A stunning Art Deco architectural marvel of Depression-era New York, the Rockefeller Center remains one of the city’s most iconic buildings – if no longer quite one of the tallest – a century on from its construction. Remarkably, back then 30 Rock was the third tallest building in town (and therefore on the entire planet), behind only the mighty Empire State and Chrysler buildings. So yeah, the outlook from up top has changed a fair bit down the years and Top of The Rock now has that nice feeling of sitting among the Manhattan rooftops, rather than dizzyingly high above them. The views, however, remain outstanding. We took the 43-second elevator ride up to the open-air deck on the 70th floor to find out what exactly you can spot from up here, and where to look for it. Read on for all the essential Big Apple attractions to look out for….
1. The Empire State Building – easy to love, difficult to miss
1. The Empire State Building – easy to love, difficult to miss
Look south
Ok, so this one’s a little obvious, but you can’t compile a list of things to look out for from Top of The Rock without including perhaps the most iconic building in the NYC skyline. Yes, that elegant Art Deco confection right there in front of you is the Empire State Building, a landmark beloved of native New Yorkers, oversized primates and general skyscraper fanciers for the last 100 years. Top of the Rock promises one of the best, unobstructed million-dollar views in town from its key vantage point just a few blocks away.
Fun fact: it took some 3,500 construction workers less than 14 months to build the Empire State Building, an utterly remarkable feat in 1930.
Pro-tip: visit Top of the Rock after sundown to see the Empire State Building all lit up like a Christmas tree.
2. Central Park – a great green oasis in the heart of Manhattan
2. Central Park – a great green oasis in the heart of Manhattan
Look north
The view from Top of the Rock allows you to take in the whole, vast sweep of Central Park as it cuts its blue-and-green swathe through the heart of Manhattan’s concrete jungle. See if you can pick out the monumental Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Green Lawn and the enormous reservoir that more or less cuts the park in half.
Fun fact: Central Park’s 843 acres make it bigger than some countries, specifically Monaco (500 acres) and Vatican City (110 acres).
Pro-tip: this may be the only spot in NYC where you can get a selfie with the whole of Central Park as your backdrop.
3. George Washington Bridge — the one with the lighthouse
3. George Washington Bridge — the one with the lighthouse
Look north
Let your eyes follow the broad sweep of the Hudson River north and you’ll soon meet the mighty George Washington Bridge, a soaring feat of early-20th-century engineering that’s linked Manhattan to New Jersey for the last 100 years. Squint a little and you might even spot the cute lil red lighthouse at its eastern end.
Fun fact: this mighty steel construction is nearly a mile end to end and has a whopping 14 lanes for traffic, more than any other suspension bridge on the planet.
Pro-tip: collar a member of staff for help picking out the New Jersey cities of Hoboken, Weehawken and Jersey City.
4. The Statue of Liberty — small but mighty
4. The Statue of Liberty — small but mighty
Look south
Ok sure, Top of The Rock might not be the place to get that Insta-perfect shot of Lady Liberty. You’ll want the Staten Island Ferry or a trip out to Liberty Island itself for that kind of thing. But yes, you can see the Green Goddess from up here in Midtown. Just about. Tear your eyes away from the Empire State Building for a second and look a little to its right. That’s it. Now look a little closer: you’ll soon pick out Ellis and Liberty Islands down where the Hudson meets the East River in the bay.
Fun fact: it’s possible to climb up into the statue’s crown, but the narrow 162-step double-helix staircase ain’t for the faint of heart, or weak of glute.
Pro-tip: you’ll need a pretty good zoom lens to get a clear shot from up here. Better frame the Empire State Building to the left of your shot, with the Hudson pointing the way south to the Statue of Liberty.
5. The Chrysler Building — why so coy?
Look east
The Chrysler Building is another major icon of the Big Apple’s skyline, thanks to its lofty height (1046 feet, fact fans) and distinctive Art Deco crown and spire. You can spot it peeping out coyly from behind the rather more workaday MetLife Building.
Fun fact: on its completion in 1930 the Chrysler briefly held the title of world’s tallest building; at more than 200 feet taller, the Empire State Building knocked it from its perch a mere 11 months later.
Pro-tip: like the Empire State, the Chrysler is often best viewed after dark, when illuminated in all its nighttime glory.
6. Brooklyn Bridge — icon of the East River
6. Brooklyn Bridge — icon of the East River
Look south
Look left of the Empire State Building to where the East River meets the bay. That big thing with the neo-Gothic stone towers? That’d be the Brooklyn Bridge, a U.S. National Historic Landmark that was once the world’s longest suspension bridge, and which has been providing safe passage across the water from Lower Manhattan to Brooklyn (and indeed vice versa) since 1883.
Fun fact: celebrated 19th-century American showman and politician P.T. Barnum was so convinced of the bridge’s stability that he walked a herd of 21 elephants across it in 1884.
Pro-tip: try not to confuse the Brooklyn Bridge with the Manhattan Bridge, which is marginally further north up the East River.
7. One World Trade Center — the big kahuna
7. One World Trade Center — the big kahuna
Look south
Here’s one you really can’t miss. For it’s a whopper, a behemoth, an absolute colossus of the Manhattan skyline. Only the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, the One World Trade Center is the gleaming glass goliath that sits at the southernmost tip of Lower Manhattan on the former site of the Twin Towers. Still can’t see it? It’s the one with the huge spire, sandwiched between the Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty as you look south.
Fun fact: the One World Trade Center’s height — exactly 1,776 feet including the spire — is a deliberate and direct reference to 1776, which, as every American knows, is the year the Declaration of Independence was adopted.
Pro-tip: line up the Empire State, One World Trade Center and Statue of Liberty at golden hour for the ultimate New York skyline shot.
8. Radio Park at Radio City Music Hall
Look down
Did you know that the iconic Radio City Music Hall is part of the Rockefeller Center? Sure you did. But did you also know that it has a beautiful, verdant oasis on top of it? Well, now you do. The park has a number of different zones — a woodland garden here, a cheery tree grove there — and is popular with employees of the Rockefeller Center. Peer straight down from Top of The Rock’s west platform and you might just catch a glimpse of the lift operator who brought you up here taking a break for lunch.
Fun fact: the original architectural plan for Radio City Music Hall included a rooftop garden, but it took until 2021 — a full 90 years later — for this vision to be realized.
Pro-tip: don’t forget to take your hat off before peering over the edge!
Bonus round: can you spot these on-the-move NYC icons?
Bonus round: can you spot these on-the-move NYC icons?
Your NYC bingo checklist includes yellow New York cabs, hot dog carts, Big Bus sightseeing tours and (binoculars required) the Staten Island Ferry. Now you see them, now you don’t. But how many can you spot from the Top of The Rock?
Top tips for landmark-spotting
- Go on a bright New York morning for diamond-clear snaps of the city’s iconic skyscrapers. Clear days also promise the farthest-reaching views.
- Bring binoculars or use your phone camera or the Top of The Rock viewfinders to zoom in for a close-up.
- Top of The Rock staff really know their stuff, so don’t be afraid to ask if you can’t pinpoint the landmarks you most wanted to see.
Enjoyed this little slice of New York?
Keep your sightseeing top-level with our sister guides to the things you can see from One World Observatory and Edge at Hudson Yards.
With The New York Pass®, you can skip the stress and save big on Madame Tussauds New York tickets plus dozens of other must-see attractions, all with one easy-to-use pass.
