Getting around New York with a child.

This is the single most useful thing to tell a new parent in New York. Yellow cabs and rideshares do not come with car seats. Legally, New York City taxis are exempt from the child-restraint requirement, but exempt is not the same as safe, and a lap-held infant in a cab is genuinely dangerous.

If you have a child under one, a Doona — the infant car seat that converts into a stroller in one motion — is effectively the only practical way to move around the city safely without hiring a car and driver for the week. It goes into a cab, clicks out, becomes the stroller, and goes into the restaurant. Parents who resist buying one usually end up buying one.

The alternatives: hire a car service with a car seat fitted for the week, or take the subway, where car seats are not a consideration at all.

The subway is the fastest way across the city and free for children under 44 inches, but only a minority of stations have elevators, so a stroller can mean carrying it up stairs. Worth checking accessible stations before committing to a route with a big stroller.

Only 153 of 493 subway stations have lifts — about 31 percent — so check station accessibility before planning a stroller route.

Most of the good stuff in this guide clusters, so pick a neighbourhood and stay in it rather than criss-crossing the city. New York is much easier with a child when the day's plan is one museum, one playground, and one snack — all within a few blocks.