But despite is always BUSY life New York has got to offer many attractions which are way too beautiful and incredible than any other, you can enjoy the Broadway shows or simply relish the exceptional food and shopping experience or see the iconic sites.
But for a tourist, it becomes a hard task to find out what all can be done on their visit to this beautiful city.
Are you confused?
Unable to find out what exactly can help you?
Don’t fret! This blog piece would things to do in new york city at the top attractions in new york city. So let’s hop onto our magical journey…
1. High Line
Ahh, this is a new attraction in New York City and is indeed one of the best top 10 things to do in new york city. It was previously a rail line, which has got the transformation into an urban walking trail above the city streets.
It is a blessing for nature lovers, as you can see the linear public park, where there is a number of plants and trees and during the spring season, they all come to full bloom.
The lined glass raining just enhances the beauty of this park. You can visit this place at Manhattan’s West Side, and it is stretched from Gansevoort Street at the south end to West 34th Street at the north end, which is in parallel to 10th Ave most of the way.
This place has got a new definition of tourist attraction as it gives the extraordinary view of the city’s architecture from a different dimension.
You can also find the art installations, benches, and the sitting area is filled with the bleacher-style seating and a glass wall, letting visitors get a look of the city.
2. Fifth Avenue
For the shopaholic, this place is nothing but heaven. Here you may find Cartier, Tiffany, Bergdorf-Goodman, Apple Store and many other great brands. So if you are willing to indulge into an exotic journey of shopping then visiting this would really help you. It is one of the top 10 attractions in new york city and my favorite too.
3. Brooklyn Bridge
It is one of the famous landmarks of the city and it has a distinct outlook due to the Gothic-shaped arches and suspension cables.
This historic bridge was built in 1883 and is spread on the East River from Manhattan to Brooklyn. It is very much visible from many ferries, however, I strongly recommend to walk across this bridge to feel the beauty and the great history behind its existence.
4. New York Public Library
Although the New York Public Library’s main branch was designed by architects, Carrere & Hastings, in the Beaux-Arts style, hence you can find the library with its impressive rooms.
You would be surprised to know that it is one of the top 10 attractions of the city and has been featured in many movies and TV shows over the years.
It is locally called the main branch, but its real name is Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. After its opening in 1911, it became the talk of the town. This huge library has the Main Reading Room which is stretched over two city blocks, and the Periodicals Room holds 10,000 current magazines.
5. Grand Central Terminal
It is also known as Grand Central Station and is the finest Beaux-Arts building. This very building was first opened in 1913 as a terminal for the subway and train stations.
When you move out, the 42nd Street colonnaded faces and the statuary on top are some of the top attractions.
Also, don’t forget to visit the Grand Staircase, and the beautifully restored ceiling, which brings a celestial scene.
6. Radio City Music Hall
Just next to Rockefeller Center is Radio City Music Hall, and as the name suggests is the famous entertainment venue and a famous city landmark as well.
You can find the 1932 Art Deco theater with exceptional musical extravaganzas and films and also the best dance company, The Rockettes.
The history of this building suggests that it was built and financed by the Rockefellers during the 1930s and had the largest indoor theater in the world during that time. Even today, this place hosts major events, including the Grammy Awards and Tony Awards.
7. 9/11 Memorial and Museum
The World Trade Center’s twin 110-story towers tragedy no one can ever forget, and the loss of life has left a space in each of our heart forever.
The remains of this tragedy can be seen where the World Trade Center once stood, you can find two square reflecting pools, each one acre in size.
Today it is known as the National September 11 Memorial, and this area is a moving tribute to the almost 3,000 people killed in an unfateful day September 11, 2001, and also the six people killed in the earlier World Trade Center bombing in February 1993.
Today this place is covered with trees and grass, the pools are recessed, with water flowing over the sides, and these two pools have bronze panels around it.
You can find the 9/11 Memorial Museum which is actually a curving glass building, between the two pools. You can find artifacts, photos, and videos, presenting the story of 9/11, as well as the aftermath.
This memorial and the museum are located on the south side of One World Trade Centre, on Greenwich Street. On the opposite side, you can see the Westfield World Trade Center, which has an Oculus Plaza.
8. The Frick Collection
Calling it merely a museum would justify its grandeur since its ambiance has a different taste which is elegant and suave enough.
It was built in the early 1900s mansion, and this building and the original collection were donated by Henry Clay Frick, who had the mansion built to display his art collection.
Here the artwork, is a mélange of paintings, porcelain, and furniture. You can check the works by Monet, Rembrandt, Bellini, El Greco, and many other famous artists.
Also, the rooms surround a beautiful covered Garden Court, with tropical plants and a central pond.
9. Wall Street
Many of us are aware of this place due to Leonardo Dicaprio for his famous flick, but this place deserves to be on this list.
It is stretched for eight city blocks from Broadway to South Street and is the world-famous Wall Street. You can find some of the most important exchanges in the world, including the New York Stock Exchange, the NASDAQ, and the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Just in its vicinity, you can also visit the impressive Trinity Church and Federal Hall. Don’t forget to look at the bronze statue of Charging Bull at Bowling Green, on Broadway. It goes without saying but it is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the Financial District and a popular photo-op for visitors.
10. One World Observatory
Along with the freshly constructed One World Trade Center building, One World Observatory is an observation deck, which gives the outstanding views from floors 100, 101, and 102, 1,776 feet above the city.
Don’t miss the elevator to the top, as you ascend, the surrounding panels show New York’s transformation over the years. This glass building can be seen from all over the city and is an incredible structure on the Manhattan skyline.
A city tour gets complete when you travel to destinations which are little exceptional and have different values and am assured if you are on a quest to find the attractions which are different than usuals, then this list would be your best bet.
So next time you plan a trip to New York City don’t forget to keep an eye on the top 10 attractions in New York and get the memorable travel experience.
Don’t forget to share your experience in the comments section below…
Other Best Attractions in New York City
11. STATUE OF LIBERTY NATIONAL MONUMENT
The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York, in the United States. The copper statue, a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States, was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and its metal framework was built by Gustave Eiffel. The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886. The statue is a figure of Libertas, a robed Roman liberty goddess. She holds a torch above her head with her right hand, and in her left hand carries a tabula ansata inscribed JULY IV MDCCLXXVI, the date of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. A broken shackle and chain lie at her feet as she walks forward, commemorating the recent national abolition of slavery. After its dedication, the statue became an icon of freedom and of the United States, seen as a symbol of welcome to immigrants arriving by sea. Bartholdi was inspired by a French law professor and politician, Édouard René de Laboulaye, who is said to have commented in 1865 that any monument raised to U.S. independence would properly be a joint project of the French and U.S. peoples.
12. CENTRAL PARK
Central Park is an urban park in Manhattan, New York City, located between the Upper West Side and the Upper East Side. It is the fifth-largest park in New York City by area, covering 843 acres. Central Park is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated 37.5–38 million visitors annually, as well as one of the most filmed locations in the world. Following proposals for a large park in Manhattan during the 1840s, Central Park was first approved in 1853 as a 778-acre park. In 1857, landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and architect/landscape designer Calvert Vaux won a design competition to construct the park with a plan they titled the “Greensward Plan”. Construction began the same year, and the park’s first areas were opened to the public in late 1858. Additional land at the northern end of Central Park was purchased in 1859, and the park was completed in 1876. After a period of decline in the early 20th century, New York City parks commissioner Robert Moses started a program to clean up Central Park.
13. TIMES SQUARE
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment center, and neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue. Brightly lit by numerous billboards and advertisements, it stretches from West 42nd to West 47th Streets, and is sometimes referred to as “the Crossroads of the World”, “the Center of the Universe”, “the heart of the Great White Way”, and “the heart of the world”. One of the world’s busiest pedestrian areas, it is also the hub of the Broadway Theater District and a major center of the world’s entertainment industry. Times Square is one of the world’s most visited tourist attractions, drawing an estimated 50 million visitors annually. Approximately 330,000 people pass through Times Square daily, many of them tourists, while over 460,000 pedestrians walk through Times Square on its busiest days. Formerly known as Longacre Square, Times Square was renamed in 1904 after The New York Times moved its headquarters to the then newly erected Times Building, now One Times Square.
14. EMPIRE STATE BUILDING
The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from “Empire State”, the nickname of the state of New York. The building has a roof height of 1,250 feet and stands a total of 1,454 feet tall, including its antenna. The Empire State Building stood as the world’s tallest building until the construction of the World Trade Center in 1970; following its collapse in the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Empire State Building was again the city’s tallest skyscraper until 2012. As of 2020, the building is the seventh-tallest building in New York City, the ninth-tallest completed skyscraper in the United States, the 48th-tallest in the world, and the fifth-tallest freestanding structure in the Americas. The site of the Empire State Building, located in Midtown South on the west side of Fifth Avenue between West 33rd and 34th Streets, was originally part of an early 18th-century farm. It was developed in 1893 as the site of the Waldorf–Astoria Hotel. In 1929, Empire State Inc. acquired the site and devised plans for a skyscraper there.
15. THE HIGH LINE
The High Line is a 1.45-mile-long elevated linear park, greenway and rail trail created on a former New York Central Railroad spur on the west side of Manhattan in New York City. The High Line’s design is a collaboration between James Corner Field Operations, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and Piet Oudolf. The abandoned spur has been redesigned as a “living system” drawing from multiple disciplines which include landscape architecture, urban design, and ecology. Since opening in 2009, the High Line has become an icon of contemporary landscape architecture. The park is built on a disused, southern viaduct section of the New York Central Railroad line known as the West Side Line. Originating in the Meatpacking District, the park runs from Gansevoort Street – three blocks below 14th Street – through Chelsea to the northern edge of the West Side Yard on 34th Street near the Javits Center. The West Side Line formerly extended south to a railroad terminal at Spring Street, just north of Canal Street, and north to 35th Street at the site of the Javits Center. The southern portion of the viaduct was demolished in segments during the late 20th century.
16. THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
The Metropolitan Museum of Art maintains a museum and library of art in the City of New York. Its main collections include arms and armor, ancient Near Eastern art, Asian art, costumes, drawings and prints, European sculpture and decorative arts, Greek and Roman art, Islamic art, medieval art, modern and contemporary art, musical instruments, photographs, and the Robert Lehman Collection, as well as the arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. The institution was founded in 1870 and is based in New York, New York.
17. ROCKEFELLER CENTER
Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commercial buildings covering 22 acres between 48th Street and 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco buildings, commissioned by the Rockefeller family, span the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue, split by a large sunken square and a private street called Rockefeller Plaza. Later additions include 75 Rockefeller Plaza across 51st Street at the north end of Rockefeller Plaza, and four International Style buildings located on the west side of Sixth Avenue. In 1928, the site’s then-owner, Columbia University, leased the land to John D. Rockefeller Jr., who was the main person behind the complex’s construction. Originally envisioned as the site for a new Metropolitan Opera building, the current Rockefeller Center came about after the Met could not afford to move to the proposed new building. Various plans were discussed before the current one was approved in 1932. Construction of Rockefeller Center started in 1931, and the first buildings opened in 1933. The core of the complex was completed by 1939. The original center has several sections.
18. THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of the largest and most influential museums of modern art in the world. MoMA’s collection offers an overview of modern and contemporary art, including works of architecture and design, drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, prints, illustrated books and artist’s books, film, and electronic media. The MoMA Library includes approximately 300,000 books and exhibition catalogs, over 1,000 periodical titles, and over 40,000 files of ephemera about individual artists and groups. The archives hold primary source material related to the history of modern and contemporary art.
19. BRYANT PARK
Bryant Park is a 9.6-acre public park located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Privately managed, it is located between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas and between 40th and 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan. The eastern half of Bryant Park is occupied by the Main Branch of the New York Public Library. The western half, which contains a lawn, shaded walkways, and amenities such as a carousel, is located entirely over an underground structure that houses the library’s stacks. The park hosts several events, including a seasonal “Winter Village” with an ice rink and shops during the winter. The first park at the site was opened in 1847 and was called Reservoir Square due to its proximity to the Croton Distributing Reservoir. Reservoir Square contained the New York Crystal Palace, which hosted the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations in 1853 and burned down in 1858. The square was renamed in 1884 for journalist William Cullen Bryant. The reservoir was demolished in 1900 and the NYPL’s Main Branch was built on the site, opening in 1911. Bryant Park was rebuilt in 1933–1934 to a plan by Lusby Simpson.
20. THE PLAZA
The Plaza Hotel is a landmarked 20-story luxury hotel and condominium apartment building in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It opened in 1907 and is now owned by Katara Hospitality. The hotel is located on the western side of Grand Army Plaza at the intersection with Central Park South, on the southeastern corner of Central Park and just west of Fifth Avenue. Construction on the first Plaza Hotel at this location began in 1883. After the original builders foreclosed, McKim, Mead & White completed the hotel and it opened in 1890. The current 19-story, French Renaissance-inspired château-style building was designed by Henry Janeway Hardenbergh. Built in 27 months, it opened in 1907. The green terracotta-tile roof was manufactured by Ludowici and can be seen from many vantage points around the city. The Plaza Hotel was accorded landmark status by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1969; it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986 for its lavish architecture.