Liebelilly

We're visiting family in NJ. The idea is to wake up early, drive the hour & a half into the city. We want to park the car for the day somewhere in Crown Heights where we are visiting some friends and then walk/subway it from there. We have 4 kids aged 5-13 so we aren't big on the craziness of Times Square or anything like that.
1. Any advice on parking in/around Crown Heights?
2. Does the Staten Island Ferry have a stop in Brooklyn? I want the kids to see the Statue of Liberty but I have no desire to deal with crowds or security through Ellis Island. They however do. Is it worth paying the $ & spending the time to stand on Ellis Island and look at her? There are tickets left to stand at the pedestal. I feel like our time could be better spent elsewhere.
3. Definitely want to take them to Central Park- Granted everything is full of crowds but are there any kid friendly museums that may be less crowded in the area?

Any other ideas? Is the NY Aquarium in Brooklyn worth seeing? Thanks!

Vttraveler

I think you are confusing Liberty and Ellis Islands. Ellis island is where the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration is located.
https://www.nps.gov/stli/planyourvisit/index.htm

There is inexpensive ferry service along the East River from several points in Brooklyn, including the DUMBO area right under the Brooklyn Bridge. It would take you to lower Manhattan or Governor's Island on weekends (or to 34th Street if you head in the opposite direction)
https://www.ferry.nyc/routes-and-sch...te/east-river/
The Staten Island ferry runs from lower Manhattan to Staten Island.

Your kids might enjoy the South street Seaport museum.
I also think the Metropolitan or Museum of Natural History are good places to take kids.

I do think you are trying to fit in too much if you try to get to Central Park as well as Brooklyn/lower Manhattan.

HappyTrvlr

The Statue Ferry is run by the National Park Service and goes from the Battery in lower Manhattan to Liberty Island where the Staue of Liberty is located , then the ferry continues on to Ellis Island, finally back to Manhattan. You can stay onboard and skip Ellis Island if you are not interested in Immigrant history.
You say you don’t want to deal with sexurity which is done before boarding in Manhattan. You can take the Staten Island ferry out and back for very good ciews of the Statue of Liberty. It is free and also leaves from lower Manhattan. Take a subway there.

ellenem

From where are you traveling in New Jersey? Just wondering because you are traveling all the way to Brooklyn and then most of what you want to visit is in Manhattan.

Your friends who live in Crown Height should be able to offer the best parking info for their particular neighborhood.

If you choose to travel to Liberty Island to stand at the foot of the Statue, you can consider at least 3-4 hours taken up with just to do that with security lines, boats rides, embarking and disembarking. Going to the pedestal will take more time. The Staten Island Ferry is close by and if you scurry off and back onto the boat at the Staten Island end, you can finish that in one hour.

The American Museum of Natural History, a family favorite, is right across the street from Central Park. There will be a lot of people there, but it is a huge museum with large exhibit halls, so you can move to other exhibits if you are feeling crowded. It is the museum from the original Night at the Museum movie.

BigRuss

This is a bit daft. There's no reason to go all the way to Crown Heights from New Jersey, which means driving through Staten Island and over the Verrazano, and then taking a subway back into Manhattan to visit Central Park, which is a 30-45 minute subway ride (or more if the subway is having construction or limited train service, which happens often) from Crown Heights. There's also no reason to go all the way to Crown Heights and go back to the Battery to take whatever ferry you're conceiving of hopping on.

Do you HAVE to go to Crown Heights? Even in the better areas, it's a long way from anyplace else you want to visit. Can't your friends hop on the train and meet you somewhere? After all, you're hauling it 90+ minutes just to get into the city (plus tolls).

ibadger

You don't want to get on the Staten Island Ferry at all, honestly. Considering you have one day, it is a waste of an hour of your time, possibly 1.5 to 2 hours if you mess up your transfer/leaving time. The boat ride itself is very long, goes to a boring place where there is nothing to do, and you see the statue of liberty from so far away and for only a few minutes that it is absolutely not worth it. No, the ferry does not go anywhere else except staten island, it is a commuter boat for people who live there.

You might have a better time going to Governor's Island. Not only is it not super crowded, you will have the same view of the statue, for as long as you want, as from the Staten Island ferry. There are also many, many activities on the island for kids (young kids anyway, but a 13 year old would like to get on a slide down a long hill just as much as any kid or adult would). The ferry to Gov island is only 5 minutes long and $3. But it is FREE if you leave before noon, so check it out. There are also 2 forts to look at and some interesting houses. In the same amount of time you would be sitting on the staten island ferry bored and then getting right back on to return, you could be exploring an island almost no tourist knows about. Also, there are several ferries that go there, not just the main one in Manhattan. You can actually get there from Brooklyn via ferry but it will cost a small fee.

Crown Heights is right next to Prospect Park, which was built by the same people who made Central Park, and in fact they liked it a lot better. It also has activities for kids including a roller rink. However, if you are set on Central Park you should definitely go. Right next to Central Park is the Museum of Natural History which will be a blast for kids. It also has several activities inside the park that they will like, just google it. Little carnivals, the zoo, rinks, forests to explore etc. all very nice. The museum can get crowded, but might not be on a weekday during the daytime, not really sure. Everything in, near, or around Central Park in general will be crowded, so don't get your hopes up.

In my opinion the NY aquarium is not worth it. However, it is Coney Island and that whole area could be fun for kids. It is basically an a la carte theme park and beach.

If you are going for one day you need to choose either Central Park or Coney Island. Going to both in one day will be hard. It is a good 1.5 hour commute on the subway, one-way, between the two. Unless you do a thing like go to Central Park and then go to Coney Island at night to watch fireworks (google it, happens on some days, I don't know which, but they are common). Coney Island is far from everything, so if you are going there you have to be prepared to BE there for a while. Whereas if you are in Central Park there is a ton of stuff to do and if you are tired of it you can go wander somewhere or go visit some interesting restaurant or another museum like the Met or the Jewish Museum or the Cooper Hewitt design museum or the Museum of the City of New York, the Guggenheim, the NY Historical Society, or any one of probably hundreds of other museums that surround the park.