New York City Travel Forum

Hi

I will be in NY for a 7 full days from Oct 25th with my husband and 16yo son; it will be a first for all of us! Having read tons of pretty useful stuff on trusty VT pages over the last few weeks, I now have information overload and am in need of some guidance please! Hoping any VTNY experts out there can help with my queries as listed below!

1. As my question title suggests, we cannot decide whether to try and 'do' just ESB, or TotR instead, or should we aim for attempting to fit in both?

2. I've read on the ESB website that the 102nd floor Observatory closed on Sept 29th this year for refurbishment!! Does anyone have any idea if it's likely to be open again by the time we visit? It simply doesn't give any indication of probable timescale on their website!

3. On one VT tip (though it was written in 2003) it states that we will need our passports to enter the ESB; is this still the case?

And finally number 4. Tickets (of course!) I've read so many variants on whether to purchase online in advance, or go with the flow and wait what could be housrs, or even to buy a City Pass to be fast-tracked on 2 of the lines, or (for ESB) to buy online at more than twice the regular price with no concession for my teenage son (and still need to pay more on top on the day for the 102nd floor, if it's open by then), tickets that will get you to the front of all 3 lines!!!! I have to admit I am tempted with the latter as, after all, I don't think it's something we'll be doing on too regular a basis so it may be worth the cost....

HELP please!!!!!
From 'confused but excited' of England!!

I prefer the Top of the Rock,you get a wonderful view of Central Park and you can view the Empire State Building,Statue of Liberty,Chrysler building.Plus you can have a family photo with ESB in the background .TOTR has 3 Observation floors,one indoor ,one with tall glass around deck,the upper most desk you can take great photos without shooting photo through the glass ,(YOU ARE ABOVE THE GLASS)so there is no reflection. Every time I tried the ESB the lines were long 2 hours wait or more,TOTR is not as bad and you buy online and pick the time you wish to go up.But it would be nice to do both,so it may be best to get the express pass and you will not wait in line if you are pressed for time Lines for evening viewing at ESB are generally long .Do not if the 102nd floor will be open by time you arrive.
Enjoy NYC

skyscraper-mark (ill be in nyc in november and wonder about the same questions!)

Just visited Top of the Rock in July. We had no problems buying tickets (rather early iin the morning). No crowds on the viewing platforms. There are indeed great views of Central Park and Manhattan.

happy travels
Jaap

I know that this isn't necessarily a universally held opinion but, for me, the ESB is one of those 10 things to do before you die moments. The view from the top is superior to TOTR as, being in midtown, you get a much clearer view in every direction. It is quite possible to see Shea Stadium to the east, Giants Stadium to the west, Coney Island to the south and, on a clear day you can even see the Tappan Zee bridge over the Hudson and that's in Tarrytown some 23 miles away! You also get a great view of the Chrysler Building which is obscured from view by the ugly MetLife Building if you're standing on the TOTR.
Besides the view, there's the history and the wonderful films that have used the ESB. From "An Affair to Remember" to "Sleepless in Seattle". Stand at the top and I defy you not to be moved!
Now, don't get me wrong, TOTR should also not be missed. It has a wonderful view of Central Park and, of course, the ESB and the whole experience of getting to the top is so much more civilised although I noticed a decidedly more civil attitude displayed by the staff at ESB than I have noticed before. Perhaps they're getting the message that there's competition out there!
So, how do you achieve the impossible - get to the top of each without paying too much and not queueing for hours? Here's how we did it. Plan to visit the ESB first thing in the morning. We arrived at 07:45 and were third in line. They don't open the escalator up to the ticket office until 08:00 but we were at the top by quarter past (this was in May this year). If you buy online, you have to collect your ticket at the sales office and you need to be able to show your credit card that you used or else, like the person who was at the front of the queue when we arrived, you'll have to go back to your hotel and collect it! We bought our tickets there and then. There's no need to go for the CityPass or the express option and you definitely DON'T want to pay extra for the 102nd floor even if it is open. It's small, you have to look through fairly small windows and the view is actually no better than from the observation deck.
As for TOTR, plan to go about 30 minutes before sunset - that way you can watch as the city changes from day to night and thousands of lights in almost every building come on and transform Manhattan into a wonderland of twinkling lanterns! There is no problem with queueing and, if you go here: http://www.theatermania.com/extras/TopOfTheRock/ you'll get a voucher saving you $3 off each pass.
I've just come across a voucher scheme on offer from Expedia for the ESB that you might like to check out: http://www.expedia.co.uk/pub/agent.dll?qscr=tsdt&stat=5&flgc=0&loid=178293&ofid=4032&wtid=28 It looks good but I haven't read all the small print!
One final point (if I need to convince you!). One of my favourite guide books (Not For Tourists) has this to say, "Some New Yorkers think it's hip to have never been to the Empire State Building. These people are idiots" I absolutely agree.

Having been to both, I prefer the Empire State Building, the views seem to be more interesting, I think it's just the position the building is in, plus the viewing platform goes right around 360 degrees. You also get a nice close-up view of the Chrysler building.

This is a picture I took from the ESB:

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/p/m/24aed6/

With Top of the Rock, the viewing deck is only on one side of the building. A picture from TTR:

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/p/m/39b218/

However, there was virtually no queue when we went to TTR, so the last time when we were in NYC, we decided to do that instead. There were 3 other people on the platform with us, it was early November. I would say if you're in a hurry and don't want to queue up, then TTR would be an good option.

I bought the city pass for the ESB and was in NYC in October, we still had to queue up for a about an hour. You bypass the queue to purchase tickets, but you still have to queue up for the elevator.

I suggest going about 4:30 pm as then you can watch twilight approach and the sun go down, then the city lights come on. Once you're up there you can stay as long as you like.

If you want to buy a City Pass, go somewhere where you won't have to wait long, like the Guggenheim early in the morning. You can buy the City Pass anywhere you can use it. We purchased ours at the MoMA early in the morning.

This is all such fantastic information....thanks to you all for your time and trouble, it's very much appreciated.

I am currently wading through all the relevant info and web-pages you've directed me to. Also, I've been up late reading all your tips, some amazing work!! Will be back soon to rate them all, promise ;-)))

Marion, if you look here: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/nic.brokenshire you'll see some of the photos I took in May this year. The ESB and TOTR ones are Day Six and Seven.

I've just had a good look at the pics Nic, thanks for directing me to them, they are all lovely! You certainly have a knack for capturing the 'right shot'.

Looks like you all had a ball, big smiles all round, and great weather too I can see! Now I'm getting even more excited about the whole thing....have read so much info today that my head is swimming lol!!!

Must get round to reading and making some more notes on those VT tips! Nothing quite beats personal experience tips! Will you posting more soon?

Thanks, Marion! We were blessed with good weather and I always say if you can't take good photos in New York then you might as well give your camera away! I'll try and post some more tips tomorrow but you might like to take a look at the website I created following our trip in 2005 for my son's 21st. It's at: http://www.footcom.co.uk/nyc/ We went in February so you will have much nicer weather!