Raising kids on a busy block: what we've learned

The noise is real

You will hear sirens from Bellevue and NYU Langone, and the tunnel queue on 36th does back up on Fridays. We're not going to pretend otherwise.

What helps

• A white noise machine in the kids' room. Truly the single best $30 we've spent.
• Side streets for stroller walks. 35th, 36th between 1st and 2nd are calmer than the avenues.
• The ferry as a reset. A round trip to LIC is 50 minutes door-to-door, costs $4.50, and resets a bad afternoon.
• St. Vartan, Asser Levy, and Robert Moses are all within a stroller push. Rotate them so kids don't get bored.

The upside no one talks about

You can get to two of the best hospitals in the country in under five minutes on foot. You can be at the ferry in two blocks, the M15-SBS in one, and the M34 at the corner. For a young family, that combination is genuinely rare in NYC.