By Joseph Morales
Most parents would agree that parenting a young child is no easy task. However, there are some unique parenting tasks that are especially unique for NYC parents. These include but are not limited to long commutes, the city’s nonstop nature, and the complicated admissions system for public schools.
Another complicated task can be planning a child’s birthday party. From invitations to booking a facility to arranging gifts, the amount of things that need to be done perfectly can seem endless. Then there’s the hope that the families you invite actually attend. In a Reddit Feed on the topic, one user, Casmas06, posted “I invited 25 kids, expected 15, and all 25 came. So, that was terrible lol. Kidding…daughter thought it was awesome.” Unfortunately, many families and kids are not as likely. A simple google search of “no one shows up to kids birthday party” is full of instances of kids from around the country who have had no one show up to their parties. So much so, that it even became was topic of an episode of the hit TV Show What Would You Do? on ABC with John Quiñones along with several new reports on the show Inside Edition.
So how can you make sure kids come to your child’s party? Here is a list of some transit related tips that may be able to help you out.
- Understand how everyone is getting there
In New York City, parents and kids get around in many ways. Community districts throughout the city have anywhere between 17 and 92% of households owning a car. In the busiest areas like Manhattan, many car owners primarily use their cars for the purposes of getting out of the city. As travel times on mass transit vs driving vary greatly, this will be important to consider when choosing a party location.
For example, say you live in Forest Hills, Queens and you want to throw your kid a party at Chuck E Cheese. Both the Chuck E Cheese in Downtown Flushing and Long Island City are about the same distance from Forest Hills. The Chuck E Cheese in Downtown Fluhsing has a massive parking garage, making it a very convenient place to drive to. However, getting there on public transit requires a subway transfer at the busy Jackson Hts-Roosevelt Av subway complex coupled with a walk through the sardine- congested sidewalks of Main St. This is a tedious trip many parents might not want to take. On the flipside, the Chuck E Cheese in Long Island City is a seamless 20 min one-seat subway ride from Forest Hills. However, driving there requires a trip on the oft congested Queens Blvd or Long Island Expressway coupled with a difficult time finding street parking in LIC.
Hence, you want to consider how people will be getting to your party before deciding which Chuck E Cheese to host your party in. Do most people drive or take transit? You can find out what percent of households in your community use which travel modes through this site from the NYC Department of City Planning: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/dcptransportation/viz/ACSProfiles/Dashboard1
Then, you’ll want to find a place you feel works best for the people you are inviting to the party. If you’re neighborhood has a substantial amount of motorists and transit riders, try to find a balance that people can get to with by both taking mass transit and driving.
If the districts are too large, you should consider several factors to make an educated inference as to how people get around in your immediate community. For instance, are there mostly standalone houses with cars in driveways? Or, are there 6-8 story apartment buildings with no parking garages in sight? If you’re inviting friends from you child’s school, you should likely do this in the immediate vicinity of the school as most city students attend zoned elementary and middle schools. If you’re child attends a private or parochial school, get to know other parents beforehand and pay attention to if and when they discuss their mobility tendencies(when and where they take transit or drive). This will give you the info you need to plan your child’s party accordingly. Also, if you live in Manhattan, many people may only use their cars for getting out of New York City and they may not want to do it often due to the hassles of driving near their homes. So, you’ll want to keep that in mind.
- Most parents are near the subway? Don’t be afraid to pick a further location!
In New York City, many people associate trips to other boroughs or even cross borough trips in Brooklyn and Queens with long travel times. While this may be true for drivers and bus riders, this is not the case as much for subway riders. In fact, if a place in another borough right along a subway line, it may be easier to get to than other parts of the borough in which the person lives.
Let’s go back to Forest Hills in Queens. From there, one could take the E Train and be at Times Square in Manhattan in less than 30 minutes. However, it takes someone a similar if not longer amount of time to reach geographically closer destinations in Queens such as St. John’s University and Jamaica Center. This is simply because these places require a bus to access.
If this is your situation, you may want to consider further places provided they are on the same subway line as your child’s school or could be accessed with an easy transfer. For example, there are a plethora of places in Manhattan, such as Dave and Buster’s in Times Square, a kid’s gym on the Upper East Side and plenty of craft party locations just to name a few, all within a 45 minute subway ride of Forest Hills. You can find more information of party locations in Manhattan and citywide here: https://www.timeout.com/new-york-kids/things-to-do/kids-birthday-party-places-in-new-york-city and here: https://mommypoppins.com/new-york-city-kids/birthday-parties/best-birthday-party-places-in-nyc-for-kids
- Parents far from or unwilling to take the subway? Consider closer locations.
While the subway provides great mobility across its lines, many New Yorkers simply do not have convenient access to the train. According to Dollaride, which provides transit service in areas without subway access, two million New Yorkers live in transit deserts with at least a 15 minute walk to the nearest subway station. If families have to take a bus somewhere, it will likely take substantially longer than the subway would due to lower bus frequencies and car traffic.
For instance, say you live in the Flatlands or Canarsie in Brooklyn. Here, 29% of households do not have a car yet most residents are far from a subway station. So, some great options to consider may be an outdoor party at Seaview Park or the Canarsie Pier. The Dave and Buster’s at the Gateway Center or even Luna Park at Coney Island may also be good options. While both the Gateway Center and Luna Park are both 40 minutes to an hour from Canarsie and the Flatlands, they are among the closest premier recreation destinations to these communities.
- Parents likely to drive to the party? Pick somewhere with plenty of parking.
One of the biggest hassles with driving in New York City is parking. In many neighborhoods, finding street parking can take a lot of time and energy. The last thing you’ll want is for families to not attend your party because they can’t park in a given area. Therefore, you’ll want to check out the parking options for wherever your party will be located. For example, if someone is going to Chuck E Cheese at Bronx Terminal Market in the South Bronx, one can park in the shopping center’s parking garage. This makes driving here seamless despite the difficulty of finding street parking in the South Bronx. On Staten Island, both Dave & Busters in the Staten Island Mall and Fun Station USA both offer significant parking in addition to being located adjacent to public bus lines. However, some places may be in busy areas and require visitors to find street parking.
To gauge the convenience of parking at a place, travel there before the party around the time of day you plan to host it and see what parking is like. If you yourself do not have a car, look around and see how many empty parking spots there are. You may also want to speak with staff while booking to see what parking options look like for guests and how much it costs, if applicable.
- Have Family and Friends City or Regionwide? Pick somewhere with quality multimodal access.
It may be hard to pick a birthday party location if you want to invite people from across New York City or even the region. Thus, your best bet of course will be to pick somewhere that is easily accessible to as many potential guests as possible. However, this may not be exactly at the midpoint of where everyone lives. This is simply because different modes of travel in our region get people to certain places faster than others, regardless of where they live. The earlier siuation of it being easier to get to Times Square from Forest Hills than Jamaica Center via public transit is just one example.
So, you’ll want to pick locations with as many connections to highways, commuter rail, buses and subways as possible. In most cases, you won’t be able to find the perfect balance all modes so you should consider tip 1 on considering which modes people are using the most as much as you can. If you’re inviting people from Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island, the Chuck E Cheese in Downtown Flushing is a great place to host your party. The area has direct connections to the Van Wyck Expwy, Grand Central Pkwy, the 7 train, LIRR, and about 20 bus routes, along with a free parking garage. If you’re inviting people from the Bronx, Manhattan and Westchester County, the Chuck E Cheese at the Bronx Terminal Market is near three subway lines and the Metro-North along with the Major Deegan and Bruckner Expressways.
HAPPY PARTY HOSTING!
I hope this has given you some valuable insight into how transit/vehicular connections can effect the turnout for your kid’s birthday party. While a prime location is a plus, the most important thing is to ensure your kid has fun and is in a venue they are happy in. In New York City, public transit and the city’s vast street network is what keeps the city moving. It’s time to use the city’s transportation assets to make this year’s celebration, one to remember.
Works Cited
aliciacary1, and Casmas06. “Kids birthday parties- what percentage attend?” Reddit, 2022, https://www.reddit.com/r/workingmoms/comments/wjk4kc/kids_birthday_parties_what_percentage_attend/. Accessed 10 March 2024.
Early, Allie, and Danielle Valente. “Best Kids Birthday Party Places in NYC.” TimeOut, 28 November 2023, https://www.timeout.com/new-york-kids/things-to-do/kids-birthday-party-places-in-new-york-city. Accessed 10 March 2024.
“EXPLAINING NYC’S TRANSIT DESERTS — Dollaride.” Dollaride, 18 July 2022, https://www.dollaride.com/blog/2022/7/18/deep-dive-into-nycs-transit-desert-problem. Accessed 10 March 2024.
Inside Edition. “No One Came to These Kids’ Birthday Parties.” YouTube, 2 January 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRi5qZYJvOc. Accessed 10 March 2024.
Laird, Jessica. “Best Birthday Party Places in NYC for Kids.” Mommy Poppins, 4 May 2023, https://mommypoppins.com/new-york-city-kids/birthday-parties/best-birthday-party-places-in-nyc-for-kids. Accessed 10 March 2024.
NYC Department of City Planning-Transportation. Tableau, https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/dcptransportation/viz/ACSProfiles/Dashboard1. Accessed 10 March 2024.
What Would You Do?, and John Quiñones. “Strangers surprise boy after no one shows to birthday party | WWYD.” YouTube, 29 July 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9UB2SpdIX4. Accessed 10 March 2024.
*Featured image was created by Vlada Karpovich.
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