NY Kids Club

As someone here mentioned its a business and all about money.
I live in the NYC area where getting your kids into pre-​k is extremely difficult due to limited seats. NY Kids Club closes their admission dates way before the public and private schools. So if you want to consider sending your kids to NY Kids Club or a local school you don’t have a choice. NY Kids Club wants their first deposit in January and the second by early Feb and the local schools won’t know if they have seats open till the latter part of Feb and March. You can’t even apply to the school you are zoned for till March 3^rd for Pre-​K. Once you pay NY Kids Club, forget about getting your money back.
Shame on you NY Kids Club!!!

i took my son here for a class and he had a really fun time. the instructors were awesome! I would love to enroll him in more classes but they are a little too expensive. Good experience.

Overall we are pleased with the classes my daughter does Ballet there. It is on the expensive side with a class only being once a week and only 45 mins. But you get what you pay for, the teachers pay a great amount of attention to my daughter and other kids. Everyone is very friendly.

My child has taken a few classes at the Brooklyn Heights Kids Club and we’ve had a completely positive experience. She took a Preschool Chefs class and Russ, the instructor, wrote a detailed progress report halfway through the ‘semester.’ The place is immaculate and the staff is energetic and cheerful. I used my event credit to go to a pizza party with my daughter where there were art projects, music, games — it was fun for me, too. But it is NOT cheap.

I know, I know — you need a break from looking at reviews of Ippudo, PDT and Buddakan and have just been waiting patiently to know more about NY Kids Club in Brooklyn Heights even though you don’t have children. Fortunately for you, I do and can provide you with this future service. You’re welcome.
NY Kids Club is too expensive, there really is no question about it. BUT, there is not a facility around with as much to offer kids. I once investigated doing my daughter’s birthday party here. A bit later, I got up off the ground after seeing the pricing and decided against it. Since then, I kind of shunned the place as a conglomerate kid empire without ever stepping inside.
Inside is controlled mayhem. Strollers and nannies everywhere and even a few parents mixed in, but helpful and informative service at the front and most of what you could ask for in a facility of this nature. I entered this mayhem because my daughter wanted to do a cooking class with her friend. NY Kids Club, very smartly, offered a free trial week for all of their classes and this was the perfect opportunity to give it a try.*
The teacher was fantastic, the class size was small and when an hour passed, my daughter came out happy and confident and with a bag of homemade fortune cookies that were absolutely awesome.
So they gave me a taste and I needed more**. We have now signed up for the whole session which runs about 20 weeks and I know of no other locations in this area that have the staff, facility and experience to provide an Executive Chefs class to 7+ year olds in a small kitchen/​room.
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*Think gateway drug for parents.
**Fine, my daughter has me wrapped around her finger. At least she didn’t get the pony that day.

This place is a business. Well duh, you say, of course it is. Let me elaborate.
I have taken my toddler daughter to several of the facilities for class and play sessions. Classes seem to be oriented towards pleasing the parents more than the kids, with age-​inappropriate activities and pressure on the little ones.
NY Kids Club operates like a well-​oiled money making machine, and it is obvious that money making is their primary, and perhaps only, goal. They strictly usher the kids in and out per their set schedule, starting to clean up well before the official class ending time. The place is incredibly impersonal. I blame the administration and not the coaches, who are in general good and are clearly following orders from above.
The facility is clean and my daughter likes the gym, so I wouldn’t say that you shouldn’t sign up for the open play sessions, particularly if you’re looking for a bad-​weather activity for your kid. But I can’t say I’d sign up for another class there.
For the exorbitant sum of money parents are paying for classes, they should be getting more. Or paying less.