New York City is the largest city in the United States, composed of the five boroughs Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx. The city lies at the intersection of the Hudson River, the East River, and New York Harbor. Over 8.8 million residents call New York City home, and more than 20 million live in the city’s broader metropolitan area that covers southeastern New York state, northern New Jersey, and much of Connecticut.
Places to Visit in New York City
About 67 million tourists visit New York City each year, and it is very easy to see why. With plenty of shopping venues, world-class theaters, fashion centers, historic landmarks, and other cultural icons, New York City offers a plethora of wonders for visitors to encounter.
Central Park
Set in the middle of Manhattan, Central Park is the first public park built in the United States and also the most visited — attracting 25 million guests each year. The park is managed by the Central Park Conservancy, a private nonprofit in contract with the city government. Athletes, daydreamers, musicians, and strollers all flock to Central Park to enjoy its magnificence. The park is an excellent place for skating, pedaling, rowing, dribbling, climbing, and other fun outdoor activities. The architecture of the park is also a wonder to behold — tourists can find almost 50 fountains, monuments, and sculptures along with 36 bridges and arches within the park’s boundaries.
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a scientific, educational, and cultural institution located on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The museum is composed of 26 interconnected buildings housing 45 permanent exhibition halls, a planetarium, and a library. The AMNH contains over 34 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains, and human cultural artifacts. About five million people visit the AMNH annually. Notable exhibitions at the museum include the blue whale model, the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton cast, and the Rapa Nui from Easter Island. In addition to serving as a tourist attraction, the AMNH sponsors many scientific expeditions and educational programs each year.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, often known as “the Met,” is the largest art museum in the Americas. The museum’s main building is located on Fifth Avenue, and a smaller second location — known as The Cloisters or Met Cloisters — can be found at Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan. The Met’s permanent art collection contains over two million works divided among 17 different departments. The collection includes paintings and sculptures made by ancient Greek, ancient Egyptian, Roman, Byzantine, medieval European, Asian, African, Oceanian, and Islamic artists. The Met also has exhibitions displaying more modern works of art, some of which were made by American artists.
Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is an iconic part of the New York City skyline, stretching 1,454 feet (443 meters) from the bottom of the first floor to the tip of the antenna. The building is located in Midtown Manhattan, on Fifth Avenue at 34th Street. Completed in 1931, the building is known for the Modernist Artist Deco Style that makes it one of the most distinctive structures in the United States. The observatories on the 86th and 102nd floors of the Empire State Building attract millions of visitors each year by providing them with a chance to get excellent panoramic views of the city from above.
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is a giant sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, standing 305 meters (93 meters) high from the bottom of the pedestal to the tip of the torch. The statue was sent from France to New York City in the mid-1880s to commemorate French-American friendship. Tourists at Liberty Island can marvel at the Statue of Liberty from outside, enter the statue itself, or visit the nearby Statue of Liberty Museum. The museum contains important artifacts that shed light on the statue’s past, including the original torch from the 1880s that was eventually replaced in 1984.
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial and entertainment hub in Midtown Manhattan between 42nd and 47th streets. The square is often known as “the Center of the Universe” due to the numerous billboards and businesses that light up the area 24/7. About 50 million people visit TImes Square every year, giving themselves the opportunity to enjoy the many shopping venues and restaurants at the square, including establishments owned by Disney, Forever 21, Hard Rock Cafe, M&Ms, Planet Hollywood, and Revlon. Times Square is also famous for its annual New Year’s Eve celebrations in which a large ball is dropped across a tall pole, shining brightly for the crowds around to see.
Broadway
Broadway is a collection of 41 world-class theaters located in Midtown Manhattan’s Theater District and Lincoln Center. Each of these theaters can seat more than 500 individuals at a time. The theaters attract almost 15 million visitors each year and generate over $1.8 billion dollars annually in revenues from ticket sales, making Broadway the primary center of American theatrical activity. Most of the shows featured at the Broadway theaters are musicals, with some of these musicals having an enormous impact on American pop culture. New York City’s theater culture also thrives among smaller avant-garde theaters in the city, often referred to as off-Broadway.
High Line
The High Line is a 1.45-mile-long (2.33-kilometer-long) urban park located on the site of a former New York Central Railroad track on the West Side of Manhattan. The park stretches from Gansevoort Street to 34th Street. The High Line is an icon of contemporary American landscape architecture that attracts roughly 8 million visitors annually. Travelers hiking along the park can get excellent views of the surrounding city and enjoy the beautiful intersection of nature, art, and design that characterizes the park. Urban gardens dot the entire length of the High Line, featuring about 120 distinct species of plants, including liatris, coneflowers, sumac, smoke bushes, birch trees, and clump-forming grasses.
Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is an iconic bridge in New York City spanning the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn. The hybrid design of the bridge combines elements of traditional cable-stayed and suspension bridges, with the bridge utilizing both vertical and diagonal support cables. The bridge’s suspension towers — built from limestone, granite, and Rosendale cement — convey a Gothic Revival architecture characterized by pointed arches through which the roadways run. The Brooklyn Bridge is 6,016 feet (1,834 meters) long when measured from Park Row in Manhattan to Sands Street in Brooklyn. The deck of the bridge lies roughly 127 feet (39 meters) above sea level.
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About the Author
Shak Ragoler is a tech enthusiast interested in computer programming and digital innovation. In his free time, he likes to run, bike, read, write, and volunteer for tech-based nonprofits that strive to improve the quality of life in the community.
