Last visit : January 2025
Visit duration : one to two hours
My rating : 9/10
New York is a city that develops vertically, an urban organism that has made architectural ascension one of its distinctive features. The Top of the Rock , the panoramic terrace of the Rockefeller Center, offers one of the best observation points to understand the structure and evolution of the Manhattan skyline.
The location of the Rockefeller Center is strategic: located between 5th and 6th Avenue, in the heart of Midtown, it offers a viewpoint that other observations, such as that of the Empire State Building or the One World Observatory, do not guarantee. Here, in fact, the gaze can wander unhindered towards the south, with the perfect view of the Empire State Building , the Chrysler Building and, in the distance, the financial district with its most recent skyscraper, the One World Trade Center. Looking north, however, the view opens onto Central Park, the green lung of the city, a stark contrast to the density of the surrounding buildings.
The experience is not only visual: from the Top of the Rock you can read the urban history of New York. You can perceive the orthogonal grid of the city, a regulatory principle that has defined the expansion of Manhattan since the early 1800s, and you can identify the different construction periods, from the Art Deco of the 1930s (perfectly represented by the Empire State Building and the Chrysler) to the rationalist modernism and glass-steel of the most recent towers.
The spectacularization of the visit: experience or mere consumption?
Going up to the Top of the Rock is an experience that begins long before setting foot on the terrace. The path to the top is designed down to the smallest detail to be a perfectly packaged product with a high commercial rate: after entering, you are channeled towards a cinema room where a slightly tacky video is shown in which the apologia of John D. Rockefeller and his role in the history of New York is woven, a history that the visitors themselves allegedly become part of by visiting the Top of the Rock; light effects and ultra-fast elevators transform a simple passage into a Disneyland-style performance. Once you reach the first of the three observation points, the tourist-squeezing skit continues with the photo set where anyone can have their picture taken on a fake girder, replicating the famous photo taken of the workers during the construction of the building, belittling an icon of labor and the epic of construction in the 1930s into a simple commercial gimmick.
But the real highlight of the unbridled commercial strategy is the option to pay a hefty extra (if I remember correctly another 25 dollars) to access a final hydraulic platform that takes visitors ten meters higher than the top floor of the skyscraper, a difference almost imperceptible in the view, but enough to generate additional revenue by tickling tourists' distinctive spending instinct.
One gets the feeling of an increasingly standardized tourism, where the authentic experience gives way to superficial and photogenic consumption, designed to satisfy the visual bulimia of social networks.
But a bath of mass tourism is the price to pay to enjoy this experience, because as soon as you get to the top and Manhattan appears before your eyes in all its iconic magnificence, your eyes widen and your breath runs short. The perspective of New York from above is literally astonishing; you clearly have the perception of having arrived at the center of the world, where ideally every person in the world has tried to carve out their own space by making up for the physical construction of the available territory and developing the city vertically, giving vent to the desire for the sky. Each skyscraper is a giant of steel, glass, stone and concrete and is there, before your eyes, performing in a clash of titans of magnificence.
At a glance, the entire history of the city unfolds in the different styles of the buildings, from the elegant buildings of the late 19th century, to the art-deco marvels, to the ultra-modern crystal pinnacles; the shades of color, from various shades of gray, to black to cream, recall a Pollock painting; the profile drawn by the tops of the buildings, some higher, some lower, some closer, some further away, recalls the fluctuating trend of profits of a company in the financial district before, during and after the great crisis of '29, or the clarinet score of Gershwin in the Rhapsody in Blue, which starting from the lowest notes soars up to the highest notes and then descends again all the way down the scale, or even a pagan and postmodern Mont Saint Michel that emerges from the waters during the high tide as well as, obviously, the immortal set of the epilogue of the tale of King Kong and Fay Wray surrounded by biplanes, the great metaphor of human progress that prevails over wild nature, more timely than ever here, in a land that must have appeared of a primordial and poignant beauty to the first settlers who saw it intact, and that today is the epitome of human urbanization.
It is an image of total magnificence and prosperity that even the excess of which it is an expression gives way to aesthetic power. And intolerance towards unbridled consumerism and mass tourism dissolves before such amazement.
Tips for Visiting the Top of the Rock in Manhattan
Best times : To avoid the crowds and enjoy the best light, sunset is the ideal time. However, it is also the busiest time, so booking in advance is essential. Early morning offers a quieter alternative, but only in the winter months do the most suggestive light times coincide with the time of opening to the public.
Go straight up to the last terrace : as soon as you get out of the elevator you will be captivated by the spectacular view and naturally led to linger for a long time to enjoy the iconic view; resist the temptation and go straight up to the last terrace where the perspective is decidedly better and the view is clearer and less obstructed by the glass panels (particularly annoying in case of rain).
Buying tickets online : It allows you to save time and avoid the often very long lines (the line for me was very short, however, by booking the entrance early in the morning at the opening time). Tickets for the Top of the Rock are also available on Tiqets . where you can also buy a cumulative ticket with the MOMA (RockMoma) saving $10 per person.
Comparison with the Empire State Building? I think the view from the Top of the Rock is by far the best, precisely because it allows you to include in the view the two most iconic skyscrapers of the Manhattan skyline, namely the Chrysler and the Empire State Building, which obviously cannot be seen from the Empire itself...
Avoid unnecessary extras : The basic ticket is enough to enjoy the view without the need for the additional elevator or pre-packaged photos.
Don't limit yourself to the terrace : Rockefeller Center has a remarkable architectural and urban history, with valuable Art Deco artwork and details that deserve further exploration.
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