SUSTAINABLE CITY | NYC Subway with Toddler Stroller

There are plenty of things to do in NYC with a toddler, in any season, after all this is the city that never sleeps. Master the NYC subway with a toddler stroller and unlock the hidden gems of the city. Many people come to New York during the holidays but New Yorkers aren’t at our best till its shorts season. Being locked up inside during the summer with a toddler is an evil I wish upon no mother, so I’ve comprised this list of ways to tackle the NYC Subway with a stroller. I like to walk most places but the lure of a free music festival or beach trip gets me on the sweltering summertime subway every year. After two years of riding the subway with a stroller, I realized there a few things I wish I had known about getting around NYC with a toddler on the Subway, with a stroller in tow.

1. Download a subway map

Even as a native New Yorker I find this invaluable, as mom brain has me forgetting up, from down most days. I don’t have any spare brain power left for traversing NYC Mass Transit System with a toddler and their inevitable service changes.  So when riding the NYC train with my toddler daughter, especially when I have our stroller in tow, I make sure to have access to a subway map that is easy and accessible offline, I use this one. All NYC subway stations are now equipped with free wifi. Take it from a native New Yorker the subway changes all the time, different trains get rerouted in the most nonsensical ways known to man. Some NYC stations even have large touch screen kiosk to help passengers best plan their trip and alert you to possible subway delays. It’s helpful to have hand sanitizer on hand to clean the NYC germs off tiny toddler hands after using the displays with your toddler. Having an NYC subway map at your fingertips means that even when they’re DELAYS, AND THERE WILL BE, you and your toddler will be 10 steps ahead of the game with a subway app on your phone.

2. Follow the wheelchairs

If you’re using a stroller on the subway your best advice is to follow the wheelchairs. Short of actually following someone in a wheelchair around the station follow the signs that have wheelchairs on them. These wheelchairs are meant to signify handicap accessibility. Be prepared to leave the NYC subway wanting to lobby for the differently abled, as the truly accessible subway stops are few and far between. NYC subway stations are notorious for being only slightly accessible, often stations are accessible via only one direction and or have elevator access to one level but stairs to the platform.

3. Get an unlimited MetroCard

Sometimes 4 blocks away there is a wheelchair accessible station. And sometimes when you have to choose between those four NYC blocks and having to unpack the load in your under chassis and release an over-tired toddler only to have to recapture said toddler at the bottom of the steps. Those four blocks are LIFE SAVERS heck in a particularly hard day 20 blocks are a dream.

Taking the Subway in NYC with Toddler Stroller

4. Ignore the Gate agent

In theory, they’re there to help you. In reality, they are overtired, overworked, spread far too thin and in possession of far too much sass for my liking. So I ignore them and manage the NYC subway system with my toddler by following my foolproof three-part plan to get onto the subway with a  stroller.

Step one: find the gate marked wheelchair accessible. And position your stroller outside of it with the handlebars facing the door.

Step two: Find your MetroCard, do not leave here without being ready because you’ll most likely regret it

Step three: with MetroCard in hand step over to nearest turnstile, swipe smooth and fast in one motion, proceed through the turnstile, double back, open gate, retrieve toddler and proceed on your merry way.

In theory, you’re supposed to alert a gate agent before swiping your card. They’re supposed to watch you turn the turnstile and then buzz you in through the aforementioned gate.

It’s a theory

When riding the subway, try to avoid boarding with your stroller near another stroller wheeling mama. It’ll prevent traffic blocks ok the train, if at all possible enter at either end of the train and angle your wheels towards the end of the car as opposed to the middle. You’ll have fewer people trying to get around you or push there way into the train.

At this point, you should be shuttling between boroughs like a pro but If all else fails, just look hella lost. New Yorkers love our city, she’s the sassiest member of our family and we’re proud of her. If you stand still and stare at a sign for one second too long, SOMEONE will take you under their wing and set you on the right path. I’ve accidentally been lost in thought on an NYC subway platform with a slumbering toddler time or two and had the privilege of being on the receiving end of (welcomed) unsolicited advice of a kind stranger. I’m dealing with a professional toddler, a masterful two-year-old the last thing I want to do is think for myself when riding the NYC subway with a stroller.

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