840 Best Sights in New York, USA

Noted architect Frank Gehry designed Bard's extraordinary Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts. Brushed-stainless-steel panels, draped like massive ribbons over the roof and sides of the 108,000-square-foot performing-arts center, reflect the light and colors of the sky as well as the hilly surroundings. Tours are given Monday through Friday at 2 most of the year. Call ahead to make sure the theater is open and tours are available.

Run by the Roosevelt Island Visual Arts Association, this gallery helps to promote works by its 30 artist members through group and solo exhibitions, and other programming. Along with this gallery, the RIVAA manages another exhibition space, the Octagon Gallery within the Octagon Building, once the entrance of a hospital that's now part of an apartment complex. The latter spot features art by both RIVAA members and international guest contributors—including painters, sculptors, photographers, computer artists, graphic designers, ceramists, and installation artists.

One of the oldest stock-car racing tracks in the country and the only NASCAR track in the New York Metropolitan area, Riverhead Raceway also hosts monster truck rallies, school bus demolition derbies, and hosts special events including amusement rides and fireworks. Bring ear plugs if you don't like loud noises.

Walk right up to cows, camels, and more than 200 other animals. Old McDonald's has been educating children about farm life since 1986. The complex includes a calf-raising facility as part of a 1,200-acre working farm. There's also a miniature-golf course, pony rides, and a hayride.

In 1887 the author of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Treasure Island spent a year in Saranac Lake being treated for tuberculosis. Today the quaint farmhouse where he lived contains his original furniture as well as a collection of Stevenson memorabilia, including early photographs, personal letters, and his velvet smoking jacket.

Everyone in the family can play with hands-on exhibits that focus on science and technology and their impact on our daily lives, as well as some nature and local cultural-heritage exhibits. Highlights include Light Here/Light Now, an optics exhibit; the interactive Expedition Earth, which delves into how the region was formed; a Seneca Indian exhibit; and the Strasenburgh Planetarium, which presents astronomy and laser-light shows and large-format films about space and Earth.

Perched at the edge of the Allegany Mountains, Rock City is believed to have the largest exposure of quartz conglomerate in the world. Some of the towering prehistoric rock formations are several stories high. Pathways lead you over top and down through narrow crevices enclosed by huge boulders. Wear athletic footwear.

Built in 1767, this Georgian Colonial manor is one of Long Island's finest and best-preserved homes of the era. Home to Josiah Martin, a wealthy West Indian planter and British Loyalist during the Revolutionary War, it was given to the Town of Hempstead in 1948, and is presently on the National Register of Historic Places and part of the New York State Revolutionary War Heritage Trail. The home is now a museum with period furnishings and educational and cultural programs for all ages.

The museum has the largest collection of Western American art in the East. Art from the 19th and 20th centuries and American Indian artifacts and works show the people, places, and ideas of the West. Kids get to use special interactive backpacks as they go through the displays. The museum occupies an 1893 building, the old city hall, in the historic Market Street district. A Southwestern restaurant is on the premises.

Named for Jamestown native and noted naturalist Roger Tory Peterson (1908–96), who wrote the seminal Field Guide to the Birds in 1934 (which spawned today's best-selling Peterson Field Guides series), this 27-acre center seeks to educate children about nature. You may hike the wooded trails, or explore one of the natural-history exhibits. The gallery shows a selection of works by Peterson and others.

This 1930 Georgian Revival building has 42 treatment rooms and a 13,000-square-foot fitness center. An herbal mineral bath is $45. Other treatments include reflexology, shiatsu, aromatherapy, body polishes, mud wraps, and assorted facials.

Part of the half-mile loop at this zoo is a treetop boardwalk that allows you to traipse above fields of reindeer and other hoofed animals. You can touch the Asian elephants, which have been bred here for decades. Sand cats, ocelots, meerkats, penguins, red pandas, and Amur tigers reside here, too, along with hundreds of other animals. A reptile house and a free-flight aviary are among the indoor exhibits.

Built from 1833 through 1837, this series of Greek Revival and Federal row houses along Washington Square North, between University Place and MacDougal Street, once belonged to merchants and bankers, then to writers and artists such as John Dos Passos and Edward Hopper. Many are now owned by NYU and used for housing and offices. Although the facades remain beautifully preserved, the interiors have been drastically altered over the years.

A center for New York's Arts and Crafts movement at the turn of the 20th century, this 9-building community (it originally held 14 buildings) was once home to as many as 500 craftsmen, aka Roycrofters. The community was founded in 1895 by Elbert Hubbard, who had met William Morris during his travels in England. Existing campus buildings include the Roycroft Inn, the 1902 blacksmith shop and the furniture-making and bookbinding building (both now housing artisan and antiques shops); and the old chapel, now the town hall.

During the War of 1812, two battles were fought here between the British and Americans. The harbor served as headquarters for divisions of the U.S. Army and Navy. Today the site includes a nicely restored commandant's house, which dates from 1850. In summer, guides reenact camp life; an audio tour and stories are available through your cell phone through mid-October.

Four severe blazes in town in the 1800s led to the establishment of the first volunteer fire department in New York State. The museum, housed in an 1833 building that served as fire-company quarters as well as town hall, displays an 1890 hand-pulled hose cart, a 1920s fire chief's vehicle, model fire trucks, and other old firefighting equipment.

Noted 19th-century architect Minard Lafever designed this striking 1845 Greek Revival mansion for shipowner Benjamin Huntting and his family. Museum displays include scrimshaw pieces, a boat collection, period furnishings, and model ships. Special exhibits take place in the summer, events include the Harborfest Party, and tours of a whaling captain's house are offered.

Known for a time as the "summer White House," this 23-room Victorian was President Teddy Roosevelt's cherished family retreat from 1885 until his death in 1919. In addition to the original furnishings and some personal effects, the house contains animal heads and skins from Roosevelt's many hunting expeditions. The servants' quarters offer a behind-the-scenes look at life here.

Docents in period dress are on hand to take you on a tour of this historically important home dating back to 1697. The manor served as a military headquarters for the British Army during the Revolutionary War, and George Washington slept here after the war, in 1790. Today the 150-acre estate holds a substantial collection of antiques and historical exhibits depicting its early days. Special events including seasonal festivals, holiday celebrations, and art, antiques, and car shows are held here throughout the year.

A fully restored 1912 passenger depot offers a fascinating look at the history of the Erie Lackawanna Railroad, whose anticipated arrival led to the creation of the city of Salamanca. Exhibits include old switches and lanterns, an extensive collection of vintage photographs, and a restored red caboose outside.

Swim, fish, boat, and walk for miles at this 1,852-acre park on the shore of Seneca Lake. The museum honors the nation's second-largest naval training station during World War II. The Air Force took over the station during the Korean War, and an Air Force Museum, in the same building, tells that story. A boat launch and 120 berths surround the marina, next to a gravel swimming beach. More than 240 campsites are nestled among wooded areas. Tennis courts, playgrounds, and a concession stand, open in summer, are also part of the complex.

At the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, 19th- and 20th-century photographs and American and European paintings, along with a core collection of works on paper, are focal points.

Overlooking Long Island Sound, this 216-acre preserve, once part of a Gold Coast estate, occupies the tip of the Port Washington Peninsula. The grounds include natural and landscaped areas, with forests, meadows, freshwater ponds, and shore cliffs. Also here are three castlelike mansions. The 1904 Castlegould, the visitor center, houses changing exhibits on natural history. Falaise is a Normandy-style manor house built for Harry F. Guggenheim in 1923; the home is notable for its medieval and Renaissance style and artwork. The Tudor-style Hempstead House, used for various exhibits, overlooks the harbor. Tours through Falaise and nature walks are available.

This simple theme park (2 mi northwest of Wilmington) with rides and live reindeer is ideal for small children. Santa and his helpers talk with children, and elves practice their crafts in shops around the park. On Sunday evenings in late December, visitors can take in the brightly lighted Village of Lights.

Four miles of trails lead through the 220-acre Sapsucker Woods Sanctuary, part of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Bird artist Louis Agassiz Fuertes named the woods after two yellow-bellied sapsuckers he had spotted in the area. A computer touch screen leads you through interpretive displays. The visitor center is open weekdays 8–5 (until 4 on Friday), Saturday 9:30–4, and Sunday 11–4.

Learn how the F. X. Matt Brewing Co. creates its Saranac-brand traditional lager, pale ale, pilsner, Adirondack amber, and old-fashioned root beer. The same family has operated the seven-story brick brew house for more than a century. Inhaling the yeasty aroma of fermenting hops and malt, you can see several steps of the brewing process. Tours are on the hour and end with a beer or root-beer sampling. Call in advance for reservations.