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Federal laws guarantee that all government offices and facilities are available to the disabled. Most restaurant listings also note whether the location is accessible by wheelchair. Though things are improving slowly but surely, New York is still hard to navigate: streets are congested, street corners with curb cuts are often overcrowded with pedestrians and the general hustle and bustle is a drawback to anyone not operating at a breakneck pace. What's worse, subways are either on elevated tracks or deep below the ground and there are few elevators to access them; buses, which all have wheelchair elevation systems and ride space, are definitely the way to go. All movie and Broadway theatres have areas reserved for wheelchairs, and sometimes the newer movie theatres even have those seats near the front, rather than stuck in the back.
Contrary to popular belief, New York can be a pretty child-friendly town - it just takes a bit of guidance to find all the little creature comforts that you're accustomed to having back home. While visiting during warm weather tends to make things easier, as you can always resort to the many parks, playgrounds and zoos to let your kids expel some pent-up energy, there are plenty of indoor activities as well. Particular museums (especially those for kids), theatres, movie theatres, book and toy stores, an aquarium and even a slew of restaurants are perfect places for families. Sticking to neighbourhoods known for their high stroller factor - the Upper West Side and Park Slope, Brooklyn, in particular - will make it easier to find places where a screaming, tired kid will provoke sympathetic smiles rather than horrified glares.
There are some pitfalls, of course, mainly going up and down subway stairs while lugging a stroller, and being left out in the cold when it comes to fine dining and chi-chi accommodations.
It's no big deal to be LGBT in New York City, the birthplace of the gay rights movement. Since those revolutionary riots back in 1969 at the Stonewall Bar (it still exists) New Yorkers' queer tolerance has continued to improve by leaps and bounds. It's acceptable - and by and large ignored - if same-sex couples hold hands or kiss in public in practically all of Manhattan and most outer-borough spots, as well. The gayest neighborhoods include Chelsea, Brooklyn's Park Slope, the East Village and the West Village.
