Special note for New York Pass holders – The New York Pass includes a bike rental from Central Park Sightseeing, so there’s no need to book one separately.
Enjoy a different kind of sightseeing experience with The Ride, the bus tour that’s part tour and part show. See the sights and enjoy street performances along the way. You’ll ride in special buses that are custom-designed for this experience with stadium-type setting (you sit facing out the large side windows), plasma monitors, advanced audio system, and LED lights.
LivingSocial has discount tickets for the The Ride, priced at $49.
Goldstar has discount tickets for The Ride priced at $51.25 (final price with fees).
Regular full-price for The Ride is $74. They often run promotional specials. Be sure to compare deal offers with prices at The Ride website to make sure you’re getting the best deal. Look for “Flash Sales” and family pack offers. Flash sales are also sometime featured on their Facebook page.
A few notes about The Ride: Not recommended for children under the age of 6. Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult. All Children must be supervised. There is no food or drink permitted on The Ride. There is no restroom available on The Ride.
Due to sideways seating, frequent stops and starts, strobe lighting, loud music, and simulations that include floor shaking, sudden tilting, and jarring actions, The Ride has a safety advisory posted on their site advising that: The Ride is not recommended for guests with motion sickness or dizziness, sensitivity to strobe or other lighting effects, back, neck or similar physical conditions, heart conditions or high blood pressure, sensitivity to loud sounds. Visit the official The Ride website for details.
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Paley Park is a small “pocket park” located on 1/10th of an acre on East 53rd Street in Midtown Manhattan.
The park is often pointed out as an excellent example of park design and has been described as an urban oasis. Park visitors describe the space as serene, peaceful, and relaxing, which is quite an accomplishment for a tiny spot in the middle of Manhattan.
The focal point of the park is a 20 foot waterfall that cascades over the back wall. The side walls are covered with ivy, wrapping the park in green and helping to create a cool, quiet atmosphere.
The park, designed by the landscape architecture firm of Zion Breen Richardson Associates, opened in May of 1967.
Paley Park was featured in William H. Whyte’s The Social Life of Small Urban Places, with a discussion of how well the park functions as a social space.
Why Paley Park works so well as a public space:
Its location, directly on the street, is inviting and entices people to enter
The large waterfall provides a dramatic focal point and creates white noise that masks the sounds of the surrounding city
Movable chairs allow people to create their own seating arrangements
A food kiosk provides good, reasonably priced food
The honey locust trees selected for the park provide shade, yet have a thin enough canopy that they allow dappled light to enter the park.
The monument includes Christopher Park and the block along Christopher Street bordering the park, including the Stonewall Inn. The area received National Monument designation on June 24, 2016.
In 1969, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, an establishment frequented by members of the LGBT community. The patrons and surrounding neighbors fought back against the the raid, which was seen as part of a pattern of police harassment of LGBT establishments. Following the initial conflict with the police, demonstrations continued for days in Christopher Park. The events received inspired participation in the LGBT civil rights movement nationwide.
Location
Stonewall National Monument is located in Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan on West 4th Street, between Grove Street and Christopher Street (this section of Christopher Street is also named Stonewall Place).
New York City – August 26, 2011: Interior lobby of the Chrysler Building. Copyright: sepavo / 123RF Stock Photo
Most people are familiar with the exterior of the Chrysler Building, with its Art Deco design and iconic terraced crown and spire, but did you know that the building’s lobby is also an Art Deco gem?
The lobby is the only part of the building open to the public, and it is open from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday – Friday. There is no fee to visit.
Keep in mind that the Chrysler Building still an office building and many people go to and from work there every day. You’ll have the best opportunity to quietly enjoy the lobby if you avoid the morning, lunchtime and evening rush hours.
Interior Architecture
Once inside the lobby, you’ll find red marble walls, marble floors, striking Art Deco light fixtures, and some very nice Art Deco elevator doors decorated in an abstract lotus pattern.
Chrysler Building
Don’t forget to look up while you’re visiting the lobby. There’s a spectacular mural by artist Edward Turnbull on the ceiling. The mural, entitled Transport and Human Endeavor, depicts various views of workers and machinery, buildings, airplanes, and other symbols of progress.
Exterior Architecture
The Chrysler Building is easily identifiable by the stepped tier crown and spire at the top of the tower. Eagle gargoyles decorate the building on the level below the crown.
When the Chrysler Building was constructed, it was the tallest building in New York City, but lost that claim when the Empire State Building was completed less than a year later.
Location
The Chrysler Building is located in Midtown Manhattan, near Grand Central Terminal.
See exhibitions featuring items from the New York City Municipal Archives and Municipal Library at the NYC Department of Records Visitor Center. The public records exhibitions feature items from within the department’s vast collection of documents, focusing on specific aspects of New York City history. Past exhibitions have included an Ed Koch exhibit, The Unbuilt City, Women Make History, Lomex, and Little Syria.
The visitor center is located in the Surrogate’s Court building in Lower Manhattan. The Surrogate’s Court was originally constructed as the Hall of Records, opening in 1907. The structure now houses the Department of Records, Municipal Archives, the Surrogate’s Court (handles probate and estate proceedings), and the Department of Cultural Affairs.
The Visitor Center is free and open to the public Monday – Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m..
If you have family history in New York City, the Municipal Archives are located in the same building and a great source of genealogical reference materials.
The Department of Public Records & Information Services publishes a blog featuring items within the archives and maintains an online gallery of thousands of historic images from it’s collections.
The Surrogate’s Court building was designed at the height of the City Beautiful movement, which focused on monumental grandeur. Built in the Beaux Arts style, the structure has an ornate granite exterior and an elaborate marble lobby with a grand staircase and a series of arched balconies under a vaulted ceiling with mosaic inlays and domed skylights. The lobby is a popular site for special events and has been used as a filming location for several movies and television shows.
Take a look at Surrogate’s Court/Hall of Records video below. It’s part of the New New Landmarks Conservancy’s Tourist in Your Own Town series.[spacer height=”20px”]
The address for the Surrogate’s Court Building and Department of Records Visitor Center is 31 Chambers Street. The building is located at the corner of Chambers and Centre Streets.
There’s no exterior sign for the visitor’s center, but the building, with it’s columns, statuary, and mansard roof, is hard to miss. Tweed Courthouse and City Hall are nearby.
Each summer, the area that is occupied by the Wollman Rink ice skating in the winter is converted to an amusement park. The park is known as Victorian Gardens and features kid-sized rides.
Victorian Gardens opens for the 2017 season on Mary 27th.
Groupon is running a limited time offer with admission and unlimited rides for two (Monday – Thursday) for $28 or the same deal for four people priced at $54.
The deal voucher is good Mondays through Thursdays, May 27th to August 30th, so you can buy it now for a visit later in the summer. Regular full-price for weekday admission and unlimited rides is $24.50 per person.
The Conservatory Garden in the northern portion of Central Park is the park’s most formal garden space. The Conservatory Garden is six acres of formal gardens planted in three styles – Italian, French, and English. Each style is represented in a different section of the garden.
The space is filled with beautiful garden beds, water features, and statuary. Benches provide places to relax and enjoy the views.
The Conservatory Garden is designated as a “Quiet Zone” and is a perfect place to escape the bustle of New York City streets.
Public restrooms are available near the Conservatory Garden Center Fountain.
The gardens are at their most colorful in the spring, when the crabapple trees are blooming and the beds are full of tulips.
Location
The Conservatory Garden is located on the eastern side of Central Park, between 104th and 106th Streets. The closest park entrances are the Fifth Avenue entrances at 105th Street and 106th Street.
Nearby attractions include the Museum of the City of New York City and El Museo Del Barrio, both located on Fifth Avenue between 103rd and 105th Streets.
Hamilton Grange. Photo by Jim.henderson (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia CommonsAlexander Hamilton built a Federal Style “country home” on 32 acres of land he owned in Upper Manhattan. The home was completed in 1802, two years before he was killed in a duel with Aaron Burr. He named his country home “The Grange” after his grandfather’s estate in Scotland. His family retained ownership of the house for 30 years after his death.
The home has been restored and is now owned and operated by the National Park Service. It is now officially known as Hamilton Grange National Memorial.
Visitors can take a guided or self-guided tour of the restored home, view an introductory film, and learn about Alexander Hamilton through informational exhibits.
Admission is free.
Hamilton Grange is open to the public Wednesday through Sunday (except Thanksgiving and Christmas) from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Note: Information provided is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. Please visit the official Hamilton Grange website to confirm information and hours of operation.
Moved Twice
Although the house survives today, it is not in its original location. It has been moved twice, although it has stayed in the same neighborhood.
The first move came in 1889, when a church acquired the structure, moved it several blocks from its initial location, and used it for services. The second move came much later when, in 2008, the house was moved by the National Park Service 500 feet to its current location in St. Nicholas Park. The move shifted the house from a street where it was crowded by other buildings to a setting more in keeping with the open lands on which Hamilton’s home was originally constructed.
Following the relocation to St. Nicholas Park, the home was closed while it underwent extensive renovations. Hamilton Grange reopened to the public in 2011.
The New York Times ran a good article about the 2011 reopening: A Founder’s at Home.
Location
Hamilton Grange is located in the Hamilton Heights Historic District of Upper Manhattan. It’s in St. Nicholas Park, at West 141st Street, between Convent Avenue and St. Nicholas Avenue.
The street address is 414 West 141st Street, New York, NY.
Belvedere Castle in Central Park. Photo by Captain-tucker (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia CommonsClimb to the top of Belvedere Castle for some great views of Central Park and the surrounding city.
Belvedere Castle isn’t really a castle, but rather a small ornate structure built to add to the Central Park scenery.
The castle was constructed in 1865 and is an example of what was known in the Victorian era as a “folly”, meaning a structure intended to provide views and a picturesque backdrop but without any use as a building. These days the castle has another purpose in addition to sitting up on the hillside and looking great; Belvedere now serves as a Central Park visitor center and gift shop. It’s one of the places where you can pick up a free copy of the official Central Park map.
Belvedere Castle is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily, except Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day.
Location
Belvedere Castle is located in Central Park, mid-park, near the 79th Street Transverse.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art and American Museum of Natural History are nearby on the east the west sides of the park, so if you’re visiting either of those, a visit to Belvedere Castle is a fairly short walk.
