Staying in NYC for first time, family of 4?

we're staying in NYC for 6 nights in june and we're planning to stay at a rented out apartment through a service, but we can't decided..well we don't exactly know what's better...if to stay in Soho, Noho or to rend an apartment in the Upper East Side (near Central Park). We want to be close to the typical New York action but we also want to be able to visit NYU (for my daughter) and other, less visited parts of ny. thanks so much :)