Midtown is the crossroads of Manhattan, the bustling business and commercial centre of the city, sitting smack in the middle of the island. Hordes of tourists mix with workers in business suits during the day and, by night, the neon blitz of Broadway puts on a show. Midtown can seem flashy, austere and impersonal, but it’s also home to some of the most eye-catching buildings of the last century, including the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, Grand Central Terminal and the New York Public Library. These architectural icons are dotted between 59th Street and legendary 42nd Street, where Broadway stars have been born overnight. In winter, this area is particularly festive, with sparkly lights, ice-skaters at the Rockefeller Center and elaborate window displays adorning fancy department stores. The streets in this area contain some of the world’s ritziest restaurants and hotels, not to mention the magnetic pull of Fifth Avenue shops and the tourist razzle-dazzle of Times Square. Further east is sophisticated Sutton Place and west is lively Hell’s Kitchen, residential areas where many New Yorkers make their home. Discovering Midtown’s charm among its imposing façades and gargantuan buildings is all part of the fun. SightsEmpire State Building 5th Av at 34th St, http://www.esbnyc.com Daily 0930-2400, last elevator 2315. $11, $6 children. Subway B, D, V to 34th St-Herald Sq. Built in the record-breaking time of 14 months during the Great Depression, this icon of art deco is once again the tallest building in the city at 1250 feet (381 metres) – or 1472 feet if you include the antenna. Only the Sears Tower in Chicago and Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur are taller. Its construction was considered a spectacular work of modern engineering and efficient management, employing 3500 workers who, at one point, were able to complete 14 storeys in a mere 10 days. The building was completed for $45 million but struggled to get occupants, resulting in near-bankruptcy and the nickname the ‘Empty State’. In 1945, on a foggy day, a B-25 bomber crashed into the 79th floor, killing 14 but only causing minimal damage to the building. The building has 85 floors of commercial and office space plus an observation deck and its refined vertical lines make it the most noticeable building on the entire Manhattan skyline. It featured in the film King Kong and has also played a starring role in An Affair to Remember, with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, and in Sleepless in Seattle, with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. The view certainly has cinematic potential, despite the long line of tourists elbowing their way to the top. Every year more than three million make the trip up to the 86th-floor observatory for the best 360-degree panorama in New York. The tower is lit up at night, with different coloured lights used to denote a particular holiday or event. On Valentine’s Day the chapel on the 80th floor hosts a giant wedding for allcomers and, in February, the New York City Roadrunners Club organizes the Annual Run-Up, a competition in which runners try to jog up the 1,860 steps in under 11 minutes. The rather dusty and tourist-laden streets around the Empire State Building offer a soaring perspective of the skyscraper from below. Head north for more Midtown sights, east to Third Avenue for lively eateries, or south to 32nd Street between Broadway and Fifth Avenue, where all-night restaurants and a few good-spirited cafés form the heart of Little Korea. Garment District between 6th Av and 7th Av. Subway 1, 9, to 28th St. The rather tatty area west of the Empire State Building between Sixth and Seventh Avenues is the centre of the city’s clothing industry. Designers work in the grungy warehouse buildings and discount-hungry shoppers come to buy fashion jewellery, wigs, hats, imported clothes, lingerie, luggage, beads, headwraps and toiletries of all sorts. Here, too is the Fashion Institute of Technology (7th Av at 27th St, T 1-212 217 7999, http://www.fitnyc.suny.edu, Tue-Fri 1200-2000, Sat 1000-1700, free), which has an excellent museum featuring costumes and textiles from around the world. At the east end of the district, Herald Square is the location of the world’s largest department store. Macy’s takes up an entire block of this otherwise shabby area. Opposite Macy’s Seventh Avenue entrance is Madison Square Garden, an arena that’s famous for its concerts and New York Knicks basketball games. Gloomy Penn Station below Madison Square Garden was formerly a beautiful iron-and-glass beaux arts structure but was torn down in the 1960s. There are tentative plans to convert the nearby General Post Office (8th Av, between 31st St and 33rd St) into a new Penn Station, budgets permitting. Grand Central Terminal 87 E 42nd St between Park Av and Lexington Av, T 1-212 340 2583, tour information 1-212 935 3960, http://www.grandcentralterminal.com Trains run daily 0530-0130. Tours Wed 1230. Free. Subway 4, 5, 6, 7 at 42nd St-Grand Central. New York’s original Grand Central Depot was an iron-and-glass train shed that opened on this site in 1871. The arrival of electric locomotives in the early 1900s demanded the construction of a new station. A competition to design the station was won by Whitney Warren, who created a beaux arts palace that’s a must-see sight whether or not you intend to board a train. In 1960, the station came under threat from commercial developers, who wanted to build a bigger structure complete with a bowling alley and shops. Fortunately, locals saved it from the wrecking ball by fighting for its protection as a landmark building. Approaching Grand Central from Park Avenue, you’ll glimpse the impressive triple archway and sculptures above the entrance, including statues of Minerva, Mercury and Hercules that represent contemplation, speed and strength. In between is the station clock made from inch-thick Tiffany glass. On entering the main concourse, the scale and beauty of the design is likely to take your breath away. Light pours in through arched windows onto the airy central hall, which is 375 feet (114 metres) long and125 feet (38 metres) high. Above is a beautiful baroque-style ceiling, which sparkles like a starlit winter sky thanks to a massive renovation project in 1998 that cleaned away the grunge. The grandeur of the structure is best admired from one of the balcony’s restaurants or bars, where you can soak up the atmosphere and watch commuters rushing about below. Tucked away in the southwest corner is Campbell Apartment, a hideaway bar that’s popular with locals who relax in its library-like surroundings. The Municipal Arts Society gives insightful guided tours of the station every Wednesday at 1230, starting from the information booth in the centre of the main concourse. Across the street at 120 Park Avenue is the small Whitney Gallery, a branch of the larger Whitney Museum Uptown. Its sculpture garden is a relaxing place to sit and is open daily from 1100 to 1800 (until 1930 on Thursdays). Admission is free. Chrysler Building 405 Lexington Av,T1-212 682 3070. Subway 4, 5, 6 to 42nd St-Grand Central. As soon as you catch a glimpse of the Chrysler Building, it’s easy to understand why this is most New Yorkers’ favourite skyscraper and why it has featured in so many photos and movies. The elegant, art deco 77-storey structure is topped by a triangular crown that shoots skywards. The distinctive spire is designed to look like a car radiator and is surrounded by gargoyles that point down at onlookers in a playful manner. Built in 1930 during the golden age of skyscrapers, the Chrysler was the first building to exceed the height of the Eiffel Tower. In the race to build the world’s tallest structure, architect William Van Alen kept his seven-storey spire secret until the very last moment by constructing it inside the building. However, rival architects trumped his efforts after only few months, with the unveiling of the Empire State Building. Though a ride to the top is impossible, be sure to admire the Chrysler both from afar and from up close; it’s truly one of the most majestic sights on Manhattan’s skyline. New York Public Library and Bryant Park 5th Av and 42nd St,T1-212 930 0830, http://www.nypl.org Tue-Thu 1100-1930, Fri and Sat 1000-1800. Tours Tue-Sat 1100 ,1400. Free. Subway B, D, V to 42nd St. This dramatic beaux arts library, with its sweeping staircases, elaborate ceiling paintings and acres of gold leaf was built in 1911 as the world’s largest research library. The highlight is the ornate, chandeliered reading room on the third floor, an enormous decadent space where diligent workers peer at weighty tomes. Throughout the library is displayed a selection of its most prized literary artefacts, including manuscripts of TS Eliot’s The Waste Land, the diaries of Virginia Woolf, Herman Melville’s letters to his family and Charlotte Brontë’s portable writing desk. There are also worthwhile temporary exhibitions. Free walking tours begin at the information desk in Astor Hall, where you enter the building. The museum café and an outdoor reading room – complete with newspapers, books and tables – overlooks Bryant Park, which, on a sunny day especially, is one of the loveliest settings in New York. This area, fashioned in French classical style, is a popular backdrop for Monday night free film screenings in summer. Note the dramatic Gothic, gold-tipped American Standard Building on the south side of the park. Northeast of Bryant Park, photography enthusiasts should stop at the International Center of Photography (http://www.icp.org) at 43rd Street and Sixth Avenue. This is where photographers and photojournalists show their work in thought-provoking exhibits. Times Square 42nd St to 48th St between 6th Av and 9th Av. Subway N, Q, R, S, W, 1, 2, 3, 7 to 42nd St-Times Sq. The area defined as Times Square started life in the 1830s as the heart of the silk-stocking industry run by the famous Astor family. By the early 1900s The New York Times had moved in to give the area a new name. Soon afterwards, the arrival of the subway caused the city’s theatres to relocate north to Times Square from the Bowery and lower Broadway, so that by the 1920s this part of Midtown was filled with theatres and flashing signs. More recently the square became known as ‘Sin Street’, having degenerated into a dangerous and dirty stretch, characterized by prostitutes, porn shops and drug-dealers. However, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani got his hands on it in the 1990s; sleaze moved out and Disney moved in. Today, the only harassment you’re likely to experience comes from the other tourists elbowing you out of their way. Locals abandon the place when they can, leaving Times Square to the tourists and the teenagers, who holler up at MTV’s studio. Tacky shops rub shoulders with expensive delis catering to the Broadway crowds and faux goods of all sorts are sold from the streets around. Although Times Square can seem obnoxious and gaudy, the bright lights and cheekiness of all those billboards make for an experience that everyone should have once, albeit briefly. Times Square’s most famous event is the New Year’s Eve Ball-Drop, when a million people converge on the area to watch long-time host Dick Clark enact a tradition that began on 31 December 1906. The half-price theatre ticket booth TKTS is located on the centre island at 47th Street and Broadway and is one way of getting cheap tickets for Broadway shows. Rockefeller Center 48th St-51st St between 5th and 6th Av, T 1-212 332 6868, http://www.rockefellercenter.com Subway B, D, F, V to 47th-50th Sts/Rockefeller Center, E, F to 5th Av-53rd St. The Rockefeller Center went up somewhat miraculously during the Great Depression thanks to John Rockefeller’s dogged determination to keep the project rolling after many developers had to back out. Now, this handsome, bustling centre of business, entertainment, tourism and shopping is considered by many New Yorkers to be one of the best examples of modern architecture in the city and was declared a national historic landmark in 1988. Nineteen buildings, including the GE Building, the International Building, NBC Studios and the Associated Press Building create an art deco ‘city-within-a-city’ that combines commercialism and office space in an elegant manner. Artworks are displayed throughout the complex and the Channel Gardens fill the walkway leading to Fifth Avenue. NBC Studios offer tours of the network’s operations from the lobby at 30 Rockefeller Plaza or you can catch air time at the live recording of the Today Show in the plaza every weekday morning from 0700. The crowd is full of enthusiastic out-of-towners from all over the country with signs saying “Hi Mom!” and “We’re from Elkhart, Illinois”. Cafés, restaurants, bars and an underground shopping concourse surround the seasonal ice-skating rink in the centre of the plaza, open from October to April. Winter visitors can also marvel at the gigantic Christmas tree which is lit up from Thanksgiving to January each year. At other times, sip away on an expensive drink in the Rainbow Room on the 65th floor of the GE Building for one of the best views of Manhattan. Radio City Music Hall 50th St at 6th Av,T1-212 247 4777, http://www.radiocity.com Tours daily 1000-1800. $15, children $9. Subway B, D, F, V to 47th-50th Sts/Rockefeller Center. Part of the Rockefeller Center complex, this art deco cinema was the largest in the world when it was built in 1932. Now it’s the home of the leggy Rockettes during the annual Christmas spectacular, as well as hosting concerts and music events, including the MTV Music Awards. A renovation in 1999 has restored the original lavish decor to ensure a luxurious velvety experience but you’ll have to pay to see it. Admire the famous sign outside at least. St Patrick’s Cathedral 50th St and 5th Av,T1-212 753 2261, http://www.ny-archdiocese.org Services daily; call for details. Subway B, D, F to 47-50th Sts-Rockefeller Ctr. Duck into this French Gothic, white-washed cathedral when the guilt of Fifth Avenue shopping gets too much. Built in 1878, St Patrick’s is the largest Catholic cathedral in the USA but although it has its own architectural integrity, it sits oddly in the midst of skyscrapers and expensive stores. Nor does it offer any quiet reprieve from the busy streets outside, since camera-toting tourists flock around all sides of the church. Having said that, the Lady Chapel behind the altar and the stained-glass Rose Window above the organ are beautiful details, not to be missed. Museum of Modern Art 11 W 53rd St,T1-212 708 9400, http://www.moma.org Due to reopen in early 2005. Subway E, V to 5th Av-53rd St. MOMA is currently being transformed to reopen with over twice the gallery space and an airy, glass-encased atrium in early 2005. The original museum, which opened just 10 days after the stock market crash in 1929, has a superb permanent collection, including important works by the post-Impressionists Cezanne, Gaugin, Seurat and Van Gogh, the Cubists Braque and Picasso and the contemporary American artists Wyeth and Hopper. During renovations, a portion of the museum’s collection is on show at MOMAQNS. Dahesh Museum of Art 580 Madison Av at 56th St,T1-212 759 0606, http://www.daheshmuseum.org Tue-Sun 1100-1800, 1st Thu each month 1100-2100. $9, $4 students and seniors; free 1st Thu each month 1800-2100. Subway B, D, F, V to 47th-50th St. This stunning anthology of European paintings, sculptures, prints and photographs from the 19th and early 20th centuries was collected by Salim Moussa Achi, a Lebanese writer and guru, with the nickname of Dr Dahesh. To New Yorkers, the museum has always been a treasured secret. However, it looks set to attract legions of new fans since moving from its former tiny space to a new spacious, modern building in 2003. Fifth Avenue 59th St to 42nd St. Subway E, F to 5th Av. Museums, shops and more shops make up this glitzy stretch of Fifth Avenue from 59th Street down to around 42nd Street. Adopt an Uptown attitude and strut down the avenue where all the high-end designers vie for commercial space. Start at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Central Park, where you’ll notice the Grand Army Plaza and the Plaza Hotel. This is one of the most frequently filmed strips of Manhattan and acts as the gateway to the Upper East Side. Toy lovers will enjoy FAO Schwarz across the street at 59th Street. Head down to Bergdorf Goodman, the most chi chi of all the city’s department stores, and then cross 57th Street to enter a particularly indulgent strip of designer shops, including Tiffany’s, Cartier, Gucci, Henri Bendel and, eventually, Saks Fifth Avenue at 50th Street. Further down Fifth Avenue the shops become more mainstream and affordable. Tiffany’s has been at the corner of 57th Street and Fifth Avenue since 1940. To see why Audrey Hepburn felt so happy here, wander in and admire the elegant store full of tourists, hoping for a blue box. Museum of Television and Radio 25 W 52nd St, between 5th and 6th Av,T1-212 621 6600. Tue-Wed, Sun 1200-1800, Thu 1200-2000, Fri 1200-2100. $10. Subway E,V to 5th Av-53rd St, B, D, F, V to 47-50th Sts-Rockefeller Ctr. Come to watch one of 150,000 television and radio programmes from American broadcast history, ranging from the Kennedy assassination to The Jetsons to The Love Boat, in the screening room or the self-selected library. Great for a rainy day, or for those yearning for that particular episode of a favourite show. American Folk Art Museum 45 W 53rd St, T 1-212 265 1040, http://www.folkartmuseum.org Wed, Thu, Sat and Sun 1030-1730; Fri 1030-1930. $9, $7 students and seniors; free Fri 1730-1930. Subway E,V to 5th Av/53rd St. This airy five-storey building displays American folk art – quilts, weathervanes, pottery and paintings – and a smattering of work from anonymous artists. The museum’s aim is to show how everyday traditions and crafts are worthy of recognition. The Museum of Arts & Design, formerly the American Craft Museum, is just across the street, in another roomy space full of 20th-century crafts made of metal, wood and ceramics. Roosevelt Island East River. Tram runs Mon-Fri 0600-0230, Sat and Sun 0600-0330. $2 each way. Formerly called Welfare Island and once the location of the city’s smallpox hospital, whose ruins are still visible on the southern tip, Roosevelt Island is now a rather drab residential complex. Nevertheless, despite the island’s dreariness, it’s worth visiting for the views. Take the ‘tram’ (actually a cable car) to the island from Second Avenue at the 59th Street Bridge for a great vista of Midtown and then stroll through the riverside park along the island’s west side.
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