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CRUISING TO NEW YORK:
MIDTOWN MANHATTAN ATTRACTIONS |
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Midtown Manhattan has a multitude of places of interest. On this page, we describe some of the attractions that lie along Fifth Avenue from 34th Street north into the 90s. On the next page, we go across Midtown from the Hudson to the East River, following 42md Street.
Manhattan's most prominent landmark is the Empire State
Building at Fifth Avenue and 34th Street. The 102 story building was completed in just 410 days and opened on May 1, 1931. It was the world's tallest building for 40 years and is currently the second tallest building in New York City. At the top is a large television broadcast antenna. Immediately below that is a structure that was to be used to dock dirigibles but the high winds at the level made such dockings impractical. The building has played a part in several movies including the 1933 classic King Kong. At night, floodlights are projected onto the upper floors the colors of which are changed to mark special events or to pay tribute to nations, groups or individuals. The observation deck is open to the public and is very popular with visitors to New York. |
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The stretch of 34th Street west of Fifth Avenue running towards Herald Square has become a popular shopping area with upmarket shops. At Herald Square is Macy's, which proclaims that it is the largest department store in the world.
Traveling north on Fifth Avenue 13 blocks, you come to New York's Diamond District on West 47th Street. It is not glamorous but some of the retail shops sell jewelry at wholesale prices. 
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The 70-floor GE Building (also
known as the "RCA Building" and "30 Rock") is the centerpiece of the 19 building complex called Rockefeller Center. In the 1930s, the area between 48th Street and 51st Street along Fifth Avenue had fallen upon hard times. John D. Rockefeller Jr., however, envisioned transforming the area. His first plan was for an opera house but unable to work out an arrangement with the Metropolitan Opera, his thinking shifted towards creating a vast commercial complex. In addition to office buildings, the complex has restaurants, shops (including an underground mall), a pedestrian promenade and a sunken area that functions as a skating rink in the winter and as outdoor seating for some of the restaurants in the warmer months. Rockefeller believed in the value of public art and so the complex is adorned with numerous sculptures, murals and reliefs. Each winter a giant pine tree is set up here and is the centerpiece of the City's Holiday decorations. |
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Just north of Rockefeller Center on West 53rd Street is the Museum of Modern Art (left). It has a world-class collection of 20th and 21st century art. (See separate profile).
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On the other side of Fifth Avenue is New York's best known church Saint Patrick's Cathedral (left). When Archbishop John Hughes announced his intention to build a Gothic Revival cathedral on this site in the 1850s, he was criticized because the location was viewed as being too far from the city. Nonetheless, he persisted and the cathedral opened in 1879 and is the seat of the Roman Catholic archdiocese of New York. Since then this magnificent structure has played a unique role in the life of the city, often acting as a place of spiritual focus for all New Yorkers.
Other impressive spiritual centers on Fifth Avenue include the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church (below left) and the Fifth Avenue Synagogue (below). Nearby on Park Avenue is St. Bartholomew's Church (known as "St. Bart's") (below). Completed in 1918, this Episcopal church is done in the Byzantine style.
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The stretch of Fifth Avenue running from Rockefeller Center to 59th Street is home to some of New York's most prestigious stores including Saks Fifth Avenue, Tiffany's and Bergdorf Goodman.
Above 59th Street, the luxury shops are smaller and run along Madison Avenue, which is one block east of Fith Avenue. 
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In among the prestigious shops on Fifth Avenue is the Trump Tower, which is the home of President Donald Trump. Its lower floors have shops and restaurants.
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On the western corner of 59th Street (also known as Central Park South at this point) and Fifth Avenue is Grand Army Plaza, which acts as the front lawn for the legendary Plaza Hotel. A New York City landmark, the Plaza opened in 1909. It has been refurbished several times since then but still maintains an atmosphere of turn-of-the-century elegance. Kings, presidents, and movie stars have stayed here. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald danced in the fountain in front during the Roaring 20s. Alfred Hitchcock filmed part of North by Northwest here in the 1950s. And when the Beatles first came to America to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show, they stayed at the Plaza. Tea in the Plaza's Palm Court is a grand New York tradition.
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In the 1850s, prominent New Yorkers called for the creation of a large public park like those of London and Paris. The State Legislature responded by authorizing the creation of Central Park. It would eventually stretch from 59th Street to 111th Street between Fifth Avenue and Central Park West.
The park was largely the creation of Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux. Done in the English Romantic landscape tradition, some 20,000 laborers moved 3 million cubic yards of soil and planted 270,000 trees and shrubs. They created bridges and pathways for carriages, horses and pedestrians. Today, the park retains its pastoral atmosphere but it also includes a number of features such as a zoo, a carousel, an ice skating rink, an outdoor theater, lakes and a boat house as well as athletic fields, playgrounds, bicycle paths, fountains, statues and an ancient Egyptian monument - - "Cleopatra's Needle". On the west side of the Park is Strawberry Fields, a memorial to John Lennon, who lived and was assassinated near here at the Dakota apartment building. |
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Just east of Central Park along Fifth Avenue is Museum Mile so named because of the numerous museums that are located there.
The crown jewel of these museums - - indeed, of all New York museums - - is the Metropolitan Museum of Art (left). Founded in 1870, the Met has a huge collection of world class art including ancient Egyptian works, European and American painting, Asian masterpieces, armor, fashion, and modern art. The Met also has a variety of restaurants and a roof-top bar overlooking Central Park. (See separate profile). Modern art is what the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is all about (middle left). Even the building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright is an icon of modern art. There are many small museums along Museum Mile. The Neue Galerie (right) focuses on early 20th Century Austrian and German art. Its Viennese-inspired coffee shop is also quite popular. The Frick Collection at Fifth Avenue and East 74th Street is an intimate collection bequeathed to the public by 19th Century industrialist Henry Clay Frick (below). The collection is housed in the family's former mansion (See separate profile). Other museums in the area include: The Museum of the City of New York, the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, Goethe House, and the Jewish Museum. The Asia Society Museum on Park Avenue at 70th Street is dedicated to traditional and contemporary Asian art and Asian-American Art. |
On the other side of Central Park on the West Side is The American Museum of Natural History, the largest natural history museum in the world. Children love its large collection of dinosaur fossils. Its Hayden Planetarium is internationally renown and is the largest and most powerful virtual reality simulator in the world.
Nearby is the New York Historical Society Museum. It is the city's oldest Museum. It opened in 1804.
Nearby is the New York Historical Society Museum. It is the city's oldest Museum. It opened in 1804.
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Cruise port New York - Midtown Manhattan attractions - page one