Walking Through Greenwich Village and Chelsea
Don’t worry: we won’t tell you to visit the High Line or to wait while ordering food in Chelsea Market (although, it might be worth it for some vegan sushi). But we will definitely ask you to wear your most comfortable sneakers, bring along the child in your home or the inner child that resides in your heart, and leave your phone in airplane mode. It’s time to wander Greenwich Village and Chelsea!
You can start at the Children’s Museum of the Arts, located at Charlton and Hudson Street. “A state-of-the art facility” that benefits a range of ages and abilities, the Children’s Museum of the Arts welcomes your inner child, no matter your age. It provides studio activities, after school programs, classes for teens, and Saturday family studios. Keep in mind that the CMA is closed on Wednesdays for general admissions!
Need a break? Go to James J. Walker Park, also known as “the park that used to be a cemetery.” It can be a little tight comparedd to Central Park, but I promise: you won’t see tourists taking selfies. Strawberries and cheese are welcome for a picnic while enjoying the sight of a community baseball team training. Before you leave, close your eyes and connect with the soul of Edgar Allan Poe, who used to wander in this land when it was still a cemetery, and notice the firemen’s memorial - a little plaque that proves the origins of this place.
Walk twenty minutes up 7th Avenue, and turn right at 17th Street to find the Rubin Museum of Art. Even though their main collection of Himalayan art includes pieces that are more than 1,500 years old, they have a multidisciplinary program that works with contemporary artists. For example, right now and until November you can visit the exhibition The Scorpion Gesture, a new series by artist Chitra Ganesh.
Our last stop is at the Institute of Play, located at 26th Street and 7th Avenue. Pioneers in new models of learning, they are a non-profit design studio that creates learning experiences rooted in the principles of game design. Many of their activities aren’t open to the public, but we suggest you to visit them to learn more about their programs. Their Game-Like Learning Principles include:
Everyone is a participant
Failure is reframed as iteration
Learning feels like play
Learning happens by doing
Feedback is immediate and ongoing
Challenge is constant
Everything is interconnected.
Check out Know Your City #1 if you want to walk around the East Side. Drink a lot of water and stay tuned for our next Know Your City to engage dynamically!
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