5 Best Sights in New York, USA

Background Illustration for Sights

We've compiled the best of the best in New York - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.

Blenheim–Gilboa Power Project Visitors Center

Housed in a 1905 barn, the visitor center sits above the Blenheim-Gilboa pumped-storage project, which generates power by recycling water between two reservoirs. Hands-on exhibits explain the science of energy production; an enclosed porch overlooking the lower reservoir has exhibits of local fauna. Picnic tables are scattered between the historic outbuildings. Hiking trails lead to Mine Kill State Park.

North Blenheim, NY, USA
518-827–6121
Sight Details
Free
Daily 10–5

Something incorrect in this review?

Caverns Creek Grist Mill

At this restored 1816 mill you can take a self-guided tour and watch the 12-foot-round waterwheel power the 1,400-pound millstone.

Industry City

A makeover and an influx of 21st-century businesses—some in a marvelous food court—have reinvigorated the mammoth former Bush Terminal complex of factories and warehouses. Reincarnated as the 6-million-square-foot Industry City, the space, still evolving, hosts "designers, innovators, start-ups, manufacturers, and artists." Tenants worth checking out at the Food Hall include Colson Patisserie, Blue Marble Ice Cream, and Avocaderia, what may be the world's only avocado-centric restaurant. Events include sample sales, food festivals, and family-friendly dance parties.

Recommended Fodor's Video

MacKenzie-Childs

The design studios and factory of this home-furnishings empire occupy a Victorian farmhouse and other attractive buildings on a bluff overlooking Cayuga Lake. A 15-minute studio-tour video plays continuously in the visitor center, where artisan demos are given Friday and Sunday 11–4. You can tour the "farmhouse," a late-1800s Second Empire–style home that's been renovated and decorated with MacKenzie-Childs products. The extensive, 75-acre grounds include gardens, trails, and a shop devoted to MacKenzie-Childs wares.

3260 Rte. 90, Aurora, NY, 13026, USA
315-364--6118
Sight Details
Free
Visitor center daily 10–5. Farmhouse tours June–Columbus Day, daily at 10, 11, 1, 2, 3, and 4; rest of yr, weekdays at 11, 1, and 2

Something incorrect in this review?

Village Blacksmith Shop

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.

Front St. and Mitchell Park, Greenport, NY, 11944, USA
631-477–2100
Sight Details
$2 donation suggested
June–Sept., weekends 11–5

Something incorrect in this review?