Fraunces Tavern

A place filled with video screens, LED signs, and flashing lights; a world wonder or a tourist nightmare depending on your perspective, the "new" Times Square is a family-friendly theme park of themed restaurants, theaters and hotels, as well as a developing business district. The lights and signs can be viewed anytime, but the most enchanting experience comes when one visits Times Square at night, as all the signs and screens are ablaze with color. Times Square is also well known for its famous New Year's Eve ball drop. Those looking for the seedy Times Square of years past will find it around the Port Authority Bus Terminal, and on Eighth Avenue to the west. A ticket booth selling discounted Broadway and off-Broadway shows. However, the cheaper tickets aren't the only attraction, as the back of the booth is a large, red-lit glass staircase facing Times Square, which serves as a set of bleachers and offers an excellent opportunity to get above the street and just watch the crowds and flashing signs. Above the booth is a video screen with a live feed of the top step, giving you a chance to appear (if only briefly) on one of the many signs in Times Square. Originally the second-tallest building in the world when it opened in 1905, One Times Square was constructed to be the headquarters for The New York Times, a function it would serve for less than ten years. The annual Times Square ball drop is performed from the roof of this building. And you can't miss the famous Dow Jones news and sports zipper (the first news ticker in the world) attached to its lower facade.

Located on four acres overlooking the Hudson River in Fort Tryon Park, the building incorporates elements from five medieval French cloisters – quadrangles enclosed by a roofed or vaulted passageway, or arcade – and from other monastic sites in southern France. There are various artworks on display in the museum, with the Unicorn Tapestries being the most famous.

Get up close to over 200 lifelike wax figures of the biggest stars and icons in entertainment, sports and history.

A very impressive skyscraper with a green spire which was completed in 1930 and surpassed the height of the nearby Woolworth Building (see Manhattan/TriBeCa#See), making it the tallest building in the world until the Chrysler Building was completed just a month later (which in turn lost that title to the Empire State Building less than a year later). The building was leased by Donald Trump in 1995, hence its current name.

None of Central Park is actual virgin forest, but this is the closest any part of the park gets to feeling like genuine forest. It is beautiful and cool in hot weather. However, like a real forest, it is a mosquito habitat, so make sure to use insect repellent before walking through this part of the park.

The original subway station, and quite a marvel to witness--the chandeliers and ornate tiling are a sharp contrast to the nearby Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall station. There's one catch, though: it's been closed since 1945. However, you can see it by staying on the downtown 6 train after its last stop Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall; it will turn around in the old station. This is the one place in the system where this is allowed, and the announcements reflect that. The Transit Museum (in Downtown Brooklyn) offers occasional tours as well, which allow you to actually walk around the station, but you must be a museum member and a US citizen, making this an impractical choice for most visitors.

Governors Island has a long military history, home to headquarters and military posts of the United States Army from 1794 until 1966, then a complex for the U.S. Coast Guard before becoming a historic district open to tours.

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.

Built in 1802 (and physically shifted from its original location), this was the home of Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers and the first Secretary of Treasury.

One of New York's most beautiful parks, an expanse of rolling hills high above the Hudson, contains some of the highest natural elevations on the island and is a great place to picnic or stroll in good weather and look at the great views of the New Jersey Palisades across the river.

48 magnificent gardens and plant collections on a 250-acre historic site.

A small museum dedicated to finance and the markets, with exhibits that change periodically. Closed to find a new location as of Mar 2024.

For most of the 18th century, Africans in New York City were buried in a graveyard outside the city. The graveyard was eventually forgotten and was rediscovered in 1991. This museum and memorial site commemorate the estimated 15,000 Africans that were interred on the site of the memorial. Note that the museum is located inside of a Federal building so airport-style security should be expected.