Skip to main content

25 Great Buildings to Visit in New York City

Great buildings are not just well-designed and functional. They make us feel something. They become indelible presences in our personal memories and in our shared history, the sites of important maters big and small.

25 Great Buildings in New York City

The following list of 25 great NYC buildings should not veer too much from expectations. Most of them would rank high on a list of popular tourist attractions in the city.

Three of the buildings are part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art - the main building on 5th Avenue, the Met Breuer (former home of the Whitney Museum of American Art, now in a new building also on the list), and The Cloisters. Some buildings made this list, by and large, for the activity that goes on inside.

Great buildings stand as symbols of the times in which they were built and convey lessons to the present. We have lost great buildings, too, and we miss them. When a favorite building or place is altered in any way, renovated or remodeled or left to decay, the shock can be pronounced and profound.

Of course, many great NYC buildings are left off the list. The selection provides a good place to start, though, especially for newcomers and visitors to the city.

For longtime New Yorkers, you may want to take a look at the list and try to remember the last time you visited these great buildings. So many feelings. 

25 Great Buildings to Visit in New York City

1. The Empire State Building, 350 5th Ave. between W. 33rd and 34th Streets. 1931. Architect: William F. Lamb from the architectural firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon. Art Deco.

When the Empire State Building officially opened on May 1, 1931, three politicians were on hand for the ceremonies held on the 86th floor - former governor Al Smith, Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Mayor Jimmy Walker. From high above the city, Roosevelt gave an uplifting speech about vision and faith, a vision he would take to the whole country.

2. Grand Central Terminal, 89 E. 42nd St. at Park Avenue. 1903. Architects: Alfred T. Fellheimer, John Wellborn Root. Beaux-Arts.

This heavenly Beaux-Arts style palace of transit, constructed from 1903 to 1913 and successfully restored in 1998, features grand staircases, chandeliers, and a soaring ceiling vault painted in cerulean blue and decorated with a zodiac.

3. Flatiron Building, 175 5th Ave. 1902. Architects: Daniel Burnham, Frederick P. Dinkelberg. Renaissance Revival. 

The Flatiron, or Fuller Building as it was known originally, at 175 Fifth Avenue sits on a triangular block formed by Fifth Avenue, Broadway and East 22nd Street. The Renaissance-style building, completed in 1902, tapers at 23rd Street, often creating a wind tunnel. The Flatiron is one of the most romantic and photographed buildings in all of Gotham.

4. The WTC Transportation Hub, vicinity of Liberty and Church Streets in lower Manhattan. The Oculus opened in 2016. Architect: Santiago Calatrava. Contemporary.

Part train station (to New Jersey), part shopping mall (unfortunate), part civic cathedral, the hub and its centerpiece, the Oculus, is one of the great centers of contemporary New York.

5. The New York Public Library, 5th Ave at 42nd St. 1911. Architect: Carrère and Hastings. Beaux-Arts.

The main Reading Room looks largely the same as visitors may remember, except the overall ambience may feel a tad cheerier, as if the chandeliers, the lamps on the long oak tables, and above all, the books had received a proper dusting.

6. Seagram Building, 375 Park Avenue. 1958. Architects: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Philip Johnson (interiors). International Style. Modern.

Talk, dark, and handsome, clad in bronze and glass, the Seagram defined the post-war office building. The building also introduced the modern plaza, popular with office workers.

7. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 5th Ave. 1874 (original building) Architects: Richard Morris Hunt; also Calvert Vaux; Jacob Wrey Mould. Beaux-Arts.

The whole history of art expands from cavernous room to intimate galleries. A day in the museum is a day well spent. See walks nearby.

8. American Radiator Building, 40 W. 40th St. 1924. Architect: Raymond Hood. Gothic Art Deco.

When the lights are turned on in the dark building at night, the building seems to glow. In 1927 Georgia O'Keeffe made a painting of it. Look for the building (now home to the Bryant Park Hotel) while in Bryant Park.

9. Woolworth Building, 233 Broadway. 1910-1912. Architect: Cass Gilbert. Gothic Revival.

The Woolworth Building at 233 Broadway, the tallest building in the world when it was built in 1913, annoyed some modernist architects for its neo-Gothic ornamentation and bothered others for just being so tall.

10. The Enid Haupt Conservatory, grounds of New York Botanical Garden, Bronx Park Rd. Bronx. 1902, with additional renovations in later years. William Cobb with Lord and Burnham. Greenhouse in Italian Renaissance.

From a distance, the large Conservatory appears so fanciful it looks like a mirage. Inspired by the Palm House at the Royal Botanic Garden and the Crystal Palace, the great glass greenhouse showcases plants from across the world. The Conservatory is a great warm and humid place in the midst of winter. 

11. The Cloisters, 99 Margaret Corbin Dr., Fort Tryon Park. 1938. Architect: Charles Collens, incorporating parts of medieval cloistered abbeys shipped from Europe to New York. Medieval, by and large.

Home to the Met's medieval collection, The Cloisters in Northern Manhattan provides a necessary escape from the contemporary city. Slowly walk through the gardens and contemplative spaces, and enjoy the high vantage point overlooking the Hudson River and Fort Tryon Park.   

12. The Metropolitan Opera, 30 Lincoln Center Plaza, 1966. Architect: Wallace Harrison, Harrison & Abramovitz Architects. Modern.

Celebrating 50 years at Lincoln Center, the house is one of the great opera destinations in the world. Find an affordable seat, watch the chandeliers retreat into the ceiling, and then marvel at the performances and production for the next several hours.

13. United Nations Headquarters, First Ave between E. 42nd St. and E. 48th St. 1952. Recently renovated. Architect: Oscar Niemeyer (overall design). The main building housing the Secretariat is based on a design by Le Corbusier. Modern. 

The United Nations complex, built in 1949 and 1950 on seventeen acres, symbolizes international utopianism. Like Rockefeller Center, completed a decade before, the buildings were designed by an international committee of architects. Several of the most notable art and architectural features of the General Assembly Building can be viewed for free in the Visitors Lobby, including the hauntingly beautiful Chagall window.

14. The Met Breuer, formerly the home of the Whitney Museum of American Art, Madison Ave at 75th St. 1966. Architect: Marcel Breuer. Modern.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is leasing the space from the Whitney for eight years to house its growing collection of contemporary and modern art. Marcel Breuer's stairwell is a masterpiece of balanced materials, proportion, and textures, perfectly lit.

15. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1071 5th Ave. 1959. Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright. Modern.

A building like no other, the Guggenheim often competes with the artwork inside. No matter, because walking the circular ramp makes for an exceptional and uplifting journey.

16. Carnegie Hall, 881 7th Ave. 1891. Architect: William Burnet Tuthill. Renaissance Revival.

The world-renowned concert hall built in 1891, while handsome and serious on the outside, is best enjoyed while listening to musicians in the concert halls inside. See short walks nearby.

17. The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street. 1853-1881. Architect: Alexander Saeltzer, with later expansions. Romanesque Revival.

Home to The Public since 1967, the building was initially built by William B. Astor to house the Astor Library. Then it became the house that Joe Papp built. The Public has produced some of the most extraordinary performance works of our time, including A Chorus Line in 1975 and 40 years later, Hamilton

18. One World Trade Center, 285 Fulton St. 2013. Building opened in November 2014. Architect: David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). Contemporary Modern.

1 WTC is just one of several buildings constructed on this hallowed ground, a site that includes other towers, the WTC Memorial with its pools in the footprints of the two towers, a visitors center, an observatory, and the transportation hub (noted here). The tower is overwhelming while nearby, but from afar, and under certain light, the building shimmers with confidence and hope.  

19. Brooklyn Public Library, Central Library, Grand Army Plaza. 1941. Architects: Alfred Morton Githens and Francis Keally (1935). Art Deco.

Built upon a long-lingering initial Beaux Arts building, the Art Deco landmark serves as an important symbol of the literary might of Brooklyn.

20. Chrysler Building, 405 Lexington Ave. 1930. Architect: William Van Alen. Art Deco. Streamline Moderne.

The pretty counterpart to the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building is an Art Deco masterpiece known for its terraced stainless steel crown. Among many great details are the soaring eagles on the corners of the 61st floor and replicas of the Chrysler radiator caps on the 31st.  During weekdays, visit the lobby.

21. American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th St. 1877, expanded 1888-1908; 1905-1908; 1912-1924; 1927-1932 Architects: (original plan) Calvert Vaux and J. Wrey Mould; (west frontage) J.C. Cady & Co.; and others. Romanesque Revival.

A mishmash of architectural styles, the museum also serves as home to a great variety of artifacts, animals, and enormous dinosaurs. It's the place to learn about the history of the planet. Next door, at the Rose Center for Earth and Space, go beyond our planet and discover the universe. 

22. Rockefeller Center, from 48th St. and W. 51st Streets, between 5th and 6th Avenues. 1930-1939. Architect: Raymond Hood. Art Deco.

Raymond Hood, as head of the team, bore the main responsibility for negotiating among the many interests to make "the City within a City" a reality in limestone. While speaking the language of cost and efficiency, he argued that Rockefeller Center needed roof gardens, open spaces, and works of great art if it was going to succeed. Almost everyone else at the time thought it was going to fail.

23. The Whitney Museum of American Art, 99 Gansevoort St. 2015. Architect: Renzo Piano. Contemporary Modern.

Designed by Renzo Piano, the new Whitney evokes nautical and industrial themes while blending climate-conscious elements in its high technology. Spacious and open, the museum is a friendly space that invites improvisational walks and explorations.

24. Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Ave. 1892 groundbreaking; multiple states of completion in 1941, 2001, 2003 (fire), 2005 restoration begins. Architects: Christopher Grant LaFarge and George Lewis Heins; Ralph Adams Cram. Gothic and Romanesque Revival.

Extraordinary in scale, the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of New York is the fourth largest cathedral in the world and a wonder to behold. Its Gothic nave is the longest one in the country, and indeed a great walk can take place within the walls of the church. Aside from worship, look for an opportunity to hear a concert here.

25. The Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration, Ellis Island, part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. 1900 Main Building. Architects: William Alciphron Boring, Edward Lippincott Tilton. Renaissance Revival.

Worthy of a day trip, follow the steps of immigrants who entered the United States through Ellis Island. Take a guided tour and take one on your own. A trip to Ellis Island often includes a visit to the Statue of Liberty.



Notes on walking: In Manhattan, many of these buildings fall within a straight line down the middle of the island from Central Park to 34th Street. For an uplifting exercise, choose two or more buildings and take a walk to see them.


Images by Walking Off the Big Apple. Some of the text has been repurposed from previous posts.

Popular posts from this blog

25 Things To Do Near the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

(updated 2016) The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) at 11 W. 53rd Street is near many other New York City attractions, so before or after a trip to the museum, a short walk in any direction could easily take in additional experiences. Drawing a square on a map with the museum at the center, a shape bounded by 58th Street to the north and 48th Street to the south, with 7th Avenue to the west and Park Avenue to the east, proves the point of the area's cultural richness. (A map follows the list below.) While well-known sightseeing stops fall with these boundaries, most notably Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and the great swath of famous Fifth Avenue stores, cultural visitors may also want to check out places such as the Austrian Cultural Forum, the 57th Street galleries, the Onassis Cultural Center, and the Municipal Art Society. The image above shows an intriguing glimpse of the tops of two Beaux-Arts buildings through an opening of the wall inside MoMA's scu

10 Short Walks from Grand Central Terminal

(updated March 2017) Famously crowded Grand Central Terminal functions as a major crossroads for the city, hosting busy commuters as they come and go from the suburbs via the Metro-North Railroad or within the city via a few subway lines, but the terminal also happens to be a good place to launch short walks. With its south side fronting E. 42nd Street and its massive structure interrupting Park Avenue, Grand Central provides quick access to many of the city's most well-known attractions. The New York Public Library and Bryant Park are only a couple of blocks away from the terminal, a quick jaunt on 42nd Street. And from there, Times Square is just another block or two farther west of the library, its neon shimmering in the distance. One wonders, standing near the intersection of 5th Avenue and 42nd Street, how many souls have been lured away from their well-meaning library studies by the beckoning lights of the Theater District. Grand Central Terminal : Before setting

25 Things to Do Near the American Museum of Natural History

After visiting the American Museum of Natural History, explore attractions on the Upper West Side or in Central Park. Visitors to New York often run around from one major tourist site to the next, sometimes from one side of the city to the other, and in the process, exhaust themselves thoroughly. Ambitious itineraries often include something like coffee in the Village in the morning, lunch near MoMA, a couple of hours in the museum, a ride on the Staten Island Ferry in the afternoon, cocktails at the midtown hotel, a quick dinner, and then a Broadway show. It's a wonder people don't pass out at the theater. While sitting on the steps of the American Museum of History, consider exploring the Upper West Side and nearby sites of interest in Central Park. There's a better way to plan a New York trip. Consider grouping attractions together geographically. Several posts on this site address this recommended approach. The Wild West of the Tecumseh Playground Groupin

25 Things to Do Near the Metropolitan Museum of Art

(updated) Sitting on the steps in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of those iconic things to do in New York City. On a sunny day, the wide steps can become crowded with the young and old, the tourist and the resident. It's tempting to stay awhile and soak in the sun and the sights. Everyone has reasons for lingering there, with one being the shared pleasure of people watching along this expansive stretch of Fifth Avenue, a painting come to life. Certainly, just getting off one's feet for a moment is welcome, especially if the previous hours involved walking through the entirety of art history from prehistoric to the contemporary. The entrance to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fifth Avenue The Metropolitan Museum of Art should be a singular pilgrimage, uninterrupted by feeble attempts to take in more exhibitions along Museum Mile. Pity the poor visitor who tries "to do" multiple museum exhibitions in one day, albeit ambitious, noble, and uplift

14 Useful Mobile Apps for Walking New York City

Texting and walking at the same time is wrong. Talking on the phone while strolling down the street is wrong. Leaving the sidewalk to stop and consult the information on a cellphone, preferably while alone, is OK. What's on Walking Off the Big Apple's iPhone: A List Walkmeter GPS Walking Stopwatch for Fitness and Weight Loss . While out walking, Walkmeter tracks routes, time, speed, and elevation. This is an excellent app for recording improvised or impromptu strolls, especially with many unplanned detours. The GPS function maps out the actual route. The app keeps a running tally of calories burned while walking, useful for weight loss goals. Another welcome feature is the ability to switch over to other modes of activity, including cycling. An indispensable app for city walkers. $4.99  New York City Compass , designed by Francesco Bertelli, is an elegant compass calibrated for Manhattan, with indications for Uptown, East Side, Downtown, and West Side. While facing a cert

Museums in New York Open on Mondays

Please see this post for current announcements of reopenings . Please consult the museum websites for changes in days and hours. UPDATED September 23, 2020 Advance tickets required for many museum reopenings. Please check museum websites for details. • The  Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)  reopened to the public on  August 27 , with new hours for the first month, through September 27: from 10:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday to the public; and from 10:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.  on Mondays for MoMA members on ly. Admission will be free to all visitors Tuesday through Sunday, through September 27, made possible by UNIQLO. See this  new post on WOTBA for a sense of the experience attending the museum . •  New-York Historical Society  reopened on  August 14  with an outdoor exhibition, "Hope Wanted: New York City Under Quarantine,” in the rear courtyard. The exhibit by activist Kevin Powell and photographer Kay Hickman will highlight how New Yorkers weathered the quarantine

The High Line and Chelsea Market: A Good Pairing for a Walk

(revised 2017) The advent of spring, with its signs of growth and rebirth, is apparent both on the High Line , where volunteers are cutting away the old growth to reveal fresh blooms, and inside the Chelsea Market, where new tenants are revitalizing the space. A walk to take in both can become an exploration of bounty and surprise, a sensual walk of adventure and sustenance. A good pairing for a walk: The High Line and Chelsea Market Walking the High Line for a round trip from Gansevoort to W. 30th and then back again adds up to a healthy 2-mile walk. Regular walkers of the elevated park look for an excuse to go there. Especially delightful is showing off the park, a model of its kind, to visitors from out of town. A stroll through Chelsea Market. Time check. If you haven't stopped into Chelsea Market lately, you may want to take a detour from the High Line at the stairs on W. 16th St. and walk through the market for a quick assessment or a sampling. Among the sampli

The City That Sometimes Sleeps, and I Am Legend, the Movie

Look at this photo I took of the Washington Square Arch at 7 a.m. this morning. Do you see anyone? I don't see anyone. I'm looking forward to the upcoming Will Smith vehicle, I Am Legend, scheduled for release on December 14. During the shooting of the production in Washington Square Park, I encountered all kinds of stretched cables, fake trees that blew around in bad weather, burned-out cars, and weird greenish lights. Fortunately, I knew it was just a movie. The premise of I Am Legend is that the lead character, Robert Neville, a scientist played by Smith, finds himself the only person (maybe!) living in New York, immune somehow to a deadly virus in the wake of an epidemic. In the trailer of the film, we see the character trudging through the grassy High Line, driving a sports car past empty skyscrapers, and walking his likewise immune dog through the streets. As someone who lives the lonely life of a morning person in New York, with two dogs, I know exactly how he feels. I

Taking a Constitutional Walk

A long time ago individuals going out for a walk, especially to get fresh air and exercise, often referred to the activity as "taking a constitutional walk." The word "constitutional" refers to one's constitution or physical makeup, so a constitutional walk was considered beneficial to one's overall wellbeing. (Or, as some would prefer to call it, "wellness.") The phrase is more common in British literature than in American letters. As early as the mid-nineteenth century, many American commentators expressed concern that their countrymen were falling into lazy and unhealthy habits. Newspaper columnists and editorial writers urged their readers to take up the practice of the "constitutional" walk. One such essay, " Walking as an Exercise," originally printed in the Philadelphia Gazette and reprinted in New England Farmer , Volume 11, 1859, urges the people of farm areas to take up walking. City dwellers seemed to have the

The Thin Man Walk: A New York Holiday Adventure with Nick and Nora Charles

(Revised) Line up the cocktails. As Nick says, "You see the important thing is the rhythm. Always have rhythm in your shaking. A Manhattan you shake to foxtrot, a Bronx to two-step time. A dry martini you always shake to waltz time." If ever a couple possessed complementary drinking rhythms, it would have to be Nick and Nora Charles , the much-envied glamorous cocktail-swilling quick-thinking duo of Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man . Inspired by the writer's blossoming affair with playwright Lillian Hellman , the novel, published in January of 1934, motivated MGM to rush a cinematic adaptation into production. The movie, released in late May of 1934, proved popular enough to spawn sequels, foremost because of the stellar chemistry and witty performances of William Powell as Nick and Myrna Loy as Nora. Decades later, many people still search for their own Nick or Nora. Beyond the playful banter, the partying Charleses exude a confident security and ease in their