New York, New York — Where to Go
New York Sightseeing Overview
Most tourists focus on Manhattan, where the iconic attractions are located. The remaining four boroughs are primarily residential (the Bronx to the north, Queens to the east, Brooklyn to the southeast and Staten Island to the southwest), although it's worthwhile exploring them all - particularly Brooklyn.
Mostly flat and easily navigated, Manhattan itself is great for walking, with the excellent subway system handy for longer hops between attractions. The city is packed with things to do and places to see - each street and neighborhood offers its own varied sights and flavors. Top attractions, like the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building, are world renowned, but there are enough less heralded places to fill weeks of sightseeing.
Manhattan has many distinct neighborhoods that are worth exploring, from the ritzy shopping and residential districts uptown, to the financial district of downtown, taking in the villages in between.
Soho (which got its name because it is south of Houston Street, pronounced HOW-stun) is famous for its shopping. Greenwich Village traditionally contains a literary and gay community and has the quaint bookstores and cafes to go with it. The young-and-hip East Village retains its edginess, which is reflected in its quirky shops, record stores, nightclubs and drinking spots.
Historical Lower East Side, once an immigrant neighborhood, is now filled with boutiques and vintage shops, nightclubs and restaurants. Chelsea, the center of the city's gallery scene, is another gay-friendly neighborhood.
Away from the city, Long Island and a number of city beaches provide an escape on hot and humid summer days.
New York Tourist Information
NYC & Company - Convention and Visitors Bureau
810 Seventh Avenue, between 52nd and 53rd Streets
Tel: (212) 484 1222.
Website: www.nycvisit.comorwww.nyc.com
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0830-1800, Sat-Sun 0830-1700.
Visitor Information Kiosks
NYC Heritage Tourism Center
Southern tip of City Hall Park on the Broadway sidewalk at Park Row
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1800, Sat-Sun and holidays 1000-1700.
Chinatown
At the junction where Canal, Walker, and Baxter Streets meet
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1800.
New York Sightseeing
The City Pass (tel: (208) 787 4300 or 1 888 330 5008; website: www.citypass.com) offers a combined ticket to selected New York attractions, including the American Museum of Natural History, the Empire State Building Observatory, Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art and either Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises or the Statue of Liberty plus Ellis Island. The pass is valid for nine days and is available for purchase at any of the attractions or online.
New York Sightseeing
The City Pass (tel: (208) 787 4300 or 1 888 330 5008; website: www.citypass.com) offers a combined ticket to selected New York attractions, including the American Museum of Natural History, the Empire State Building Observatory, Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art and either Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises or the Statue of Liberty plus Ellis Island. The pass is valid for nine days and is available for purchase at any of the attractions or online.
Key Attractions in New York, New York
The Statue of Liberty
The ultimate symbol of the American Dream, Lady Liberty, standing majestically over New York Harbor, is probably the most famous landmark in America. The people of France donated the statue to the United States in 1886, to commemorate the alliance of the two countries during the American Revolution. It was the first sight of the New World to be seen by the 12 million immigrants who passed through Ellis Island, the country’s principal immigration center, in the early and mid 20th century. Nowadays, the crown and torch are not accessible to visitors, but visitors can view the statue through a glass ceiling and walk out onto the observation deck. Park rangers give guided tours and answer questions.
Liberty Island, New York Harbour
Tel: (212) 363 3200 (information) or 1 877 523 9849/LADY TIX (tickets).
Website: www.nps.gov/stli (information) or www.statuecruises.com (tickets)
Opening hours: Current hours are daily 0930-1700, but check the website for changes.
Free admission, but there are only a limited number of tickets.
Ellis Island Immigration Museum
The relatives of over 40% of families living in the United States of America passed through this historical immigration station, which operated from 1892 to 1954. Now a national monument and museum, the Ellis Island Immigration Museum has over 30 galleries related to the American immigrant experience. Tours educate visitors about how ‘undesirables’ were weeded out and separated from their families in the Registry Room, after month-long ordeals on often over-crowded boats. For a small fee, visitors can search the Ellis Island archives by computer in the popular American Family Immigration Center for information on their ancestors. Audio tours are available. Private Ellis Island tours can be booked with Ellis Island Tours (tel: (212) 229 0202; website: www.ellisislandtours.com).
Ellis Island, New York Harbour
Tel: (212) 363 3200.
Website: www.ellisisland.com or www.ellisisland.org or www.nps.gov/elis
Opening hours: Daily 0930-1715, but there are extended hours during the summer.
Free admission.
World Trade Center - Ground Zero
In 2006, construction finally began on the 541m (1,776ft) Freedom Tower, designed by Studio Daniel Libeskind to replace the 110-story towers at the site of the former World Trade Center, which were destroyed on 11 September 2001. The new structure will integrate portions of a remaining slurry wall (strong enough to hold back the Hudson River). A slightly recessed public space, known as the bathtub, will provide the setting for a memorial and a museum. Although the complex’s very existence will memorialise the tragedy, each year on 11 September, the sun will shine without a shadow on the Wedge of Light piazza.
The best and least depressing view of the site is from the staircase inside the Winter Garden at the World Financial Center. Next door, in the American Express Building there is a touching memorial (a round pool with tears dripping from the ceiling) for the 11 American Express employees who lost their lives in the tragedy.
Lower Manhattan (on the west side)
Tel: (212) 962 2300.
Website: www.renewnyc.com
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Free admission.
Brooklyn Bridge
Dubbed the eighth wonder of the world when it was completed after 30 years of construction in 1883, John Augustus Roebling’s design remains a masterful feat of engineering. One of the world’s first steel wire suspension bridges (and at one time one of the world’s longest) links Manhattan to Brooklyn, over the East River. The bridge’s mile-long wooden promenade, located above the car traffic, is open to pedestrians and cyclists and offers stunning views of the city.
Park Row
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Free admission.
Empire State Building
Immortalised by Hollywood cinema (from King Kong and Fay Wray to Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan and the latest King Kong movie) this stunning skyscraper is now once again the city’s tallest building. Completed in 1931, the 102-story Empire State Building is a wonderful example of art deco period architecture and the observatories on the 86th and 102nd floors offer magical and spectacular views of the city; the 86th floor deck is open air. Each night, the top 31 storys are illuminated with a color that reflects the season or holiday. The New York Skyride, on the second floor, features a video and a motion-simulator ride around and above NYC’s attractions.
350 Fifth Avenue at East 34th Street
Tel: (212) 736 3100.
Website: www.esbnyc.com and www.skyride.com
Opening hours: Daily 0800-0200, last elevator ascends at 0115. For security reasons, all visitors must use the main entrance on Fifth Avenue between 33rd and 34th Streets.
Admission charge.
Rockefeller Center
Built in 1932-40, the Rockefeller Center is a masterpiece of urban design. The best approach is from the Channel Gardens, opposite Saks on Fifth Avenue (a popular lunchtime haunt flanked with shops and services) to arrive at the focal point of the complex, the sunken plaza, used as an ice-skating rink in winter and an open-air restaurant in summer. Behind this, the sumptuous GE building dominates the scene with its art deco ambience both inside and out. The Rockefeller Center is home to NBC, Radio City Music Hall and Christie’s Auction House. NBC Studio tours, lasting one and a half hours, are available and points of interest include the Conan Show and the Saturday Night Live studio. The Art and Architectural Tour weaves around the center’s various art deco buildings, examining the great José Maria Sert mural, the Prometheus, the Atlas statues, the skating rink area, and the Channel Gardens among other features.
Fifth Avenue, 47th Street to 52nd Street
Tel: (212) 332 6868 or 632 3975.
Website: www.rockefellercenter.com
Admission charge.
Top of the Rock
Originally inspired by the slick designs of the grand ocean liners, the Rockefeller Center’s observation deck, which first opened in 1933, was renovated and reopened in 2005 following a 20-year closure. The deckchairs upon which New Yorkers once relaxed to escape the bustle below may be long gone, but the exceptional views remain. From the 70th floor, 260m (850ft) above street level, the unobstructed 360-degree vista takes in the best of the city’s landmarks, including the Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and Central Park. Hands-on exhibits keep visitors busy on the mezzanine floor.
30 Rockefeller Plaza, 50th Street entrance, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues
Tel: 1 877 692 7625/NYC ROCK or (212) 698 2000.
Website: www.topoftherocknyc.com
Opening hours: Daily 0800-2400 (last lift up at 2400).
Admission charge.
Museum of Modern Art
Founded by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, John D Rockefeller II’s wife, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), houses the most important modern art collection in the USA, covering a variety of media from the late 19th and 20th centuries, with impressive touring exhibitions. Some of the most prominent features of architect Taniguchi’s redesign include a lobby that connects 53rd and 54th streets; an atrium that soars 33.5m (110ft) above street level; and innovative glass curtain walls that provide views of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden and the vibrant midtown surroundings. The new MoMA (redesigned in 2004) also features a new gallery devoted to contemporary art and another for new media. Building materials such as glass, granite and aluminum add to the building’s elegance, and natural light plays a greater role than ever before in the visitor’s experience.
11 West 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Streets
Tel: (212) 708 9400.
Website: www.moma.org
Opening hours: Sat-Mon and Wed-Thurs 1030-1730, Fri 1030-2000 (extended during some shows), closed Tues.
Admission charge.
Solomon R Guggenheim Museum
The Guggenheim Museum, a seven-story conical building designed by US master architect Frank Lloyd Wright, is worth visiting if only for the building alone. Opened in 1959, its design represented a new way to view art and was a radical departure from other institutions of its kind. Visitors ascend to the top floor via escalator and descend at their own pace on a continuous, circular ramp. The open rotunda makes it possible to see many levels and exhibits simultaneously. The Guggenheim’s acclaimed collection consists of late 19th- and 20th-century art works, many of which came from the private collection of Solomon’s niece, Peggy Guggenheim.
1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street
Tel: (212) 423 3500.
Website: www.guggenheim.org
Opening hours: Sat-Wed 1000-1745, Fri and 1000-1945, closed Thurs.
Admission charge.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
‘The Met,’ a most cherished New York institution, is home to more than two million works of art. It opened in 1870 with a modest collection of 174 European paintings and has grown to be the largest art museum in the western hemisphere. Now its collected works span 5,000 years of culture and the museum is home to some 2,500 of the finest paintings which include Vermeers, Rembrandts, Impressionists and Post-Impressionists as well as Renaissance, African, Asian, and Islamic art. It is believed that its 36,000 pieces of Egyptian art is the greatest outside of Cairo. It is impossible to see everything in the museum in one visit, and because of its popularity, the Met gets extremely crowded on weekends.
1000 Fifth Avenue, at 82nd Street
Tel: (212) 535 7710.
Website: www.metmuseum.org
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 0930-1730, Fri-Sat 0930-2100, closed Mon.
Admission charge.
Central Park
New York’s famous green lung, Central Park, is a magnificent city sanctuary situated in the center of Manhattan. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, it opened in 1876 and now offers numerous recreational and cultural outlets. The Belvedere Castle (a stone castle built on Vista Rock in the middle of the park at the 79th Street Transverse) offers excellent views from its lookout, while the Shakespeare Garden, just west of the castle, contains flowers and herbs mentioned in the Bard’s plays. The Central Park Conservancy offers various free walking tours of the park. There is also a theater and sports facilities, including tennis courts, ice rinks and lakes, in addition to the celebrated Central Park Zoo. Considered to be one of the world’s most appealing small zoos, the latter has exhibits for each of the world’s major environments and houses smaller animals, such as monkeys and penguins. The Tisch Children’s Zoo, across East 65th Street, is a hands-on animal garden where petting domestic animals, such as goats and pigs, is permitted. The beautifully landscaped Central Garden and Sea Lion Pool is flanked on three sides by a glass-roofed colonnade, making it accessible even in wet weather. It is considered unwise to visit Central Park after dark, except for events such as ice skating, carriage rides or Summerstage (see Special Events).
From 59th Street to 110th Street
Tel: (212) 310 6600 or 360 2726 (walking tours hot line).
Website: www.centralparknyc.org
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours (park); daily 1000-1630 (visitor center).
Free admission (charge for walking tours and Summerstage).
Belvedere Castle
Mid Park at 79th Street
Tel: (212) 772 0210.
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1700.
Free admission.
Central Park Zoo
830 Fifth Avenue and East 64th Street
Tel: (212) 439 6500.
Website: http://nyzoosandaquarium.com/cpz
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 1000-1700, Sat-Sun and holidays 1000-1730 (22 Mar-31 Oct); daily 1000-1630 (1 Nov-21 Mar).
Admission charge.
Further Distractions
Bryant Park
Bryant Park, behind the New York Public Library, is reminiscent of Paris, with gravel pathways, green folding chairs and a manicured lawn. It is extremely popular during summer, especially as it offers free outdoor concerts and comedy shows. During Fashion Week, tents concealing the hallowed runways are set up for the seasonal haute couture fashion shows.
Between 40th and 42nd Streets and Fifth and Sixth Avenues
Tel: (212) 768 4242.
Website: www.bryantpark.org
Opening hours: Daily from 0700. Closing times vary each month; check the website for details. There is a free ice rink Nov-Jan 0700-2200.
Free admission.
New York Public Library
The opulent, 1911 beaux arts design is a national landmark. Two marble lions, nicknamed Patience and Fortitude, grace its grand Fifth Avenue entrance. The bronze front doors lead to the magnificent, marble Astor Hall. The library houses 6 million books, 12 million manuscripts and 2.8 million pictures. Visitors may tour the impressive reading rooms and literary exhibitions.
Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street
Tel: (212) 930 0800/30.
Website: www.nypl.org
Opening hours: Mon 1100-1800, Tues-Wed 1100-1930, Thurs-Sat 1100-1800, Sun 1300-1700.
Free admission.
Grand Central Terminal
Visitors to New York should take the opportunity to tour Grand Central Terminal, familiar to many as Grand Central Station. Situated in Midtown, just one block east of Bryant Park, the world’s largest railroad station has historical and architectural importance and the celestial ceiling is remarkable. Free tours take place every Wednesday and Friday at 1230. The Wednesday tour is run by the Municipal Arts Society (donations appreciated) and departs from the information booth of the Grand Concourse, while the Friday tour, run by the Grand Central Partnership, meets in front of the Phillip Morris/Whitney Museum on 42nd Street. No advance reservations are necessary. You can download an independent walking tour via the website below. The station also boasts a fine dining concourse and a number of shops, including the Grand Central Market.
42nd Street, at Park Avenue
Tel: (212) 340 2583 or 935 3960 or 697 1245 (tours) or 340 2210 (event hotline).
Website: www.grandcentralterminal.com
Opening hours: Daily 0530-0130.
Free admission.
Museum of Sex
It is a bit out there, but this unique venue seeks to present history, evolutions and cultural significance of human sexuality as well as examining contemporary attitudes toward permissible and taboo pleasures. Ongoing exhibits include the ‘Spotlight on the Permanent Collection’, featuring many of the nearly 10,000 items in the museum’s permanent collections, and ‘Stags, Smokers and Blue Movies’, a retrospective on American pornographic films, dating from the early 1900s to the present day.
233 Fifth Avenue at 27th Street
Tel: (212) 689 6337 or 1 866 667 3984/MOSEXTIX.
Website: www.museumofsex.com
Opening hours: Sun-Fri 1100-1830, Sat 1100-2000.
Admission charge.
The Jewish Museum
The 1908 greystone mansion houses one of the world’s largest collections of Judaica. The two-floor permanent exhibition, ‘Culture and Community: The Jewish Journey,’ traces the history of Judaism with artwork, ceremonial objects, photography, interactive screens and audio. Special art presentations focus on Jewish art and history. Daily tours on different exhibits run on the quarter hour starting at 1215. Located across from Central Park on the ‘Museum Mile’.
1109 Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street
Tel: (212) 423 3200.
Website: www.thejewishmuseum.org
Open hours: Sat-Wed 1100-1745, Thurs 1100-2000.
Admission charge.
