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The Upper West Side is one of those Manhattan neighborhoods where having a small kid actually makes sense. It sits between Central Park and Riverside Park, so on any given morning you have two large parks within a few blocks of each other, each with multiple playgrounds. Hippo Playground in Riverside Park is a long-time favorite for the under-five crowd, with a sandbox, spray features, and swings that keep toddlers busy for a solid hour. The St. Agnes branch of the New York Public Library on Amsterdam Avenue runs free weekly storytimes, and the Children's Museum of Manhattan on Broadway is a solid rainy-day option for kids as young as one. The neighborhood is deeply residential, with pre-war buildings, wide sidewalks, and the kind of foot traffic that means you will constantly run into other stroller-pushing parents. The 1, 2, 3 and B, C subway lines run through here, so getting to and from classes without a car is genuinely easy. Weekends have a slower, low-key feel compared to Midtown, with the parks filling up but never feeling frantic. NORY runs classes here, so structured time for your one-to-four-year-old is already part of the picture.