Must-see attractions in New York City

  • NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, SEPTEMBER 16: Outside view of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on September 16, 2013 in New York City. European stock markets rallied and the US dollar slid after  former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers  withdrew his candidacy for the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. (Photo by Cem Ozdel/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

    Federal Reserve Bank of New York

    Financial District & Lower Manhattan

    The best reason to visit the Federal Reserve Bank is the chance to (briefly) gawp at its high-security vault – more than 10,000 tons of gold reserves…

  • The Bethesda Terrace Central Park.

    Bethesda Terrace

    Upper West Side & Central Park

    The arched and frescoed walkways of Bethesda Terrace, crowned by the magnificent Bethesda Fountain, have long been a gathering area for New Yorkers of all…

  • One of the walking paths at the Bush Terminal Piers

    Bush Terminal Piers Park

    New York City

    Distant views of Lady Liberty and the Manhattan skyline are the rewards of exploring this waterfront park with an industrial vibe. There's a dual-use…

  • Tompkins Square Park

    East Village & Lower East Side

    This 10.5-acre park dating from 1879 is like a friendly town square for locals, who gather for chess at concrete tables, picnics on the lawn, and…

  • Historic house in Fort Totten park.

    Fort Totten

    Queens

    The remnants of a decommissioned Civil War–era fortress give this park its name, but that is hardly all Fort Totten has to offer. The grounds are full of…

  • Citigroup Center

    Midtown

    With its striking triangular-cut roof and candy-like striped facade, Hugh Stubbins' 59-story Citigroup Center signaled a shift from the flat-roof sobriety…

  • Flushing Meadows Corona Park

    Queens

    Central Queens' biggest attraction is this 1225-acre park, built for the 1939 World’s Fair and dominated by Queens’ most famous landmark, the stainless…

  • Sculpture in State Fair exhibition at Socrates Sculpture Park, Long Island City, Queens, NY

    Socrates Sculpture Park

    Queens

    First carved out of an abandoned dump by sculptor Mark di Suvero, Socrates is now a city park on the river's edge with beautiful views and a rotating…

  • St Paul's Chapel

    Financial District & Lower Manhattan

    After his inauguration in 1789, George Washington worshipped at this Classical Revival brownstone chapel, built in 1766 and narrowly avoiding destruction…

  • Weeksville Heritage Center

    New York City

    In 1838 a former enslaved man by the name of James Weeks purchased a tract of land on the fringes of Brooklyn’s settled areas to build a free African…

  • Luna Park

    New York City

    The original Luna Park, the most famous of Coney Island's competing amusement parks, opened in 1903 and reigned for decades until destroyed by fire in the…

  • Temple Emanu-El

    Upper East Side

    Founded in 1845 as the first Reform synagogue in New York, this temple, completed in 1929, is now one of the largest Jewish houses of worship in the world…

  • Woolworth Building

    Financial District & Lower Manhattan

    The world's tallest building upon completion in 1913 (it was only surpassed in height by the Chrysler Building in 1930), Cass Gilbert’s 60-story, 792ft…

  • Columbia University

    Harlem & Upper Manhattan

    Founded in Lower Manhattan in 1754 as King’s College, the oldest university in New York is now one of the world’s premier research institutions. In 1897…

  • Museum of the City of New York

    Upper East Side

    Situated in a Georgian Colonial Revival–style building at the top end of Museum Mile, this local museum focuses solely on New York City’s past, present…

  • 432 Park Avenue

    Midtown

    It's a case of 'thin is in' with the arrival of this 1396ft-tall, $1.3-billion residential tower by Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly. Its clean, white,…

  • Asia Society & Museum

    Upper East Side

    Founded in 1956 by John D Rockefeller III (an avid collector of Asian art), this cultural center hosts fascinating exhibits (Buddhist art of Myanmar,…

  • Kings County Distillery

    New York City

    Set in an 1899 brick building in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, this distillery uses New York grain to create some mighty smooth craft spirits. Come on a 45…

  • 555 Edgecombe Ave

    Harlem & Upper Manhattan

    When completed in 1916, this brick beaux-arts giant was Washington Heights’ first luxury apartment complex, with a concierge, a separate workers' entrance…

  • Grand Army Plaza

    New York City

    The grand entryway to Prospect Park, where Flatbush Ave meets the beginning of Eastern Pkwy, is a ceremonial arch created by visionary designer Calvert…

  • Garment District

    Midtown

    Otherwise known as the Fashion District, this thread-obsessed territory might look like an unremarkable stretch of designers' offices and wholesale and…

  • Brooklyn Children’s Museum

    New York City

    A bright-yellow, L-shaped structure houses this hands-on kids' favorite, founded in 1899 as the first children's museum in the US. The collection contains…

  • BLDG 92

    New York City

    A museum and gallery built in to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, BLDG 92 tells Brooklyn's living history, from the navy yards to its present-day innovators and…

  • Grace Church

    West Village, Chelsea & Meatpacking District

    This Gothic Revival Episcopal church, designed in 1843 by James Renwick Jr, was made of marble quarried by prisoners at ‘Sing Sing,’ the state…

  • Jewish Museum

    Upper East Side

    This gem occupies a French-Gothic mansion from 1908, housing 30,000 items of Judaica including torah shields and Hannukah lamps, as well as sculpture,…

  • Gracie Mansion

    Upper East Side

    This Federal-style home served as the country residence of merchant Archibald Gracie in 1799. Since 1942, it's been the residence of New York’s mayors and…

  • Museum at Eldridge Street Synagogue

    East Village & Lower East Side

    This landmark house of worship, built in 1887, was a center of Jewish life before suffering a decline in the congregation in the late 1920s. After WWII,…

  • Queens Museum

    Queens

    The Queens Museum is one of the city's most unexpected pleasures. Its most famous installation is the Panorama of New York City, a gob-smacking 9335-sq-ft…

  • Wyckoff House Museum

    New York City

    Built in 1652, Pieter Claesen Wyckoff House is New York City’s oldest building and one of the oldest in the US. A working farm until 1901, this Dutch…

  • Metropolitan Life Tower

    Union Square, Flatiron District & Gramercy

    Completed in 1909, this 700ft-high clock tower soaring above Madison Square Park’s southeastern corner is the work of Napoleon LeBrun, a Philadelphia-born…

  • Herald Square

    Midtown

    This crowded convergence is best known as the home of mammoth department store Macy's, where you can still ride some of the original wooden elevators. As…

  • Strawberry Fields

    Upper West Side & Central Park

    Standing inside the park across from the famous Dakota Building, where John Lennon was fatally shot in 1980, is this poignant, tear-shaped garden – a…

  • Brooklyn Heights Promenade

    Brooklyn: Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn & Dumbo

    Six of the east–west streets of well-to-do Brooklyn Heights (such as Montague and Clark Sts) lead to the neighborhood’s number-one attraction: a narrow,…

  • Riverside Park

    Upper West Side & Central Park

    A classic beauty designed by Central Park creators Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, this waterside spot, running north on the Upper West Side and…

  • Lefferts Historic House

    New York City

    Inside Prospect Park, this 18th-century Dutch farmhouse has period rooms festooned with farm implements, bouquets of herbs and antique ceramics, with a…

  • Gantry Plaza State Park

    Queens

    This 12-acre riverside park directly across the water from the United Nations has gorgeous uninterrupted views of the Manhattan skyline. It's nicely…

  • Columbus Park

    SoHo & Chinatown

    Mah-jongg meisters, slow-motion tai-chi practitioners and old aunties gossiping over homemade dumplings: it might feel like Shanghai, but this leafy oasis…

  • Brooklyn Historical Society

    Brooklyn: Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn & Dumbo

    Housed in a majestic, landmarked 1881 building with striking terracotta details, this museum is devoted to all things Brooklyn. Its priceless collection…

  • Museum of American Finance

    Financial District & Lower Manhattan

    Money makes this interactive museum go round. It focuses on historic moments in American financial history, and its permanent collections include rare…

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