Parking 101 - Floral Park & the LIRR

When my husband and I bought our house, we made sure it was walking distance to the LIRR because we only have one car. This ended up being a great move, since there have been countless times in the past 2 years that one of us has needed to walk home. Not only do we rarely catch the same train back, but shit just sometimes happens... and it seemed crazy for us to own two cars when we both commute to work via public transit.  In this post, I'll cover parking, both at home and at the train.

Parking in Floral Park village to tricky because there is a 4 hour limit village-wide and absolutely no overnight parking on the street. So, if you're looking to buy in Floral Park, make sure you have adequate driveway space.  Since few homes have a double-wide driveway, you're really looking for length. Our house has room for 3 cars, so we feel pretty covered until our kids start to drive (gulp).

One caveat on this parking situation is that I've never seen the four hour thing enforced. I have two neighbors that park on the street all day (since tandem is annoying) and I've never seen them get a ticket. So no worries about lengthy visiting guests. The overnight rule, however, is enforced. And I have to say, while it's probably an inconvenience to some people, it's a great safety measure. Cars on the street at night stand out like sore thumbs to our very vigilant police, making it difficult for anyone to burglarize a home, hang out parked while doing something illicit, or live in a parked car here in the village.  So, all in all, a good rule, but something to keep in mind if you're considering moving here.

If you drive to the Floral Park train station, you have a couple of options. I'll list them here:

1. Get a commuter parking license from the village. With this, you can park under the LIRR in the "for residents" spots for $75 per year. The spots do seem to fill up, but if you take an early enough train, you're probably ok. There's no overnight parking here, though. Here's a link: http://www.fpvillage.org/Parking%20info/parking%20permit%20info.htm

2. Metered parking next to the train - there are metered spots north of the tracks and on the street near the train. For these, you'll need mass quantities of quarters if you plan to park the whole day. There seem to generally be spots available at most times.

3. The parking lot across from the police station has parking available until at least 8:30am most days. This lot has numbered spaces and two meter machines that take cash or credit cards for parking up until 11pm. I park here most days and it's about $5 for my day from 8-6. The machines are incredibly temperamental and the queue can be a few people long. Tempers flare when the train is a minute away and the machines act up.  Get there 10 minutes before your train to avoid this annoyance.

Happy commuting!

Floral Park (Nassau County) For Working Moms

Life for moms of small children in the 'burbs of NYC is grand... Until you go back to work. The commute, the logistics of getting everyone where they need to go and then getting yourself into the city (wearing pants) can be overwhelming. We lived in Brooklyn until our first was two, and then (as many people do), headed east to be closer to family and purchase a (tiny) little plot of NY to call our own. We settled in Floral Park, a town which falls half in Queens and half in Nassau County. The village of Floral Park lies on the Nassau side, with higher taxes and more of a "Mayberry" feel. Manicured lawns, vigilant churchgoing neighbors, village police and fire departments, a community rec center with renovated pool, and a decent bang for your buck in terms of square feet and proximity to Manhattan. But while pretty and safe and incredibly family-friendly, the village of Floral Park poses some unique challenges for working moms. And when I tried to do some research on child care and school options online . . . crickets. So here I am resurrecting my blog and chronicling my experiences in case anyone else is searching this topic.

So, welcome to this new incarnation of my blog, where I'll try to tackle child care, the local schools, and activities in and around the village of Floral Park, Nassau County, NY.

The Great App Debate

While in line at Whole Foods, I overheard two moms talking about how they would not allow their toddlers to play with iPads/pods/computers and eavesdropped as they waxed on about how it's better for children's development to lock them in a playroom with tinkertoys and children's book classics all day than expose them to technology that will equip them for success in the future (I'm paraphrasing). Well, I was downright offended. My daughter loves apps. And legos. And books. And e-books. In our lives, they're not competitive and none of them are "better" than the others. The apps replace a portion of tv time, the ebooks replace a portion of toy time, and we always have plenty of time for traditional books, especially since I work in publishing and have access to amazing books all the time (lucky me!) The point of this blog, though, is not to compare books vs. e-books vs. apps, since they are such separate creatures in our lives. But i've found that for children's books, there are so many amazing resources and professional reviews (including your invaluable local librarian--librarians are helpful and amazing!) but there are very few ways to learn of quality digital experiences for kids... So many lists and reviews are vague or written by adults that don't seem to actually have kids. My hope is to be a valuable resource for parents looking for great apps (and possibly other gear) for their kids, and, along the way, I'll chronicle my daughter's journey with the iPad as she explores various forms of digital entertainment, learns and grows.

Olivia, my little girl, has just turned one (born 12/2/2010). She has her own iPad (thanks to daddy, an Apple addict and digtal advertising guy) and has just figured out how to turn it on, choose her own app, and even independently play the simple ones.

Thanks for reading, and I hope I can provide some good reviews!