South Street Seaport
Featuring some of New York’s oldest buildings, the Seaport is home to The Titanic Memorial Lighthouse, America’s National Maritime Museum, renovated sailing ships, and plenty of present-day shopping, dining and nightlife. It’s also one of America’s most precious registered landmark districts.
The Highline
Nowhere in NYC does old and new mix more fabulously than in The Meatpacking District. Over a hundred years ago, it was exactly that: a district that packed meat. Now, it’s a new neighborhood of designer boutiques, fancy restaurants and hotels, and the offbeat, colorful New York people you see in the movies. Still standing are the cobblestone streets and the ancient slaughterhouses (that now house digital media companies and modeling agencies)
Central Park
First opened in 1857 and with 840 acres of beautiful grounds, Central Park is the most visited urban park in the United States (receiving 35 million visitors every year). Home to playgrounds, picnics,NYC’s biggest background setting, and the largest free outdoor concert ever (Garth Brooks in 1997, with over 980,000 fans).
Top of the Rock
Top of the Rock is the catchy nickname for the rooftop observation deck of the 70-story GE Building in Rockefeller Center. The deck resembles the deck of an ocean liner, with a barrier-free view of the world’s most exciting city. Bar none, it’s the best view of the New York, with the Empire State Building in clear sight (even the Empire State Building’s observation deck can’t offer that!).
Grand Central Station
Serving over 21 million commuters a year, Grand Central Terminal is the world’s largest railroad yard. Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis led the opposition to tear down the spectacular site. Now it’s safely registered as an American landmark and is considered one of the top tourist attractions in the world.
Brooklyn Bridge Park
One of the world’s oldest and most striking suspension bridges, it connects Manhattan with its styling little sister, Brooklyn. Designed by German immigrant John Augustus Roebling and opened in 1883, it’s both an American Historic Landmark and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. And wow your friends with this fun fact: In 1919, Giorgio Pessi piloted what was then the world’s largest airplane under the bridge!
Times Square
Times Square is nicknamed “The Crossroads of the World” and deservedly so. It’s the world’s most visited tourist attraction, with more than 39 million visitors annually and a third of a million people daily. It got its name in 1904, when The New York Times moved its offices there. It’s also where New Year’s Eve is officially rung in, with the annual dropping of the Times Square Ball. Over a million luminous lights light up the night 365 days a year!