The most attractive place to visit while in New York City is definitely the Top of the Rock Observation Deck. It is a place where you can experience the best view of NYC.
It is located 850 ft above ground atop the Art Deco Comcast Building.
It is very easy to locate it. If you already checked my previous blog post Manhattan streets grid you will immediately be able to find it when you see this: The entrance is at 50th Street, between 5th & 6th Aves.
From this Observation Deck you can truly understand the Manhattan streets grid system. There are also the signs on the deck floor from where you can see the east-west and north-south directions.
The address is Rockefeller Plaza number 30. If you are coming by subway the closest stations are 47th-50th Streets Rockefeller Center station.
Even though the World Trade Center might offer New York’s highest observation deck, the city’s most beloved spots can be seen from the Rockefeller Center.
The Swarovski waterfall chandelier at the main entrance is made up of over 14,000 crystals and it looks very impressive.
It was very crowded on the day that my boyfriend and me visited this place, because the weather was amazing and sunny. Even though the line in the lobby seemed huge, we waited approximately 15 minutes to get the tickets, 10 minutes for security control, another 7 minutes to get into the elevators and finally 42 seconds to reach the Top of the Rock. The speed of the elevators is 1,200 feet per minute.
The elevators are called Sky shuttles there. All of them have projections on the glass ceiling showing images from 1930s through present day, symbolizing the passage of time, as they transport visitors to the deck.
On the way to the elevators you will pass through a multi-media exhibit area on the mezzanine, where you can learn all about the rich history, art and architecture of Rockefeller Center.
The building has 70 floors. The viewing decks are located on three levels. From the decks you can take beautiful view off all NYC landmarks such as: Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, the Chrysler Building, Central Park, Empire State building, etc.
The Top of the Rock is open daily, from 8am to midnight and the last elevator ascends at 11pm. The tickets admission is $38 per person plus additional charge of $10 if you are visiting the place in the afternoon, because of the sunset view.
There is not a lot of places to sit and rest. I was lucky enough to find a spot to sit on one of the wooden benches on the Observation deck when I got tired of walking up and down, around and through the decks.
Unfortunately I saw that some young people were angrily yelled by one of the guards, just because they sat on the floor inside of the sitting area. I found that totally ridiculous, since there were not a lot of places to sit. These people sat in the corner by the pillar and they really did not bother anyone except of the angry guard.
In general guards on the balcony were not very respectful towards the visitors. I saw them shouting and pushing people around all the time. Opposed to the guards by the elevators that were very smiley and kind.
I cannot deny that I felt fear every time I saw a plane passing above our heads. I noticed the same fear in the eyes of all the Observation Deck visitors.
We spent about 3 hours inside, because we were waiting to capture the photos of the sunset.
It was a bit exhausting, but it was worth waiting.
We got a chance to view the NYC from above with all its bright lights after the sunset and the entire experience was breathtaking in general.
The way down was a lot of faster than the way up. Under the Rockefeller Center is the very beautifully decorated subway station, with a lot of shops and places to eat. We grabbed a box with different kinds of tinny donuts at the well-known store. Later on we sat by the fountain at the Rockefeller Plaza to finish them up while watching thousands of people passing by.
Stay tuned and follow Embrace yourself embrace the world side, if you wish to learn more about interesting spots of New York and many other beautiful destinations.
All the photos in the article are captured by me and they belong to my private collection. Sharing individual photos without my consent is not allowed. You are welcome to share the link of the article from my website of course.
If you wish to find the nice place to stay in NYC and Manhattan, please check the link NYC accommodation. There you can find all different kinds of hotels, reviews, prices and information about availability for your desired dates. We stayed at the Avalon hotel, I will describe our experience in one of my next articles.
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