840 Best Sights in New York, USA

The museum stands on the site of the eastern terminal of the Ulster & Delaware Railroad, which ran from Kingston through the Catskills and was affectionately known as the Up & Down Railroad. Trolley cars dating from 1907 are on display; trolley tours of historic Kingston leave from the museum.

In 1925, prominent real-estate developer Fred F. French was among the first Americans ever to buy up a large number of buildings—most of them tenements—and join the properties into a single, massive new complex. He designed a collection of nine apartment buildings and two parks in the "garden city" mode, which placed a building's green space not in an enclosed courtyard, but in the foreground. French also built a 39-by-50-foot "Tudor City" sign atop one of the 22-story buildings, best viewed from the eastern end of 42nd Street. The development's residential towers opened between 1927 and 1930, borrowing a marketable air of sophistication from Tudor-style stonework, stained-glass windows, and lobby-design flourishes. Tudor City has been featured in numerous films, and its landmark gardens—sometimes compared to Gramercy Park, only public—remain a popular lunch spot among office workers. The neighborhood, which is near the United Nations, was designated a historic district in 1988.

The Oneida Indian Nation has transformed what began as a tiny bingo hall into a sprawling resort. The casino, one of the largest in the region, has more than 100 table games, including baccarat, blackjack, craps, and roulette; a poker room; and more than 2,400 slot machines. The spa and fitness facility has saunas, steam rooms, and an indoor pool. Available treatments include massages (hot-stone, couples, foot, full-body, etc.), facials, manicures and pedicures, exfoliation, body wraps, and waxing.

From the late 19th century through the end of World War II, tens of thousands of Ukrainians made their way to New York City—and particularly to "Little Ukraine," as much of the East Village was known. This museum examines Ukrainian Americans' dual heritage, with a permanent collection made up of folk art, fine art, and documentary materials about immigrant life. Ceramics, jewelry, hundreds of brilliantly colored Easter eggs, and an extensive collection of Ukrainian costumes and textiles are the highlights. To continue the Ukrainian experience, head to nearby Veselka restaurant for borscht and pierogi.

New York's first constitution was drafted on this site in 1777, in an earlier building. Then its first chief justice, John Jay, was sworn in in that courthouse. Shortly thereafter, in the same year, the British burned down Kingston; the current courthouse was built in 1818. Sojourner Truth was freed in 1826, and she immediately—and successfully—sued, in this courthouse, to have her son freed from slavery in Alabama. The courthouse is open to the public while court is in session between 8:30 and 4:30 on weekdays. No photography is allowed.

Livestock, local crafts, baking and preserves competitions, pig races, and amusement rides constitute a genuine old-fashioned county fair. Held in late July/early August, it runs Tuesday through Sunday.

The 100-acre campus of this liberal-arts college founded in 1795 was the first in America to be designed by an architect. The grounds include Jackson's Garden, an oasis of perennials and herbs near a bubbling brook.

The massive limestone-and-granite building has 47-foot-high vaulted ceilings, marble pillars, a terrazzo floor, original steam-heated wooden benches, and a vintage barbershop that still gives haircuts. Train tours operated by Adirondack Scenic Railroad leave from the 1914 Italian Renaissance–style station for day trips into the Adirondack wilderness.

Officially an "international zone" in the city's heart, the UN Headquarters sits on an 18-acre tract on the East River, fronted by flags of its 193 member states, who are charged with helping maintain international security and peace. Built between 1949 and 1961, the complex completed an overhaul in 2015—the 70th anniversary of the UN's founding—that retained the 1950s look while upgrading its infrastructure. The only way to enter the UN Headquarters is with the hour-long weekday standard guided tour, available in all six UN official languages; reservations can be made online, and you'll need a security pass from the visitors office at 801 1st Avenue.  Arrive 60 minutes before your tour's start for security screening. The tour includes the General Assembly, Security Chamber Council, and exhibitions and educational details. Youngsters under five are not admitted. Other scheduled tours cater to different aspects of the UN such as art and architecture, or emphasize Black history or women and children; virtual versions are also available.

The complex's buildings (the slim, 550-foot-tall green-glass Secretariat Building; the much smaller, domed General Assembly Building; and the Dag Hammarskjöld Library) evoke the influential Swiss-born French modernist architect Le Corbusier, and the surrounding park and plaza remain visionary. The public concourse has a visitor center with a gift shop, a bookstore, and a post office where you can mail postcards with UN stamps; bring your passport to add the commemorative UN stamp.

The free has three galleries with frequently rotating contemporary-art exhibits. The museum's permanent collection includes works by Richard Diebenkorn, Donald Judd, Ellsworth Kelly, and Robert Rauschenberg.

. This warship is the last of 565 destroyers used throughout World War II and the Cold War. Tours show the ship's restored armaments, crew and officers' quarters, radio room, and pilot house.

Each year, from late August through early September, approximately 1 million fans come here for the U.S. Open, which claims the title of highest-attended annual sporting event in the world. The rest of the year, the 34 courts (19 outdoor and 12 indoor, all DecoTurf, plus three stadium courts) are open to the public for $40–$80 hourly. Ball machine rentals are also available for $18 per hour. Make reservations up to two days in advance. Parking is free but limited.

A brick building in the historic Main Street district houses four floors of hands-on exhibits for all ages. There's a Dinorama, with dinosaur models and fossils, and a Weather Room, with Doppler radar. Kiddies can walk into a replica Iroquois longhouse, don firefighting gear, and pretend to fly a 17-foot-long airplane. Outside you can explore the inside of an old Adirondack locomotive, dining car, and caboose parked alongside the building.

Siberian tigers, Alaskan grizzly bears, and California sea lions are some of the 200 animals that reside in this city park with views of the Mohawk Valley. A petting zoo and live animal shows are options in summer.

At this living-history museum, costumed guides are strategically placed throughout the estate, which includes an 18th-century stone manor house and an 18th-century tavern. The house includes some of its original Georgian and Federal furnishings. Spinning, weaving, and other demonstrations are held in a tenant house adjacent to the tavern. Admission is by timed tour only.

Ride the 1 train to its northernmost stop and you'll be greeted—surprisingly—by a park so sprawling and leafy, it's hard to believe you're still technically in New York City. Van Cortlandt started its life as the grounds of a 17th-century plantation built by an officer of the Dutch West India Company, and you can still visit the estate to learn about its generations of owners and the people who were enslaved there.

The park itself has plenty of hiking trails, bridle paths, and sports facilities including a cricket pitch, plus the Van Cortlandt Golf Course, the oldest public golf course in America, which includes a picturesque lake house offering rowing rentals in handmade wooden boats.

The gallery, located in a historic town house on a tree-lined street, features a vast collection of works by contemporary artists from the era of World War II up to the present. Van Doren Waxter represents Caetano de Almeida, Marsha Cottrell, and Farid Haddad, among other artists, while handling secondary market work by Georgia O'Keeffe, Lee Krasner, Roy Lichtenstein, and other revered names.

Founded as a women's college in 1865, Vassar went coed in 1969, the first well-known single sex school to do so. Today about 2,400 students attend this highly-respected liberal arts school. The 1,000-acre campus, with its lakes, gardens, and 200-plus tree varieties, is a lovely place for a walk. Other Vassar highlights include the Tiffany windows in the chapel.

When it debuted in 2019, the centerpiece of the new Hudson Yards development was an instant city landmark serving as both an interactive artwork and photo-op paradise. Created by British designer Thomas Heatherwick, Vessel consists of 154 interlocking flights of stairs stretching 16 stories high, resembling a gigantic, woven copper basket. A visit might make you feel like you're inside an M. C. Escher drawing. Visits to the top are ADA-accessible via ramp and elevator, with stringent security screening. Buy tickets at Hudson Yards ticket kiosks, or reserve them online in advance.  Entry is free for NYC residents on Thursday.

Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar, among others, host this popular ABC talk show with a live studio audience every Monday to Friday at 11 am. Tickets can be requested in advance but don't always guarantee you'll get in, so be sure to get in line by 10:15 am—or earlier (see ticket instructions). Tapings last about an hour. You must be 16 or older to join.

You can see a blacksmith at work using traditional, antique tools at this historic shop behind the old schoolhouse in the center of town, and the artisan on site is enthusiastic about answering questions about his craft and the history of blacksmithing in Greenport. Housed in an old East Marion onion shack, the building is a replica of the original, destroyed by a nor'easter in 1992. You can purchase small, handmade items made here including wall hooks, and the proceeds help fund the site, which is part of the East End Seaport Museum.

At 1.28 miles in length, the Walkway Over the Hudson is the world's longest pedestrian bridge, crossing over the Hudson River to link the cities of Highland and Poughkeepsie. You'll find walkers, runners, cyclists, and dog-walkers crossing the bridge to enjoy the panoramic view of fall foliage, migratory birds, and trains. There are entrances on each side of the bridge, both with picnic tables and vending machines. Seasonal food vendors also set up shop during the summer months.

This was the boyhood home of Walt Whitman, one of America's greatest poets. A typical example of native Long Island craftsmanship of the time, the snug house, built by the poet's father circa 1819, has survived virtually intact since the Whitmans left it in 1823. Whitman portraits, letters, and manuscripts are on display. The home is off Route 110, across from Walt Whitman Mall.

At the corner of Mt. Hope and Reservoir avenues, a block west of the Lamberton Conservatory, is the squat Warner Castle. Headquarters of the Rochester Civic Garden Center, it has art exhibits and educational materials about gardening.

A rarity in Manhattan, this pretty, brick-covered street—really a glorified alley—is lined on the north side with the former mews (carriage houses) of the area's homes. Although the street is private, gated, and owned by New York University, which uses many of the buildings for clubs and offices, it's open to pedestrian traffic.

From April 1782 to August 1783, General George Washington made his military headquarters and home in this Dutch fieldstone house, where he attended to the final years of Revolutionary War activity. Guided tours show how Washington, his wife, Martha, and his aides-de-camp lived and worked here as the war drew to a close. Filled with period furniture and reproductions, the house opened to the public in 1850, becoming the first official historic site in the United States. A monument to peace, the Tower of Victory, was erected here in the late 1880s. Adjacent to the house is a small museum containing artifacts collected since the mid-1880s. Lectures, live music, military and crafts demonstrations, and family programs honor Washington's birthday during a three-day extravaganza over Presidents' Day weekend.

Originally built in 1644, this is the oldest operating water mill on Long Island. You can work the lathe and learn the arts of quilting and weaving here. Guided tours of the village are available for adults and children weekly during the summer, and events such as quilt shows are held here.