Top of the Rock

Rockefeller Center itself is made up of 19 buildings across 22 acres between 48th and 51st street. It was constructed by John D. Rockefeller Jr., the only son of oil magnate and richest American of all time John D. Rockefeller. Nowadays, the complex is a cultural hub for the city, home to Radio City Music Hall and the famed Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, along with countless businesses — like NBC — and an ice-skating rink.  

Top of the Rock 

Top of the Rock is located in 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the centerpiece of the Rockefeller complex and home to the NBC headquarters. It was built in 1932, and the observation deck opened a few years later; in 2014, the entire building got a complete overhaul. Like New York City’s famed Empire State Building, all of the buildings in Rockefeller Plaza are designed in the Art Deco style.  

Once you ascend to the Top of the Rock observation deck, all of New York City is available ahead of you. To the North, you will be able to see Central Park, Harlem, and even the Yankee Stadium; to the East, the Chrysler and MetLife buildings; to the South, the Empire State Building, all of lower Manhattan, and New York Harbor; finally, to the West, the sun setting over the Hudson River, if you time your visit right. It’s an unforgettable series of vistas — it’s for good reason that Top of the Rock bills itself as “the best rooftop in NYC.”   

Other features at 30 Rockefeller are the Joie Chandelier, made up of more than 14,000 Swarovski crystals, which is shaped like the building itself (but upside down), and the Mezzanine exhibit, a series of interactive artworks from emerging New York artists. One of these exhibits, the Sound and Light Hallway, designed by Andrew Giugno and Ray Kunimoto, illustrates a futuristic view of the city.  

 As you move further up the building, you will reach the Time Capsule Over Manhattan, a kinetic sculpture that records the movements of visitors into a database, capturing the tens of thousands of visitors who go to the Top of the Rock as colorful flip-disk art. You will also be able to sit for a portrait by photographer Diana Sinclair, who is working on a massive collage of visitors from across the globe. At Top of the Rock, artists and subjects are complementary, and everywhere; the real subject is the city.  

 Tickets to the Top of the Rock can be purchased here. It is open daily from 9am to 11pm, and the latest entry is at 10:10pm. General admission is $34-40, express entry is $85, and a VIP tour is $125. Once on the observation deck, you can stay for as long as you choose to soak in the sights.   

Enjoy New York City from the Top of the Rock — you will feel, literally, like you are on top of the world.