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This soaring Art Deco skyscraper is one of the most widely recognized symbols of the city, and star of countless movies. It offers unforgettable panoramas of New York from its 86th floor Observatory.

A heady mix of fashionable shops and world-class architecture makes for an avenue of endless pleasures, and some of New York’s best-known addresses.

This soaring Art Deco skyscraper is one of the most widely recognized symbols of the city, and star of countless movies. It offers unforgettable panoramas of New York from its 86th floor Observatory.

A heady mix of fashionable shops and world-class architecture makes for an avenue of endless pleasures, and some of New York’s best-known addresses.

An urban wonder in the city’s center, with gardens, restaurants, an underground shopping concourse, office space, a skating rink, and over 100 works of art, from murals to statues.

The symbol of freedom for millions seeking a new life in America, the lady holding the torch of liberty is ensconced on her own island.

Carefully restored buildings bring to life the experience of the immigrants who have poured into New York over the years, helping to build the multi-ethnic city of today.

An explosion of neon illuminates Broadway and Times Square, where more than 40 famous theaters play host to a changing parade of hit shows.

The vast swath of green provides an 843-acre respite from the concrete of the city. The man-made park took 16 years and more than 500,000 trees to complete.

It would take weeks to see all the treasures of this museum. It houses one of the greatest collections of the Western world and spans 5,000 years of culture.

Long famous for its dinosaurs, the museum moves into the space age with the dramatic Rose Center for Earth and Space.

Built largely on 18th- and 19th-century landfill, this park at New York harbor is usually visited for Castle Clinton, the 1807 fort that is now the embarkation point for Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty ferries. This welcome swath of green is of interest for its many monuments and statues.

The present building opened in 1903, and behind its Neo- Classical facade is the financial heart of the U.S. The exchange has grown from a dealing with local businesses to a global enterprise. On the busiest days, over 200 million shares are traded daily for more than 2,000 companies, although the action is much calmer now that everything is computerized. There are 17 trading posts, each with 22 sections of traders handling the stock of up to 10 companies.

This recently reopened 19th-century tavern is the former home of George Washington. The site features a restaurant and museum.

When Wall Streeters require Italian food, they often head for Joseph’s. The menu includes linguine with clam sauce and fried calamari.

An oasis in the busy financial district, the menu features American standards.

When it was completed in 1883 linking Manhattan and Brooklyn, this was the largest suspension bridge in the world and the first to be built of steel. It took 600 workmen and 16 years to build, and claimed 20 lives, including that of the designing engineer, John A. Roebling. It is now a symbol of New York, and those who walk the 1-mile (1.8-km) span are rewarded with fabulous views of city towers seen through the artistic wire cablework.

A pier with three floors of restaurants, food stands and sweeping views of the East River and Brooklyn Bridge.

A Latin flavor enlivens this Seaport favorite, serving a Cuban/ Caribbean menu. Expect pitchers of sangria and spontaneous samba.

A Pan-Asian restaurant serving mostly seafood dishes, including tempura and coconut shrimp. The outside seating area boasts ideal harbor views of Brooklyn Bridge.

Cast-iron architecture flourished in New York in the late 19th century, as a way to produce decorative elements such as columns and arches and create impressive buildings inexpensively. Greene Street, between Canal and Grand streets, and between Broome and Spring streets, has 50 of these beauties, rows of columned façades creating a striking streetscape.

The sign reads “Guggenheim SoHo” but the new occupant of the building is an extraordinary $40 million flagship store for trend-setting Italian retailer Prada, a sign of SoHo’s shift from art to fashion. Dutch architect Rem Kookhaas is responsible for the ultra-hip floating stairs, undulating walls, futuristic elevators and hi-tech dressing rooms. The entire Prada line is sold.

A turn-of-the-century coffee warehouse has been converted into office space for the film and entertainment industry. The guiding spirit was Robert De Niro, whose TriBeCa Productions was founded in 1988. Miramax has set up offices here and the building is also home to the TriBeCa Grill, owned by De Niro and restaurateur Drew Nieporent. The restaurant has managed to maintain its star appeal for over a decade.

As close to a Parisian bistro as you’re likely to find in SoHo, Balthazar’s only problem is its popularity. A buzzing scene.

Nobu Matsuhisa’s sublime Japanese/Peruvian fusion fare in a whimsical setting.

The present line-up of ordinary shops and restaurants belies the history of this street. James Fenimore Cooper lived at No. 145 in 1833, Theodore Dreiser stayed at No. 160 when he came to New York in 1895, and James Agee lived at No. 172 from 1941 to 1951. The café at No. 189, the corner of Bleecker and MacDougal, was the San Remo bar, the favorite gathering place for William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, and Jack Kerouac, leading lights of the beat generation.

Founded in 1831, N.Y.U. enlarged the scope of early 19th-century study from its previous concentration on Greek and Latin to contemporary subjects: a “rational and practical education” for those aspiring to careers in business, industry, science, and the arts, as well as in law, medicine, and the ministry. It has grown into the largest private university in America and now occupies many blocks around Washington Square.

Highly praised New American fare that uses local, seasonal ingredients, served in intimate, elegant surroundings.

The Japanese/Brazilian fusion cuisine and cocktails are inspired, but the trendy crowd comes here for the rooftop deck and live music on sunny days.

The square opened in 1847 at the center of a fine residential area where politician Theodore Roosevelt and writer Edith Wharton were born. The original Madison Square Garden was here, at Madison Avenue and 26th Street. Later office development brought distinguished sites such as the Flatiron and Metropolitan Life buildings. Today the statue-filled park is being renovated and the area rediscovered.

Anchored by Macy’s, which opened in 1858, this was once a popular district known as “Fashion Row”. The 1876 cast-iron façade of the Hugh O’Neill Dry Goods Store at Nos. 655–71 exemplifies the era, when the arrival of the 6th Avenue elevated line provided easy access to the area. As Manhattan’s commercial center moved northward, these cast-iron palaces were left deserted until recently, when they found new life as bargain fashion outlets and superstores.

Four neglected piers have been turned into a 30-acre sports and recreation complex, and Manhattan’s largest venue for film and TV production. Sports facilities include ice skating, inline skating and skateboarding, batting cages, playing fields, a basketball court, bowling alley, golf driving ranges, and a marina offering harbor cruises and sailing instruction. Pier Park is a place to relax with a water view.

Founded in 1944 and now a branch of the State University of New York, the Fashion Institute of Technology is a prestigious school teaching art, fashion design, and marketing, and boasts famous alumni, including Calvin Klein, Norma Kamali, and David Chu. Students have the benefit of internships with New York’s leading stores and designers. Of greatest interest to the public is the gallery, which has changing exhibits, often from their collection of clothing and textiles.

Former whaler R. H. Macy founded the store in 1858 on 6th Avenue and 14th Street; the red star logo was from his tattoo, a souvenir of sailing days. Innovations included pricing goods a few cents below a full dollar and offering a money-back guarantee. The store was sold in 1888 and moved to the present building.

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.

Rockefeller Center is the hub of midtown New York, alive with activity day and night, integrating shops, gardens, dining and office space, and countless works of art.

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.

The city’s most famous intersection, and symbol of the lively surrounding theater district (see Times Square and Theater District).

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. donated $8.5 million to purchase the 18-acre East River site, and American Wallace Harrison worked with international consultants to create this striking headquarters. The United Nations was formed in 1945, to work for peace and economic and social well-being around the globe. Currently, 189 members meet in the General Assembly, the closest thing to a world parliament. Guided tours allow visitors to see the various council chambers, the General Assembly Hall, and many of the works by prominent artists, including Marc Chagall and Henry Moore.

The 843-acre swathe of green that provides recreation and beauty for more than two million visitors each year.

More a collection of museums, spanning 5,000 years of global culture.

Nine museums are situated within one convenient mile. They unite for a free open house day in June. Participants include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Academy of Fine Arts, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Soloman R. Guggenheim Museum, Jewish Museum, Neue Gallery for German and Austrian Art, Museum of the City of New York, and El Museo del Barrio.

A four-minute tram ride is the route to this East River enclave. Once known as “Welfare Island,” when it was home to a prison, poor house, and hospital for the insane, the 147-acre island was renamed and redeveloped in the 1970s according to a master plan drawn up by Philip Johnson and John Burgee, intended to create a quiet, almost traffic-free residential community. The plan has not been fully developed, although more than 3,000 apartments have been built, and while there is a subway stop from Manhattan, the only auto access is via a bridge in Queens.

One of the largest building projects in New York’s history is transforming this neglected urban plaza into an important public site. The redevelopment has attracted national and international businesses, such as giant media company Time Warner, which now has its headquarters in an 80-storey skyscraper. The new building contains shops, entertainment, restaurants, and the Mandarin Oriental hotel. It is also the new home of Jazz at the Lincoln Center, the world’s first performing arts facility dedicated to jazz. Other buildings in Columbus Circle include Hearst House, Trump International Hotel, and the Maine Monument.

Flea market junkies throng this school yard every Sunday, hoping for finds from among the piles of vintage clothing, crafts, books, jewelry, prints and all manner of memorabilia. Less glamorous, new merchandise, from socks to T-shirts, is also sold here. On a good day as many as 300 booths crowd the premises. A weekly green market shares the same space.

Built on 15 acres in the 1950s, transforming slums into a giant cultural complex, the Lincoln Center houses an array of venues: the Metropolitan Opera; the New York City Opera and Ballet; the New York Philharmonic; the Lincoln Center and Walter Reade theaters; Avery Fisher and Alice Tully halls; and the Julliard School (see Avery Fisher Hall). In the summer, popular Mostly Mozart concerts take place, the central fountain plaza becomes a dance floor, and free concerts are held in the adjacent park. In October 2004, Jazz at the Lincoln Center moved to its new headquarters in the Time Warner building at Columbus Circle.

Well past its 100th birthday, this sprawling zoo on 265 acres gets better all the time. The newest exhibits are a Butterfly Garden and Tiger Mountain, while the 6.5-acre Congo Gorilla Forest, an African rainforest habitat, brings visitors nose to nose with the inhabitants. The unusual World of Darkness shows nocturnal animals like bats in action.

Walk through a swamp and stay dry beneath a waterfall (see Coney Island/ New York Aquarium).

A free ride with fabulous views of Manhattan. St. George Terminal buses go to Staten Island’s sights (see Staten Island Ferry Ride).

The African Savannah at Twilight is a highlight. Other top sights include the Tropical Forest and Serpentarium.

A sports shrine, completed in 1923 and known as “The House that Ruth Built” for the legions of fans who came to see superhero Babe Ruth. Other legendary heroes of America’s most winning baseball team include Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle. The legendary 54,000-seat stadium was updated in the 1970s, but a new modern complex may appear in the future.