Family portrait

50.fw.fp.mommypoppins_03_0.jpg635881
50.fw.fp.mommypoppins_11_0.jpg635892
50.fw.fp.mommypoppins_22_0.jpg635903
50.fw.fp.mommypoppins_20_0.jpg635914

Photographs by Imogen Brown

When Anna Fader calls herself "a knowledge maven," she’s not bragging; she’s just stating a fact. As the founder, editor and main writer of Mommy Poppins—a popular local blog highlighting Fader’s favorite things to do with kids in the city—the New York native is the best kind of know-it-all. Although she now makes her home in the northern Financial District with her husband, technology consultant Ed Eigerman, and their two children, she’s lived in a dozen different area nabes throughout her life. Perhaps that’s why she’s such an expert.

Where have you lived in NYC?
AF I was born on the block Ed grew up on in Brooklyn. Since then, I’ve lived in the West Village, the Meatpacking District—when it still packed meat—and Soho. I’ve also lived in Gramercy, the Upper West Side, Tompkinsville in Staten Island, Yonkers, SoWhat or west of Soho, which was completely deserted at the time, Williamsburg, Chelsea and now NoFiDi.
EE I’m from Park Slope, which wasn’t at all the way it is now. There was a candy shop around the corner from us that I wasn’t allowed to go to because of gang wars.

When you started Mommy Poppins, did you expect it to become your career?
AF No. I had this really intense job as a creative director at an ad agency. I was trying to find an outside project for myself, and I thought, I could do a blog. I didn’t leave my job specifically because I thought I was going to make money off of Mommy Poppins. When I left my job, it was personal. I looked around me and there were no women at my level with two kids in my entire agency. I realized that everybody had figured out a way to take their expertise and channel it into a niche that allowed them to do other things.

Many assume you’re the mom strollering her kids on your logo, but that’s not you. Is there a reason you’re not the face of the site?
AF I was little when John Lennon was shot, and I remember thinking, I never want to be famous. I actually started the blog anonymously; now my photo’s at the bottom.
EE It was a really big deal for her to put her picture up.

Do you ever get recognized?
AF Once, I met Jon Stewart’s wife, Tracey, who opened Moomah café. I said, "Hi," and she was like, "You’re Mommy Poppins!" and bowed to me. I was like, "Right back at you, lady!" That kind of stuff is really nice and happens once in a while, but it’s not like people are stopping me on the street every day.

How do your kids like the perks of your job?
AF The funny thing is, they believe that I’m using them! They’re so cynical. Whenever I take them to something really amazing, they’re like, "You’re just doing this for Mommy Poppins." And I’m like, "Do you not understand that I’m doing this site so I can do cool stuff with you?"

How do you respond to people who insist it’s too difficult to have kids in NYC?
EE Well, we both grew up here and couldn’t imagine raising our kids anywhere else. You can expose them to such a variety of things, from high culture to street games.
AF People are always saying things like, "I’m moving to the suburbs because you get so much more." So much more what? More house, more backyard, but you lose so much.—Raven Snook

Their favorite...

NEIGHBORHOOD HANGOUT
"We love Moomah (161 Hudson St between Laight and Hubert Sts, 212-226-0345), a new spot in Tribeca that has great food, a wonderful atmosphere and neat craft projects we can do together."

DINNER RESTAURANT
"Our kids enjoy Indian food and can’t get enough of samosas and mango lassis, so we go to hole-in-the-wall taxi-stand Indian places a lot. The food at Pakistan Tea House (176 Church St between Duane and Reade Sts, 212-240-9800) is a little bit better than others nearby."

BRUNCH SPOT
"We often go for dim sum in Chinatown. We like trying different places each time, but Dim Sum Go-Go (5 East Broadway at Chatham Sq, 212-732-0797) is a favorite. It’s less greasy and a little quieter than some of the other places."

PARK
"We treat City Hall Park (between Broadway and Park Row) like our backyard (but with a gardening staff courtesy of the Parks Department). It’s such a beautifully designed park and it’s where the kids learned to ride their bikes, Rollerblade, skateboard, and throw and catch a ball. And we never have to mow!"

CULTURAL ATTRACTION
"We’re really into the Sony Wonder Technology Lab (550 Madison Ave at 56th St, 212-833-8100). They recently redid the whole thing, and it has the coolest exhibits for the kids to play with the latest technology."

ANNUAL EVENT
"Right now we’re into quirky holiday events, like the New York City Fire Museum’s Santa Rescue (Dec 13 at noon). They use the hook and ladder to save Santa from getting stuck in the chimney."

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY
"We love the neighborhood Little Leagues, soccer and other sports leagues. In our neighborhood it’s Downtown Little League and Downtown Soccer. It’s great that NYC kids can belong to sports leagues, something you feel like you should have to move to the suburbs to do; plus they are very affordable."

• Family portrait
• Articles from this issue