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The Statue of Liberty
The universal symbol of freedom and democracy, the Statue of Liberty was the first sight to be seen by the 12 million immigrants who passed through the Ellis Island Immigration Center. Sculpted by Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi and modeled on the Colossus of Rhodes, the statue was donated by the people of France in 1886 to commemorate the alliance between the two countries during the American Revolution. Access to the monument is available by reservation only via a ranger-guided tour and a time pass is required; advanced reservations are possible by calling (866) 782 8834 or online at www.statuecruises.com. The interior of the statue itself is closed. The ferry calls at both Liberty and Ellis Islands.
Address: Liberty Island, New York Harbor
Phone Number: (212) 363 3200; 866-782-8834 (ferry information)
Email Address: info@statuecruises.com
Website: www.nps.gov/stli
Transport: Circle Line Statue of Liberty Ferry from South Ferry at Battery Park to Liberty and Ellis islands. Ferries operate from 9.30am to 3.40pm, with departures approximately every 30 minutes
Hours: Daily 9am to 5pm (except Christmas Day)
Admission: No fee is charged, but the ferry costs $12 (adults), $5(children).

World Trade Center - Ground Zero
The six-hectare (16-acre) work site that has emerged from the rubble of the twin towers has come to symbolise the dreadful events of September 11, 2001 when almost 3,000 people lost their lives. The 1,350ft (411m) World Trade Center towers were the tallest buildings in New York and symbols of the city's skyline. Millions now come to pay tribute at the site and witness the devastation from one of the viewing sites. In April 2003, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation launched a worldwide competition to design a memorial at the World Trade Center site to honor the victims of September 11. The LMDC received 5,201 memorial design submissions from 63 nations and 49 states making this the largest design competition in history. In January 2004 'Reflecting Absence' by Michael Arad and Peter Walker was unveiled as the design for the World Trade Center Memorial, and will feature a landscaped civic plaza with two massive voids aligned with the footprints where the twin towers once stood. Currently the perimeter of Ground Zero is accessible to the public. The Tribute Center, across from Ground Zero, offers tours around the perimeter, and provides visitors with an accurate account of what the community endured during the attacks. The Memorial itself is scheduled to open 11 September 2009.
Address: Tribute WTC Visitor Center: 120 Liberty Street
Phone Number: (212) 393 9160
Website: www.national911memorial.org
Transport: Take the subway to Fulton Street, Broadway-Nassau Street or Cortlandt Street. Walk to Church and Liberty Streets and follow signs
Hours: Museum: Daily 10am to 6pm, except Tuesday and Sunday when it opens at 12pm. Tours of the perimeter: Monday to Friday 1pm and 3pm, Saturday and Sunday 12pm, 1pm, 2pm and 3pm
Admission: Suggested donation to the Tribute Center is $10 for adults

Empire State Building
One of the enduring symbols of New York, and once again the city's tallest structure, the Empire State Building stands 436ft (145m) high. Completed in 1931, this Art Deco behemoth remains one of the most impressive engineering feats of all time; it was built in just 410 days and remains the fastest rising major skyscraper ever built. The building has been immortalized in many films - most famously the classic King Kong. The observation decks on the 86th and 102nd floors offer magnificent views of the city.
Address: 350 Fifth Avenue, between 33rd and 34th Streets, Manhattan
Phone Number: (212) 736 3100
Website: www.esbnyc.com
Transport: Subway B, D or F to 34th Street
Hours: Observatory: daily 8am to 2am; last elevator at 1.15am
Admission: $20 (adults), $14 (children 6-11), other concessions available.

Central Park
With great foresight, the founders of New York set aside 340 hectares (840 acres) of central Manhattan as a public space. Central Park was officially opened in 1873 and today provides an essential 'green lung' within the concrete jungle that is New York. Originally designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, the park contains themed gardens, tennis courts, lakes and even a small zoo. Much of the park is infused by the city's bustle and on nice days swarms with joggers, skaters, buskers and tourists, but there are areas beyond the range of baseballs and frisbees where tranquility can be found in this beautifully landscaped park. During winter, two ice-skating rinks open up in Central Park, the Wollman Rink (mid-Park at 62nd St) is one of the most picturesque in the world, set among the trees and rolling hills and against the backdrop of Manhattan's skyscrapers.
Phone Number: (212) 310 6600
Email Address: contact@centralparknyc.org
Website: www.centralparknyc.org

Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), founded in 1929, owns the most important collection of modern art in the USA including works by Monet, Van Gogh, Matisse, Picasso, Max Beckman, Ansel Adams, and Kiki Smith. What started as a gift of eight prints and one drawing has developed to a vast and varied collection of 150,000 paintings, prints, sculptures, photographs and other media, and the Musuem's Library and Archives boast an impressive collection of books, historical documents and photographs. Priding itself as an educational institution, the Museum of Modern Art offers various activities and programs for the general public, as well as special segments thereof, in order to broaden the community's knowledge of, and approach to, the exciting and puzzling world of modern art.
Address: 11 West 53 Street, Manhattan
Phone Number: (212) 708 9400
Email Address: info@moma.org
Website: www.moma.org
Transport: Subway: E or V train to 53rd Street and Fifth Avenue, or B, D, or F train to 47-50 Street Rockefeller Center. Bus: M1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 to 53rd Street
Hours: Daily 10.30am to 5.30pm (until 8pm on Friday); closed Tuesdays
Admission: $20 (adults), free for children under 16 accompanied by an adult. Free on Fridays from 4pm to 8pm

The Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R Guggenheim Museum was designed by US architect Frank Lloyd Wright and was completed shortly after his death in 1959. It is well worth a visit just to see this icon of Modernist architecture, which was designed specifically to showcase the modern art within. Inside, it features a highly commended collection of late 19th- and 20th-century art works, as well as touring exhibitions. From beneath the huge glass dome, a quarter-of-a-mile-long ramp spirals down the inside of the building, past the collection of art, including works by Camille Pissarro, Vasily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Pablo Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec, Cézanne, Robert Mapplethorpe and Robert Gober.
Address: 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street
Phone Number: (212) 423 3500
Website: www.guggenheim.org
Transport: Subway 4, 5 or 6 to 86th Street; bus M1, M2, M3, or M4 on Madison or Fifth Avenue
Hours: Saturday to Wednesday 10am to 5.45pm; Friday 10am to 7.45; closed Thursdays and Christmas Day
Admission: $18 (adults), free for children under 12. Rates differ during special exhibitions

Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum possesses one of the greatest, and largest, collections of art in the world; it is a cherished New York institution and a must see for any visitor. Banners above the Met's Fifth Avenue entrance herald the current attractions - there are always a few exhibitions on-the-go displaying masterpieces from around the world alongside the Metropolitan's own collection. The highlights of the permanent collection are numerous - American collectors having had the foresight, and cash, to buy up a large number of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces from Europeans at the end of the 19th century. The Metropolitan Museum's collection now contains more than two million works of art from all points of the compass, from ancient through modern times, including great works by Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet and Cézanne to rival any gallery in the world.
Address: 1000 Fifth Avenue, at 82nd Street
Phone Number: (212) 535 7710
Website: www.metmuseum.org
Hours: Tuesday to Thursday and Sunday 9.30am to 5.30pm, Friday and Saturday 9.30am to 9pm. Closed Mondays, New Year's Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas
Admission: $20 (adults) is suggested; free for children under 12 accompanied by an adult. There is no additional charge, beyond the admission contribution, to attend an exhibition

American Museum of Natural History
Possibly with the exception of its counterpart in London, the American Museum of Natural History is the largest and most important museum of its kind in the world. More than 30 million artifacts are packed into 42 exhibition halls - quite enough to keep anyone busy over a rainy afternoon. The most popular exhibit is a 50ft (15m) tall skeleton of a barosaurus in the Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda. There are three more spectacular dinosaur halls on the fourth floor. Other halls include the Hall of Biodiversity, the Hall of Ocean Life, the Hall of Human Biology and Evolution and the fabulous Hayden Planetarium - a 90ft (27m) wide aluminum sphere that seems to float inside a massive glass cube, which in turn is home to the Rose Center for Earth and Space. Those tired of walking can check out the Museum of Television and Radio.
Address: Central Park West, at West 79th Street
Phone Number: (212) 769 5100; 769 5200 (tickets and programs)
Website: www.amnh.org
Hours: Daily 10am to 5.45pm, except Christmas Day and Thanksgiving
Admission: Suggested admission $15 (adults), $8.50 (children 2-12); plus Planetarium Space show: $24 (adults), $14 (children 2-12); plus special exhibition or Imax show: $24 (adults), $14 (children 2-11)

Broadway
Going to the theater is one of the most popular tourist events in New York and the shows on Broadway are world famous, boasting some of the best in the world from blockbuster musicals to intense personal drama. There are ongoing shows that have been running for years, such as The Lion King, Phantom of the Opera, Chicago and A Chorus Line. This is one way to experience part of the American dream, even if only on vacation.
Website: www.broadway.com

Times Square
Though it's just an intersection at the corner of Broadway and 42nd Street, Times Square has achieved iconic status, representing, in a single frame, the hive of activity that is New York City. Flashing advertisements and huge billboards produce a headache-inducing but memorable sight. Times Square has been used in countless films, television and literature. It is the base for ABC's Good Morning America programs and MTV's popular Total Request Live. Annually hundreds of thousands gather on New Year's Eve in the square to revel and see the infamous ball-dropping ceremony.
Address: cnr 42nd Street and Broadway
Hours: 24 Hrs
Admission: Free

Rockefeller Center
Named for the man who developed the space, the world's first dollar billionaire, John D Rockefeller, this 22 acre (8ha) land houses a plethora of iconic New York City attractions. Radio City Music Hall used to be the most popular tourist venue in the city and still ranks highly among visitors. Radio City has hosted multiple awards shows such as the Grammies, Emmies and MTV Music Awards. It is also a concert venue frequented by today's popular performers. The GE Building, the address for which the popular TV series 30 Rock is named, is the home to Saturday Night Live and the site from which the eerie 'Lunchtime atop a skyscraper' photograph was taken. At the base of the GE building is the Rockefeller Ice Rink with the golden statue of Prometheus at its head. Underneath Rockefeller Plaza is the Concourse, an underground pedestrian mall boasting designer brands and food outlets.
Address: Between 48th and 51st Streets; and 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue, Manhattan
Hours: 8am - 9pm
Admission: Free with a NY Pass

Brooklyn Bridge
The sheer scope of New York City is hard to understand until your traversed the Brooklyn Bridge, inaugurated in 1883, which crosses 5,989 feet (1,825 m) of the East River and connects two of New York's biggest metropoliss, Manhattan and Brooklyn. At the time the construction of the bridge was a feat of engineering ingenuity, the longest suspension bridge at the time. Today it is a treasured landmark of the city, colorfully illuminated at night to highlight the architectural towers and hangings. There is a pedestrian walkway from which visitors can savour vistas of both Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Hours: 24 Hrs
Admission: Free

St Patrick's Cathedral
St Patrick's Cathedral is a magnificent example of the geometric style of Gothic architecture that was popular in Europe in the 13th century. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic archbishop of New York and the largest Catholic cathedral in the United States.   With its spires soaring 330-foot into the air, and the ornately detailed entrance, this is undoubtedly one of the city's most spectacular buildings. St Patrick's was built between 1850 and 1878; its giant organ has over 7,300 pipes.   To most New Yorkers and harried tourists, St Patrick's is most valued for its peace and tranquility - rare qualities indeed in this most frenetic of cities.
Address: Fifth Avenue, between 50th and 51st Streets
Phone Number: (212) 753-2261
Email Address: spctrojas@saintpatrickscathedral.org
Website: www.saintpatrickscathedral.org
Hours: Daily 6.30am to 8.45pm
Admission: Free

Grand Central Station
One of New York's most famous and best loved landmarks, Grand Central was opened in 1913 opposite Rockefeller Center. It is the world's largest train station in terms of platforms with 44. Its true distinction, however, is its magnificent architecture and striking ambiance, anchored by enormous windows and the refurbished ceiling, covered by a detailed astronomical fresco. The Terminal houses five good restaurants, twenty value and lunch time eateries restaurants, and about fifty specialty shops. The 12,000 sq ft Vanderbilt Hall regularly houses public events. Don't miss the one-hour private guided tour; book several weeks ahead in peak season to avoid disappointment. Grand Central sees around 250,000 commuters per day, but over 500,000 visitors.
Address: 110 E. 42nd St.
Phone Number: (212) 340-2345
Website: www.grandcentralterminal.com
Admission: Free; tours cost $5

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