By Susan Miele

Sept. 24, 2025: Parents and caregivers can breathe a sigh of relief: The Bronxville Playroom is now open. The new play space meets a longstanding demand in Bronxville for a convenient, indoor destination for little ones and their families.

Step into the magical world of the Bronxville Playroom, and you’ll wish you were a kid again. The airy, brightly lit interior with clouds dangling from the ceiling offers assorted interactive stations that inspire exploration, imagination, and discovery.

“We wanted to create a calming setting for everyone who visits,” explained owner Liz Hayden Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald, a Bronxville native and current resident, valued the indoor play spaces that her family frequented in Manhattan when they lived there years ago. Her dream of bringing that service to her hometown Bronxville has now been realized. The Bronxville Playroom opened on September 2, coinciding with the first day of public school.

The entryway features a spacious area to check in and stow strollers, jackets, diaper bags, and shoes (socks are required for both children and adults to enter the play area; pairs are available for purchase for those who arrive without them). The 90-minute sessions that are offered might be spent playing with toy vehicles, gears, pegs, blocks, trains, and other loose parts. For more active play, there’s a low climber with steps, a slide, and a hideout underneath, as well as a tricycle. Children might opt to shop in the clapboard general store, drive their groceries home in the toy car, and then do meal prep in the pretend kitchen (with or without their baby doll). A smaller room in the back offers books, dress-up clothes, and dolls and their accoutrements.

It’s hard to believe that this space was previously occupied by Lewiko Imaging Art, retailer of photography-related merchandise. 

Fitzgerald noted that she and colleague Liz Flannery Gollenberg are continuing to make refinements in response to real-world learnings. They’re also rolling out various services gradually, such as different types of classes; currently, tumbling instruction is offered on weekends, but future plans include music and movement, as well as midweek offerings.

“We’re still figuring it all out,” Fitzgerald noted. “We’re in this learning and adjusting phase. We want to be able to pivot. We want to see what’s working for everybody.”

Membership is another concept that’s in the works but not yet offered. However, volume discounts are available through the purchase of session packs.

While the Bronxville Playroom is geared towards children aged 2-5, accommodations have been made for the 6-9-year-old crowd—another example of pivoting in response to community interest.

Space is limited to 15 children at a time. Advance reservations are encouraged, but drop-ins are accommodated based on availability. Children must be chaperoned in the playroom at all times. Birthday parties are available—and several have already been booked. Free play is not offered during scheduled classes or parties. Bathrooms are equipped with changing tables and stepstools.

Fitzgerald views the Bronxville Playroom as catering to adult comforts, as well, recognizing that people will want to bring along a cup of coffee and take a breather from their day.

“We wanted to create a space where people just feel relaxed and happy to be here.”