Ellis Island

A 2011 addition to the Lower Manhattan skyline, this 76-story residential skyscraper by the noted Frank Gehry has a distinctive rippled, "wavy" facade that is quite eye-catching. It is best viewed from City Hall Park and the Brooklyn Bridge.

The garden is 52 acres and the layout was well planned. It is definitely worth a visit. Designed by the Olmsted Brothers in 1910 and open to the public since 1911, the garden includes an authentic Japanese garden, a Children's Garden, and the Cranford Rose Garden. The garden has the largest cherry blossom trees in one place outside of Japan. There are 42 gorgeous varieties. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden hosts various festivities throughout the year, including Hanami Sakura in May and the Chile Pepper Festival in October.

This massive apartment building has been (and is!) home to many celebrities. Probably best known was the former Beatle John Lennon, who was gunned down outside the building on December 8, 1980, by a crazed fan. Lennon had been living at the Dakota with his second wife, Yoko Ono, who still resides in the building. A memorial to the former Beatle exists nearby in Central Park. The building has become a popular place of pilgrimage for many who admire Lennon.

A famous Ivy League college that has existed since British colonial times, when it was called King's College.

The only US museum devoted to Puerto Rican culture.

A vintage carousel built in 1908 and situated on this spot since the 1950s, it's the fourth carousel to inhabit this location and is beautifully painted.

See the Rockettes, another show, or just tour the famous Art Deco masterpiece.

A small park at the foot of Broadway which is the oldest public park in the city and is the site of the Charging Bull sculpture created after the 1987 stock market crash. Bowling Green is also the origin point for the Broadway ticker-tape parades; if you walk up Broadway, you can view plaques in the sidewalk honoring the people or events celebrated in these parades.

The historic heart of the Financial District and the home of the New York Stock Exchange, Wall Street is a metonym for American big business, stock trading and the entire financial industry, although most New York financial firms are no longer headquartered on the street itself, but housed nearby in new offices, and some have moved to Jersey City. A narrow street running downhill from Broadway to the East River, Wall Street was named for the wall that was built here in 1652 to keep Manhattan's indigenous peoples out of the growing Dutch settlement. The wall was demolished by the British in 1699. By the late 18th century, traders and speculators would gather under a buttonwood tree at the foot of Wall Street to trade informally - this was the origin of the New York Stock Exchange that was established in 1817.

So named in 1981 in memory of John Lennon, the former Beatle, who was murdered close by outside his home in the Dakota building. Lennon's widow Yoko Ono, who still lives in the Dakota, subsequently donated $1 million to upgrade the area with hundreds of tree and flower species, including strawberries. The area serves as a Garden of Peace and includes a memorial floor mosaic (donated by the Italian city of Naples) that says simply "Imagine", referring to the title of one of Lennon's evocative songs.

A self supporting arm of the MTA, it is housed in the Subway's former Court Street Station, on a spur line from the current A and C lines. Closed to passengers in 1946, it was reopened in 1976 as the New York Transit Exhibit and was popular enough to be made permanent. The museum is made up of two underground levels: the Mezzanine, which hosts exhibits on the construction of the subway, surface transportation in New York, fare collection and rotating exhibits on various transit-related subjects; and the station platform, which houses about 20 retired subway cars dating as far back as 1903 and a working signal tower. The museum sponsors events throughout the year, including simple art projects, walking tours on the subway, and rides on the museums' fleet of retired trains. There is also an annex of the museum in Grand Central Station in Midtown Manhattan.

This park was operated as a United States Army airfield from 1919-1969. Now, it is a large, mostly grass park with baseball fields, soccer fields, and a children's playground.

Once the Audubon Ballroom where Malcolm X was assassinated with 21 gunshots. Only a part of the facade of the original building remains (Columbia University demolished the building in 1992). The location now houses a memorial to Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz, with a stated goal of advancing human rights and social justice. It also features a 63-foot mural depicting Malcolm X's life.