disabilities. Shhhh, my children are obsessed with the elevator so if you visit on a slow day, you might have an opportunity to hop aboard the sleek ride
• “The Vessel” is a temporary name so we wouldn’t be surprised if it earns a new name next year. (You can suggest one on Hudson Yards website.) We just hope it doesn’t sell out to a corporate sponsor.
• The best comparison to The Vessel we could come up with is “Cloud Gate,” better known as The Bean,” in Chicago, but this is even cooler.

The Vessel plaza at Hudson Yards leads directly onto the High Line Park. Families can make a day of it and stroll the High Line, eat or shop in the new Hudson Yards mall, and — someday —  venture to see forever at soon to be opened, Edge. Edge is slated to be the tallest, outdoor observation deck in New York City and features a glass bottom which might be tricky for a dad like me who suffers from vertigo.

Stay tuned for our next “only in NYC” adventure.

There was something about the building that made me stop.

I don’t often stop when I’m walking. I walk with a purpose, as all good city folk should, whether I’m making my way to an appointment or just running out to the store. I don’t rush, but I walk quickly, despite having a fairly long stride. I weave through clusters of people as I go, passing on the inside, outside or finding the space between, and I don’t hesitate to walk in the street when the sidewalk becomes too crowded. I glance around at my surroundings from time to time but generally keep my focus on the ground ahead of me so I don’t end up with unexpected surprises on the bottoms of my shoes.

But, that day, I stopped.

I’d been walking through the Upper West Side of New York City, searching for a place where I could sit and work in between appointments, when I passed a church. Its bricks shone reddish orange in the late afternoon sun, as though the architect had bathed them in a vat of a very specific Crayola color. The roof shingles were a faded pale greenish-gray, like limestone that has been affected by too much moisture. It was one of the shortest buildings in the area and was dwarfed easily by the high-rise apartment buildings on either side, which were at least decades newer than the church. Its design also set it apart, its odd shapes and angles marking a stark contrast from the plain rectangular edifices nearby and its steeple jutting out like a hitchhiker’s thumb.

I paused to snap a few quick shots with my phone and watched the activity on the sidewalks at the church’s base. Passersby walked back and forth, crossing at the corner, boarding the bright blue and white buses and barely acknowledging the aging structure beside them. I pictured a time when the church would have been the tallest and most revered structure in the neighborhood and imagined newly built apartments and retail buildings laughing haughtily as they cast shade over the church with their progressively increasing height. And yet, despite all of the transitions of the surrounding neighborhood, the church stood with an air of quiet defiance, determined to remain true to its appearance, rather than modifying its coloring or its shape to conform with the changing world around it.

I would hardly be the first to compare a religious institution with parenthood, particularly given the Judeo-Christian model of God as a father figure. This specific church, however, seemed to fit the comparison more than most. The physical structure appeared worn, as one would expect of any building that had endured close to two centuries of New York City winters. The shades of red and orange were dulled and there were cracks in the green of the roof gables. The windows, too, seemed dark, even in the sunlight, as though they had been boarded up from the inside.

The weathering that parents’ bodies endure as they raise their children bears a strong similarity to that of the church. Any parent would be able to point to a wrinkle here, a deepened crease there and a hair or two or 12 that have turned silver. Parents would also surely recognize the protests of sore muscles and joints and the stubborn reluctance to alter our appearance, despite the changing styles of our neighbors or our children who will grow to be heads and shoulders taller than us. And, as with any aging structure, we also make internal improvements when necessary, from small choices about every day functioning to complete overhauls of plumbing systems.

The key, of course, is that the church continues to operate as a spiritual home for its congregants and its community. The year it was built matters much less than the fact that its doors remain open to those looking for connections, support and guidance. Likewise, as parents age, we work to remain present in our children’s lives. We know that our children are going to continue to need that same support and guidance as they experience their own sets of challenges. We keep our ears, our minds and our hearts open and we welcome our children’s requests for advice. We provide validation, clarification and a reminder that our children have a place where they will always belong.

Children begin their lives seeing their parents as the most important figures they know (besides themselves, of course). Then, as they grow, they begin to branch out and become more independent, often creating various degrees of distance from their parents, just as people experience different levels of spiritual involvement at different points in their lives. Through it all, though, parents and the church remain, waiting for the opportunity to provide those who need us with sanctuary.

About the author

Aaron Yavelberg is a father, husband, son, brother, cousin, friend, writer, social worker and part-time teacher. He lives in Queens, New York, with his wife, son and daughter.

Photo of the West Park Presbyterian Church on 86th and Amsterdam by Aaron Yavelberg

He soars through Central Park, his flight path twisting and turning to the delight of passersby, his satin cape shimmering and  red hair ablaze in the early afternoon sun.

My son, Liam, and I sometimes get cooped up at home for far too long. Liam is on the spectrum for autism, and although he’ll have a typical childhood and go to typical schools, it will be because he was diagnosed early and received the care and therapy he needs. Four weekdays out of five, he either has therapists visit in the afternoon or must be taken to an appointment. Another therapist spends time with him at his pre-school every morning.

In short, my son puts in a lot of work every week. His only afternoon off is Wednesday so we always try to make the most of it. Liam’s favorite thing to do is to run, to fly, and Central Park is the best place in the world for that.

His magical world in Central Park

Our route through the park is long and winding. We usually enter at Columbus Circle, head east to the Central Park Zoo, and then turn north. We will go past the sailboats of Kerbs Boathouse, the Alice in Wonderland sculpture, all the way up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Then we cut across the park to Belvedere Castle, and wind our way through the wooded pathways to the Bethesda Fountain. From there, we go to the bandshell, down the promenade, and hook right past the Carousel and baseball diamonds, to Heckscher Playground. There, Liam will run and play for an hour or so before we head back home.

Liam runs ahead of me the entire time, through his magical world of Central Park.

There’s a man who regularly plays the fiddle by the Heckscher Playground. He knows Liam by name, although he always calls him Batman, or Flash, or whichever identity he has chosen that day. Liam squeals in response, and the fiddler plays music for him to dance to.

My son’s imagination saves the day

Autism has not affected my son’s mental or cognitive faculties. He is as sharp as a tack, remembers everything and misses nothing. But one issue he had was with imaginative play. He was prone to lying on the floor, simply rolling a car or train back and forth in front of his eyes, fixated on its wheels, unwilling to expand his world out from his toy vehicle.

One of Liam’s therapists, Diane, found the key to coaxing him away from this laser focus on toy cars and trains. He would always get very excited when he heard a garbage truck outside, and would run to the window to see it. One morning, Diane pointed out the sanitation workers loading the truck. Liam simply had not registered them. He would only see the vehicles, not the people inside them.

This was partly our fault. His favorite television program was Thomas the Tank Engine, and he would watch some of Disney’s Cars every day. Both shows featured anthropomorphic vehicles and little to no human interaction. My wife and I had been unintentionally reinforcing his tendency to lock in on vehicles and ignore the humans operating them.

I’d been buying superhero toys and clothes for Liam since he first arrived. I make no apologies for being an unabashed nerd. It’s a big part of who I am. But when faced with the question of how to help Liam incorporate people into his play routines, and to help him branch out into role-playing and other types of imaginative play, I found the answer in superheroes.

Superheroes are big and bold, bursting with color, and impossible to ignore. Many of the toys come as vehicles and playsets. Now he would be required to deal with human characters when he played with vehicles. Capes, masks, accessories and clothing were easy to find, and encouraged imaginative roleplay.

Superheroes drew my son into more typical and varied realms of play. Once he saw how a cape flew out behind him when he ran, he became hooked. Now he would not only run, he would fly. His imagination would kick into overdrive.

He was no longer Liam, he was a superhero.

Watching people react to Liam as he dashes by has become one of my greatest pleasures. He actually lights people up. They smile. They laugh. They will try to take a picture of him, but he’s too fast. Their cameras only catch a brightly colored blur streaking away from them, but his picture stays in their mind, like the image of the sun does after you glance at it.

Walking next to my son is like walking next to the sun.

A dynamic duo

Liam isn’t the only one to dress up, of course. I’m all too eager to don a super suit as I follow him through Central Park. Liam chooses which superhero he wants to be, and then picks one for me. The end result is I add an extra kick to the sunny impact he has on people. Those folks already smiling about the pint-sized Batman who just ran past tend to break into even wider grins when they see an enormous Robin bringing up the rear with the stroller.

Dressing up as a superhero with my son has unintentionally practical benefits, too. Liam is more difficult to lose in a crowd, being an easily spotted explosion of color and energy in playgrounds swarming with kids. Conversely, my costume makes it easy for him to find me. Without planning it, our superhero outfits have become safety features, ensuring that we will never lose each other.

The superhero outfits, surprisingly, have also made me more approachable. Like a lot of dads on a playground full of moms, I’ve felt out of place at times, like an intruder. Granted, this feeling subsides (mostly because it isn’t really true) but that sense that I’m unwelcome, that I’m viewed with suspicion because I’m a man, comes back from time to time.

That all goes away when you’re wearing a Green Lantern outfit and your little Superman is directing you where to go to stop the next fiendish threat to the planet. It’s difficult to be perceived as a threat to anyone when you’re saving the world. You are immediately considered a safe space by all, and parents and children alike will come over and talk to you.

Making friends as a grown-up can be unnecessarily difficult, and a superhero shirt can circumvent that.When you’re focusing on what’s fun for your kid, you’re not worried about how others might be seeing you, and that’s the key to improving playground time for your child and you.

It’s seems weirdly ironic to not worry about how others see you when you’re wearing a Batman mask, but there it is. Superhero outfits can make you less self conscious while simultaneously making you more conspicuous. Funny, that.

So while I originally intended for superheroes to help Liam work through his issues, they’ve also ended up helping me with mine. But the secret here is not the costume but the time we’re spending together. Superheroes may be the conduit for that, and they can be switched out for anything else. Use whatever you are into — sports, music, bottle caps — as a starting point to find what your child really likes and how you can encourage him or her. That’s kind of a big part of what parenting is all about.

The point is, you don’t need to use superheroes, and you don’t need to be in Central Park. You can do this anywhere, with anything.

From Dynamic Duo to Justice League

It’s time for the play-date now. Liam’s preschool friends frequent Central Park as well, and we meet either on the Great Lawn or one of the playgrounds most every Wednesday. It’s a recent development, but a welcome one. The other kids all make sure to let me know they want capes, too. No problem. We have enough.

So we’ve gone from a Dynamic Duo to a full-on Justice League. Batman and Captain America team up with Wonder Woman and Paw Patrol Boy, or whomever else the children dream up. Now, whenever you visit Central Park on Wednesdays, you must keep an eye out for lots of low flying superheroes.

A little over a year ago, Liam was still barely speaking. He still had a tendency to withdraw into himself, and was slow to socialize with other children. To see him now, leading the Avengers in a charge across the Great Lawn seems nothing short of miraculous. Which is the kind of thing superheroes do, I suppose.

He soars through Central Park, his flight path twisting and turning to the delight of passersby, his satin cape shimmering, and the golden late afternoon sun setting his red hair ablaze, like a joyful fire.

My heart burns there, too.

“You will travel far, my little Kal-El, but we will never leave you, even in the face of our death. The richness of our lives shall be yours. All that I have, all that I’ve learned, everything I feel, all this and more, I bequeath you, my son. You will carry me inside you, all the days of your life.

You will make my strength your own, and see my life through your eyes, as your life will be seen through mine.” ~ Marlon Brando/Jor-El in Superman: the Movie

Autumn is one of the most beautiful and serene times of year to visit Central Park. The leaves light up our senses with their splash of insane colors. That makes it the perfect time to roundup a crew of father-friends from NYC Dads Group and plan a scenic stroll past some our favorite New York City landmarks.

We recently hooked up with one of our favorite children’s gear brands, Britax, to transport our children comfortably and safely in their modern, colorful and versatile new Britax B-Ready Strollers. Central Park has a wide range of rugged terrain and the B-Ready Stroller adapted gracefully to the gravel, tree roots and steep hills.

We mapped an invigorating walk with our little ones through Central Park. Fueled up on caffeine, we then assembled at The Plaza Hotel in the southeast corner, meandered through “the Mall” that’s featured in hundreds of movies, around Bethesda Fountain and The Loeb Boathouse, hugged the property of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and finished at popular Ancient Playground so our children can burn up energy as we enjoyed lunch under the glowing sun. Most organized activities at the park are suspended during the autumn work week which made our Britax B-Ready Stroller experience feel private — like we had Central Park all to ourselves.

We wanted to share some highlights of the experience with other families through a photo walk (see below) in the hope of inspiring more parents to bundle up and hit a local park for a scenic stroll this autumn.  Special thanks to talented photographer, NYC Dads Group member, and friend, Nick Lioi (and his lovely wife) for the stellar photos.

Dads, Start Your Britax B-Ready Strollers!

DISCLOSURE: NYC Dads Group have an ongoing relationship with Britax/BOB. It includes a variety of activities, workshops and experiences for which we are compensated. We’re proud to work with brands that make products and provide services that we believe in and use ourselves.

Space. The Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise.

Everyone knows those words, just as everyone knows Star Trek. This summer The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum hosted the Star Trek Experience for four months. The exhibit closes Oct. 31, so hurry on down.

Star Trek means a lot of things to a lot of different people, so to sell an exhibit as a “Star Trek Experience” means you will get held to a high bar for doing so. Star Trek not only caters to its own fandom along with the general public, it actually caters to a way of life.

After being greeted by the Enterprise herself and receiving an introduction by a holographic Starfleet member, you travel down a hallway illustrating the shows timeline where you exit into Sick Bay.

Two beds are set up with Klingon patients. Your job, as Medical Officer, is to use the tricorder to examine them and determine what their ailment is.

This is where the experience factor came into play in the Star Trek Experience. You aren’t just looking at the displays, you are interacting with them. Visitors can sign up at the beginning to have their info transmitted to a wrist sensor so you can interact with pretty much the entire exhibition and be rated on how you did.

Each section of the Star Trek Experience has multiple consoles where you can take these easy interactive tests. Sometimes they are in the form of games, sometimes as multiple choice quizzes, but all were enjoyable.

At the finish, you will be evaluated, and it will be suggested which job in Starfleet you are best suited for: the Sciences, Navigation, Communications, Engineering, Tactical or Command.

Across from Sick Bay at Star Trek Experience is the Communications Center. Here you can learn about aliens like the Klingons, what their culture is, and how to speak their language. An interactive Photoshop feature is available as well, so you can transform yourself into a member of an alien race.

But never let it be said that straight up Star trek props aren’t interesting all on their own. The exhibit didn’t just focus on interactive games and tests, there are plenty of displays of Star Trek’s signature items on hand as well.

Having said that, and as interesting as it was to see the development of the eponymous phaser guns, it is also nice to get a chance to play a shooting game with them as well.

And so the Star Trek Experience went. You explore the different aspects of the mythology and interact with it. You map a course to an inhabitable planet. You analyze the engines and figure out how to repair problems with them. You learn how to use the transporter.

But it is all leading to the star attraction, why everyone went to the Star Trek Experience: the Bridge.

Whether you’re a casual or intimate fan, to sit in the Captain’s Chair is a desire we all share. To be the person commanding that five-year mission; to imagine yourself facing down Khan Noonian Singh; to explore new worlds and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before; that is what’s central to everything in these stories.

The Bridge in question is modeled after the version found on the NCC-1701-D, seen in the Star Trek: The Next Generation. Besides the Captain’s Chair, control stations are available for the helm, tactical officers, communications and the science officer.

But the most compelling interactive game is the Kobayashi Maru, the un-winnable simulation all captains must face, seen in both Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and in the 2009 reboot of the franchise as well.

But the Bridge exhibition was more than that. It also served to remind everyone what makes Star Trek so great. The franchise is pretty singular in not only science fiction, but all genres, in showing us what humanity can achieve if we work together. Very few imaginings can match Star Trek’s vision of a positive future for all of us.

Gene Roddenberry went far out of his way to provide the original series with a very diverse cast, which was groundbreaking at the time. Star Trek was always more than just starships and aliens, it was a commentary on society, our failings, and why we always have reason to hope to improve ourselves, and that we should always make room for this.

This was reflected in the crowd milling around. Men, women, and children of all races and creeds chatted together and played out some of their favorite scenes. The unifying message of Star Trek was plainly visible throughout the exhibit, but was especially so on the Bridge.

Once you’ve completed the Star Trek Experience, found out which aspect of Starfleet you’re best suited for, and turned in your wristband, you still aren’t quite done. Besides the awesome gift shop, one more Star Trek exhibit awaits, appropriately stationed in the Space Shuttle Enterprise’s hangar.

It’s too perfect that the fictional Enterprise spacecraft and the historical one resided on the same site for a time. So why wouldn’t the shuttle Galileo sit waiting for you under the shuttle Enterprise?

This is the real thing — the actual shuttle used in the television show back in the 1960s, preserved carefully and transported delicately to sit on the deck of an aircraft carrier housing a space shuttle on the Hudson river in New York City.

If you couldn’t feel the weight of how awesome all of that was to take in at the same time, please do check your own pulse.

New York City has some of the best parks in the world and in those parks are world-class playgrounds. One of those is the Billy Johnson Playground in Central Park (enter near West 66th Street).

Like many of the playgrounds in Central Park, Billy Johnson Playground is made mostly of older-looking stone and wood. It is designed to blend into the natural beauty of the park.

When you walk into this playground, you’ll think it is something out of a storybook. You are greeted by an ivy-covered wooden entrance that opens up into a desert of sand on one side and a stone bridge that looks down on a small fountain, which is more suited as a drinking spot for small birds than anything else.

At first look, you’ll think you see a ton of litter lying about as large swatches of cardboard are everywhere. But that’s part of best feature of Billy Johnson Playground — an amazing winding, stone slide. On its own, the slide is a great ride, but if you grab one of the pieces of cardboard it’s transformed into a super-fast carnival thrill. Everyone goes down once then immediately goes right back to its log staircase to climb up for another ride.

Billy Johnson Playground is somewhat simple and definitely not what you think of when you think of the heart of Manhattan. It’s more like the heart of the shire.

Overheard at the park: “As your childhood gets closer to ending you need to get dirtier.”

• Water feature: Yes
• Sand: Yes
• Shade: Ample
• Bathroom: No

A version of this first appeared on Great Moments in Bad Parenting.

My wife and I first visited the National Museum of the American Indian – New York 13 years ago when we moved to NYC. It was also one of our favorite spots to take friends when they visited. And with enough blood in my body that I can rightfully claim to be a small part Native American (Choctaw), my kids feel an intimate connection to the displays.

The museum, part of the Smithsonian Institute and officially called the National Museum of the American Indian George Gustav Heye Center, celebrates American Indians and their history. There are rooms filled with paintings, pictures, artifacts and stories from all the major tribes. The Circle of Dance display is my favorite — a variety of clothing used for celebrations is displayed in a beautiful large room, while a large screen at the end of the room plays videos of the dances for which the clothing is used. The size of the room allows kids to try the dance steps they are witnessing on the screen for themselves.

Located in lower Manhattan inside the Alexander Hamilton Customs House, which is a beautiful feat of architecture constructed between 1902 – 1907, the museum is also worth visiting for its historical and architectural significance. The inside of the Beaux-Arts building is ornately detailed and many paintings and frescos date to the building’s early days. Some of the paintings do not quite fit the current use of the building, such as paintings that are left over from when one of the rooms showcased the greatest naval commanders in history. It is odd to see the glorified faces of those who brought disease, death, and persecution to American Indians next to the faces of American Indians commemorated throughout the museum.

There are other great reasons to visit with kids, such as Toddler Music Time, where little ones can sing and dance and create fun-themed crafts. My 3-year-old had a great time singing songs and pretending to be an animal. My 11-year-old and 9-year-old didn’t attend any of the classes, but they enjoyed walking around the museum and learning about American Indians while we were occupied with the class. As we usually do when visiting museums, my kids brought their sketchbooks and had a great time drawing some of their favorite exhibits.

The National Museum of the American Indian is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and until 8 p.m. on Thursdays. Admission is free, but they love donations, of course.

The museum is located at One Bowling Green in lower Manhattan. The closest subway stop is Bowling Green on the 4 and 5 lines, though it is a short walk from the Whitehall St/South Ferry stations of the 1 and R lines.

A version of this first appeared on One Good Dad.

For the past few seasons, our hometown WNBA team the New York Liberty have had “Dads and Daughters Day” during a game close to Father’s Day. My family has been to three now. Let me tell you, the Liberty know how to treat basketball fans of all ages. If you’re looking for a wonderful family-friendly professional sports experience, look no further than Madison Square Garden — home of the Liberty.

Before the game begins, as you head into the Garden, the team hosts kid-friendly events and contests in and around the arena. The team’s tickets are quite affordable with cheapest seats costing around $23. The price for those seats at a Knick game are substantially more, so not only are the tickets much more reasonably, there aren’t any bad seats at a Liberty game.

The team has a wonderful connection to the team history. At this game, Sue Wicks, one of the original members of the Liberty was doing a meet and greet during halftime.

Throughout the game, there is always family-friendly fun on the court during timeouts and halftime. Even the dancers are fun and alternate between a group of children, L’il Torches and a senior dance troop. And, there’s the ever present mascot, Maddie. At Sunday’s game, there were dad and daughter themed activities on the court, and even a Dad Cam that featured yours truly with my daughter!

Keeping with the “Dads and Daughters” theme, the Liberty granted my daughter and me access to their locker room to chat with players about the impact of their fathers.

Rookie Kiah Stokes mentioned her father taught her all she knows about basketball.

“My dad (former NBA player Greg Stokes) basically got me into basketball. I was terrible when I first started. I couldn’t even run and dribble at the same time,” she said. “He was always there if I wanted to do extra stuff. He’d rebound for me. He’d put me through workouts. When I had a bad game, he’d tell me you didn’t this or do this well. But, if I had a great game, he’d be so proud of me. I’d wouldn’t be where I am without him. That’s for sure.”

Fellow rookie Brittany Boyd said about her father, “I had a great relationship with my father. You know, we were just good. He’d play sports with me. I’d just want to hang out with him. He was a great father.”

Veteran Candice Wiggins shared the powerful story of her father, former MLB player Alan Wiggins, who passed away when she was age 4, the same age my daughter currently is as she pointed out to the eight-year vet. Although she did not know her dad well or have all that much time with her, in a way his absence still affected Wiggins powerfully. Wiggins has been a longtime champion in the fight to cure AIDS, which claimed her father’s life through her work with Until There’s a Cure.

Although they only host one “Dads and Daughters Day” per season, it is definitely worth heading to a Liberty game with your family. The players are not only fun to watch, they are also good, thoughtful role models for our children.

Thanks to the New York Liberty for hosting us at “Dads and Daughters Day” and letting us speak with members of the team.

This is a sponsored post. NYC Dads Group has been monetarily compensated by Sittercity to write about its new Date Night Now service. As always, all opinions are our own.

Last week, I wrote about my desire to go out with friends (without kids).

Very happy to report that we got out!

Four couples (one pregnant) not only managed to schedule a time, date and place to meet, but we also all showed up. We started the evening with a lovely tour of the recently renovated Islamic Art wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We also walked through the China: Through the Looking Glass Exhibit just days after the rich and famous inhabited the space for the infamous Met Gala.

It was a perfect spring night in New York City, so we walked from the Met to dinner at Upper East Side neighborhood favorite, Bocado Cafe. Good food, good drinks (great sangria) and excellent company.

It was a really fun evening and a great opportunity to get out with friends. And to be honest, it probably wouldn’t have come together without our sponsor, Sittercity and their new Date Night Now service.

As the title suggests, Date Night Now from Sittercity promises busy parents the opportunity to find a verified babysitter across much of New York City for date nights– Thursday through Sunday evenings. They take all the work out of the process by meeting all of the Date Night Now sitters in person, conducting enhanced background checks, and verifying prior sitting experience. All payments to Sittercity sitters are handled online too, so no late night trips to the ATM to pay the babysitter at the end of the night.

Our Sittercity – Date Nigh Now reviews

How was the service? Here’s what our guys had to say:

Christopher Persley (aka The Brown Gothamite)

I found the Date Night Now service from Sittercity quite simple to use. In no more than 10-15 minutes, I set up my account and reserved a sitter for our joint date night. I also really appreciate the fact that you can set up to pay by credit card. No last-minute trips to the ATM with Date Night Now!

Our sitter was early, polite and jumped right into playing with our daughter.We were quite comfortable and left to enjoy our evening with friends.

My wife and I are pleased when we are able to have a date night for us. However, to plan and secure time with friends who also have children is really challenging. So, we couldn’t have been more excited to have some down time with other adults and chat.

These types of opportunities are invaluable. Date Night Now made it possible.

Jason Greene (aka One Good Dad)

I’m not sure when the last time was that my wife and I went out on a date with other couples. Maybe even before we had kids. Thankfully, Date Night Now from Sittercity made going out with my wife easy to plan and stress free.

My son chose the sitter from the Date Night Now website, and a few days later, my wife and I walked out the door feeling comfortable leaving our kids with a capable sitter that had been vetted by the company. My kids had a great time, which eased our conscious since my wife and I had wonderful time away from them.

Unfortunately, one of our dads wasn’t able to find a babysitter because he lives outside the Date Night Now service area, but he still has some feedback:

Lorne Jaffe (aka Raising Sienna)

Sittercity tried very hard, but they weren’t able to match a babysitter with us this time. We live in Queens close to the Long Island border, so Date Night Now didn’t show any sitters available. I called their customer service team and reached Tiffany, with whom I corresponded and was wonderful and easily accessible via e-mail. She found us three potential babysitters but sadly, none worked out because we’re not close to a subway station (just the Long Island Railroad) and a car ride during rush hour probably wouldn’t be the best of ideas.

Regardless, I cannot stress enough how hard customer service tried to find someone for us and how they gladly allowed us to join in for an evening out with friends. Luckily my mother was able to watch Sienna!

I’ll chime in with some feedback too. We have had a pretty consistent roster of babysitters for several years, so it has been a long time since our two boys (ages 9 and 6) had a new sitter. When I logged into Date Night Now, I was shown three babysitters with their educational history, work experience, etc. Each profile also includes a video of the sitter talking about their approach to babysitting. The one we chose worked out very well, and we definitely plan on having her back soon!

Our night was looking so fun, that NYC Dads Group Co-Organizer Lance Somerfeld left his wife and newborn at home and popped in for a drink.

He is definitely looking forward to the next date night … hoping next time he can bring his wife

Feeling inspired? We’ve got the hook up for you. Go to the Sittercity website and use promo code NYCDADS to get $55 off your first night of babysitting (first-time users only).

Editor’s note: The month-long residency of street artist Banksy in New York caused quite a sensation among the people of the Big Apple. NYC Dad Brandon Garcia and his son created a commotion of their own when they recently tried to check out one of his  spray art creations.

What could possible go wrong if I decided to strap on the Baby Bjorn and venture from the Upper Eastside to West 24th Street to see the new Banksy art.

What the hell was I thinking? Seriously? I should have known better. My 10-month-old son had sucked down 6 ounces of formula and ate 3.5 ounces of some fruit mix after his mid-morning hour long nap. I thought I was safe. I changed his diaper and looked out the window and saw no clouds in the sky, a nice blue mid-60’s day in the city which was as tempting as a mermaid inviting you to go swimming. Let’s rock.

I was shocked by how quickly I was out the door with him hanging on the front of me. Walking to 86th Street for a quick ride on the express train to Grand Central was brisk but the fact that my son now weighs around 20 pounds, give or take, turns the simple task of walking into a workout. Oh well I thought, at least its nice outside.

Stairs, stairs and more stairs awaited me at 86th Street then again at Grand Central. How a handicapped person moves around this city is beyond me. While I walked the long corridor to the shuttle train my thighs and calves began to burn. Damn! This is more of a workout than I thought it was going to be. More stairs between the shuttle and the 1 train.

I was exhausted and thirsty by the time I got back to street level at 23rd street so my first stop was a Duane Reade for some Gatorade. I opened and downed it at the register.

The kid ringing me up said, “That looks like quite the workout?”

I replied, “Yeah and I’m coming down from the Upper East Side. I’m already beat.”

The kid laughed, “Have a nice day.” Stepping out to the bright sunshine I thought to myself maybe, just maybe, this wasn’t such a good idea. Screw it, onward.

The corner of 24th & 10th is one loud clusterfuck filled with ear-piercing traffic horns, a repair station for NYC cabs complete with more honking and yelling, trucks supplying cement to a construction site and tourists gawking at the dude wearing a baby walking down the street. I naively thought that maybe amongst all this mess nobody cared about the Banksy art.

Nope… UGH! About 75 people were clamoring over each other to take pictures. No worries. I have my son strapped to my body for safety, meaning I don’t have to worry about pissing people off with my stroller. Perfect way to see art, right? RIGHT?

The two paintings, graffiti or whatever you want to call them, were hanging from the Highline and cordoned off to appear like a makeshift outdoor museum. People could wait to see the art up close and enjoy refreshments but I was five to seven rows of people back from the yellow tape. No problem, I have the kid strapped to my front and seriously how long could it take?

Right about the time I thought I could do this a large concrete mixing truck arrived and honked a bull horn at all the people looking at the Banksy. My son was scared out of his mind and began screaming.

Then some guy looking like he was in charge of the construction site began yelling at people to get out of the way. While calming my son down I moved closer to the throng of people hoping to get into the hipster art bliss.

Out of nowhere a 20-something girl in front of me yelled, “OUCH.” She turned and gave me the dirtiest look, like I had just groped her in midst of all this madness. I smiled nervously and said to anyone listening, “Okay? Not sure what that was about.”

All I could do was use this to inch my way closer. I realized at this point I needed to back away from all the commotion to calm my son down. As I backed out of the scrum I realized that my son was clenching his left fist.

“Benjamin. What is that,” I said as I walked away. It was none other than a wad of hair that he plucked from the girl. “Oh God. It’s time to go.”

See all the Banksy art installments from October on www.banksyny.com.