Explore New York City
MIDTOWN MANHATTAN encompasses everything from the East to the Hudson rivers, between 14th Street and 59th Street, the southern border of Central Park. New York’s most glamorous (and most expensive) thoroughfare, Fifth Avenue, cuts through Midtown’s heart, with the neon theatre strip of Broadway running just to the west for much of the way. The character of Midtown is very different whether you’re east of Fifth or west of Sixth (between Fifth and Sixth, there’s almost a character to itself, from Koreatown up to Rockefeller Center). On Fifth Avenue itself and to the east are corporate businesses and prestigious skyscrapers – including the Empire State, Chrysler and Seagram buildings – as well as Grand Central Station and the UN. Here you’ll also find the residential neighbourhoods of Murray Hill and elegant Gramercy Park. Just below Gramercy’s eponymous park, busy Union Square is always great for people-watching. Meanwhile, west of Sixth, Chelsea is home to art galleries and the new High Line park; north of it, the tiny Garment District doesn’t have much to see. Around 42nd Street, the Theater District heralds a cleaned-up, frenetic area of entertainment that culminates at Times Square. West of Broadway in the 40s and low 50s, colourful Hell’s Kitchen is now more or less wholly gentrified.
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The Empire State Building
The Empire State Building
Up Fifth Avenue is the Empire State Building, at 34th Street and Fifth Avenue (daily 8am–2am, last trip up at 1.15am; $20; t 212/736-3100, w www.esbnyc.com), which has been a muscular 102-storey symbol of New York since it was completed in 1931. After the terrorist attacks of September 11th, it became, as it once was, the city’s tallest building. An elevator takes you to the 86th floor, which was the summit of the building before the radio and TV mast was added. The views from the outside walkways here are as stunning as you’d expect (you can continue up to the tiny 102nd-floor observatory for an extra $15, but the view is about the same). For the best experience, you should try to time your visit so that you’ll reach the top at sunset; note that during peak times, waits to ascend can be upwards of an hour.
