840 Best Sights in New York, USA

Christian and Rosamund Baiz's family homestead is the setting for this small winery with a rustic farm setting, right down to the chickens and dog roaming the property. Operations are sustainable and organic whenever possible, and the wines are made by one of the area's top winemakers. The Cracklin' Rosé is a fun choice with flavors of orange blossom, white cherry, and cranberry. Tastings are in an small, old barn or picnic-style by the beach. Historical and agricultural tours are among the events held here.

You can explore the first four lakes of the Fulton Chain on a narrated sightseeing cruise aboard one of two 125-passenger boats. The 22-mi cruises usually take two hours; kids' cruises are 15 mi and take about 90 minutes. Dinner excursions are also available. From June to mid-September you may tag along on the 35-foot President Harrison as it delivers mail to lakefront camps and cottages. The mail boat service dates from 1902 and was spurred by Benjamin Harrison, whose family summered on Second Lake. The mailboat can take only 10 passengers, so reservations for this three-hour cruise are a good idea.

The earliest part of the fort was built as a French castle in 1726, and the complex later played a critical role in the French and Indian War (1754–63). You can watch colorful displays of cannon and musket firings, historical reenactments, 18th-century military demonstrations, and take part in archaeological programs. The fort is inside Fort Niagara State Park, 15 mi north of Niagara Falls.

The site contains several 18th- and 19th-century buildings, including the 1772 church that served as a fort during its early years. A log stockade was erected in 1777, and the building came under attack by the British three years later. During the Civil War it was used as an armory. Converted to a museum in 1889, the interior serves as a museum within a museum, with hundreds of artifacts exhibited in cases that have changed little in the past century.

This reconstructed Dutch farmhouse dating back to 1699 played a central role in the Battle of Brooklyn, one of the largest battles of the Revolutionary War. In the 1880s, it served as the clubhouse of the early Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team, and today it's a small, family-friendly museum that looks back at the history of the site, from the Lenape tribes to Revolutionary times in Brooklyn, from the 1640s to 1783. Art exhibits, concerts, plays, and other community events take place year-round.

is one of the few former Long Island estates still intact, and today the grounds and 1906 Gold Coast mansion built by financier-sportsman John S. Phipps are open to the public. The mansion showcases the home's original furniture and the family's art and belongings; the beautiful 160-acre property includes formal gardens, fountains, woodlands, and lakes.

The museum of the Yates County Historical Society is in an 1852 house that was the residence of the Olivers, a well-known local family of physicians. Guided tours lead you through the Victorian rooms and historical exhibits. Revolving exhibits may cover period furniture, costumes and textiles, carpentry and blacksmithing tools, American Indian artifacts, paintings and photographs, and decorative arts.

The towers of the 70- and 90-meter ski jumps here are stark and exposed and seem out of place, but the view from the top of the taller tower is dramatic. A glass-encased elevator takes you 26 stories to the top, where you get a bird's-eye view of the lay of the land and the High Peaks around Lake Placid. You also get a stomach-gripping view of what the jumpers see while preparing to take flight. During most of the year you may also opt to ride a chairlift up to the elevator. In summer, freestyle skiers practice twirls and somersaults into a 750,000 gallon pool.

The Olympic Sports Complex has 31 mi of groomed cross-country-skiing trails. Full-day trail passes are $18; lessons and rentals are available. You may also rent snowshoes here. From late June to early October, mountain bikers take over the trails (it's $10 for mountain biking).

There are several thrills involved in visiting One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, not the least of which are the spectacular views of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and New Jersey. If you time your visit around dusk, you'll get daytime views as well as sunset and sparkling evening lights. The observatory occupies the 100th, 101st, and 102nd floors of One WTC, and the experience includes an exhilarating trip up in the world's fastest elevators, during which a journey through history is projected on the elevator walls. After you step out at the top, there's also a two-minute video of time-lapse images of Lower Manhattan. The ground floor has exhibits and personal stories about the building of the tower. Admission prices rise for "priority" entrance and other combo tickets (best bought online with timed entry); the box office, security checkpoint, and observatory entrance are on the West Street side of the tower. With some reservations, you can purchase prix-fixe dining or bar packages for ONE Dine restaurant on the 101st floor, which include observatory tickets.

The showcase of the Charlotte neighborhood, the restored park recalls its days as the "Coney Island of the North." The 1905 Dentzel Carousel ($1) has three rows of animals—pigs, giant rabbits, and giraffes as well as horses—and is one of only about six such Dentzel menagerie carousels still operating in the country. Free concerts are held on Wednesday nights in summer. To get here, take Lake Avenue all the way north until you reach Lake Ontario.

A multicultural approach helps children enjoy the fine arts through masks and puppets, ranging from English marionettes to Indonesian shadow puppets. Performances are given at 11 am on some Saturdays from October to April. The theater also has a storytelling series. Browse masks, puppets, and traditional wooden toys in the gift shop.

The late Harvey Fite put 37 years into the making of this 6-acre outdoor sculpture, created in the rock bed of an abandoned bluestone quarry. The architectural creation is an assemblage of curving bluestone walkways, swirling terraces, and finely fitted ramps around pools, trees, and fountains. The Quarryman's Museum contains 19th-century tools.

If you're looking for a good place to start your exploration of the Lower East Side, Orchard Street, from Houston all the way down to Canal Street, is probably the densest conglomeration of restaurants, cafés, boutiques, and art galleries. It's the perfect place to wander, checking out the art, browsing for clothes and knickknacks, stopping for a coffee or a glass of wine, and having a meal. Although no one gallery really stands out—you're best off visiting whatever catches your eye—look out for Perrotin ( 130 Orchard St.) and Krause Gallery ( 149 Orchard St.).

The August 6, 1777, battle fought here is said to have been one of the bloodiest conflicts of the American Revolution, and is viewed as key to later rebel victories. It involved Brigadier General Nicholas Herkimer and the 800 men and 60 Oneida warriors he had assembled to march to the aid of the rebels at Fort Stanwix, which British forces had attacked. As Herkimer's group marched toward the fort, it was ambushed in a ravine by British forces, Tories, and their Seneca and Mohawk allies. The losses, heavy on both sides, caused the British side to retreat.

Top wines here, like the rich Cabernet Sauvignon, are becoming serious players, but the winery still knows how to have fun. During prime season they offer plenty of picnic tables on the lawn (pack your own lunch), three BBQ stations, a volleyball net, an outdoor bar, and live music on weekends. Try the 2011 Carmenere. For a true taste of the holidays, go for the spice wine, and serve it warm.

Artist and film director Julian Schnabel lives here. But that's not why it's worth making a point to stand across the street and marvel at this pink structure of wonder. Plopped atop a former horse stable, this 12-floor pink Venetian-style palace rises 170 feet above the low-level skyline of the West Village. The facade is highlighted by Renaissance-style porticos and the name engraved halfway up, Palazzo Chupi—a reference to a popular brand of Spanish lollipop and the pet name for Schnabel's wife. When it was completed in 2008, there were rumors that various celebrities—Bono, Madonna, the Olsen Twins—were going to buy one of the five apartments inside. (The only famous person who actually did buy a place was actor Richard Gere.) The building immediately became a divisive flashpoint for West Villagers: some passionately hated it while others loved it. Over time, the haters have thinned out and now most locals love Palazzo Chupi.

With an exhibition gallery, small cinema, screening room, and a computerized catalog of more than 160,000 television and radio programs, the Paley Center's New York outpost examines the constantly evolving state of media. Temporary exhibits on the first floor showcase anything from game shows to sporting events through photographs, recordings, and artifacts. The center also hosts public seminars, lectures, and screenings that explore the history of broadcasting. The fourth-floor library is the top draw: if you want to see an archived awards show, news program, sitcom, or historic event, simply check into a semiprivate computer terminal, enter your search terms, and enjoy. Possibly the most entertaining part of these TV shows from yesteryear is that the original commercials are still embedded in many of the programs. If ads are your thing, you can watch compilations of classic commercials.

A small, old-fashioned tasting room leads out to a wooden deck and lawn—a top spot for watching the sun set over acres of vines and farm fields. Palmer wines regularly impress top critics, especially the "41/72" merlot cuvée. The Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc are among the most popular vintages here. In-season, look for special events including live music, yoga, food truck, and Friday night firepit with open mike.

The rock outcropping here, 14 mi west of downtown Jamestown, spans 25 acres. The park has caves, 60-foot-high cliffs, and crevices said to have been used by American Indians for shelter and as places to keep meat cool in summer. Outlaws are also said to have used the rocks as hiding places. As you hike along the 1-mi self-guided trail here, you may find rare mosses, wildflowers, ferns, and oddly shaped tree roots.

This narrow, gated cul-de-sac off West 10th Street between Greenwich and 6th Avenues has 10 diminutive 1848 row houses. Around the corner on 6th Avenue is a similar dead-end street, Milligan Place, with five small houses completed in 1852. The houses in both quiet enclaves were originally built for waiters who worked at 5th Avenue's high-society Brevoort Hotel, long since demolished. Later Patchin Place residents included writers Theodore Dreiser, E. E. Cummings, Jane Bowles, and Djuna Barnes. Milligan Place became popular among playwrights, including Eugene O'Neill.

The center has natural-history exhibits and hosts lectures and classes on wildlife and other nature-related and outdoorsy subjects. Nature trails here double as cross-country-skiing and snowshoeing trails in winter. From June through Labor Day you may observe butterflies in the Butterfly House, a greenhouse-like structure. The center is in Paul Smiths, 12 mi north of Saranac Lake.

SoHo pioneer Paula Cooper moved to Chelsea in 1996 and, after moving her masterpieces around the neighborhood, has finally settled into a stark-white, high-ceilinged space that's perfect for viewing art. There are now two galleries (the other is at  521 West 21st Street) that showcase the works of artists such as Carl Andre, Sam Durant, Hans Haacke, Donald Judd, and Dan Flavin.

The Massoud family tends the vines, makes the wine, and greets visitors in a tasting room that has a great view of the whole wine-making operation; ask, and you might be shown the extensive catwalk system. Paumanok wines, traditionally crafted, consistently receive top marks, and the Chenin Blanc and Rieslings are the most popular.

The working farm on 13 riverfront acres west of Riverhead grows more than 700 varieties of plants, including herbs, heirloom vegetables, beautiful shrubs, and roses. Wander through the trail gardens, visit the eight greenhouses, and (in season) stop by their farmers' market. Garden-related workshops and other events are offered off-season. Artists and photographers are welcome to utilize the gardens for inspiration.

More than 400 rare and unique bicycles and related antiques and memorabilia are on display at one of the largest bicycle museums in the world.

The Bronx certainly has a reputation of being relentlessly urban, but there are parks in abundance, including the largest city park across the five boroughs (in terms of land area): Pelham Bay Park, a sprawling landscape of marshland and woods laced with nature trails for both human and horse feet. (There's horseback riding at the Bronx Equestrian Center on Shore Road.) The Bronx's only public beach, the 1.1-mile-long Orchard Beach offers views of Long Island Sound, along with a pavilion and snack bars. The incongruous Bartow-Pell Mansion ( www.bartowpellmansionmuseum.org), built in the Greek Revival style in the 1830s, has exhibits of period furniture and historic Bronx memorabilia, plus manicured gardens and a carriage house. The park also holds two golf courses, miniature golf, sports fields, playgrounds, and miles of paved biking paths.

With a tower over the tasting room and an interior courtyard, this winery is an architectural standout and provides a beautiful envoronment for a wine tasting. Unlike the many wineries these days that are augmenting their attraction with music, fun, and games, at Pellegrini it's all about the wine. Coupling old world traditional methods—like growing and harvesting the healthiest and ripest grapes and employing the best winemakers—with new winemaking technology, Pellegrini is known for producing some of the finest wines, including the limited reserve Petite Verdot, Encore, Vintner's Pride Chardonnay, and Finale. Weddings are held here almost every weekend in warm-weather months, so call ahead before visiting, as hours many change.