If Times Square is New York's crossroads, Rockefeller Center is its communal gathering place, where all the world converges to snap pictures, skate on the wintertime rink, peek in on a taping of the Today show at NBC Studios, shop, eat, and take in the monumental art deco structures and public sculptures from the past century. Totaling 49 shops, 28 restaurants (1.4 million square feet in all) the complex runs from 47th to 52nd streets between 5th and 7th avenues. Special events and huge pieces of art dominate the central plazas in summer, and in December an enormous twinkling tree towers above (visit www.rockefellercenter.com for a schedule).
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