Rockefeller Center is a New York City landmark known for its ice skating rink, the city’s main Christmas tree, and the golden Prometheus figure. But not many people know that on the roof of the GE building, the tallest building in downtown, there is a tiered observation deck that provides a bird’s-eye view of the cluster of skyscrapers in Middle Town.
The nine-hectare Rockefeller Center was built at the height of the Great Depression in the 1930s. Its construction, including the famous Art Deco skyscraper, allowed it to employ 70,000 workers for more than nine years. The center was the first building to combine retail and entertainment functions with office space, for which it was often called the “city within a city. Rockefeller Center is perhaps the only place in New York City where you can have your picture taken against an unobstructed view of the Empire State Building
Rockefeller Center is the second most popular viewpoint after the Empire State Building, but it’s much less crowded. The observation deck on top of the building is called Top of the Rock. Keep in mind, many tourists from different countries gather to watch the sunset, so take a seat at the edge of the observation deck on the roof in advance if you, of course, want to capture the view once seen by a lovesick gorilla from a rival skyscraper.
The building itself is part of a commercial center and an architectural ensemble of 19 buildings, 14 of which were built from 1931 to 1940. There’s also the 70-story Radio City Music Hall and NBC studios, which you can visit and see how American television works from the inside. The Top of the Rock observation deck is three full stories.
There is a fully open area on the 70th floor, a glass-enclosed gallery on the 69th floor, and the 67th floor, which includes both a room with benches in front of the windows for shelter from the cold and bad weather and a glass-enclosed gallery. The total area is so large that it allows visitors to move around freely, relax, and look at the surrounding city from any convenient location. This observation deck was opened more than 70 years ago, but in the early eighties it was closed for restoration and re-equipment. It wasn’t until 2006, nearly twenty years later, that it, now known as the Top of the Rock, welcomed visitors again.
The main advantage of the Empire State is its recognizability, it is a New York City icon known from many movies and countless postcards, and, after the destruction of the Twin Towers, it is once again the tallest skyscraper in the city.
From the Empire State site, you can get a better view of the Chrysler Building. which is partially obscured when viewed from Rockefeller Center) and the 22-story skyscraper Iron (the Flatiron Building).
Admission prices are about the same at both places (about $18). But outside the Top of the Rock street ticket booths, there are always call agents who give coupons for a two-dollar discount on a ticket, which brings the price down to $16 per person, which can already be significant if a whole family is going. Although the observation deck at Rockefeller Center is lower than its counterpart at the Empire State (70th floor vs. 86th floor), this is not felt when visiting. Rockefeller Center still towers above the other nearby skyscrapers and nothing obscures the 360-degree view at 260 meters.
So the verdict is unequivocal – Top of the Rock is more enjoyable to visit than the Empire State Building, especially if standing in hours-long lines is not one of your favorite activities.
Rockefeller Center is home to more than 60,000 employees of various organizations. Most of the buildings are connected by walkways and galleries. It’s a huge complex that has everything: offices, stores, cafes and restaurants, doctors’ offices, schools, theaters and movies, post offices, travel agencies, consumer services and even gardens and waterfalls, trees and palm trees. And in the heart of the complex is the 47th 50th Street subway station.
The “Lower Level” plaza is interesting; it is the one you have to go down the steps to by turning left off Fifth Avenue after crossing 49th Street. In the summertime it is filled with tubs of palm trees and tables under awnings. It’s a branch of a large café located inside an entire underground city that connects many of the Rockefeller Center buildings. At the edges of the square are two elegant glass pavilions with elevators that lower you right down from the street into this cafe. But the most interesting change here comes in late fall: an ice rink with artificial ice takes the place of the summer café. It is one of the most popular places in the city. The skating rink is paid: the session lasts 45 minutes. In the very center of the lower square, as if against the wall, there is a fountain (naturally, working in summer), and above it a gilded bronze figure by American sculptor Paul Menshina, “Prometheus”.
The austere and geometric buildings of Rockefeller Center are enlivened by sculptures, high reliefs and decorative panels. Almost all of the buildings are decorated with them. They are made in the style called “art deco” in America.