Things to see and do in New York

The Empire State Building has 2 observatories, both of which provide 360 degree views of New York City and beyond. Its open-air 86th floor observation deck has been featured in many movie and television scenes. The top deck is 12 floors above the former, and has panoramic views of landmarks like the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, and Times Square.

Aside from the observatories, the Empire State Building houses a visitor's center and 2 permanent exhibitions. If you're looking for some eats, several restaurants, cafes, and pubs can be found within the building.

Central Park is the expansive swathe of green that's hard to miss in the center of Manhattan. The park contains over 20 playgrounds, manmade lakes and ponds, as well as extensive walking tracks. An icon for New York culture, it is one of the city's most popular venues for music festivals, comedy shows, and international concerts.

If you're not here for live entertainment, there are plenty of family-friendly activities to enjoy, such as Central Park Zoo, the Central Park Conservatory Garden, Delacorte Theater, and Belvedere Castle. There are 2 popular sit-down restaurants in Central Park and plenty of food stands found within the park grounds.

Times Square, located in Midtown Manhattan, is where you can enjoy street performances, explore museums and galleries, as well as catch award-winning Broadway shows. One of the city's major gathering spots, this open square also offers unique sightseeing, like Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum, and St. Mary the Virgin Church.

Dining options in the area range from burger joints and American fast food chains to authentic Korean restaurants and Japanese izakayas. If you're here in late December, you get to watch star-studded concerts and the iconic New Year's Eve ball drop.

The Brooklyn Bridge spans the East River, connecting New York's Manhattan and Brooklyn boroughs. There are 2 pathways across the Brooklyn Bridge, one's reserved for cyclists and the other for pedestrians. The walkway gets notoriously crowded with tourists, but you'll be able to stop for photos of the East River, Lower Manhattan, Governors Island, and the Statue of Liberty.

After crossing the mile-long bridge, check out the many attractions in the surrounding area, like the Brooklyn Children's Museum and Brooklyn Bridge Park, as well as sports fields, playgrounds, bicycle rentals, restaurants, and piers.

New York Grand Central Terminal Station is one of the city's busiest landmarks, serving as a daily transportation hub to thousands of New Yorkers. Located in Midtown, its exterior features Beaux-Arts sculptures and architecture, while 44 train platforms and numerous restaurants are located within the terminal.

The main concourse is where you'll find iconic features like the 4-sided clock, an astronomical ceiling mural, and a European-style gourmet food market. Even if you're not planning on catching a train, you can spend hours exploring hidden nooks within New York Grand Central Terminal Station.

The National September 11 Memorial was built to commemorate those who were killed in the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. This somber monument is easy to find alongside the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan's Financial District. One of its most stunning features is the twin reflecting pools, symbolizing the fallen Twin Towers. You can also see the names of the deceased inscribed around the bronze edges of the pools.

There are 2 main exhibitions within the memorial that are fitted with interactive technology. One showcases the past, present, and aftermath of the event, while the other is a 270-degree panoramic media installation of the memorial.

Radio City Music Hall, an indoor theater in Midtown Manhattan, has hosted numerous sports events, stage shows, movies, music, and holiday events since 1929. The popular theater shares a space with other New York attractions, like Top of the Rock, NBC Studios, and the Rockefeller Center Channel Gardens.

If you're not catching a live performance, then join the 1-hour Stage Door Tour of Radio City Music Hall to learn about its history, and maybe even meet one of the members of renowned precision dance company, the Rockettes.

Top of the Rock in Rockefeller Center is a good choice if you're planning on enjoying a bird's eye view of New York City. There are 3 observation decks to explore, the highest of which is located on the 70th floor. The open-air roof deck overlooks the entire city, where you get to spot iconic landmarks, like the Empire State building, Central Park, and the Statue of Liberty.

You can join an hour-long tour of the Rockefeller Center with an expert historian. There are also several restaurants within the building, one of which is a fine dining lounge that offers live music and cocktails.

The Whitney Museum of American Art displays more than 22,000 paintings, photographs, sculptures, drawings, films, videos, and other artifacts produced between the 20th and 21st centuries. Also known as The Whitney, the gallery includes work by prominent American artists like Alexander Calder, Edward Hopper, and Jasper Johns.

Every two years, the museum hosts an international art show called the Whitney Biennial to showcase contemporary art pieces by emerging artists from across the United States. Workshops, tours, courses, performances, readings, and film screenings are also available for those who want to learn more about America's art scene.

American Museum of Natural History occupies 28 interconnected buildings in Upper West Side, where you can visit a planetarium, an IMAX theater, a huge library, and 45 permanent exhibition halls with over 30 million specimens. Founded in 1869, one the museum's most popular features is the dinosaur fossil halls, housing fossilized remains of the T Rex, Wooly Mammoth, Allosaurus, and Deinonychus.

Don't forget to check out the human origins and culture halls to learn about the evolution of mankind. Located on the fourth floor, there are about 500,000 photos, artifacts, and documents of people from America, Africa, Asia, Europe and the Pacific Islands.

New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the world's largest museums, where you can find an extensive collection of artwork from the Americas, Africa, Europe, and Asia. You can spend hours exploring the museum's many permanent and special exhibitions, from Greek and Roman sculptures to modern paintings by European and American artists.

The museum is known for housing the Temple of Dendur, known to be the only intact Egyptian temple in the western hemisphere. You can also find artworks dating back to the 19th and 20th centuries, which were painted by renowned artists like Vincent Van Gough, Monet, Degas, Cézanne, and Picasso.

Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan is one of the many resting spots in downtown New York, offering plenty of al fresco dining spots, flowerbeds, and free activities throughout the year. The summer sees crowds flocking to the park for outdoor film screenings, workshops, and games, while an ice skating rink and several pop-up shops are set up throughout the park for the winter holidays.

Hosting 50 tabletop games daily, you can also join a friendly round of Jenga or Settlers of Catan while visiting Bryant Park. There are several al fresco restaurants serving American fare, cocktails, and snacks within the park grounds.

Yankee Stadium is one of the most popular landmarks in New York's Bronx borough, hosting regular sports events, including soccer, football, and, most famously, baseball. It's home of the New York Yankees baseball team, and you can see displays of retired uniform numbers, commemorative plaques, memorabilia, and life-size statues of famous players at the New York Yankees Museum and Monument Park.

Yankee Stadium has plenty of American-style restaurants, sports bars, and concession stands if you're looking for some good eats during your visit. Just outside the stadium is Babe Ruth Plaza, which commemorates the legendary Yankees' player.

The Bronx Zoo is one of the largest zoos in the world, where you can find over 5,000 animals from regions in Asia and Africa, some of which are endangered. You can also enjoy daily penguin and sea lion feedings, as well as seasonal activities such as monorail rides, zoo shuttles, and camel rides.

The zoo has 18 free exhibits which are accessible with a General Admission ticket, and 8 premium exhibits that require an additional fee to enter. The latter includes an activity trail, a carousel, and a 4D theater for kids aged 6 and above.

The Chrysler Building is an impressive example of art deco architecture in Midtown Manhattan. Completed in 1930 and originally intended to house Chrysler Automobiles headquarters, the exterior of the building is decorated with reliefs of cars, eagles, and the Roman god Mercury, matching the radiator caps from Chrysler automobiles.

The Chrysler Building still functions as office space for many businesses, so only the lobby is open to the public on weekdays. Inside the lobby, you'll see a beautiful ceiling mural, the world's first digital clock, and elevators with intricate art deco designs. It's also close to the Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Terminal, and Bryant Park.

The New York Botanical Gardens, in the Bronx, hosts a variety of events and interesting sights, from art installations and concerts to workshops and plant conservation programs. It's easy to spend several hours exploring the 250-acre park, strolling along winding pathways past landscaped gardens and ornate conservatories.

The park has a shop selling botanical books, skincare, jewelry, rare plants, gardening tools, and souvenirs. If you're feeling hungry, the Hudson Garden Grill serves New American cuisine for lunch and dinner. You can also pick up light snacks and drinks throughout the day.

St. Patrick's Cathedral is the largest Roman Catholic Church in the US, occupying an entire city block in Midtown Manhattan. Dating back to 1879, this masterpiece of Gothic Revival architecture houses a replica of Michelangelo's Pieta, a 26-foot-wide stained-glass window panel in the main entrance, a Saint Elizabeth altar designed by Paolo Medici, and a gigantic organ with over 7,500 pipes.

The church is busiest on Sunday, so if you're planning on attending mass that day, do arrive early to get good seats. St. Patrick's Cathedral also offers free guided tours for those looking to learn about its history and architecture.