New York City is the most populous city in the United States and one of the largest city in the world. The city is the epicenter of the arts, dining, shopping capital and a trendsetter. New York City wears many crowns, and spreads an irresistible feast for all. New York is a global power city and exerts a significant impact upon commerce, finance, media, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment. It has been described as the cultural and financial capital of the world.
Top Tourist Attractions in New York City
Statue of Liberty and Battery Park
The Statue of Liberty was France's gift to America. It was built in 1886 and remains a famous world symbol of freedom and one of the greatest American icons. It is the world's largest statue and stands just less than 152 feet tall from the base to the torch, and weighs approximately 450,000 pounds. The statue offers a fine view of the New York Harbor and lower Manhattan. It is located on Liberty Island and a short boat ride is required to get to the statue. To see the statue from shore, Battery Park sits on the southern tip of Manhattan and affords great views of New York Harbor and the Statue of Liberty. From here visitors can catch the ferry to the statue and Ellis Island.
The crown is again open to the public – numbers are limited, however, so reservations are required, as far in advance as possible. For those without crown reservations, a visit to Statue of Liberty National Monument means you can wander the grounds and enjoy the view from the 16-story observation deck; a specially designed glass ceiling lets you look up into the statue's striking interior. The trip to its island, via ferry, is usually visited in conjunction with nearby Ellis Island. Ferries leave from Battery Park. South Ferry and Bowling Green are the closest subway stations. Ferry tickets (additional $3 for crown admission) include admission to both sights and reservations can be made in advance.
Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is one of the most iconic landmarks in a city full of them. The tallest building in New York City has appeared in over 90 movies, and is the key piece of the NYC Skyline. The 381 m tall, 102-storey building was the tallest in the world until the 1 World Trade Center tower rose higher 41 years later. The Empire State Building is a 103-story. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet (381 m), and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 feet (443 m) high.
Central Park
Spanning 843 acres in the heart of Manhattan, Central Park is one of the world's greatest urban oases, encompassing a diverse landscape of rolling fields, walking trails and tranquil bodies of water—all sculpted by human hands. Designed in the mid-19th century by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, Central Park is the centerpiece of the City's public parks system. Among its attractions are the Central Park Zoo, Belvedere Castle and the Friedsam Memorial Carousel (which, weather permitting, operates seven days a week from April through October and intermittently the rest of the year). Sheep Meadow and the Great Lawn offer sprawling expanses where visitors can relax and enjoy the outdoors. In the winter, there's ice-skating at Trump Rink, which provides a picturesque backdrop for that classic cold-weather pastime (a second Trump-run skating spot, Lasker Rink, is in a quiet section at the northern edge of the park). In the summer, the Delacorte Theater hosts Shakespeare in the Park, outdoor performances of the Bard's work. Elsewhere, Rumsey Playfield serves as the primary home for SummerStage, a citywide free performing-arts festival featuring music, dance, theater and more.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, or "The Met" as it is commonly known, was founded in 1870.
The permanent collection at the Met contains over 2 million works of art. Highlights of the collection include American decorative arts, arms and armor, costumes, Egyptian art, musical instruments, and photographs, along with much more. The Cloisters in northern Manhattan is a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art which focuses on the art and architecture of medieval Europe.
Brooklyn Bridge
One of the most recognizable parts of the New York City skyline, the bridge has been featured in movies and on television shows, and is a real piece of New York City history. A stroll across the elevated pedestrian walkway provides a true New York City experience. The Manhattan-side entrance is at Park Row and Centre Street, across from City Hall Park, east of City Hall.
Times Square
Love it or hate it, the intersection of Broadway and Seventh Ave (better known as Times Square) is New York City's hyperactive heart; a restless, hypnotic torrent of glittering lights, bombastic billboards and raw urban energy. It's not hip, fashionable or in-the-know, and it couldn't care less. It's too busy pumping out iconic, mass-marketed NYC – yellow cabs, golden arches, soaring skyscrapers and razzle-dazzle Broadway marquees. This is the New York of collective fantasies – the place where Al Jolson 'makes it' in the 1927 film The Jazz Singer, where photojournalist Alfred Eisenstaedt famously captured a lip-locked sailor and nurse on V-J Day in 1945, and where Alicia Keys and Jay-Z waxed lyrically about this 'concrete jungle where dreams are made.'
For several decades, the dream here was a sordid, wet one. The economic crash of the early 1970s led to a mass exodus of corporations from Times Square. Billboard niches went dark, stores shut and once grand hotels were converted into SROs (single-room occupancy) dives, attracting the poor and the destitute. What was once an area bathed in light and showbiz glitz became a dirty den of drug dealers and crime. While the adjoining Theater District survived, its respectable playhouses shared the streets with porn cinemas, strip clubs and adult bookstores. That all changed with tough-talking mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who, in the 1990s, forced out the skin flicks, boosted police numbers and lured a wave of 'respectable' retail chains, restaurants and attractions.
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library's main branch was designed by architects, Carrere & Hastings, in the Beaux Arts style. The library, with its impressive rooms, is a prominent city attraction that has been featured in many movies and TV shows over the years. Visitors may even feel a sense of familiarity upon entering.
With nearly 53 million items, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (and third largest in the world), behind only the Library of Congress. It is an independently managed, nonprofit corporation operating with both private and public financing. The library has branches in the boroughs of Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island, and affiliations with academic and professional libraries in the metropolitan area of New York State. The City of New York's other two boroughs, Brooklyn and Queens, are served by the Brooklyn Public Library and the Queens Borough Public Library, respectively. The branch libraries are open to the general public and consist of research libraries and circulating libraries.
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