St Patrick’s Cathedral and Rockefeller Plaza

Traveye.com
Jul 10, 2017 · 4 min read

St Patrick’s Cathedral, New York is the biggest Roman Catholic Cathedral in the US and the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York. It’s located between 50 and 51st street on the east side of Fifth Avenue facing Rockefeller Centre. The Cathedral was completed in 1878 when Manhattan was much less populated and today stands out spectacularly among its more modern neighbours. Although a large building, St Pat’s is dwarfed by the skyscrapers surrounding it. In fact this contrast is part of what makes it so special.

No matter what religion you are the neo-gothic building is spectacular and is a must see on your visit to New York.

The church itself is a wonderful place to come in and reflect, to get away from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan.

The location on 5th Avenue means there are many other sites nearby, in particular Rockefeller Centre. The Cathedral is directly across from the Atlas Statue that sits in front of that complex.

Rockefeller Plaza

The “greatest urban complex of the 20th century” provided work for a quarter of a million people during the great depression. The GE Building at 30 Rock is the centrepiece but there are 19 buildings altogether in the complex spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue.

30 Rockefeller Plaza, otherwise known as 30 Rock or the slab is officially called the GE Building (changing to Comcast Building in 2015 to reflect new corporate owner). It is most famous for being home to NBC. You can take a tour of the NBC studios where you can see where Saturday Night Live is filmed. Also the award winning comedy, 30 Rock is based on SNL and the NBC studios in this building. Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is filmed here also. It is also famous for the picture of the construction workers having lunch on a beam high above the streets of New York, without any harnesses, during its construction. The Photo is known as “lunchtime atop a skyscraper”.

On the 67th — 69th floor of this building is the observatory. Go up during the day for spectacular views of Central Park or during the night to see the lights of Manhattan.

One of the advantages of 30 Rock opposed to the Empire State Building observatory deck is that you get a great view of the Empire State lit up at night. You can pay to go up twice in one day , dawn and dusk, for around $30 or just the once for $21.

View from the Top of the Rock Observatory

Rockefeller Plaza is sometimes known as Radio City and the theatre in the plaza is known as Radio City Music Hall and was once the largest tourist attraction in the city. It’s the home to the Roquettes and hosts the Radio City Christmas Spectacular every year. It has also hosted the Grammys and the Tony Awards.

The world famous ice rink sits in the concourse of the GE Building each Christmas.

Rockefeller Plaza is situated in midtown Manhattan, between 48th and 51st Street, and between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.

Take the B, D, F, or M train to the 47–50th Street Rockefeller Center stop.

1 Train:

Take the 1 train to the 50th Street stop and walk East on 50th Street to Rockefeller Center between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.

6 Train:

Take the 6 train to the 51st Street stop and walk West on 50th Street to Rockefeller Center between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.

N Q R Trains:

Take the N, Q, or R train to the 49th Street stop and walk East on 49th Street to Rockefeller Center between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.

New York is truly one of the greatest cities in the world and there is so much to see and do here. Visit our main site for a for a full city guide on New York City.

Traveye.com

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