Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
View from the Top of the Rock
By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 1, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 1, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The Top of the Rock, Rockefeller Center's observations decks, opens today after being closed for 19 years, and it will soon become something anyone visiting New York for the first time or someone who has lived here for ages will want to do. We've been excited about this since reading the NY Times article in March, and Gothamist was able to head up there before today's opening and we weren't disappointed. It truly is breathtaking. There will undoubtedly be a rivalry between The Top of the Rock and the Empire State Building, as there was back in the heyday, but there are notable differences. For one thing, the The Top of the Rock offers something different - an unobscured view of Central Park, not to mention one of the Empire State Building.
Reopening the observations decks has been in the works from Rockefeller Center's co-owners, Tishman-Speyer, since 2001, with Michael Gabellini of Gabellini Associates leading the redesign. You get to The Top of the Rock at an entrance on West 50th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues. There's a three-story staircase sweeping around a dramatic Swarkovski crystal chandelier (a "waterfall"); the ticketing area in one floor below the street level (which has a fun mural pointing out what's where in a panorama of the view).
One floor above street level is the waiting area, where there are a number exhibits about the history of Rockefeller center: Gregory Peck's employment card as a Rockefeller tour guide, an early microphone from NBC's first days. The iconic photograph of building workers lunching on a steel beam at Rockefeller Center becomes a launching point for an interactive display where you can "stand on a beam" and virtually feel what it was like to work 60 floors up (below left). After entering a queueing area where you can see short films (one with the Rockettes, another with David Rockefeller, and the third a history of the building narrated by Tom Brokaw), you enter the best elevator (below right) ever.
The elevator's ceiling is clear, so you can see the elevator shaft as you ascend (it's very Great Glass Elevator, though it doesn't travel sideways). There are some photographs and film sequences projected onto the ceiling as well, making the short trip slightly psychedelic. And then you're at the 67th floor.
The observation area is made up of three floors, the 67th, 69th, and 70th (no 68th as the 67th is double height). The 67th and 69th floor decks have glass partitions, instead of metal bars, at the edge; the 70th floor is a smaller structure, whose deck is set back and overlooking the lower decks, so there is no need for glass partitions or high gates. As apparent on the website, 67th floor will also be available for events; it's also rumored that Don King had offices there back in the day, but more recently the space was used for elevator machinery and storage.
The Top of the Rock is at 30 Rockefeller Center, with an entrance on West 50th Street.
- Open 365 days a year, from 8:30AM until midnight (with the last elevator going up at 11PM)
- Tickets are available online as well as in person; adults are $14, children $9, and seniors $12.
More photographs at Bluejake and from neps and jenchung on Flickr. Plus, here's a gallery of what the observation decks used to look like (there are no chairs anymore). And other press: The NY Times, Newsday and the Observer on the Top of the Rock.
Tagged
365 days
architecture
As
bars
central park
children
david
David Rockefeller
Don King
empire state
empire state building
events
film
flickr
fun
gothamist
Great Glass Elevator
Gregory Peck
history
jen chung
nbc
new york
News: NYC
ny times
photos
rock
rockefeller center
State Building
The NY
the ny times
The Top
the view
tickets
tom brokaw
top of the rock
travel
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
In the algorithm age, NYC college radio DJs are still broadcasting the funky stuff
We dropped by WNYU to see what the next generation of radio DJs is up to. The answer is "Br00tal Beats To Study/Relax To."
By
James Ramsay
Published Oct 22, 2026
A Queens prop shop shutters, bunnies find a home uptown, and more openings and closings
Highlights of shifts in the city's business landscape.
By
Hannah Frishberg
Arts & Entertainment
A Queens prop shop shutters, bunnies find a home uptown, and more openings and closings
Highlights of shifts in the city's business landscape.
By
Hannah Frishberg
A new film invites you to eavesdrop on one of the greatest conversations in NYC history
By
Sonia Rao
The Knicks are NBA champions. Now they have to start dressing the part.
By
Sonia Rao
Will Barnes and Noble in the East Village spell doom for smaller shops? It's complicated.
By
Sonia Rao
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .