343 Best Sights in New York City, New York

The life and legacy of Jackie Robinson, the trailblazing Black baseball player who broke the color barrier when he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, is the focus of this new, $42 million interactive museum on the western edge of SoHo. Besides memorabilia—Robinson’s Dodgers uniform, rookie contract, and Rookie of the Year award are among hundreds of archival major-league artifacts on display—Robinson’s Civil Rights legacy is given equal due. The intense racial discrimination the Hall of Famer endured both on and off the field is powerfully narrated through photos and videos, including one clip that vividly recounts the segregation he and his wife, Rachel, experienced en route to Florida spring training as the South was under Jim Crow laws.

Equal parts architectural marvel and children's plaything, this beautifully restored 1922 carousel twirls within a glass-walled waterfront pavilion designed by Pritzker Prize--winning French architect Jean Nouvel. Situated between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, near the northern reaches of 85-acre Brooklyn Bridge Park and directly across from Manhattan's skyline, the carousel's 48 horses and two chariots are off to the races year-round.

Despite sitting in the shade of the Empire State Building and being just steps from Herald Square, Koreatown (or "K-Town," as it's locally known) is not a tourist destination. In fact, it feels decidedly off the radar and insulated, as though locals wryly planted their own place to eat, drink, be merry, and get a massage right under the noses of millions of tourists. Technically, Koreatown runs from 31st to 36th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues, though the main drag is 32nd Street between 5th and Broadway. Labeled Korea Way, this strip is home to late-night Korean barbecue joints, karaoke bars, and spas, all stacked on top of each other. Fill up on kimchi (spicy pickled cabbage), kimbap (seaweed rice), and red-bean doughnuts (delicious); try some karaoke; and then top off your Koreatown experience by stepping into a jade-igloo sauna (at Juvenex Spa,  25 W. 32nd St.) or an amethyst sauna (at Aura Spa,  49 W. 33rd St.).

Internationally renowned, this cultural destination attracts more than 6.5 million visitors annually to its massive, white-travertine-clad complex of buildings, including the homes of the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet, the Juilliard School, the Film Center, a branch of the New York Public Library specializing in the performing arts, and the Damrosch Park outdoor performance space. All of this makes Lincoln Center one of the nation's most concentrated destinations for the performing arts. The16-acre campus, containing 30 venues in all, was designed by prolific New York architect Wallace Harrison and was built over the course of several years from 1962 to 1969. When David Geffen Hall reopened in fall 2022 after a two-year $550 million renovation, the acoustically superior venue—home to the New York Philharmonic, the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States—evoked and honored the vibrant Black and Puerto Rican neighborhood that had been razed to make way for the complex with a multimedia piece by the composer Etienne Charles called “San Juan Hill.” The opening included a commitment to making programming more accessible to all audiences: performances from within the Wu Tsai Theater will be simulcast on the lobby’s Hauser Digital Wall for anyone to experience and rotating visual artworks will also be shown on the digital wall as well as on the facade on 65th Street at Broadway. You can also get a glimpse of artists working and rehearsing in the new Sidewalk Studio facing Broadway.

The Metropolitan Opera House, notable for its arched entrance, features immense chandeliers and Marc Chagall paintings, both of which can be seen from outside. Even the fountain in the central plaza puts on a show, with performances that include spouts of water 40-feet high. From mid-May to mid-August, Lincoln Center's "Summer for the City" presents hundreds of mostly free events. 

Much like the High Line when it opened, Little Island was an instant hit with locals and visitors when the gates to this man-made isle in the middle of the Hudson River first swung open in May 2021. The 2.4-acre park is elevated on 132 tulip-looking concrete stilts and connected to Manhattan by two footbridges. Funded mostly by Barry Diller and Diane von Fürstenberg, the island park and its rolling stair-clad hills make for a fun wander. It also provides stunning views of the Manhattan skyline. There's a small outdoor food court and an ambient amphitheater for free concerts. 

A pioneer in the "alternative-space" movement, MoMA PS1 rose from the ruins of an abandoned school in 1976 as a sort of community arts center for the future, focusing on the work of currently active experimental and innovative artists. Long-term installations include work by Sol LeWitt, James Turrell, and Pipilotti Rist. Every available corner of the enormous building is used; discover art not only in former classrooms–turned–galleries, but also in the boiler room, and even in some bathrooms.

What this small three-gallery museum in the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) lacks in size and effects it more than makes up for in substance and style. You might not find interactive mannequins, elaborate displays, or overcrowded galleries at the self-declared "most fashionable museum in New York City," but you will find carefully curated, fun, and interesting exhibits. The Fashion and Textile History Gallery, on the main floor, provides context with a rotating selection of historically and artistically significant objects from the museum’s permanent collection of more than 50,000 garments and accessories (exhibits change every six months). The real draws, though, are the special exhibitions in the lower-level gallery. Gallery FIT, also on the main floor, is dedicated to student and faculty exhibitions.

Housing one of the world's finest collections of modern art, MoMA is renowned for its permanent collection, which includes masterpieces by Picasso, van Gogh, Monet, Kahlo, Warhol, and Dalí, as well as its first-rate multimedia exhibitions. MoMA completed a $450 million renovation and expansion in 2019, and the building now features walkways between old and new galleries, each organized to showcase familiar masters alongside great, but lesser-known, artists—many of them women and people of color. Contemporary works and those of varied media also are strategically exhibited beside familiar classics. The displays breathe new life into the institution's curatorial experience.

MoMA spans six levels, and it's helpful to explore from top to bottom. See the most famous works on Floors 4 and 5; installations on 6; and galleries of photography, drawings, architecture projects, and special exhibitions on the lower floors. Level 1 remains home to the delightful Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden. Within the museum, dine at high-end The Modern; snack at cafés on Floor 2; and enjoy outdoor views from the Terrace café on Floor 6. The cellar-level cinema screens international films and theme series (museum entry is included with your film ticket). Browse at the famous MoMA Store and MoMA Design Store (across 53rd Street).  Entry is free for NYC residents the first Friday of each month, 4–8 pm. The first-floor galleries are free and open to the public. The museum is open until 7 pm on Saturday.

Although it's full of Hollywood and television memorabilia, this museum's core exhibition is Behind the Screen, which demonstrates how movies and TV shows are produced and shown and has stations where you can create your own short animation, experiment with sound effects, or view the behind-the-scenes editing process of a live Mets baseball game. The Jim Henson Exhibition tells the stories of Henson's film and TV works and has a build-a-muppet station. A wide range of films (more than 400), from classic Hollywood to avant-garde works to foreign-festival hits, is generally shown on weekend evenings and afternoons. Special programs include film retrospectives, lectures, and workshops, as well as daily short films in Tut's Fever Movie Palace, a fab Red Grooms-- and Lysiane Luong–designed installation.

This seven-story, 60,000-square-foot structure—a glimmering, metal-mesh-clad assemblage of off-center squares—caused a small neighborhood uproar when it was built in 2007, with some residents slow to accept the nontraditional building. Not surprisingly, given the museum's name and the building, shows are all about contemporary art, often provocative and frequently with a video element. Free tours are offered; check the website for times.

Run by the Wildlife Conservation Society, one of the country's oldest continually operating aquariums occupies 14 beachfront acres, and is home to hundreds of aquatic species. At the Sea Cliffs, you can watch penguins, sea lions, sea otters, and seals frolic; the best action is at feeding time. The Conservation Hall and Glovers Reef building has angelfish, eels, rays, piranhas, and other marine life from Belize, Fiji, and elsewhere. The new Playquarium, which features a Touch Pool of crabs, marine snails, and sea urchin, also invites children to imagine themselves as sharks, sardines, or whales amid a kelp forest, coral reef, and sandy shore.  Purchase tickets online for discounted rates.

Considered one of the world's leading botany centers, this beautiful, 250-acre campus is also one of the best reasons to make a trip to the Bronx. Built around the dramatic gorge of the Bronx River, it's home to lush indoor and outdoor gardens and acres of natural forest, and it offers classes, concerts, and special exhibits. Be captivated by the seasonal fragrance of the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden's 4,000 blooms, which represent more than 650 varieties. Relax in the leafy Thain Family Forest, or explore the Everett Children's Adventure Garden, a 12-acre, indoor-outdoor museum with a boulder maze, giant animal topiaries, and a plant discovery center. The Victorian-style Enid A. Haupt Conservatory houses re-creations of misty tropical rain forests and arid African and North American deserts, as well as exhibitions such as the annual Holiday Train Show and the winter-into-spring Orchid Show, which showcases flowers that look like the stuff of science fiction. The All-Garden Pass gives you access to the conservatory, adventure garden, special exhibitions, and more.

History buffs, train geeks, and playful children will all appreciate this unique museum inside a decommissioned 1930s subway station. Exhibitions include detailed timelines of the transit system's construction and evolution over the decades, but the true highlight is the subway platform two levels down, featuring train cars of different eras of the subway, dating back over a century ago. Adults and kids alike can wander these cars, each a time capsule of vintage aesthetics and advertising, or sit behind the driving wheel of a replica of an MTA bus. There are also old turnstiles and other transit memorabilia. The gift shop carries subway-line socks, decorative tile reproductions, and other fun souvenirs.

New York City's oldest (and perhaps most under-the-radar) museum, founded in 1804, has an extensive research library in addition to sleek interactive technology, a children's museum, and inventive exhibitions that shed light on America's history, art, and architecture. The eclectic permanent collection includes more than 14 million pieces of art, literature, prints, photographs, and memorabilia, and special exhibitions showcase the museum's unique voice and ability to provide fresh insight on all things related to New York and the nation. The Henry Luce III Center for the Study of American Culture includes 100 dazzling Tiffany lamps on display and historic treasures that tell the American story in a novel way. Also part of the Luce Center is the Center for Women's History, examining the untold stories of women who have impacted and continue to shape the American experience. The DiMenna Children's History Museum on the lower level invites children to become "history detectives" and explore New York's past through interactive displays, hands-on activities, and the stories of iconic New York children through the centuries.  The museum hosts a New York--theme citywide Gingerbread contest around the holidays and displays the winners from mid-November to mid-January.

Storico, the light-filled restaurant on the first floor (separate entrance), serves upscale Italian food at lunch and dinner; Parliament Espresso & Coffee Bar sells beverages, pastries, and light lunch fare.

In September 2019, Pace moved into a new eight-story building at  540 West 25th Street, turning the gallery more into an art center than just a gallery. The impressive roster of talent represented here includes a variety of upper-echelon artists, sculptors, and photographers, such as Richard Avedon, Alexander Calder, Tara Donovan, Chuck Close, Sol LeWitt, and Robert Rauschenberg. Pace has two spaces in Chelsea, including  510 West 25th Street.

Brooklyn residents are passionate about Prospect Park, and with good reason: lush green spaces, gently curved walkways, summer concerts, vivid foliage in autumn, and an all-season skating rink make it a year-round getaway. In 1859, the New York Legislature decided to develop plans for a park in the fast-growing city of Brooklyn. After landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux completed the park in the late 1880s, Olmsted remarked that he was prouder of it than any of his other works—including Manhattan's Central Park—and many critics agree. On weekends, those not jogging the 3.35-mile loop gravitate to the rolling hills of the Long Meadow to picnic, fly kites, or play cricket, flag football, or Frisbee. On summer Sundays, foodies flock to Breeze Hill, site of outdoor food market Smorgasburg's second Brooklyn location. The park's north entrance is at Grand Army Plaza, where the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Arch (patterned on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris) honors Civil War veterans. On Saturday, year-round, a greenmarket at the plaza throngs with shoppers. 

A good way to experience the park is to walk the Long Meadow—or stop in for the occasional free yoga class—and then head to the eastern side and south toward the lake. Along the way, you'll encounter attractions including Brooklyn's last remaining forest, including the Lefferts Historic House (now closed for renovations), Prospect Park Audubon Center, and the LeFrak Center. The Prospect Park Carousel, built in 1912, still thrills the kids. The Boathouse, dating from 1905, is a stunning example of Beaux-Arts architecture. The annual Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival takes place at the Prospect Park Bandshell from early June through mid-August. 

Built in 1923, just one year before legendary Totonno's Pizzeria opened its doors on nearby Neptune Avenue, this famous wood-planked walkway is better known as the Coney Island Boardwalk, and in summer it seems like all of Brooklyn is out strolling along the 2½-mile stretch. The quintessential walk starts at the end of the pier in Coney Island, opposite the Parachute Jump, where you can see the shoreline stretched out before you, where the waves of the Atlantic Ocean meet the Big Apple. From here to Brighton Beach is a little over a mile and should take about a half hour at a leisurely amble. Admire the modernistic, rectangular structures perched over the beach, housing bathrooms and lifeguard stations.

This expansive green space runs alongside the Hudson River—hence its name—and offers a welcome dose of tranquility from 72nd to 158th Street, as does the park's south extension, from about 59th to 72nd Street. Walking and biking paths dot the entire park, among them the broad Promenade between 83rd and 96th Streets. The park's original sections were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux of Central Park fame and laid out between 1873 and 1888. Riverside Park also includes the soaring white marble Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument (at 89th Street), dedicated to New Yorkers who served in the Civil War, and the Warsaw Ghetto Memorial Plaza (at 80th Street), dedicated in 1947. The 79th Street Marina, with its café, visiting yachts and permanently moored houseboats, is closed for renovations to make the marina climate resilient and expand access for boaters. 

Stretching almost the entire length of the peninsula, this beach is separated into sections according to and labeled with the nearest cross street. In order to prevent erosion that worsened after Hurricane Sandy, certain sections of the beach are closed on various days, so check the website for details. The adjoining concrete boardwalk becomes a see-and-be-seen bazaar in the height of summer. Bikers, strollers, joggers, and rollerbladers all share space with day trippers trying to spot their friends on the sand. There are also plenty of eateries and some swimsuit and surf shops for browsing. Amenities: food and drink; toilets; lifeguards (in season). Best for: swimming; walking; surfing; partiers.

Founded in 1925 and named a National Historic Landmark in 2017, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is one of the world’s leading cultural institutions devoted to the research, preservation, and exhibition of materials focused on Black, African-diaspora, and African experiences. Established with the collections of Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, this research division of the New York Public Library features diverse programming, including exhibits that draw from a collection of more than 11 million items illuminating the richness of global Black history, arts, and culture. The Photographs and Prints Division houses over 300,000 images that document African culture and history since the 18th century, while the Rare Books Division houses an extraordinary collection of manuscripts and archives available for research purposes. 

One of the largest ongoing adaptive reuse projects in America, Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden’s 83-acre campus—with 4 museums, 26 buildings, 9 gardens, 10 acres of wetlands, and a 2-acre farm—is an ideal place to enjoy nature, history, and the arts. Its on-site attractions are managed (and, if applicable, ticketed) independently of each other. Events, performances, and cultural celebrations occur regularly throughout campus.

The Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art is Staten Island's largest and oldest contemporary art gallery, exhibiting vibrant, dynamic displays of local and international artwork, all housed in Snug Harbor’s oldest landmarked Greek Revival building. Next door, the Noble Maritime Collection maintains historic collections specific to Staten Island's maritime past. Enjoy the Staten Island Children's Museum with kids, or visit the Staten Island Museum, with exhibits on art, history, and science—including a partial life-size replica of a mastodon. Among the unique botanical gardens is the Ming Dynasty--inspired New York Chinese Scholar's Garden, one of the first classical outdoor scholar’s garden in North America, fabricated in Suzhou and constructed on-site.

Frank Lloyd Wright's landmark curving, nautilus-like building is renowned as much for its famous architecture as for its superlative collection of modern art and well-curated shows, some of which utilize the entire museum. Opened in 1959, shortly after Wright's death, the Guggenheim is acclaimed as one of the greatest buildings of the 20th century. Inside, under a 96-foot-high glass dome, a ramp spirals down, past the artworks of the current exhibits (the ramp is just over a quarter-mile long). The museum has strong holdings of works by Wassily Kandinsky (150 works), Paul Klee, Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso, and Robert Mapplethorpe.  In 2023, the museum added its first associate curator of art and technology to promote artists working with technology. 

Wright's design was criticized by some who believed that the distinctive building detracted from the art, but the design allows artworks to be viewed from different angles and distances. On permanent display, the museum's Thannhauser Collection is made up primarily of works by French impressionists and postimpressionists van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Cézanne, Renoir, and Manet. Escape the crowded lobby by taking the elevator to the top and working your way down the spiral. The Cafe Rebay offers snacks and sandwiches.

Some 70,000 people ride the free ferry daily to Staten Island, one of the city's five boroughs, and you too can join them for the city's most scenic commute. Without paying a cent, you get phenomenal views of the Lower Manhattan skyline, the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island during the 25-minute cruise across New York Harbor. You also pass tugboats, freighters, and cruise ships—a reminder that this is very much still a working harbor. The ferry sails every 15–30 minutes (24 hours a day, 365 days a year) from the Whitehall Terminal at Whitehall and South Streets, near the east end of Battery Park. You must disembark once you reach the opposite terminal, but you can just get back in line to board again if you don't plan to stay. A small concession stand on each ferry sells a few snacks and beverages (including beer).