Greenwich Village attractions and museums to visit

The hippies who famously turned up and tuned out in Washington Square Park are still there in spirit, and indeed often in person. In warmer months the park—which was once a potter’s field—is one of the best people-watching spots in the city, humming with musicians and street artists, while skateboarders clatter near the base of the iconic 1895 Washington Arch (a modest replica of Paris’s Arc de Triomphe). Plus, kids can splash in the area's fountain on sweltering days.

This riverside park is especially popular in the summer, when New Yorkers can catch some rays and often a free outdoor concert, but the views are stunning all year round.

The birthplace of gay liberation says “yes!” to empowerment and “hell, yes!” to go-go boys. The high-energy dance music draws a mixed, flirty crowd. Drink at one of two bars, or shake your groove thing on the dance floor upstairs. Daytime brings gawking tourists, but the evenings are still for partying. Theme nights include the Latin house party Uncut Wednesdays, but true to the bar’s democratic spirit, everyone is welcome.

Setting the pace for campy, good-natured fun (though not classic glamour), the city’s oldest cabaret is still going strong at 55. A generous mix of regulars and tourists laugh and sing along with drag performers, comedians and rising stars in the cabaret room on the second floor. (Special showcases are still in the intimate game room, which is also upstairs and has a separate bar.) In the ground-floor piano bar, the merry singing waitstaff is entertaining enough to avoid charges of gimmickry, and the pianists are often excellent.

An active firehouse from 1904 to 1959, this museum is filled with gadgetry and pageantry, from late-18th-century hand-pumped fire engines to modern equipment. The museum also houses a permanent exhibit commemorating firefighters’ heroism after the attack on the World Trade Center.

Though the city's made up of five boroughs, it has just three public library systems. The largest—the NYPL—runs all libraries in Manhattan, Staten Island and the Bronx. Hours at the branches vary wildly, but all have a dedicated section of children's books, and many a separate room for the use of kids up to fifth grade. Storytimes, craft and cultural projects, and poetry writing workshops are just some of the offerings on tap; check the website (nypl.org) for detailed information on each branch.

This urban oasis offers city slickers a chance to tiptoe through the tulips—plus a bevy of other botanical delights—from April to October.

The bambini at Rosemary’s are treated to their own menu of Italian delights like cheese bread with house-made mozzarella and focaccia ($6) and penne with marinara ($9). On cool days, a half grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup will warm those tummies and prepare them for a yummy bowl of gelato and sorbet ($6). Be sure to grab some Italian cookies for the trek back home ($4).

The CMA's 10,000-square-foot home has more than enough room to house its 2,000-piece collection of international children's art, including a huge center gallery to display it in. Artists lead workshops in classrooms, studios or the media lab, which has a sound station, clay bar and video-making equipment. Kids can work their bodies as well as their minds on the museum's second floor, where they'll find interactive art displays and a ball pit.

This small park in Greenwich Village is one of the oldest in New York City (the grounds were included in the dowry of Charlotte Warren, who married the Fourth Earl of Abingdon in the mid-18th century). Central Park architect and landscape designer Calvert Vaux helped to redesign the triangular park in the 1880s.

Founded in 1857, the AIA New York is the oldest chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The insitute's storefront regularly hosts programs and exhibitions exploring housing, planning, historic preservation, urban design and more.