I met most of my old-time SoHo friends at the SoHo Playgroup, which was started by a bunch of neighborhood mothers as a series of playdates in various homes and at Thompson Street Playground (now called Vesuvio Playground) around 1970. Once the Playgroup moved into its own space, it became a bit more structured and organized.  It operated weekday mornings, and each morning a group of three parents would help Cynthia, a teacher, look after the fifteen children, thus giving the children a fun place to play and socialize while the other parents had some free time.