Rockefeller Center

Built during the height of the Great Depression in the 1930s, the 22-acre Rockefeller Center, named after developer John D Rockefeller, Jr, was the first project to combine retail, entertainment and office space in what is often referred to as a ‘city within a city.’ Built over nine years by 70,000 workers, this complex features several outdoor plazas and 19 buildings (14 of which are the original art-deco structures), and spans from 48th to 51st Sts and Fifth to Seventh Aves. In 1987 it was declared a National Landmark, recognized for its unique combination of modernist architecture with a concentration of commercial and business enterprises. Most popular highlights include Radio City Music Hall, the GE Building (30 Rockefeller Plaza at 49th St), the ice-skating plaza and the Top of the Rock observation deck.

Perhaps most impressive, though, is the slew of public artwork – commissioned around the theme ‘Man at the Crossroads Looks Uncertainly But Hopefully at the Future’ – created by 30 great artists of the day. Mexican muralist Diego Rivera was looking skeptically at the future, though, and after he was persuaded to paint the lobby of the 70-story RCA Building (now the GE Building), became outraged, along with the rest of the art world, when the Rockefeller family rejected his painting for containing ‘Communist imagery’ – namely, the face of Lenin. The fresco was destroyed and replaced with a José Maria Sert work depicting the more ‘acceptable’ faces of Abraham Lincoln and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Original creations still in existence, though, include Prometheus overlooking the ice-skating rink, Atlas doing his thing in front of the International Building (630 Fifth Ave), and News by Isamu Noguchi above the entrance to the Associated Press Building (50 Rockefeller Plaza). Anyone interested in artworks within the complex should pick up the Rockefeller Center Visitors Guide in the GE Building lobby, which describes many of them in detail.

Perhaps the best-known feature of Rockefeller Center, though, is its gigantic Christmas tree, which overlooks the skating rink during the holidays. It’s a tradition that dates back to the 1930s, when construction workers set up a small Christmas tree on the site. Today the annual lighting of the tree, held after Thanksgiving, attracts thousands of visitors to the area to cram around the felled spruce, selected each year with fanfare from an unlucky upstate forest. The scene is too crowded to be believed, but skating at the Rink at Rockefeller Center under the gaze of Prometheus is quite an experience (thought it’s crowded, too). Opening hours change weekly, so call for the schedule.