Tourist Attractions of New York
Sightseeing in New York
Most tourists end up spending the majority of their trip on Manhattan and this is where most of the recognizable 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 there is a sprinkling of worthwhile attractions located in them all, which will reward the visitor with time to explore.
Almost completely flat and, for the most part, arranged on an easily navigable grid system, Manhattan itself is very easy to walk around, with the excellent subway system handy for the longer hops between attractions. Avenues run north-south and streets run east-west just with a few neighborhood exceptions. Fifth Avenue is the city center and the starting point and zero for all addresses (i.e. addresses increase the farther they are from Fifth).
The city is packed with things to do and places to see - each street and neighborhood offers its own varied sights and flavors. The top attractions, like the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building, are renowned throughout the world, but there are enough less heralded places to fill weeks of sightseeing.
Manhattan has several distinct areas that are worth wandering around, 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) is famous for its art galleries and shopping opportunities. 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 edgy atmosphere, 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, with warehouse conversions mingling with more cutting-edge art galleries, 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.
Passes
The City Pass offers a combined ticket to selected New York attractions, including the American Museum of Natural History, the Empire State Building Observatory and NY Skyride, Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Modern Art (currently honored at MoMA QNS) and Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises. The pass costs US$48 (US$34 for children), is valid for nine days and is available for purchase at any of the attractions or online, at the above address.
Key Attractions:
The Statue of Liberty
The ultimate symbol of the American Dream, Lady Liberty, standing majestically over New York Harbour, 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. The site has just reopened after an extensive renovation and the crown and torch are no longer accessible to visitors. Instead there are ranger-guided Promenade Tours through the lobby and around the outside and guided Observatory Tours which includes the first tour and a visit to the pedestrian observation platform.
Admission: Free 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 US$5 fee, visitors can search the Ellis Island archives by computer in the popular American Family Immigration Center for information on their ancestors.
World Trade Center - Ground Zero
In early 2003, the city selected Memory Foundations as an architectural design, by Studio Daniel Libeskind, to replace the 110-story towers and surrounding buildings at the site of the former World Trade Center. 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. North of this area, a 541-meter (1,776ft) spire, the ‘Gardens of the World’, will grace the skyline. Although the complex’s very existence will memorialise the tragedy that occurred here in 2001, each year on 11 September, the sun will shine without a shadow on the Wedge of Light piazza. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation - LMDC can provide more information on the decision and design.
The viewing platforms that once allowed visitors to pay tribute at the former World Trade at Liberty Street, Center site, dubbed Ground Zero, are no longer in place. Right now the fenced viewing area at Liberty Street and Broadway highlights a pictorial history of the site and allows observation during ongoing work.
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 is open to pedestrians and cyclists and offers stunning views of the city.
Empire State Building
Immortalised by Hollywood cinema (from King Kong and Fay Wray to Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan) 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.
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 tours, lasting one-and-a-half-hour, are available and points of interest include the Today Show studio, the skating rink, the Prometheus and Atlas statues and the Channel Gardens.
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, has been newly renovated and reopened 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 Chrysler Building and Central Park. A must for Art Deco lovers. Hands-on exhibits keep visitors busy on the mezzanine floor.
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), 11 West 53rd Street, between Fifth Street and Sixth Street, 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. The museum, which has been undergoing a massive regeneration project to add much needed extra exhibition space (now 125,000 sq feet), has just reopened. Some of the most prominent features of architect Taniguchi’s redesign include a lobby that connects 53rd and 54th streets; an atrium that soars 110 feet 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 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.
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.
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 can get extremely crowded on weekends.
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 Wildlife Center. 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 .
Further Distractions:
American Museum of the Moving Image A target destination for serious film buffs, the American Museum of the Moving Image is dedicated to film, television, video and interactive media. Attractions and facilities include classic movies screened daily in the Tut’s Fever Movie Palace; feature films shown at weekends in the Riklis Theater and interactive exhibitions, including a working film set and film editing demonstrations. There is a free Insider Hour Tour every Saturday and Sunday at 1400.
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.
New York Public Library
The opulent, 1911 beaux arts design is a national landmark. Two marble lions grace its Fifth Avenue entrance that lead from the bronze front doors to the magnificent, marble Astor Hall. The library houses six million books, 12 million manuscripts and 2.8 million pictures. Visitors may tour the impressive reading rooms and literary exhibitions.
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 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. The station also boasts a fine dining concourse and a number of retail opportunities, including the Grand Central Market.
Dia Center
The Dia Center is dedicated to large-scale, long-term, single-artist projects. The most famous is Dan Graham’s site-specific glass installation on the roof, which reflects and distorts the surrounding views of Manhattan. Photographs of the bookshop have appeared in many design magazines. Closed for renovations until 2006.
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.
The Jewish Museum
Housed in a graystone 1908 mansion is 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, interactive screens and audio. Special art presentations, like the recent Modigliani art exhibit, focus on Jewish art and history. Located across from Central Park on the ‘Museum Mile.’
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