840 Best Sights in New York, USA

This still-operating tavern, where General George Washington celebrated the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783, is today a museum and national historic site. Here, in his prepresidential days, Washington bid an emotional farewell to his officers upon the British evacuation of New York. Today, this historic landmark has two fully furnished period rooms—including the Long Room, site of Washington's address—and other modest displays of 18th- and 19th-century American history, as well as temporary exhibits. You won't find revolutionaries in the tavern and restaurant these days, but you will enjoy a cozy colonial atmosphere and well-made lunches and dinners of classic American dishes. There's also a piano bar upstairs with live music most nights.

Antiques dealer Fred J. Johnston rescued this 1812 Federal mansion from the wrecking ball in the 1930s; the Friends of Historic Kingston inherited the house in 1993 through Johnston's will. His collection of 18th- and 19th-century Hudson Valley furniture and decorative arts is on display as well as a Friends of Historic Kingston gallery that features different local history exhibits which change every year.

Occasional walking tours of Oak Hill Cemetery and downtown Nyack are led by Friends of the Nyacks; call or check online for dates and times.

If you are looking for ambitious works by the world's most acclaimed artists in a gallery that easily competes with the city's top museums, you have to visit Gagosian. Perhaps the most powerful art dealer in the world, Larry Gagosian has galleries in Beverly Hills, London, Paris, Rome, Athens, and Hong Kong, among other cities, as well as multiple galleries in New York City. The 980 Madison Avenue location, the contemporary art empire's headquarters, is a multifloor gallery that has shown works by big names like Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, Pablo Picasso, Roy Lichtenstein, Cy Twombly, and Damien Hirst.

This internationally renowned modern gallery has two large Chelsea branches (the other is at  522 West 21st Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues) as well as three galleries on the Upper East Side and more than 10 outposts in cities around the world. Perhaps the most powerful dealer in the business, Gagosian Gallery shows works by heavy hitters such as Pablo Picasso, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Urs Fischer, Richard Serra, and pop-art icon Roy Lichtenstein, in addition to less well-known artists.

The challenging installations at this large gallery feature works by mid-career and established artists. Look for art by Yoko Ono, Alfredo Jaar, Andy Goldsworthy, Jaume Plensa, Cildo Meireles, Ana Mendieta, Tariku Shiferaw, and Petah Coyne.

One of the last stretches of the Hudson River Park to be transformed from wasteland to a verdant well-manicured oasis, Gansevoort Peninsula opened in fall 2023. The main attraction is a sandy beach on the Hudson, complete with Adirondack chairs and beach umbrellas to take in the view. The 5.5 acre pierlike space just south of Little Island also boasts a soccer field, picnic tables, and large patches of lawn for frolicking.

Mosey down to this 12-acre waterfront park for sweeping views of Midtown Manhattan across the East River. The atmospheric stretch comes with piers, manicured lawns, Adirondack chairs, and well-designed benches. It also has interesting relics that nod to Long Island City's industrial past, including towering, restored old gantries (once used as shipping lifts between barges and rail cars) that fringe the river and a massive bright red Pepsi-Cola sign that once stood atop a factory here. There are often food trucks lined along Center Boulevard, the road directly next to the park.

This cupcake festival began in 2008 and attracts more cupcake enthusiasts every year with more than a dozen vendors, an amateur baking contest, helicopter rides, and even a 5K race for those who wish to burn some calories before binging on tasty Hudson Valley baked goods.

The mine, started in 1878, is one of the largest garnet mines in the world. Guided tours, which include a walk through an open-pit mine, leave from the Gore Mountain Mineral Shop; you follow the guide in your car to the actual mines, at the base of Gore Mountain.

A curved, one-block lane lined with small row houses, Gay Street was probably named after an early landowner and definitely had nothing to do with gay rights. In the 1930s, this tiny thoroughfare and nearby Christopher Street became famous nationwide after Ruth McKenney began to publish somewhat zany autobiographical stories based on what happened when she and her sister moved to No. 14 from Ohio. The stories, first published in the New Yorker, birthed many adaptations, including the 1953 Broadway musical Wonderful Town and the 1942 and 1955 movies My Sister Eileen.

Dominating the skyline here, the towering granite mausoleum (1897) is the final resting place of Civil War general and two-term U.S. president Ulysses S. Grant and his wife, Julia Dent Grant, who retired to NYC after the White House. The formal name is the General Grant National Memorial, but everybody except the National Park Service calls it Grant's Tomb. As the old joke goes, who's buried here? Nobody—they're entombed in a crypt beneath a domed rotunda, surrounded by photographs and Grant memorabilia. Once a more popular sight than the Statue of Liberty, this pillared Classical Revival edifice remains regal and timeless. The words engraved on the tomb, "Let Us Have Peace," recall Grant's speech to the Republican convention upon his presidential nomination. Surrounding the memorial are the so-called rolling benches, covered with colorful mosaic tiles. Made in the 1970s as a public art project, they are now as beloved as they are incongruous with the grand memorial they surround. Stop by the visitor center (across the street from the tomb; check hours online) for a 20-minute film about Grant.

The General Philip Schuyler House was the general's country home before its destruction by the British in 1777. Schuyler and his soldiers rebuilt it in 29 days. The house includes some original furnishings. It's open from late May through Labor Day, Wednesday through Friday 9:30–4:30; tours are given every half hour.

This 750-acre living-history museum has 68 buildings that were moved from throughout the region to re-create 19th-century life in the Genesee Valley. The complex includes the John L. Wehle Gallery of Wildlife & Sporting Art. The 175-acre Genesee Country Nature Center, which has exhibits and 5 mi of interpreted hiking trails, is open all year. You may cross-country ski and snowshoe here. Mumford is 20 mi southwest of Rochester.

The sprawling colonial-revival mansion, once the home of Eastman Kodak's founder, has been restored to its early-1900s appearance. The elephant head on the wall in the conservatory is an eye-catcher, and the rest of the house gives a glimpse into the life and times of the man who brought photography to the masses. Much of the second floor is used as gallery space. The grounds include a rock garden with scallop-shaped flower beds, a formal terrace garden with more than 90 types of perennials, a cutting garden, a lily pool, and a grape arbor. The International Museum of Photography and Film, connected to the mansion, has changing exhibits about the history of photography and film technology; the permanent collection includes tens of thousands of photos, books, and films as well as photographic equipment. Also here is the Dryden Theatre, which shows movies ($7) and hosts film festivals.

You may spot famous film and television locations around the city, but no firehouse is quite as eye-catching as the one whose exterior was made famous by the 1984 blockbuster Ghostbusters. (Its interiors were filmed in a studio.) The 1903 building is still the active home of FDNY Hook & Ladder Company 8, which ran with the ghost-busting theme for its logo—you’ll find the movie’s iconic ghost and red-circle strikethrough combined with the FDNY badge painted on the pavement out front. Movie buffs can buy a T-shirt with the logo, too, at  www.fdnyshop.com.

One of Bay Shore's oldest houses and home to the historical society, this restored 1820s tradesman's house is authentically furnished and has on its property a Victorian herb garden, a chicken coop, and a two-seater outhouse. The research library in the basement contains antique postcards, old newspapers, maps, and books about the Bay Shore/Brightwaters area. Temporary exhibits display memorabilia and artifacts related to topics ranging from the world wars to crafts and sports.

Located in Roosevelt Island Lighthouse Park, this intriguing and monumental sculpture honors Nelly Bly, the journalist who exposed the horrors of the island's Women’s Lunatic Asylum by going undercover as a patient. Simultaneously, it spotlights women who have endured—and overcome—hardship. Shown as sections of faces in silver for Bly, and bronze for the others, the pieces represent being both broken and repaired. Also on-site, just behind the sculpture, is the Roosevelt Island Lighthouse. The stone structure was built by the New York City government in 1872. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and is also a New York City Landmark.

The international roster of artists at this gallery's two large Chelsea locations includes painter Ahmed Alsoudani, sculptor Anish Kapoor, photographer Sharon Lockhart, and multimedia artists Matthew Barney and Cecilia Edefalk. The other gallery is at  530 West 21st Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues.

Just outside Hammondsport, this museum honors Curtiss and his early aviation experiments. The Hammondsport native made the first public preannounced flight when he flew his June Bug plane more than 5,000 feet outside the village on July 4, 1908. Exhibits include aircraft, engines, a collection of antique motorcycles, and hands-on models for kids. A restoration shop is open to the public and staff is available to answer questions.

Enjoy average summer temperatures of 72°F in the deep woods of this state park on Otsego Lake 8 mi north of the village of Cooperstown. In warm months you can swim, hike, and fish. There's a concession stand as well as 80 campsites. In winter you can snowshoe, snow-tube, cross-country ski, and ice fish.

Goat Island is a wonderful spot for a quiet walk and a close-up view of the rapids. Pedestrian bridges give you access to Luna Island and the Three Sisters Islands. The Cave of the Winds tour leaves from Goat Island.

There are two main automobile entrances to the park, both off Robert Moses Parkway. The south entrance takes you over a bridge to Goat Island; the north entrance puts you near the visitor center.

The 400-foot with a playground, beach house, and summer lifeguards, faces Huntington Bay.

Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, and Michael Strahan, among others, host this early-morning news and entertainment show. It airs live, weekdays from 7 to 9 am. You can be part of the action by gathering on the corner of West 44th Street and Broadway to participate in outdoor segments. For its Friday Summer Concert Series, GMA puts up a stage at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park; tickets are free but must be requested in advance. Check the website for more information.

The oldest harness track in the United States is also a National Historic Landmark. You can watch daily training or take a self-guided walking tour of the premises, but these days races are run only in June and July.

Built as a country retreat by Scottish-born shipping magnate Archibald Gracie in 1799, when New York City ended much farther downtown, Gracie Mansion was made the official residence of the city's mayors in 1942. The first mayoral resident, Fiorello LaGuardia, dubbed it the "Little White House." More recently, former mayor Michael Bloomberg stayed in his own town house nearby while pouring millions into renovating the house and turning the first floor into a museum reflecting the city's history and diversity. Some mayors were hesitant about moving into Gracie Mansion; Eric Adams, the current mayor, has publicly said that the mansion is haunted, but he has been focusing on making "the People's House" more experiential to visitors. Public tours of the building are offered on Monday at 10:30 am, noon, and 1:30 pm and to private and school groups on Wednesday. Reservations must be made online; plan at least a month in advance, if possible.