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Head Out for Fun and Excitement this Chol HaMoed in the Fresh, Spring Air

Head Out for Fun and Excitement this Chol HaMoed in the Fresh, Spring Air

By Yehudit Garmaise

Families who want to head out to enjoy the fresh air of spring have countless options both locally and for those who don’t mind driving a bit to enjoy fun, excitement, and adventure throughout Chol HaMoed. 

For your convenience, BoroPark24 compiled our biggest list yet: Over 70 fun, interesting, and beautiful places to explore over the next few days.

We are interested in your Chol HaMoed trips! What did you do, and what did you see? Send us your ideas, tips, and photos to [email protected] for future lists!


Kids need to run around, walk, or hike? Head to a park!

1. Brooklyn Bridge Park always offers beautiful view, sand areas, a carousel, swings, a slide mountain, a marsh garden, and many places for children to play at 334 Furman Street. 

2. Taking a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan is fun and offers a great 360 degree-view of the city.

3. Bear Mountain State Park at 3006 Seven Lakes Drive in Bear Mountain offers hiking, climbing, picnic areas, a zoo, a lake, a carousel, and boating in warmer weather. Parking is $10 per car.

4. Buttermilk Falls County Park at 199 S. Greenbush Road in West Nyack offers well-maintained trails with great views and waterfalls that cascade down the mountain. Admission is free.

5. Bushkill Falls at 138 Bushkill Fall provides color-coded trails of different lengths. Hikers are rewarded with waterfalls and stunning nature scenes.

6. Celery Farm Nature Preserve at Franklin Turnpike in Allendale, NJ, featured a one-mile hike around a lake near meadows and small streams, where many birds, butterflies, and fish alight.

7. Cobble Hill Park on Clinton St. right in Brooklyn is close for anyone wanting to enjoy a local, small picnic with tables and chairs and surrounded by colorful tulips.


Heading up to the Catskills?

8. Check out the Chol HaMoed Extravaganza on April 9 at Mountain Square, which is located at 321 Broadway in Monticello. Helicopter rides, a petting zoo, and many bounce houses are part of the fun. Call today at (824) 538-9756 for tickets.

Do your children like farms and orchards?

9. For city kids who want to visit a farm, families can head to Green Meadows Farm on 3159 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11234.

10. Abma’s Farm, at 700 Lawlins Road in Wyckoff, NJ, provides a well-maintained farm with a petting zoo, fresh produce and plants.

11. Alstede Farms, at 1 Alsteded Farms Lane, in Chester, NJ, features a petting zoo, and on Mondays and Wednesdays: pony rides, wagon train rides, and a bounce house. 

12. Family Fun Farm at 65 Freidman Road in Monticello is not just a farm, with a petting zoo and bumper boats and wagon rides, but laser tag, zip lines, pony rides, parakeets, ball blaster, electric go karts, zoom tubing, and virtual reality!

13. Demarest Farms at 244 Werimus Rd. in Hillsdale offers peach picking in the summer and apple picking in the fall. 


Amusement Parks

14. Adventureland Amusement Park, which is at 2245 Broad Hollow Road (Rt 110), Farmingdale, NY 11735 is free for guests under two. Guests 2 to 24 years-old are charged $44.99, and those 25 and older, are charged $34.99. Guests can save $5 by purchasing their tickets online at adventureland.us. 

15. Urban Air Adventure and Trampoline Park, which has three locations, offers a $399 special that includes: Guaranteed access, with no waiting, a private room that is secured for two hours, private check-in, and ultimate attractions for 20 people. Guests can buy tickets at the park or reserve online at urbanairparks.com or by e-mail at [email protected].  

Urban Air’s three locations are at 396 Ryders Lane, Ryders Crossing Shopping Center, Milltown, NJ 08850, (732) 286-1994, Wesley Street, South Hackensack, NJ 07606 (201) 212-6454, and at 1600 Saint Georges Avenue, Avenel, NJ 07001, (732) 640-8847.

16. Everest Virtual Realty Amusement Park, at 5604 New Utrecht Ave., offers excitement, adventure, action, and relaxation “in a different dimension.” More information can be found at (718) 775-3838.

17. Coney Island, just opened at 1208 Surf Ave.


Indoor Play Fun

18. 5 Wits offers a multi-room immersive adventure experience with special effects at 4270 Palisades Center Drive in West Nyack, on the top floor between Target and AMC.

19. Autobahn Indoor Speedway provides high-speed go-karting with Virtual Reality at 2272 Palisades Center Dr. #A200 in West Nyack

20. Billy Beez is a play arena with slides, trampolines, and obstacle courses that provide safe, active fun at 1000 Palisades Center Dr. in West Nyack.

21. Bounce Safari, at 3 North St. in Waldwick, NJ provides a structured play areas with slides and bounce castles.

22. Break Point Bowl & Entertainment at 40 S. Route 9W in West Haverstraw features a bowling alley and an arcade.


Love flowers? “Peak Bloom has arrived,” NYC Parks announces!

23. Experience cherry blossom season at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, which is located at 990 Washington Avenue. Right in Brooklyn, families can explore 52 acres of gardens filled burgeoning with 14,000 types of flora. Tickets are free for children under 12, and cost $18 for adults, $12 for students 12 and older with IDs and seniors who are 65 and up.

24. To 30. Central Park, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Roosevelt Island, Park Avenue, Long Island City, Madison Square Park, and Union City Park, are other great places to see New York’s cherry blossoms.  

31. Longwood Gardens, at 1001 Longwood Road in Kennett Square, PA, offers a vast collection of flower gardens, green houses, and fountain shows from 10am to 6pm. Reservations are recommended by calling (610) 388-1000. The gardens are closed on Tuesdays. Children under 4 go for free, tickets for 5 to 18-year-olds cost $13. adults 19 and up cost $25, and seniors 62 and up cost $22. SNAP/EBT/PA cardholders with cards and photo IDs are admitted for $2 each, with a maximum of 4 people per card.

32. Laurelwood Arboretum, at 725 Pines Lake Drive West in Wayne, NJ, offers 30-acres of woodlands, gardens, ponds, and streams from 8am to dusk. Admission is free.

33. New Jersey Botanical Gardens, at Ringwood State Park on Morris Road in Ringwood, NJ, offer a well-maintained Tudor revival manor home surrounded by formal and seasonal gardens from 8am to 8pm daily. Admission is free.

34. Voted as one of the best botanical gardens in the U.S., New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx maintains 250 verdant acres planted with more than a million plants. The garden is open from 10am to 6pm, Tuesdays through Sundays, but remains closed on Mondays.

Tickets for the gardens, which can be found at 2900 Southern Boulevard in the Bronx, are free for children under 2, $15 for children 2 to 15, #1 for seniors 65 and up and students with valid IDs, and $35 for adults.

35. Also in the Bronx, Wave Hill Public Gardens at 4900 Independence Ave., residents can check out 28-acres of gardens that blossom on slopes that overlook the Hudson River.

36. Untermyer Park and Gardens, at 945 N. Broadway in Yonkers provides a walled Persian Garden amidst relaxing landscaped park that expands throughout 40 acres: with gorgeous Hudson River views, trails, and picnic spots. Admission is free, and the park and gardens are open from 9am to 6pm daily.

37. Holland Ridge Farms, which opens on Tuesday, April 11, features rows and rows of a gorgeous Tulip Field and a pick-your-own-garden at 86 Rues Rd, Cream Ridge, NJ.


Science Fun

38. Science enthusiasts can check out Liberty Science Center, an interactive science museum and learning center that is located at 222 Jersey City Blvd, Jersey City, NJ 07305. For more information, please call (201) 200-1000, or visit LSC.org.

39. The New York Hall of Science, at 4701 111th St. in Queens, NY 11368, can be reached at (718) 699-0005.


Art Fun

40. Zelda’s Art World at 2291 Nostrano Ave. is great for creative people who like to do arts and crafts. More information can be found at (713) 694-1600.

41. The Painted Pot is a fun place to learn how to make clay creations and paint them at 229 Smith Street in Brooklyn. More information is at (718) 222-0334.

42. At Hobby House, located at 3915 14th Ave in Boro Park, creative people can paint, craft, and create.

43. Shtetl Gallery, Williamsburg’s first-ever Hasidic fine art gallery, is located at 56 Franklin Ave. 


Water and Air Fun

44. Lovers of the sea and its creatures, can take part in Whale and Dolphin Watching Cruises that depart daily 10am and 1 pm at Cape May Whale Watcher, which is located at 1218 Wilson Drive, Cape May, NJ. Tickets can be purchased at: capemaywhalewatcher.com

45. Residents who want to stay local, but who want to bike, go boating, and see many beautiful birds and owls, can just head to Prospect Park, which has entrances to its 526-acre natural oasis: along Ocean Avenue, Parkside Avenue, and Prospect Park West and Southwest. 

46.  While you are there: Prospect Park Zoo, which is located at 450 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11225, and can be reached at (718) 399-7339, or prospectparkzoo.com, is also a fun thing to do with little ones, who always love to see animals. 

47. One of the best ways and least expensive ways to see the Statue of Liberty is to take a 25-minute, free ride on the Staten Island Ferry, which can docks at St. George Ferry Terminal at 1 Bay Street and The Whitehall Ferry Terminal is located at 4 South Street, both of which are accessible by MTA buses and the Staten Island Railway (SIR). For more information, please call (718) 390-5253.

48. Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises operate guided tours of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty by day and the New York City skyline, starting at Pier 83 at 83 North River Piers, W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036. For more information, please call (212) 563-3200.

49. Chelsea Piers at West 23rd Street & Hudson River Park in Manhattan, offers batting cages, boat rides, bowling, bubble soccer, a golf driving range, ice-skating, rock- climbing, a scavenger hunt, and other fun activities. For more information, please call (212) 336-6666.

50. South Street Seaport, which can be found at Pier 17, at Fulton and South Streets in Manhattan, 10038, preserves the history of New York as a great port city includes an extensive collection of works of art and artifacts, a maritime reference library, galleries, a working 19th-century print shop, and a fleet of historic vessels. More information can be found at (212) 732-8257.

51. Liberty Helicopter Tours offer reservations for rides high above the city to see New York from the clouds by calling (800) 542-9933.


Zoos, Farms, and Aquariums 

52. The Bronx Zoo is located at 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY 10460 (718) 367-1010, bronxzoo.com.

53. In Manhattan, the Central Park Zoo is located at 5th Ave & 64th Street New York, NY 10021, (212) 439-6500, or centralparkzoo.com.

54. Queens has its own Queens zoo: at 53 to 51 111th Street, in Flushing, NY 11368-3301, and can be reached at (718) 271-1500, and at Queenszoo.com.

55. Staten Island Zoo is located at 614 Broadway, Staten Island, NY 10310. For more information, please call (718) 442-3100, or go online to Statenislandzoo.org.

56. If your children like fish, fish, and more fish, take your kids to Long Island Aquarium, which is located at 431 East Main St, Riverhead, NY 11901. For more information, please call (631) 208-9200, Ext. 426, or log on to Longislandaqauarium.com.

57. Brooklyn has its own New York Aquarium, which is located at 602 Surf Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11224. For more information, please call (718) 265-3474, or log onto Nyaquarium.com.


Museum Fun

58. From April 9 to 11, the Jewish Children’s Museum at 792 Eastern Parkway, is providing for little ones: a music exhibit that requires advance reservations by calling (718) 907-8833 or at jcm.museum.com. By using the promo code: MUSIC4, customers can receive a 10% discount off admission.

59. The Brooklyn Children’s Museum can be found at 145 Brooklyn Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11213, and more information can be found at (718) 735-4400.

60. The Jewish Museum is located at 1109 5th Ave. in Manhattan, and can be reached at (212) 423-3200.

61. The Center for Jewish History can be found at 15 West 16th Street New York, NY 10011. For more information, please call (212) 294-8301.

62. The Museum of Jewish Heritage is at 36 Battery Park, and more information can be found at (646) 437-4202

63. Vintage trains of the city can be explored at the New York Transit Museum can be found at 99 Schermerhorn St. in Brooklyn, NY 11201, and more information can be found at (718) 694-1600.

64. The Transit Museum is at 89 East 42nd St., and can be reached at (212) 878-0106.

65. The New York Historical Society, the city’s first museum, can be found at 170 Central Park West. 


Manhattan Fun

66. At Central Park Bike Rental at 117 West 58th Street, New York, NY 10019, bikes can be rented for $10 for two hours. 

67. Those who like the water can head to The Loeb Boathouse for gondola rides, which are $50 an hour, or to rent a rowboat for $20 per house. in Central Park. Reservations can be made at (212) 517-2233. 

68. Lovers of beautiful city skylines, 360 degrees around of the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, and Central Park can visit the 86th floor observatory of the Empire State Building at 350 5th Ave. More information can be found at (212) 736-3100.


Films In Boro Park for Women and Girls

69. "Kaya," is showing at Anshei Sfard at 4502 14th Avenue, on Motzei Shabbos, April 8, at 10pm, on Sunday, April 9 at 4:30 and 8:30pm, and on Tuesday, April 11 at noon. Tickets cost $30 each.

70. “Salento” is showing at Reiger Hall, the Lipcshitz entrance, at 5000 14th Ave., Motzei Shabbos, April 8 at 10pm, Sunday April 9 at 6 and 9pm, Monday April 10 at 4:30 and 8:30pm, and Tuesday, April 11 at 12:30pm. 

71. “The Last Day” is showing at Ateres Golda at 1368 50th St., Motzei Shabbos at 10:15pm, Sunday, April 9 at 4:30 and 8:30pm, Monday April 10 at 5 and 9pm, and Tuesday, April 11 at 12:45pm. 


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