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New York almost lost its most famous concert hall when the New York Philharmonic moved to the newly built Lincoln Center in the 1950s. However, a coalition, led by violinist Isaac Stern, successfully fought to save the building from demolition. It was bought by the city in 1960 and became a National Historic Landmark in 1964. A major 1986 renovation restored much of the original appearance while updating technical facilities and preserving the hall’s famous acoustics. Musical memorabilia fills the halls and the Rose Museum.

The unmistakable shimmering spire of the Chrysler Building is one of New York’s great landmarks. The grand Art Deco lobby, once used as a showroom for Chrysler cars, has been restored to show off its lavish marbles and granite, and a vast painted ceiling depicts transportation scenes of the late 1920s.

Jewels glisten in every window of this block, the center of the city’s retail and wholesale trade. It handles 80 percent of the diamonds coming into the U.S. Developed largely by Orthodox Jews, the district grew in importance during the World War II when thousands fled the diamond centers of Antwerp and Amsterdam to settle in New York. Above the shops are offices and workshops where the stones are cut and set.

New York’s most famous, and tallest, skyscraper is an Art Deco classic. Since it was completed in 1931 more than 120 million visitors have looked down on the city from its observatories.

One of the world’s great rail terminals, the outstanding Beaux Arts building is New York’s most visited, with 500,000 people passing through it daily. Since restoration work was completed, its admirers are no longer limited to travelers. Grand Central has become an attraction in its own right, with 15 restaurants, over 40 shops, the New York City Transit Museum and a gourmet food market.

Carrère and Hastings won a competition for the design of this great Beaux Arts building. Their genius reached its height in the Main Reading Room, a paneled space as majestic as a cathedral, extending almost two city blocks, with enormous arched windows, 18 grand chandeliers, and an elaborately decorated, vaulted ceiling.

America’s largest Catholic cathedral is a place more than 5,000 people worship every Sunday. When Archbishop John Hughes decided to build a cathedral here in 1850, many criticized the choice of a site so far from the city’s center at the time. Today his foresight has given the church one of the best locations in Manhattan.