P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center

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

A large and historically important Protestant church and center of progressive social activism. Also neo-Gothic.

Probably the most famous of the Guggenheim foundations (others found in Bilbao and Venice), which hold avant-garde modern art by artists such as Kandinsky and Mondrian, the New York branch is housed in a unique and famous building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and rendered in a rounded, organic form and completed in 1959. Be sure to take the elevator to the top floor, then follow the spiral viewing floors downwards to the street level. One of eight buildings by Wright to be listed as a world heritage site.

Nature preserve on the South Shore with hiking trails and shoreline access. Fishing is permitted along the beach or the freshwater pond inside the area. Most of the land is minimally developed, and is an excellent place to observe wildlife. An abandoned orphanage on-site, after which the area was named, burnt down in 2000.

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.

A memorial to the Holocaust.

This pretty building was built as Brooklyn's city hall in 1851 and is still a very significant official building in very active use.

A historic site, not least because of the Black Thursday crash of the Exchange on 24 October 1929 and the subsequent sell-off panic which started on Black Tuesday, 29 October, precipitating the worldwide Great Depression of the early 1930s. The present Exchange building opened in 1903, recognized from the first as an example of masterful architecture, with the six massive Corinthian columns across its Broad Street facade imparting a feeling of substance and stability and, to many, seeming the very embodiment of America’s growth and prosperity. The building has been closed to the public since 9/11.

Holding a remarkably large collection, each of the 5 floors of this massive building has expansive and well-designed exhibits devoted to astronomy, biology, geology, anthropology, climatology, and paleontology. You will want to allow a full day if you hope to see the entirety of the museum. Some of the highlights are the Rose Center for Earth and Space on the northeast corner of the building, which contains a seven-story glass cube holding the Hayden Planetarium, a huge sphere suspended above the exhibit halls below and holding a "cosmic pathway" exhibit; the numerous habitat diorama halls on the first, second and third floors, with recreations of African, Asian, North American, and ocean plants and animals, including a full-size model of a Blue Whale suspended above the Ocean Life Hall; a Hall of Minerals and Gems, which contains many rare and beautiful specimens, including the largest star sapphire in the world and a chunk of a massive meteorite; extensive anthropology halls on the first, second, and third floors, with exhibits devoted to people of Asia, Africa, Central America, the Pacific, and Native Americans; and the natural history halls on the fourth floor, with one of the largest collections of dinosaur skeletons in the world.

The Christmas Tree, the Skating Rink, NBC Studios, the shops and hubbub - you can't miss it. The Christmas Tree and the Skating Rink are naturally not year round, but in the summer, the complex is a hub for touristy operations. Within the striking Art Deco buildings of the complex are several dining establishments overlooking the area and many stores. See the Rockettes, another show, or just tour the famous Art Deco masterpiece. On the 70th floor of the Comcast Building (better known by some as "30 Rock") is this narrow observation deck, built to resemble the deck of a cruise ship. The deck affords uninterrupted views over Central Park to the north and across Midtown to the south.

Dedicated to preserving and collecting television programs as a service to the public, the museum consists of two museum branches in Los Angeles and New York City; combined they hold over 100,000 television programs that are available to the public, providing a historical, artistic and cultural perspective to television and radio. You may use their library here for the price of admission. They have lots of old shows and a database so you can see if they have what you want.

A museum dedicated to the history of the NYPD.

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.

Sitting on Vista Rock, one of the highest points in the park, the castle provides excellent views of Central Park, particularly to the north. It is a popular spot for photography and contains a visitor center and a nature conservatory. Just below the castle to the north is Turtle Pond, a small, swamp-like pond holding various fish, frogs, insects, and birds.

An Episcopalian (Anglican) church and parish was first established on this site in 1697 under charter by King William III. The present Neo-Gothic Revival church building (the third incarnation) dates from 1846 and remains a significant landmark within Downtown. The original burial ground at Trinity Church includes the graves and memorials of many historic figures, including Alexander Hamilton, William Bradford, Robert Fulton, and Albert Gallatin.

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

On the site of the former World Trade Center towers, the memorial consists of two enormous waterfalls and reflecting pools set within the footprints of the twin towers, lined with bronze panels with the names of the nearly 3,000 victims of that fateful day inscribed. The surrounding plaza holds a grove of trees. The museum, which sits underground right next to the memorial, contains exhibits which explain the events of 9/11 and their aftermath, with remnants of the original towers and artifacts from that day. If you see a white rose on one of the names, it's because today is that victim's birthday.

This pretty 17-story Beaux Arts building was completed in 1904 and designed to be New York City's first air conditioned hotel. It was a residential hotel, and housed a number of very famous people, including the Hall of Fame baseball player, Babe Ruth; the Italian tenor, Enrico Caruso; the modernist composer, Igor Stravinsky; the Italian conductor of the NBC Symphony, Arturo Toscanini; and writers Theodore Dreiser and Isaac Bashevis Singer. The building is now a condominium.